[Harmon]

Originally Posted by Maggie Leung

Lol. Sounds like people who don't keep snacks in the house because they can't control themselves. Heck, whatever works best for each person. ... Maybe some of the distraction is the novelty of a new device?

That's a good analogy. The guy with the computer was a writer, & isolated his second computer to use for his writing. I read about another guy who moved to Montana to get away from the internet while writing a book.

The distraction cannot, alas, be blamed on the novelty. It's more a question of doing the quick things first, and never getting to the slow thing. In my work, I learned a long time ago to tackle the big job first, or it will be forever delayed by the little jobs. I wind up reading on my iPad when I pick it up with the intention of reading, and get right to it.

I used to read Gutenberg books on netbook; didn't find it distracting (other than the pain of netbook form factor for book reading), despite the same kind of access that iPad offers. If a book can't hold my attention, I ditch it for a better book.

A wise position. I know people who think that they have to finish a book that they start. Others think that if they read part of a book, they have to read the whole thing - not quite the same as finishing what they start but with the same outcome. Some books are a whole meal, with several courses, others are fast food, and others a buffet or salad bar. And you NEVER have to clean your plate - that's how you get fat.

I still read print books; never gave 'em up, because my priority is content over form. Too many books aren't digital yet, and I won't limit my reading.

I can't imagine not reading a book because it's not in eform, although I know that there are some people who approach it that way. My own approach is that if it is not available in eform from Project Gutenberg or a commercial source, I will see if I can find it from (ahem) a non-commercial source. But there are some books I want in pform, mainly because I want to keep them around, sometimes because I find the particular book attractive.

I think I'm going to wind up getting a Kindle2 for the majority of my ebook reading. Probably 80 percent of what I want is available from Amazon, or can be calibre'd onto a Kindle. I am delaying making this move because I think that there will be a Kindle3 before the end of the summer. But getting a Kindle will, when paired with my Sonys, give me access to most of what I want to read in ebook form.