Is it just me, or are e-readers not for everyone?

[scrappy_dude]

The two main advantage for me:
1. Changing the font size so I can read with or without my glasses as the mood suits me.

2. Having a lot of books loaded into the ereader at the same time. I usually reading several different books at the same time. Maybe a mix of crime/mystery, romance, spy thriller as well as a couple of non-fiction books. I just open up whatever I'm in the mood for. All the books are bookmarked.

Also, even though you don't travel, it was always frustrating for me to be on an airplane and finish a book and not having another to start. No problem with the ereader. Only advantage a book has on an airplane is you can continue reading a book during takeoff and landings. To get around this, when I have to put away my ereader, I just get out a magazine I bring along to read.

[suelange]

Originally Posted by scrappy_dude

The two main advantage for me:
it was always frustrating for me to be on an airplane and finish a book and not having another to start.

Also, since there are so many restrictions on luggage now, it's hard to bring along a lot books. With an ereader, you can bring along an infinite number almost without adding any weight to your luggage.

Yay.

[Apache]

Originally Posted by suelange

Also, since there are so many restrictions on luggage now, it's hard to bring along a lot books. With an ereader, you can bring along an infinite number almost without adding any weight to your luggage.

Yay.

I used to travel for a living in the 1980's and I traveled with a lot of books. My luggage was always stuffed and overflowing with books. I would hate to have to do that now. Back then no one ever weighted your luggage and charged you for it. You also got 3 pieces of luggage and 2 carry ons. Those days are gone. If I have to travel now I ship my suitcases via UPS to where I am going. No hassles and no waiting for the the luggage to be off loaded.
Apache

[catsittingstill]

I guess my answer would be that an e-book reader is a wonderful solution to a lot of problems you mostly don't have.

Unlike many people here, I wanted one from the moment I heard of them. I *do* keep books--my husband and I put together have about four thousand of them, and after we moved three times in two years, books that weigh nothing and take no space took on a whole new importance for me. We live a fair distance from the nearest major bookstore (if I wanted secondhand romances and Christian books I would totally be covered, but I don't) so the ability to buy from Amazon and have it in my hands in under a minute is a big plus.

And my kindle is a big help to me in, of all things, songwriting. I can write out all the rhymes for a given word myself, of course, muttering my way through the alphabet, but a rhyming dictionary is faster and I just search on the word I want to rhyme. I can think up a lot of alternatives for a given word myself, but a thesaurus is faster and I just search on the word I want to change. I often end up writing while away from home (long story), so it's nice I don't have to shove two more books into an overflowing bag.

Since you don't keep your books, are not running out of space for them, travel rarely and content yourself with one book when you do, and live near a well stocked library (I'm very happy for you and wish I enjoyed the same happy state) the only things I can think of that you might like about e-book readers are the ability to change font sizes and the ability to quickly search all your books for a particular word or phrase. And you might like the rapid dictionary look-up, I suppose.

Which doesn't seem like much to lure your reader-buying dollar. So your thought that you are better off with paper seems reasonable to me.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

I guess my answer would be that an e-book reader is a wonderful solution to a lot of problems you mostly don't have.

lol, perfectly put!

[caleb72]

Might as well chime in as I love having an opportunity to talk about me.

I wasn't that enthusiastic about getting a Kindle (or similar) and finally made the decision after building my own home and deciding that I wanted my library to be confined to the library (aka spare room). With two of us loving to purchase new books I could see a problem coming up that I didn't want to deal with. So I took the plunge.

Now this was the original driver, but it is not why I love eReading so much as it turns out:

- I have become exposed to hundreds and hundreds or authors I would never have found in the paper realm, independent authors with talent but no publishing deal to put their books on the shelves of bookstores or libraries.

- I have found that although I can read books with smaller print, having the control over font size is an amazing benefit that I never even considered previously. I now read with a font size that is comfortable to me and not chosen by someone else.

- The fact that I can take my Kindle anywhere with several books on it is absolutely marvellous. As long as I have a wifi hotspot I can connect to (admittedly not great here), I can download my books from Dropbox if I need to which is nice.

- I found that I could buy many more books for the money.

