Covers Redux, or: You Don’t Really Need One

[issybird]

The following article showed up in my feed and it did make me snicker a little:

8 Reasons You Don’t Need a Case-Cover for Your E-Reader

Some of it’s flat-out wrong (there are plenty of aftermarket Kobo covers), some of it’s debatable, but some points seemed unassailably right to me.

Among the last, ereader covers are ridiculously expensive. It’s against my religion to spend more than $10 on a cover; however, if you wait and watch and aren’t too picky, it can be achieved. The prices on OEM covers are extortionate, a ridiculously high percentage of the price of the device itself.

I also think the author is probably right that the danger of droppage is inflated. I’d probably say that the reader is more at risk from having something dropped onto it, but a cover does protect from that also.

I certainly think it’s true that the cover just adds weight while reading and I’d be happier without it, but it’s too much work to be constantly popping the reader into and out of the cover. So if it doesn’t serve a real purpose, why bother?

Most interesting to me is the idea that covers were intended to mimic the experience of reading paper and why? I do think there’s something in that. I think that was one reason for the popularity of Noreve covers, as one example. Hugely expensive, heavy enough to offset an inherent advantage of ereaders, and as also mentioned, entirely not fungible when someone upgraded, they were intended to invoke that sense of luxury book editions and not the straphanger who’s killing a commute. Are people over them by now?

Anyway. My ereaders all have covers and I’ll continue to buy them for out-and-about readers, just because it’s easier than dealing with a sleeve (subject, of course, to my $10 limit). But for an in-house reader? I think I’m done.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by issybird

I also think the author is probably right that the danger of droppage is inflated. I’d probably say that the reader is more at risk from having something dropped onto it, but a cover does protect from that also.

For me, it's not about dropping my reader (though I have dropped all of them at least once). Instead, I carry my readers in my Timbuk2 messenger bag along with whatever else I might be bringing (wallet, keys, Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator) and just don't want to scratch he screen or have something shatter the oft discussed fragile glass substrate.

I certainly think it’s true that the cover just adds weight while reading and I’d be happier without it, but it’s too much work to be constantly popping the reader into and out of the cover.

I use the slimshell covers. Whatever weight they add is pretty minimal. Especially considering what a butterfingers I have already said I am.

So if it doesn’t serve a real purpose, why bother?

See above.

Most interesting to me is the idea that covers were intended to mimic the experience of reading paper and why? I do think there’s something in that.

I think that is looking at things backwards. People buy cases for their readers to protect the screen, which we have been told repeatedly is fragile. The most popular form is the hinge on the side. Yes, I wish they instead went with a roll-up blind, where you pull down, release and the cover rolls up. But that was impractical

I think that was one reason for the popularity of Noreve covers, as one example. Hugely expensive, heavy enough to offset an inherent advantage of ereaders, and as also mentioned, entirely not fungible when someone upgraded, they were intended to invoke that sense of luxury book editions and not the straphanger who’s killing a commute. Are people over them by now?

People spend money on overly engineered nonsense all the time. Noreve's home screen doesn't show a single ereader case. It is all phones.

They make cases for Kindles. But they also make cases for phones, tablets, laptops, MP3 players, etc. Do people want their iPod case to evoke a luxury book?

[DiapDealer]

None of my devices (eink or tablet) have a cover. I slap a velcro square on the back and use it with a removable hand strap, or some times I just put a collapsible popsocket on them (especially if it's a smaller device).

I only need to securely/comfortably hold my reading devices, not "close" them.

I've yet to break a screen on probably 15+ devices since my PalmPilot days (phones, tablets, eink devices, pdas).

[JSWolf]

I have to disagree with some of the points made.

Reading is one of the safest activities
Yes reading is safe, but you are done reading for now and you put your reader down near where you are reading and it may not be your normal place you keep your reader. Someone could put something on it not noticing. You could be reading in bed and fall asleep while reading. So you close the cover and go to put it on the night table and miss and it lands on the floor.

Case covers are annoyingly expensive
They can be expensive, but they don't have to be.

A dedicated cover can serve only one e-reader model
And so? It's the same thing for your phone in most cases.

There are not enough dedicated covers for most e-reader models
You only need one cover that you like your Reader.

No cover will make an e-reader feel like a print book
pBooks these days no longer feel the same. MMPBs are a dying breed and the awful trade paperbacks are taking over.

A cover doesn’t increase the comfort of reading
I do find a cover can make the Reader nicer to hold.

There are alternatives that can solve similar problems
I cannot stand sleeves.
I cannot stand hand straps.
A stand won't work were I read most of the time.
A pillow stand will just get in the way and make reading less comfortable.

A case cover is a limitation
Nope.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Reading is one of the safest activities

Don't tell that to this lady!

[DiapDealer]

So Jon recommends using a cover. Who'd've seen that coming?

[John F]

I used to use a cover begore frontlights became a thing; it would give me something to attach a booklight to. I haven't used a cover since I've been using frontlit ereaders.

[graycyn]

All I can say is that I find a cover essential.

And not just any old dang cover, it has GOT to feel nice in my hands! A cover that has sharp or non-rolled edges or some metal piece that magnetically CLACKS closed LOUDLY, or is hard to open easily, will *NOT* do.

I read a lot. More than most. It is my main form of entertainment.

I value comfort. I don't find readers comfortable to hold by themselves with no cover. I've owned some eleven models by four different manufacturers over the years, I preferred the feel of having each and every one in a cover. I've *tried* to like the feel sans cover, but I *never* do.

I whip out my reader at any point I'm standing in line somewhere. I sometimes walk around the house reading. My reader goes with me MOST of the time when I go out!

