What was your ultimate reason for getting an E-Reader?

[Phogg]

My reason was to be able to read books outside and in the wind.

I first got into electronic books with PDFs of The Shadow in 1998, and had started reading books on my phone in 2005 (My old handspring visor had noot been quite there yet for reading)

In 2009 I got my wife a Sony PRS-505, and myself a Gigabyte M704 UMPC.
The UMPC is no good for reading at the lake (Though it will run Diablo 2).

[Xanthe]

A combination of being a tech gadget junkie, experiencing some visual problems (so the large fonts were good) and having a credit line at Dell. The combination of the three forced me to by an ereader (that's my story and I'm sticking to it ).

[SensualPoet]

I'm not really a gadget guy ... but it depends. I was very interested in the Sony e-readers when they arrived in Canada ... but they were $400+, more for the better model. And you had to buy books from Sony, and hardly anyone, except Sony, carried the device. So I sat back.

For some years, I'd be an Amazon customer and, while I preferred to deal with local brand Chapters/INdigo, the reality was Amazon had a MUCH better bookstore, prices were often cheaper and delivery times much compressed.

On Nov 20th, 2009, Amazon finally came to Canada with a 3G Kindle 2 -- 2GB memory, Amazon delivered content in 60 seconds, bountiful content and great bookstore. And the price was $259. I gave it a go and was hooked within the first day. Reading, as a personal passion was, erm, re-kindled. I read about a novel a week and have been exploring classics, mid-century and recent authors with equal anticipation and pleasure. I love mystery tales -- esp detective fiction -- and what a treasure lode of content there is!

I took the Kindle on holiday Mexico in December and, for the first time, didn't drag 5 or 6 pbacks. Reading on the plane was awesome; and it made it to the beach as well. In a second trip in February, the 3G wikipedia kept me informed on a five hour bus trip through the Sierra Madres from Puerto Vallarta to Guadalajara. And free 3G access. Take that, iPhone!

But there is one gap: ePub support and public library support (which is mainly ePub). Enter the Kobo on May 1 and, at $149, half what I paid for the Kindle, case and shipping. Kobo is a great device: smaller, lighter, same size screen, dead simple features and extensive bookstore, including Canadian items not available at Amazon. I miss the dictionary and the bookstore experience; but it is what it is and it does that well. And, it gives me library access.

Both the Kindle 2 and Kobo have paid for themselves in savings of books purchased or read that would othersie have cost me cash out of pocket. And they've saved me money in other ways: just because reading is taking more of my liesure time, more expensive pursuits have been toned down (like Blu-ray movies). I don't factor that behavioural change in, by my bank balance shows it nonetheless.

So why did I then add a Kindle 3 wifi? Well, maybe that's my inner gadget gaga guy showing up. But, heck: e-readers and e-reading in the past nine months have been so satisifying, I deserved the upgrade. And it IS an upgrade: in screen quality, in more words per screen, in the ability to share simultaneously the content I am acquiring across both Kindles. Not to mention the wifi is WAY faster and the case with the light less obtrusive to the husband at night.

I'm satisfied with the Kindle 3, and the Kobo as my gateway to ePub and library books. I won't need a new e-reader for a long time to come. But, err, what's that you say? A Kobo 2 with Pearl e-ink and wifi for $129? Where's my wallet?

[RyanMWilliams]

I started reading books on a PDA out of curiosity and found I really enjoyed reading ebooks. Something about the consistent form factor and convenience. After several Palm OS devices I had a gap when the last stopped working. I finally bought an ereader so I could access my library of ebooks and get more! I'm really glad that I did. I've been reading more now that I don't have to haul around the books.

[ydnew423]

My main reason was the size. It seemed like every book I wanted to read was large and bulky. Having an e-reader has certainly saved space in my bag--and on my bookshelves!

[shoey]

1) I'm sick of owning paper. Books, letters, bills etc.
2) My work provides me with a safari books online account. Books online + e-reader = having paper-like access to 10,000 books
3) Worldwide free 3G browsing (email) with the kindle 3
and just recently discovered
4) It acts like a 'printer' replacement. I hook it up on USB - and anything that i'd print to paper, i could print to the kindle instead using somethign like cutePDF. planning to use that on trips to hold my confirmations, maps and all..

