eBooks are a novel idea - but I wouldn't try reading one in the bath

[columbus]

Some of Sam Leith's comments from the UK news. Read the review at:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/ar...ding-bath.html

I hold in my hand an e-Reader, in this case the Sony Reader Touch Edition, it's a bit disconcerting. This silver oblong, the size and shape of a dinky paperback, though a bit heavier

I could take my library with me wherever I go - and search it at the touch of a stylus for any given phrase. I can double-tap a word and the Reader's inbuilt copy of the Oxford English Dictionary will define it.

Fantastic! Yet I admit I have mixed feelings.

I look at the spines lined up on the shelves, for a start - a lovely higgledy-piggledy tapestry of colours and textures; broken, perhaps, by a proud little enclave of purple-topped Penguin Classics or old white Picadors.

These are not just texts: your books track your inner life. And paperbacks remain a pretty good technology.

As my crinkly copy of A Clockwork Orange testifies, you can read a book in the bath. You wouldn't risk that with the e-Book version. And can you put a Reader Touch over your nose for a snooze?

So what's it like buying an actual book to read electronically? I dare say this is a doddle once you've got the hang of it - but setting it up is fiddly.

Take deep breath. Add book to basket, re-enter credit card details. Told your order has been processed and your first e-Book (in my case, a light-hearted novel called The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke) is on its way - a snip at 78p.

[Shaggy]

I wouldn't read a pBook in the bath either. Last time I tried that I dropped it. A soaking wet book is not pretty when it dries out.

Anyone remember that episode of Cheers?

[Sparrow]

I never read pbooks in the bath because they get damp; but I do pop my CyBook in an AquaPac and read while soaking - yet another benefit of ereaders imho.

[igorsk]

I used to read my PRS-505 in the bath. Just use a ziplock bag against steam and splashes.

[DixieGal]

I'm into showers myself, but when at the beach or pool, it's no prob to slip a reader into a gallon ziplock bag to protect it from sand and surf.

[pepak]

I read from my PRS-505 in bath regularly.

If you are concerned about the reader's safety, you can buy a see-through waterproof cover in a sports store.

[Hellmark]

As mentioned, they do make waterproof cases and covers.

Personally though, I don't read in the bath, because I don't want to ruin the book. I was involved in a work accident a few years back, and my grip isn't what it used to be, and is prone to just randomly give out. When I read, I always read where if it does give out, there is something immediately there to catch it. Even before then, I didnt like reading in the bath because I didn't want to just get the book wet for any reason what so ever, because it is simply a pain to get it dried out and usable (if at all).

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by columbus

Some of Sam Leith's comments from the UK news. Read the review at:-

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/ar...ding-bath.html

Pretty cool that a MR user gets a mention.

[queentess]

Originally Posted by igorsk

I used to read my PRS-505 in the bath. Just use a ziplock bag against steam and splashes.

Same here. I stopped taking pbooks into the bath because they got damp from steam. (I also had a very unfortunate incident where a hardcover Stephen King novel, with book jacket removed, stained my hands, arms and legs black for days...)

I use the Ziplock brand freezer proof gallon bags. I forget the exact name of them, but they're the heavy duty bags. As long as it's sealed completely, there's no worry about dropping my ereader and steam doesn't affect it.

[Juliette]

Originally Posted by Shaggy

I wouldn't read a pBook in the bath either. Last time I tried that I dropped it. A soaking wet book is not pretty when it dries out.

Me too. Plus ew, sneezing inside a book!

[Lady Blue]

I'm strickly a shower kind of gal myself, so no reading in the bath for me. But I've often taken my Sony in the pool with me to read, like others have said, zipped in a ziplock bag. Wouldn't do that with a pbook.

My sister, a voracious reader whom is never seen without a book in her hand, spends a lot of time on her (and her hubby's) boat. Her Sony Reader has been a big boon to her reading pleasure there, since she can slip it in a ziplock bag and protect it from ocean spray and such. No more misty, soggy paperbacks.




doddle-fiddly? (works for me)

[DixieGal]

Also, with the ziplock bags, some air always remains in the bag. And it is just enough to make it float for easy retrieval!

[LDBoblo]

It's so strange how most of the published ambivalence towards ebooks hinges largely on nostalgia, and often ignores the sad state of the technology at the moment. It's a nice change from the norm to get someone actually mentioning dissatisfaction with more than just "but but...it's not got the soul!"

[toomanybooks]

I read in the tub alot. After the second time a book slipped, I measured the tub and built a reading bar from a piece of wood and some old cloth. Now when I drop the books they have a surface to fall onto.

[Shaggy]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

It's so strange how most of the published ambivalence towards ebooks hinges largely on nostalgia, and often ignores the sad state of the technology at the moment. It's a nice change from the norm to get someone actually mentioning dissatisfaction with more than just "but but...it's not got the soul!"

Well, there was the comment about not being able to put it over your nose for a snooze, which was basically the same thing. Kind of sad when you see things like that in a "technology" review.