The third-party exceptions were the fancy Oberon leather cover I got for my Nook and then for my Sony 950. They were beautiful and MORE expensive than a manufacturer cover! I had a Fintie cover that actually was quite pleasing for my Kindle Voyage. But every other third party cover I've bought for a reader has been a disappointment and ended up discarded or given away.

I have liked all the official covers I've bought. And they have lasted well. Often, I ended up buying several cheap covers trying to find one I could stand. It's cheaper for me to just pony up for the official cover in the first place!

I'm old, I'm fussy, life's short! Now, if I ever buy an official cover and hate it, I'd return, they are too pricey to do otherwise! But the need has yet to occur.

[DuskyRose]

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

I think that is looking at things backwards. People buy cases for their readers to protect the screen, which we have been told repeatedly is fragile.

Yeah, I've had eReaders for years, and haven't broken, cracked, or scratched a screen yet. Because they've almost all had a cover. (Except for the Rocket eBook reader, which I don't think had a cover anyway. But a washcloth over the screen was helpful.) I don't mind tossing them into my purse when they're in a cover. They'd be in mortal danger if they weren't.

And I hate the sleeves as well. Easier just to flip the cover open. And I don't think people buy covers to mimic a paper book. It's to protect an expensive product.

Now, I just have a popsocket on the back of my paperwhite, and no cover, but it's not what I throw in my purse, my backpack, or my suitcase when I travel. My Onyx Nova2 has a cover, that also holds the pencil.

I figure I can get a cheap paperwhite if I goof and it slides off the stand and falls into the sink like the Onyx did. (not a scratch!)But I'm not going to want to replace the others because I have butterfingers, and a scratched up screen was driving me crazy.

[JSWolf]

One other reason for a cover is auto-sleep/wake.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by issybird

The following article showed up in my feed and it did make me snicker a little:

8 Reasons You Don’t Need a Case-Cover for Your E-Reader

Some of it’s flat-out wrong (there are plenty of aftermarket Kobo covers), some of it’s debatable, but some points seemed unassailably right to me.

Among the last, ereader covers are ridiculously expensive. It’s against my religion to spend more than $10 on a cover; however, if you wait and watch and aren’t too picky, it can be achieved. The prices on OEM covers are extortionate, a ridiculously high percentage of the price of the device itself.
…
but it’s too much work to be constantly popping the reader into and out of the cover. So if it doesn’t serve a real purpose, why bother?
…

I've seen 3rd party covers in the supermarket for Apple stuff at €50 and no better quality than the phone cover in same supermarket for my Alcatel at €8, or Trust brand generic 10" covers I've bought for 3 makes of 10" Tablet (only one was mine) and works on DXG too at €10.

I've bought cheap 3rd party covers online at same time for Kindle PW3, Kobo H2O original and Libra original. If I'm going to read in bed or for a long time I pop the Libra out of the cover; it pops out easily.
The Elipsa came with a cover and pen. Buying the power cover and pen for the Sage are so expensive at the time (both have reduced a bit) even online that it would have made the Sage nearly the same price as the Elipsa.

I'd only take the Sage out to my daughters house at same time as Libra, either in a messenger bag I have or in the laptop bag. I proof read on the Libra and use the Sage for additional notes not suitable as annotations. Most reading for pleasure is on the Sage. Since I got the Sage I now only use the big Elipsa for PDFs too big even with KOReader cropping or pre-crop using ImageMagick on anything else. Though I don't have KOReader on the Sage yet.

I think it depends on your usage if a cover is important. The wake/sleep is handy and allows Kobo power button to do screenshots (or it did, not tried it lately).

I hollowed out an A6 notebook as a cover for the 5" Sony PRS-350; I think it has a clip on hinged cover but I've never seen it. I'd not put an ereader in my pocket or a backpack without a cover. I'd only take the 5" Sony or 7" Libra out in my pocket. I occasionally loan out my original H2O in its cover to local people wanting to comment on a copy of a draft of a book, but most of those people have their own ereader, or prefer a phone in odd spare moments.

[cfrizz]

I always go on Amazon and buy a cover for my readers, tablet and phones. They are too slippery without a cover and cost too much money to risk having it break in whatever accident.

The same goes for my phones, I have a solid multipurpose cover for them, I have dropped my phone outside a few times, and it survived unscathed. Even the phones I use as mp3 players have a case on them to prevent them from slipping out of my hand.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by issybird

The following article showed up in my feed and it did make me snicker a little:

8 Reasons You Don’t Need a Case-Cover for Your E-Reader

I'm snickering, too. From the piece:

If you are looking for protection – choose a sleeve. [..]
If you want to securely hold the e-reader – choose a detachable hand strap. [...]
If you want to bring the e-reader to an eye level – choose a stand. [...]
If you want to comfortably read in bed – choose a pillow stand.

So now I need four bits of gear instead of just one?

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by meeera

I'm snickering, too. From the piece:

So now I need four bits of gear instead of just one?

Yes, nonsense.
Sleeves are awkward and some give only scratch protection.
You only need a stand for either use as recipe book or for recording narration which needs onboard buttons.
Detachable hand straps have been options on pocket radios and cameras since maybe mid 1960s. IMO horrible & useless. Who even sells them for an ereader?
Reading in bed? My dad died last year nearly 91. He'd read in bed for about 85 years. You rotate the two pillows, though he'd lately been reading under the bedcloths using the Kindle front light. Though a snob for fancy editions he took to the Kindle PW3 in his 80s.
People have been reading in bed for maybe 5,000 years. Candles and rushlights are pretty awkward. I tried. You need a serious candle or oil lamp. My dad didn't live in a house with electricity till he was about seven.

[Catlady]

I rarely read on my Kindle, but I do use a cover with it. A sleeve would be OK to protect it from scratches when I just throw it in my purse, but the cover does that while also making the reader easier to hold, and I do like the sense of opening the cover as if I were opening a real book.