- Getting involved in eReading actually got me involved in communities such as this one. I had never turned my reading into much of a social activity before and there is some appeal in being able to discuss books with people has become quite enjoyable. This is not specific to ebooks of course, but just something that opened itself to me because of my purchase of an eReader.

Since I purchased my Kindle my interest in reading actually increased (and I loved reading beforehand).

I'm not saying these are THE reasons to get into eReading. Some people like reading paper books and are content and that sounds fine to me. But these are some aspects of eReading that have appealed to me over time.

One thing that I've found interesting in this transition is that when talking to people who don't want to move to eReading. Suddenly I hear about the "smell of a book". I swear to God I've never heard anyone ever extolling the virtues of a book's smell until I've heard people defending paperbacks/hardbacks against eReaders. Suddenly, a whole element of reading paperbacks has surfaced that I'd never even noticed myself after years and years of reading.

I guess everyone's different, but it's one of the pro-paperback arguments I've heard that I hadn't really anticipated.

[Richey79]

I know everybody's pockets are a different depth, but at the price ereaders are now, there's no way it'll languish in a drawer if you've been a reader for fifty years.

Even if you decide you still prefer print books, you're going to find it useful to leave that ereader in your car's glove compartment or to take to read in the Doctor's waiting room. You will love Gutenberg.

Considering what they used to cost, we're so lucky to have a range of affordable ereaders now.

[Terisa de morgan]

Well, no, they aren't for everyone, as most of the things. Why should they be? For me, they're only another mean for what I'm really interested in: reading. Do I like it? Yes, a lot, as I don't enjoy paper books anymore. Do I recommend to everybody? No.

[Grimm]

While it is indeed very easy to throw a book in a suitcase, it really is crappy when you get where you're going, start reading and realize the book sucks. E-readers allow me to carry thousands of books at once.

[Apache]

And think of all the trees that will be saved because of ebooks.
Apache

[1611mac]

Originally Posted by Apache

And think of all the trees that will be saved because of ebooks.
Apache

And think of all the old eReaders in landfills as people buy the latest and greatest.

[Vivian]

Well dgm, I don't think it would be a good idea for anybody to buy you an e-reader for Christmas, but you might want to try somebody else's e-reader if you get a chance. Keep in mind that having an e-reader doesn't mean turning your back on paper books. It means you have more options.

Originally Posted by dgm

Second, I live 3 minutes from an excellent public library.

Do you know you can download public-domain classics for free?

Originally Posted by dgm

Third, I have no interest in multimedia - I virtually never watch movies and would never download video or music to a tablet device.

Not all e-readers have multimedia features. Some have black and white screens and are strictly for reading books.

Originally Posted by dgm

Eighth, I don't travel much and have no particular reason to have a mobile device. It's not that hard to throw a book into a suitcase.

Depends on the book. A 500-plus page paperback would leave little room in your suitcase for anything else. (This describes the Roald Dahl bio I'm currently reading. If I were to fall asleep while lying on my back reading this book, I could hurt myself.) With an e-reader, you can carry around multiple books and they don't weigh more or take up more space than a mass-market paperback.

Originally Posted by dgm

I'm heavily involved in information technology as a senior software developer - maybe on my off-hours I just don't want to stare at a screen...

I was a developer at my last job too. For the reason you mention, I like the e-ink screen. Not backlit, so no eye strain.

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by caleb72

...One thing that I've found interesting in this transition is that when talking to people who don't want to move to eReading. Suddenly I hear about the "smell of a book". I swear to God I've never heard anyone ever extolling the virtues of a book's smell until I've heard people defending paperbacks/hardbacks against eReaders. Suddenly, a whole element of reading paperbacks has surfaced that I'd never even noticed myself after years and years of reading.

I guess everyone's different, but it's one of the pro-paperback arguments I've heard that I hadn't really anticipated.

And I will just bet until ereaders came into being all these book sniffers never noticed how a book smelled in their lives!

They just make up anything that comes into their heads to justify not wanting to changing their habits.

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by cfrizz

And I will just bet until ereaders came into being all these book sniffers never noticed how a book smelled in their lives!

They just make up anything that comes into their heads to justify not wanting to changing their habits.

I have to admit, I've always been a book sniffer myself

[1611mac]

One thing you CAN do with a paper book that you can't do with a eReader..... use it for emergency TP while camping or traveling....