THE reason to own an E-reader

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by jj2me

Or use the Chrome browser, which has Adobe Flash Player built in.

That's a misfeature of chrome with respect to chromium that I didn't know about.

[Ryvyan]

I used to read actual books, then on my iPhone 3G before I got an e-reader. I have high myopia and astigmatism along with a lazy eye, so it's great to be able to read for long periods without squinting by the end of it.

I have WhatsApp and Facebook on my phone and can spend hours on them (and my eyesight just worsened over the past 6 months because I got lazy with carrying my Nook; I exchange a few hundred messages daily, oops?) so an e-reader is really helpful in combating boredom without destroying my eyes.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

But I will exclude a tablet for reading outdoors in sunlight.

Originally Posted by Apache

I don't. I read on mine outdoors all of the time.
Apache

There's a time for each device. Tablet is my evening/darker days reading device, e-ink is my summer/sun days reading device. But if I only have an e-ink with me on an evening/darker day, I'll use it, and vice versa, if I only have my tablet with me on a sunny bright day, I'll use it. As long as I can read, all is well!

Originally Posted by Barcey

I prefer the smell of a good ebook.

Me too! A good writer does that

Originally Posted by Phogg

Nearly all of my life I carried books around with me to read.

Military utilities will hold three paperbacks in the cargo pocket of each leg. Briefcases have pockets for books behind your work materials. Belt pouches are made in sizes that will hold a couple of books.

In the nineties, I got digital copies to fill in the volumes of my pulp collection which I had never been able to read in print. However, I couldn't carry them around with me and more importantly I could not read them out of doors.

I shelled out for an early tablet back in the windows XP days (a Gigabyte M704) To get a modicum of portability, but though the machine was flexible I still couldn't read outdoors. My wife didn't want a matching tablet. She wanted the Sony PRS 505 we saw while shopping for the tablet.

Once she used it outdoors where the wind kept me from reading my book, I realized that I really needed an ereader.

So for me, outdoor use is a key factor, and I hope the Kobo Aura H2O incites the competition to put out weatherized units as well.

I always had at least one pocket with me. But I didn't go for the tablet when I decided to start reading electronically, I went for the Franklin ebookman first, and a Fujitsu Siemens Loox 600 second. Ah, the good old days of PDA's (which are completely replaced with smartphones, naturally ) It simply is way more convenient to carry around a small device that can hold many books, instead of carrying around a larger device that can only hold one book.

But my main reason I went electronic was that long weekend in Switzerland, where we had planned to go skiing while staying in that hotel on top of the mountain (the only way to get there was by first using a cablecar, and then a seat chair lift). Halfway the first day it start storming so bad, that all lifts had to be closed. So, we were stuck on top of that mountain with only 2 books between us (it was only one weekend and I had just started The Count of Monte Christo, so I figured one book should be enough, boy, was I wrong!) I had finished my book 2 times by the time we were taken down again (the wind had finally died down enough on Sunday, so that they could operate the lift again with some safety). Never again will that happen to me!

[Froide]

Originally Posted by Ryvyan

I used to read actual books, then on my iPhone 3G before I got an e-reader. I have high myopia and astigmatism along with a lazy eye, so it's great to be able to read for long periods without squinting by the end of it.

I have WhatsApp and Facebook on my phone and can spend hours on them (and my eyesight just worsened over the past 6 months because I got lazy with carrying my Nook; I exchange a few hundred messages daily, oops?) so an e-reader is really helpful in combating boredom without destroying my eyes.

I hope the worsening of your eyesight is temporary!

I've always been an avid reader, but the advent of e-reading has allowed me to read more by availing myself of having whatever materials I might want (or have) to read always at hand, even at times and in places where I would either not have had those materials with me or would have found it inopportune to use them. For example, I now no longer need to lug tomes or sheaths of other materials along with me, or to spread them out on a desk, in order to prepare for a meeting, lecture, broadcast, or appearance, or to edit or review my work or someone else's. I now can accomplish much of that during commuting time, in the small space allotted me on the metro.

[Katsunami]

He's right. After getting an e-reader, I've been reading more.

There's no way I'd take a 1000 page hard cover book onto the bus (*). It's just too big and fat to carry around in my laptop bag (which also holds my other stuff I need for work). It's inconvenient to read as well.

