Why are dedicated ebooks readers still popular?

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by leebase

Then again....I don't live in a cabin in the remote woods or desert where there is no electricity nearby.

I don't live in a cabin, but it's nice not to have to worry about tethering my reader to an electric outlet every day. I can ignore it for a month and just pick it up and start reading. My PocketBook HD3 is exceptional in this category. It was delivered on January 25th and I've charged it once since I've had it — and it's still at 76% capacity from that charge.

[ottischwenk]

Originally Posted by leebase

Then again....I don't live in a cabin in the remote woods or desert where there is no electricity nearby. I have read outside in the bright sunlight...don't understand why people say you can't.

I want to be able to read in all lighting conditions and I'm not so fond of myself that I have to admire my mirrored face while doing so.

Besides, my 2.45 cm 60g smartphone is not particularly well suited for looking at books; but it is excellent for making phone calls, as a mobile router and GPS+Beidou+Glonass receiver; for the other applications I also use specialists - e.g. a camera with viewfinder for taking photos or a black and white display device for reading black and white letterpress.

If someone thinks they can get by with a single device that is mediocre at best in all areas, that's their business too - it just amuses me when they brag about it.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by leebase

Wow - I did it. Read the whole thread. It was EXACTLY as expected. And for one of the rare times I was on the side of the eReader-Gang. There is zero reasons why anyone who like reading on an eReader should change just because reading on a phone or table is far superior to most people.

Hahaha

I kid. I kid. But really...I'm no more in favor of suggesting that eInk has no value than I am in saying that eInk is "what serious readers use" and other such poppy-cock.

When a Paperwhite quality Kindle comes out at $49, I'll buy one. I have other reasons to own a smart phone and a tablet, and I LOVE reading on either one. I like my iPad mini best for reading books.

Then again....I don't live in a cabin in the remote woods or desert where there is no electricity nearby. I have read outside in the bright sunlight...don't understand why people say you can't. BUT -- who wants to sit out in the bright sun and read? I'll mosey on over to the shade.

But that's me. If I was a beach reader away from home for weeks at a time, I'd likely get an eReader.

Just because I can read quite comfortably on today's amazing mobile screens...doesn't mean EVERYBODY can. Witness all the testimony here. But just because "You" can't, doesn't mean "no one" can.

Oddly, I read mostly on my iPad pro or iPad mini for years, but after getting a Kobo Forma a couple of months ago, I find myself mostly reading on that. Who knows, maybe it's just a change of pace and I'll switch back in a few months. Using the button to change pages just feels natural to me. Different strokes for different folks, as they say. Each reading platform has it's own strengths and weaknesses.

[leebase]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

I want to be able to read in all lighting conditions and I'm not so fond of myself that I have to admire my mirrored face while doing so.

Until lighted eInk readers came along, that was one of their big drawbacks, IMHO. I love how my phone and my tablet freed me from the tyranny of the lighting conditions in my house. I'm in dark and low light FAR FAR FAR more than I am in excessively bright light.

With my devices ability for color, I have really comfortable dark modes with JUST the right amount of contrast (not black on white or even white on black) to make reading super comfy.

Besides, my 2.45 cm 60g smartphone is not particularly well suited for looking at books

Horses for courses. While I do prefer my iPad mini, I have read plenty of books on my phone. Easy to hold, light weight, your eyes don't have to scan up and down pages. Sure, you tap to turn the page more often but that's not a big deal to me.

If someone thinks they can get by with a single device that is mediocre at best in all areas, that's their business too - it just amuses me when they brag about it.

OMG - the eInk snobbery here has a LONG way to go to be balanced by any phone/tablet snobbery.

So yes, I think the OP was out of line -- in the same way -- so very many eInk Uber Alles posts are.

Clearly, device preference is device preference. More power to the eInk lovers. I'm HAPPY that folks have a great way to read. I'd gladly take an eInk reader over a paper book any day.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

If someone thinks they can get by with a single device that is mediocre at best in all areas, that's their business too - it just amuses me when they brag about it.

Originally Posted by leebase

OMG - the eInk snobbery here has a LONG way to go to be balanced by any phone/tablet snobbery.

So yes, I think the OP was out of line -- in the same way -- so very many eInk Uber Alles posts are.

FWIW, I tend to agree with @ottisschwenk. Yes, I could try to use a single device for all purposes however I find having a laptop, iPad Pro and eInk ereader in my laptop bag plus an iPhone in my pocket is a much more flexible way to go. Do some of the device capabilities overlap? Yes. Would anyone want a toolbox with a single tool in it if they had any other choice? For me, the answer is a resounding NO!

