This is Really Living

[Sydney's Mom]

I read Keep the Change this weekend, and when I finished I really wanted to read his first book, Waiter Rant. Well, that book was on hold at the IL elibrary, but available at my local library. So I checked it out, downloaded it to ADE and then to Calibre and sent it to my kindle. Took maybe 3 minutes. I finished that book that night. What a wonderful life!

What miraculous things do you use your ereader for?

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Sydney's Mom

I read Keep the Change this weekend, and when I finished I really wanted to read his first book, Waiter Rant. Well, that book was on hold at the IL elibrary, but available at my local library. So I checked it out, downloaded it to ADE and then to Calibre and sent it to my kindle. Took maybe 3 minutes. I finished that book that night. What a wonderful life!

What miraculous things do you use your ereader for?

Reading old, out of print books, some of which have become collectable and unaffordable, often purchased in e-book format for $2-3.

[Thasaidon]

Reading books.

That is miraculous enough for me.

[Tarana]

Just the fact that I can read anything on an ereader is miracle enough for me. Due to my vision loss, I can't read novels AT ALL. The oversized print books didn't help because while the letters are bigger, they are closer together. So, I'm ecstatic that I can not only make the text bigger, but can alter it later in the day when I need it just a tad bigger.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Reading old, out of print books, some of which have become collectable and unaffordable, often purchased in e-book format for $2-3.

That's one of my favorite things about them also. That, and the fact you can carry a whole encyclopedia on a seven ounce device.

[spindlegirl]

Reading books exactly the way I want to read them. Being able to download all my public domain favorites for free is the essence of privilege to me. and just being able to buy/borrow books the instant they are available ... every day I am grateful to be reading books in a day when so many options are available.

Prior to e-reading I didn't have it on my radar much. When the children got older and the weekly library trips started getting less frequent, I didn't have books as a priority. Now I am always looking for things to read.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by rcentros

That's one of my favorite things about them also. That, and the fact you can carry a whole encyclopedia on a seven ounce device.

Same here. Being able to carry my library around with me and read any book in it whenever I want.

[4691mls]

It still seems miraculous to me that I can check out library books or buy books from home and read them instantly.

[wandalynn]

Getting hard to find older books for $2-$4 is high on my list as well as is borrowing from the library without leaving home. But at the very top is being able to return those library books with just a click of the mouse.

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by wandalynn

Getting hard to find older books for $2-$4 is high on my list as well as is borrowing from the library without leaving home. But at the very top is being able to return those library books with just a click of the mouse.

Plus, if you forget to return one it will expire on its own with no late fee.

[Deskisamess]

The very idea that little invisible bits and bytes can float through the air and almost instantly become a book on a device I hold in my hand is amazing to me. That with a tap or two, the letters can be enlarged or changed, an obscure word can be looked up, or I can switch to a different book, all without leaving my home or getting up from my chair.

The ease of borrowing library books from my iPad with just a few taps. The ability to search through a book for a word or a character. Buying a new book and starting it the day it is released.

Pretty much every feature of the Kindle or other e-reader is an amazement to me. Getting reading for fun back in my life in 2009 was life changing. The improvements to the devices since then are wonderful.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Pretty much every feature of the Kindle or other e-reader is an amazement to me.

It is when you think about it. Most of the time I just take it all for granted (and then gripe about the most inconsequential features – or lack of them).

[ottdmk]

I love all of it. That I can have so many books in so little space. That the e-ink screen is so much like the printed page, but adjustable. That I never lose my place in a book. Favourite gadget of the past few years for sure.

[barryem]

Looking a little deeper makes it even more amazing. Every letter in every word is actually a number. Every ebook contains nothing but numbers. Every upper case letter is actually a number between 65 and 90. Lower case letters are numbers between 97 and 122. A space is actually the number 32. Other formatting characters, visible and invisible are other numbers.

So all you readers are really math wizzes and you didn't even know it.

Yes this stuff is amazing. And wonderful. And fun. Even useful. I spent 35 years as a programmer, mostly low level, so, even though I'm now pretty out of date, I have a fair understanding of what's under the hood and the more I learn the more amazed I am and the more I realize how much more there is that I don't know.

Barry

[sjfan]

Originally Posted by barryem

Every ebook contains nothing but numbers. Every upper case letter is actually a number between 65 and 90. Lower case letters are numbers between 97 and 122. A space is actually the number 32.

What if I'm reading in EBCDIC‽‽



The ability to carry a whole library in one compact device is invaluable when traveling. Especially when connectivity is going to be tenuous.