When using an e-reader, it doesn't matter if if the "book" is a paperback, a hard cover, the complete works about Sherlock Holmes, or the complete works by Charles Dickens. The e-reader slips into the front pocket of the laptop bag, or, in case of my winter coat, in the pocket on the inside... including the cover.

That way, I get 1 - 1,5 hours of reading in (at least) each day which would otherwise not be the case.

(*) And what about indulging in a quick Forogtten Realms read, as a grown man? Don't tell me you'd just read it in public transport. You wouldn't

[QuantumIguana]

Originally Posted by Waylander

Somebody aged between 19-35. Often characterised as feckless, narcissistic, morally loose, overly optimistic about the future, their own prospects and skills and in constant need of effusive praise or else their poor little hearts will break at the slightest hint of any constructive criticism.

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

[shalym]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

(*) And what about indulging in a quick Forogtten Realms read, as a grown man? Don't tell me you'd just read it in public transport. You wouldn't

Why not? I read what I want to read--don't care at all what other people think.

Shari

[Katsunami]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

It's just uncommon/unpopular with the Mobileread crowd. There's scads of hardcore readers who bypassed eink altogether.

If there was a tablet (with all the advantages of a tablet, such as color and high-speed screen) that was as easily readable as an e-ink device on a bright day outside (or in public transport, for that matter), while still offering 4-5 days of battery usage, I would never buy an e-ink reader again.

Being able to read in extremely bright conditions while still having good battery life are the only reasons I still want to have an e-reader.

Originally Posted by QuantumIguana

“Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.”

Socrates must have traveled to the future and back again...

Originally Posted by shalym

Why not? I read what I want to read--don't care at all what other people think.

Normally I don't either, but there are some things you just don't do in public

[Ghitulescu]

There is a single reason why an eReader would be needed

it can store 1000 books, plenty to choose from when on holiday. I don't know the luggage checks for various airlines, but most common they limit it to 19-23 kg, which corresponds to roughly 60-80 books alone.

All others are "features" (and "bugs").

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

(*) And what about indulging in a quick Forogtten Realms read, as a grown man? Don't tell me you'd just read it in public transport. You wouldn't

But of course I would.

Hey, who are we kidding? You think most people will be able to tell the difference anyway?
But I don't care even if they do know. If they have a problem, that itself is the surest sign that I shouldn't respect their opinions.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

But of course I would.

Hey, who are we kidding? You think most people will be able to tell the difference anyway?
But I don't care even if they do know. If they have a problem, that itself is the surest sign that I shouldn't respect their opinions.

I can think of very few things I wouldn't read in public. My one exception would be graphic pornography - not that I would have the slightest wish to read it, anyway. Something like Forgotten Realms, though, I wouldn't have any hesitation in reading in a public place.

[eschwartz]

You are absolutely correct -- anything I wouldn't want to read at all, I wouldn't want to read in public either.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I can think of very few things I wouldn't read in public. My one exception would be graphic pornography - not that I would have the slightest wish to read it, anyway. Something like Forgotten Realms, though, I wouldn't have any hesitation in reading in a public place.

Same here. I've never been ashamed of anything that I like to read. I'll even read children's books (aged 8 to 12) in public (even if I did still read paper books...)

though, said book I still don't have electronically, I should really scan it one of these days! If I only still had a scanner...

[theducks]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I can think of very few things I wouldn't read in public. My one exception would be graphic pornography - not that I would have the slightest wish to read it, anyway. Something like Forgotten Realms, though, I wouldn't have any hesitation in reading in a public place.

They do not require plastic 'Adults only' shields in front of FR on the store shelves like they do for some other publications

[k_b]

Originally Posted by Ghitulescu

There is a single reason why an eReader would be needed

it can store 1000 books, plenty to choose from when on holiday. I don't know the luggage checks for various airlines, but most common they limit it to 19-23 kg, which corresponds to roughly 60-80 books alone.

All others are "features" (and "bugs").

this. I travel quite a bit, and used to carry more books than everything else combined (hey, you can buy new clothes anywhere...). Airline baggage costs, to say nothing of backpacking.

Now, if I could just find a portable, high-quality replacement 500mm lens (~3kg/7#, bulky and fragile)...