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by DNSB

Would anyone want a toolbox with a single tool in it if they had any other choice? For me, the answer is a resounding NO!

If that single tool could do the job of every tool ever needed, then my answer is give me two of them, one for each hand (and throw away the toolbox).

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

If that single tool could do the job of every tool ever needed, then my answer is give me two of them, one for each hand (and throw away the toolbox).

Have you seen the Veg-O-Matic my friend? "It slices, it dices, it makes julienne fries!"

[ps67]

Because I simply can't read a book in a PC / tablet / phone ecc. I need a Eink screen.

About using a single device for all purposes it depends on how much that purposes are important for You: I spend many hours reading, I read whenever I can.

Instead I am not fond of photography and I almost never need to make a film so if I occasionally take a photo or a film I use the phone. And I also use the phone for many other things.

[Deskisamess]

I can and have read books on my iPhone and iPad mini. But only when the book I'm borrowing from the library is not available in Kindle format, and I'm forced to use the Overdrive app.

I much prefer reading in an e-ink device, especially in a dark bedroom. I can't comfortably read from any of my iDevices in a dark room for more than a few minutes, regardless of screen settings. My eyes just can't take it.

[hobnail]

I'd like to see a poll of preferences for screen size and e-ink versus lcd/led correlated with age. If they'd had them when I was a young man maybe I could have read books on a phone but now it would be extremely unpleasant and unworkable. I'm also curious about how/why for some of us the thing with light being emitted by the lcd/led screen is a non-starter; i.e., is that also age related.

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by hobnail

I'd like to see a poll of preferences for screen size and e-ink versus lcd/led correlated with age. If they'd had them when I was a young man maybe I could have read books on a phone but now it would be extremely unpleasant and unworkable. I'm also curious about how/why for some of us the thing with light being emitted by the lcd/led screen is a non-starter; i.e., is that also age related.

My vision is bad, and has been all my life, my script is 20/700 or so. I've worn glasses since I was 5-6. My eyes have always been sensitive to light also. Almost every picture of me as a child, taken outside facing the sun, has me squinting and trying to shield my eyes.

It also takes my eyes longer than normal to adjust after a flash etc. An ophthalmologist told me once that my pupils are smaller than normal...I've no idea if that has anything to do with it.

[cfrizz]

I've been reading on my pc monitors of various sizes since my 30's, I got my first ereader shortly after I found this forum in 2010 I was 49, got my first smart phone in 2013 the Samsung Note 2, I was 52, I loaded it up with all the ebooks that I had purchased and had been reading on my monitor and haven't looked back. My phone is always with me, it's lightweight, fits in any pocket I have and I can read for hours on end. I love all my gadgets that I am able to adjust the text and read on! If I happen to get insomnia, I pick up my Kobo and read in bed until I'm tired again.

I would think that people would think that having multiple choices for reading would be a good thing. Not something to get into a pissing contest over which one is better than the other.

[DiapDealer]

Been reading on lcd exclusively for years. Mid-fifties, slightly myopic.

[tomsem]

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

I much prefer reading in an e-ink device, especially in a dark bedroom. I can't comfortably read from any of my iDevices in a dark room for more than a few minutes, regardless of screen settings. My eyes just can't take it.

For me, the ‘dark bedroom’ scenario is not really comfortable for more than a few minutes, regardless of the screen. I used to do it more, because it seemed fun and exciting, but over time I have found it better for my eyes (and sleep habits) to do almost all of my reading at other times and places with better ambient light (and then either type of screen is fine).

The exception, of course, is ‘bright sunlight’. Here eInk is a clear favorite; I can even go without my glasses. But it can be unpleasant when too hot or too cold or too windy or rainy, so it isn’t something one can count on when some time for reading avails itself. I don’t have many opportunities myself.

[Sirtel]

Very myopic since early childhood and my eyes are light-sensitive too, but that's probably more because of my nocturnal lifestyle than any inherent weakness. I cannot read long novels on computers, tablets or phones. Articles are fine. I'm not quite fifty yet.

I got my first eink reader in 2011 and my first smartphone in 2012. My first tablet in 2016. So I never really got into habit of reading books on my phone or tablet, although I've done so in a pinch. But I don't like it at all. Before getting an ereader I read paper books exclusively. Now I read on paper very seldom. Just don't like it either anymore.

The reason I got an ereader was my small apartment. I just had no more room for paper books.