What's the other (secret) reason you bought your ereader?

[GraceKrispy]

I bought an ereader to replace the damaged ereader originally gifted by my husband so he could stop "carrying a thousand library books around" for me. So I never bought my original ereader, and I didn't even want it once I got it.

[odiakkoh]

It's easier to keep a 2 yr old from 1 ereader than it is to keep him away from your whole library. I lost one of my favorites to cat poop yesterday *cries*

[teadonkey]

I wanted one because I read a whole heck of a lot, and it's just easier. Also I hate holding open paperback books. It hurts my hands - I have pretty small hands with short fingers.

[anamardoll]

The excuse.

1. Physical: I love to read, but I can't easily pick up and carry my books anymore. After a road trip where I literally had an entire suitcase devoted to books and my husband had to carry them everywhere for me, I decided we needed a change.

The reason.

2. Space issues: Six floor-to-ceiling bookcases and no end in sight. I love having all my books available, but HATE having to move them from house to house. I don't lend them out and there's no visitors to impress; they just collect dust on the shelves.

The real reason.

3. Addiction: I can take an eReader with me ANYWHERE. Little PocketBook 360 fits in my purse. TrendyDigital means that baths and pool trips needn't stop me from reading. Stuck in line? At the post office? In traffic backed up for 80 miles in either direction? READ!

[captkjaneway]

Gadget geek, too many paperbacks but honestly.............able to read smut with no-one realising

[CazMar]

Back in 1995 I had a Casio Cassiopeia, and one of its many uses was to read books (in txt format). I loved it and had literally been waiting all those years to get another ebook reader. Of course, with e-ink screens and improved software it is much better, but I look back fondly on my first "e-book reader".
And of course I will happily admit to a gadget addiction!

[crich70]

I think I had several reasons. I like to read, and getting the occasional free book that I can read without being tied to a desktop or even a netbook computer is a plus, as is the lack of eye strain that LCD screens give you after a while. Reading whatever I want without anyone knowing what I'm reading might be a plus too. And I like gadgets that I can use anywhere. I hadn't thought of pbooks being 14th century tech til I read the OP's posting. lol. Carrying as many books as I want in the palm of my hand is a definite plus though too.

[taosaur]

I got converted to e-books over p-books when I had a netbook, actually, which was a quite serviceable reader in form factor (for a big mammal like me) and screen dynamics (great matte finish, handy brightness controls). My reasons weren't secret, guilty, or otherwise odd, though a degree of minimalism certainly played into it. P-books are heavy, voluminous, and take time to acquire. E-books are easier to carry, maintain, find, and certainly easier to move. I also found e-reading more immersive, as both the time and motions required to refresh a LCD screen are less than turning pages, and I could set font and column width (via margins) to my own ideal standard.

Both as po' folk and as someone who prefers fewer gadgets to more, I couldn't justify a dedicated e-reader, particularly when most were $200+. I also found I liked a backlit LCD for night reading, which is most of my reading, as well as the fast refresh and overall flexibility. I said then that e-books would really explode when we saw more "convergence devices" on the market, with the form factor of an e-reader and the capabilities of a smartphone. Well, if you look to the left, you'll see I have a Nook Color

I guess my not-so-secret reasons for finally buying something marketed as an e-reader were the Swiss-army-knife factor and the hackability of this particular device. Having a capable and comfortable reading device really was my priority, but I would still have gone for something like a netbook if the new tablets, and particularly this reading-optimized tablet, weren't available. In addition to being broadly media-capable and having actual games, the NC is a great platform for playing with Android itself, with the extensive modding community and the flexibility of the hardware configuration.

With the faster refresh, longer battery life, and more robust OSes and hardware of the newest models, e-ink readers are just now reaching a bang-to-buck ratio where I would consider one, but even the new Nook Touch wouldn't be as much fun to tinker with as my NC. It's like the Honda Civic of the tablet world--"Ima drop that six inches and put on a rear spoiler, because I can."

[witeowl]

1) I love gadgets.
2) Two of my students got Kindles. I got green with envy, so then I got a pink Sony ereader. Green and pink are apparently complementary colors.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by ilovejedd

+1. Except now, I've had other people wanting to look at my reader so I always have Shakespeare or some bestseller to switch to so they don't get scandalized.

I use Peter Pan; everyone recognizes it, and the one I've got has a nice cover so people can say "ooooh, that looks just like a book!"

I think half the reason I wanted to switch from the Sony to the Astak is to get better navigation speed so that when strangers on the train ask me, "whazzat? Izzit a Kindle?" I've got time to switch away from the page full of words that I really don't want anyone reading over my shoulder.

[DMB]

I have to say that I first decided I wanted a portable device to read ebooks purely for reasons of space and because I was fed up with carrying loads of books around. So for a while I hesitated, trying to work out whether to get a Sony or a Kindle. Then the iPad was launched and I was briefly attracted by its range of features but put off by the price. I also decided it was probably too heavy for me to read comfortably. Then Amazon launched the K3 and that made up my mind. It was relatively cheap and I already bought most of my books from Amazon, so it was a good solution. I am still attracted to the iPad because it would be good for reading magazines (among other things). But I am still put off by the price and also by Apple's attitudes.

[astra]

1. Portability.
2. Save money.
3. Space limitation.

[kacir]

Originally Posted by CazMar

Back in 1995 I had a Casio Cassiopeia, and one of its many uses was to read books (in txt format).

Casio Cassiopeia A-11 was my first "real" e-book reader. Before that I was using various obsolete notebooks.
By the time I have got my hands on Cassiopeia it was hopelessly obsolete, and about the only thing you could do with it was reading books. Which is why I got it so cheap.

The reason to begin with reading e-books (first at CRT monitor, later on obsolete notebooks) was that books in English are difficult to get and expensive in my corner of the world. I simply ran out of paper reading material in English.

[Sweetpea]

So few people wanting to admit that it is simply an awesome gadget to have...

[astra]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

So few people wanting to admit that it is simply an awesome gadget to have...

I never buy a gadget only for the gadget sake. I am not rich enough and will never be