[RyanMWilliams]

Originally Posted by ydnew423

My main reason was the size. It seemed like every book I wanted to read was large and bulky. Having an e-reader has certainly saved space in my bag--and on my bookshelves!

Yeah, before I got my ereader I read Stephen King's Under the Dome — huge book! I didn't want to haul it back and forth to work so I ended up taking a library copy to work and left my copy at home. I had to find my place each time I got home or to work but it saved carrying it around. So much easier with the ereader!

[kennyc]

Just now saw this....I've been following the ebook field ever since ebooks began to appear on computers, wrote a few technical articles about the field along the way but it never really convinced me to buy into it until many classic and backlist books became available for free (google, feedbooks, etc.) -- after checking out the Sony Reader (at my local Target store) that was enough to get me in. ... the Kindle store and it's "promise" of 9.99 bestsellers was also a draw but that seems to have taken a beating at the hands of the greedy tradition-bound publishers.

I'm enjoying seeing more and more books available and released in ebook format and am looking forward to more and better and compatible drm-free ebook readers.

[Dahak]

Originally Posted by tiniree

Curious as to why all you ultimately bought an ereader .

Long ago, in the dark closing days of the last millennium, I was emailed a manuscript to an upcoming release by a favorite author of mine (the author himself did the emailing, so it was all on the up & up).

I sat at my computer and read it from start to finish.

Then I swore that I'd never read another novel-length piece on a CRT monitor again.

A few weeks later I got my hands on a display model of the Rocket eBook reader at a nearby B&N. After the hands-on session, I ordered one online.

That was in December '99 - an early Christmas present for myself.

Mid-last year, after putting up with a battery pack that was holding less and less of a charge, I bought a Sony PRS-505.

My poor, loyal Rocket's been collecting dust ever since.

We stop for a moment here to sniffle for my lost companion. Sniffle...

The E-Ink display's been easy to read on and the closeout deal I got on the Sony was one I couldn't turn down, although I do miss the ability to read in low-light conditions.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Free books.

Literally I was going to place an order for $50 of public domain books printed (a couple from the Planetary Stories line from Paizo and a couple of A. Merritt's stuff) and saw that they had a new Kindle for $139. So I changed gears and got the Kindle.

It's actually pretty depressing that most of my favorite authors are not only dead, but they've been dead long enough to be out of copyright in most countries. But I don't like most modern writing. Then again, I don't really like modern movies or TV shows, either. And the new books I do read are almost entirely historical fiction...

I don't think that's depressing at all...I'm not to thrilled with much of what is being published these days either. But when you have ALL OF HISTORY to choose from!

[TheRealBillc]

When I moved from California back to the East coast I had to ship my books. It turned out to be 2.5 tons. I knew then I had an addiction. Now I live in a 750 sq ft apartment and there is no way I could continue buying hundreds of dollars of physical books every month. With my Sony (and removable storage) I now can have all the books I want, without limit, and every one weighs less than 10 oz and comes in a leather cover. Plus I figure the number of free books (out of copyright) I read in the first month likely were worth at least as much as my reader, so that was a nice plus.

[penatus]

Reading books by PC monitor just hurt my eyes too much
It was too inconvenient to carry laptop just to read too!
Plus, I had too much ebooks and I wasn't reading them because of
two reasons above I'm reading more now than before~

[Lord Mountebank]

I dind't like the smell of books.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by TheRealBillc

When I moved from California back to the East coast I had to ship my books. It turned out to be 2.5 tons. I knew then I had an addiction. Now I live in a 750 sq ft apartment and there is no way I could continue buying hundreds of dollars of physical books every month. With my Sony (and removable storage) I now can have all the books I want, without limit, and every one weighs less than 10 oz and comes in a leather cover. Plus I figure the number of free books (out of copyright) I read in the first month likely were worth at least as much as my reader, so that was a nice plus.

OMG!!

[stsrep]

Business travel was my reasoning and I really disliked carrying more stuff like mass market paperbacks.
I have a Nook,WPDN,and a Book by Augen, which to me is a real POS.
I primarily carry the WPDN since it's been hacked into an Android laptop with lots of additional functions.
Reading on planes is much more enjoyable now.