Why do you read ebooks?

[IvyRose]

Two reasons mainly:

1. Space. I don't have enough space to keep all my books and most of my friends don't have the same taste in books as I have.

2. Convenience: I am travelling quite a lot on bus and train, the ebook is quite good for my back (no heavy books in my bag ) and it's also easier to handle than a hardback of 1500 pages.

[Conor]

I'm reading a lot of books whose copyright had expired. The cost of second hand paper copies plus postage, would be much more than the cost of my Cybook.

[forcheville]

I'm usually reading two or three books at a time, depending on mood, and I move around between two homes, so, it's a no-brainer. Plus, I love being able to travel with a whole library in my pocket.

[captcrouton]

I live in Ukraine and it's hard to find English books. I also live in a soviet style apartment and storage space is at a premium. I'm on planes, trains, and automobiles all the time, often for 17+ hours at a time.

My Kindle changed my view of flight delays. (Yes! Two more hours to read!)

[m-reader]

Originally Posted by m-reader

It's easier on the knees
Being an incurable expat (moved house 12 times in last 10 years!), it's a major logistical nightmare to haul books from place to place.
In addition, you also have to consider the ecological benefits of saving some poor trees in the jungle of Borneo.
But mainly it's the convenience of not having to haul kg's of books around with me.

Some additional thoughts. Having 3 kids under 6 in the house both my wife and I are what you could label "opportunistic readers. This basically means stealing 5 minutes here and there to do a bit of reading. I also read at work during my breaks (and some very boring meetings). E-readers enable us to indulge our passion for reading regardless of the circumstances.

[lene1949]

In the past I have moved house many times... The hardest things to move was always my books...

Now I have a handfull of Folio books, and the rest I want to read I read on my e-reader.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by lene1949

Now I have a handfull of Folio books, and the rest I want to read I read on my e-reader.

I just bought a Folio ed. set of E.M. Forster's novels. Gorgeous quality. I'll still read the novels on my e-book reader, though, but some books it's nice to own in a physical incarnation, too.

[juanito]

Many many reasons.

The environmentalist in me likes the lack of paper.
The geek in me likes an excuse for another gadget.
The minimalist in me likes the lack of necessary storage space for books.
The practical part of me likes that its so easy to carry all my books around.

But I suppose the biggest reason was that of the minimalist. I moved into a 4th floor flat (with no lift) for 6 months. Moving my modest book collection was hell.

[emonti8384]

I stumbled across ebooks and ereaders almost accidently and I'm glad I did. I have been reading for a long time and am still so....I can't think of the word. Naive? With ebooks I have discovered authors I would never have thought twice about that I enjoy wholeheartedly. I re-read my books to the point that they get cucky from getting hauled all over the place. I have found that when I have extra extra money I will buy the ebook version of a pbook that I have and then donate my pbooks to the library. I love my reader and what its capable of, the convienence of it, and the portability. That doesn't mean I don't still love to read pbooks-I do. But ebooks are my number one choice to read

[sherya mathur]

i read books .because without using books we can not do any thing .if there are not any type of human resource the we need books.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Because carrying around multiple books is a pain.

Well, yeah, but you can only read one at a time.

[Ben Thornton]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Well, yeah, but you can only read one at a time.

I only point my eyes at one book at a time, but I'm usually in the process of reading half a dozen. It's great to have all those in one "book". Not to mention the benefits from access to reference books etc.