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

[leebase]

I discovered that my iPhone would work wonderfully as an eReader when I read my first free kindle book. Not liking reading on a computer and not thinking the size of the iPhone would lend itself to book reading -- I was VERY surprised to find out how great a reading experience it was.

I bought my iPad for other reasons, but it too is a fantastic device for reading not only books, but newspapers, magazines, comics and the web.

Easy access to free and commercial books. I bought a book last night at 1am while reading a web site in bed on my iPad. The article mentioned a book, I went to the iBookstore, and bought the book instantly for $9.99 (my first iBook purchase, previously I'd only bought from Amazon, Baen or Fictionwise).

The Baen Free Library and the collection of free sci fi Baen books at The Fifth Imperium also deserves to be mentioned. Great sci fi -- free.

Lee

[DMB]

As for most people, the two deciders for me are space and weight. And I have physical problems with big, heavy hardbacks anyway. I just wish that everything I want to read could be found in ebook format and I wish even more that there were no geographical restrictions.

[LDBoblo]

I don't want to keep a shelf full of fiction books that I only read once or twice. I move too often and live in small apartments. I also live in a country that doesn't have an enormous market for books in my native language. I've been attracted to the concept of portable device ebook reading since I first picked up a Nintendo Game Boy. Netbook lacked a comfortable handholding design for reading, phones were a bit small, and neither had fantastic battery life.

The Sony I got isn't good ergonomically, has awful software, and I don't like the E-Ink screen, but the battery life is outstanding and the device is thin enough to drop into my bag easily.

The Pearl-generation devices might get me to upgrade, though I still hope for a much better solution in the future. The concept of ebook reading however remains something that appeals to me strongly and I will continue to support, with reservations.

[Worldwalker]

I wanted to read Project Gutenberg in bed.

I now also read MR in bed, ManyBooks in bed, etc.

P.S. To fix the Sony software problem, get calibre.

[Maggie Leung]

Portability.

[mrscoach]

Initially I wanted one to read my college textbooks on, since reading on the computer was killing my eyes. Haven't found the device yet that will allow passworded PDFs from my school, but I became interested in something for my pleasure reading, even though I really don't have time to do that.

I'm hooked, now. I seriously want the new Kindle Wifi. I'm working a job right now with a lot of down time and I have blown through my library on my 300, and would love to browse and get the freebies on Amazon. I find I like their selection of freebies more, anyway. (Doesn't this seriously sound like I'm trying to justify buying a new reader, when I just got my 300 in April? LOL)

[LDBoblo]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

P.S. To fix the Sony software problem, get calibre.

I was referring to the device, not the management software. I wouldn't use any of those programs, including Calibre, unless paid handsomely to do so. I just stick with making PDFs to get around some of the limitations of my old reader (and from the looks of the new devices, those as well).

[Latinandgreek]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

Living in a place where almost no English books are sold, my main reason was easy availability of books and newspapers from other countries. Apart from the fact that it saves me a ton of money on shipping and avoid paying for the classics.

Ditto for me. I also had tons of downloaded journal articles, and my school reading material consists mainly of pubic domain books (classics of Greek and Latin literature), so my reader really paid itself off quickly for me. I didn't expect to like it so much when I bought it, now I find reading paper books something of a chore!

[bevdeforges]

Another vote for "living in an area where English language books are difficult and/or expensive to get." I used to go nuts in the bookstores when I was visiting back in the US and haul home a suitcase packed with books (and other goodies) a couple of times a year.

I'm now not going back to the US as often, and with the luggage restrictions getting tighter, figured why load up on books I have no room to store any more? Didn't need the temptation to impulse buy via 3G, nor the distraction of wifi - and honestly, I'm fairly serious about reading what I want to read by getting around the geo restrictions however I can. So I ultimately went with a Sony and Calibre to download the newspapers and magazines I'd normally read online.

[Emmaleigh]

The main reason why I have an e-reader is because due to my health I couldn't go to the library or book store for quite some time. My sweet sister took pity on me and sent the nook...the rest is history.

Now, my husband and daughters want one for Christmas. And so it begins...

[Ziguezon]

I was going crazy knowing that all the great classics of literature were available for free, yet there was nothing I could do about it, as reading them on a computer monitor was completely out of the question.

I was very hesitant about buying an expensive ebook reader just for reading public domain books, but then I calculated that if I read 15 free books per year, for which I would have normally paid an average of $8 per book, then my reader would be paid off in just over 2 years. Not bad!

[yakuzaboss]

Portability is my main reason for looking to buy an e-reader. Just being able to having access to a multitude of books to choose from is very attractive to me. Another reason is to save on bookshelf space. Since my girlfriend and I are both avid readers we have quickly run out of space. Our bookshelf has rapidly grown over the years and now we have a small library which was once a guestroom.

[shanghaichica]

A few reasons

1) Space
2) I like the idea of having hundreds to thousands of books on my device and hence in my hand at any given time to select from
3) More portable than carrying around books/ useful for travelling as it saves space/weight of several books
4) It saves my book marks in multiple books
5) easier to hold and read than a physical book
6) can read whilst doing other things like eating dinner, washing up etc
7) Can buy books instantly and dont have to go to the shops/wait for them to be delivered
9) Being able to orgnaise my books into collections.


Things that came later:

1) Abillity to highlight and makes notes and store them in an organised way for future reference
2) Dictionary at hand to use whilst reading

3) Being able to search through the book for phrases and jump straight to particular sections.

[SeaBookGuy]

Library books -- mine has cut back on print copies, so that some books have very long queues (months!), but some of those are available as e-books, with one or two holds at most.

[Worldwalker]

Originally Posted by LDBoblo

I was referring to the device, not the management software. I wouldn't use any of those programs, including Calibre, unless paid handsomely to do so. I just stick with making PDFs to get around some of the limitations of my old reader (and from the looks of the new devices, those as well).

Ah, you mentioned "has awful software" so I assumed the software was an issue.

I wouldn't read a PDF on a Sony 505 unless I had no other choice -- I much prefer epubs, and calibre to manage them -- but to each his own. The one thing that may someday drive me to a newer device is the PDF issue. I recently had the joy(?) of sitting in a car in the rain in Pennsylvania trying to read very tiny, un-resizeable print of a picture of a diagnostic chart for my car, which is heavily influencing that decision (also a decision to carry more umbrellas). Zoom was looking pretty good at that point.