Oh no! The phone's winning...

[Katsunami]

Allow me to explain...

I've always said I'd be using an e-reader instead of a phone, because of one thing: the fact that an e-reader is readable in bright sunlight. Still, I've been reading on my phone for the last couple of days.

Why?

Currently, my commute to work is very short compared to what I am used to; only 45 minutes from the moment I leave the house until I'm at my desk. It is divided up like this:

- Walk: 2 minutes, almost no waiting time.
- Travel by bus: 10 minutes-
- Wait for train: 8 minutes.
- Travel by train: 20 minutes
- Walk: 5 minutes.

I've noticed that for the short stretches, I was much more inclined to read some news on my phone as compared to picking up my e-reader. Therefore I've tried Moon+ (and later bought the Moon+ Pro version), and indeed, now I'm reading a book during the short intervals as well. Even when waiting for some short time, like an oven dish being baked for 20 minutes, I read a book because I carry my phone around in my pocket, which I don't do with the e-reader. In short, the chance of having my phone with me is almost 100%, while in case of the e-reader, I explicitly have to bring it.

Like they say in photography: the best camera is the one you have with you.

With regard to reading in bright sunlight, the phone (a Nokia 6, 2018 model) can cope with everything up until now, except when the sun is shining straight at the screen. The battery is so powerful (or the phone so economical) that I have never been able to deplete it in a single day.

Also, I like the night mode a lot. Sometimes, when there isn't enough ambient light, it becomes impossible to read using a front-lighted e-reader. It's just too bright, and when dimming it down to 1-2% or so, contrast becomes so low it's hard to read. With the phone, I've set the background to pure black and the letters to a dark orange, and I can read in complete darkness. I think that's going to be very convenient when I'm at my girlfriend's place. Often, I wish to read for another hour, sometimes longer, while she already sleeps. Then I have two choices:

1. Read in the living room and wake her up when I get to bed.
2. Read in bed in complete darkness using either the e-reader or a phone.

I don't like to wake her up unnecessarily. As said, a front-lit e-reader doesn't work for me in complete darkness. (I use the front-light to make the e-reader screen brighter, blending the front-light with the ambient.) The phone does seem to work.

Surprisingly, I actually like the narrow screen of the phone as compared to the KA1. I hadn't expected that.

So as of yet, it looks like the phone is starting to overtake the e-reader, even for me, just because:

- I read more (which I can actually determine from the stats in Moon+)
- I have it with me at all times
- It functions in some cases, where the e-reader doesn't (ver dim/dark surroundings)
- Its greatest disadvantages, bright sunlight and shorter battery life, seem to have been mitigated to a great extent. The screen is readable in every but the most extreme sunlight, and I've never been able to run the battery to ground as of yet. With light usage and a lot of reading, it still lasts me two days.

If I encounter no great disadvantages in the near future, it might be R.I.P. e-reader...

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

If I encounter no great disadvantages in the near future, it might be R.I.P. e-reader...

Let the task define the tool.
Whether ereader or phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop they're just tools.
No rational soul would object to anything that lets you maximize your reading.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

If I encounter no great disadvantages in the near future, it might be R.I.P. e-reader...

Not going to be an issue for me. I like my eInk eReaders too much. And reading on my phone or tablet ... meh.

(Of course, I'm usually reading at home — or, when I know I'm going to have time to read somewhere while waiting. I drive, so reading while commuting is not an option. My feelings might be different otherwise.)

[4691mls]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Not going to be an issue for me. I like my eInk eReaders too much. And reading on my phone or tablet ... meh.

(Of course, I'm usually reading at home — or, when I know I'm going to have time to read somewhere while waiting. I drive, so reading while commuting is not an option. My feelings might be different otherwise.)

Ditto. I think I'm following you around tonight agreeing with you - this is my second "me too" post after you

[ZGottlieb]

I have a flip phone for it's nostalgia and I tell people that I don't want a phone smarter than me. But I read ebooks on my ipod. Its easy to carry, even though its a second device and its easy to use literally anyplace.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Not going to be an issue for me. I like my eInk eReaders too much. And reading on my phone or tablet ... meh.

Yep, me too. I have a pretty good phone, but I still don't like to read on it. Of course, I always read at home and never in the dark. I just can't concentrate on a book when I'm out and about. If I'm waiting somewhere, I usually browse the news, not read a novel. I need peace and quiet for that.

[Atunah]

Reading is reading. How you consume the words is just the tool, like someone else said I think.
I can't read on my phone, or tablet. Just can't do it. I can look up some stuff on my phone, play games on my tablets, but reading is not an option.

I also never remember where the heck my phone is. I don't have pockets in everything I wear and if I do they wouldn't be big enough for me to have it in. couldn't sit down with a phone in my pocket. How do people do that.
Sometimes its in my purse, sometimes on a table somewhere, upstairs. I have to call the darn thing from my landline at times just to find it. . So yeah, if you can read on a phone and its somehow always on your body, I can see how its convenient to just stick with that.

For me e-readers have made it possible to read again 10 years ago. I don't and can't go back to a bookless life. Shudders.

[Tarana]

Actually, that's the beauty of having a Kindle device . You can go from your Kindle app on your phone to your Kindle e-reader with the same book unless it's sideloaded. Currently I'm listening to a John Sanford book . I've also have been reading it on two different devices. Whispersync I love you. Still, there was a time when I used to read on my iTouch. My vision got worse and I can no longer read on it at all, so I take my e-reader everywhere. Plus I would hate to be reading on my phone at home if I had one. I have to use large type so my experience may be different.

To explain the two different reading devices: I don't bring my Voyage outside my house . When reading away from home I will typically take a paperwhite or kindle basic or kindle keyboard.

[DuckieTigger]

@Katsunami: interesting how you can read with a phone in total darkness and a front-lit e-reader is too bright with an acceptable contrast. I have not found any situation where I can read with a phone or tablet, but my front-lit reader won't do. But then I leave my Oasis2 in the lowest setting for light all the time and it works for me from total darkness to full sunlight and everything inbetween. The only adjustment moment I need is when walking from outside full sunlight into my house.

[Katsunami]

There is one other advantage in reading from a phone, at least for me.

Since one of the newer Android versions, the operating system can control application popups. It can limit a popup to only making a sound/vibrate, only show a message, disable it completely, even if the app itself has no popup control.

I set up Whatsapp (and e-mail) to only emit sound when a message comes in. My girlfriend an I don't live together yet, and in the evening, we both often read, _and_ have a whatsapp conversation at the same time, typing our messages at the end of a section break or a chapter. I set up a specific sound for her.

So, when a message from her comes in, I read up to the next scene break or the end of the chapter, switch to whatsapp, reply, and then jump right back into the book. It prevents me from having to juggle both the e-reader and the phone.

The same is basically true when I'm in a train station. "When was that train coming again?" -> switch to public transport app, find the time -> switch back to my book again. Easier than having to close and put away my e-reader, get out the phone, and then reverse the process again.

[Sirtel]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

There is one other advantage in reading from a phone, at least for me.

Since one of the newer Android versions, the operating system can control application popups. It can limit a popup to only making a sound/vibrate, only show a message, disable it completely, even if the app itself has no popup control.

I set up Whatsapp (and e-mail) to only emit sound when a message comes in. My girlfriend an I don't live together yet, and in the evening, we both often read, _and_ have a whatsapp conversation at the same time, typing our messages at the end of a section break or a chapter. I set up a specific sound for her.

So, when a message from her comes in, I read up to the next scene break or the end of the chapter, switch to whatsapp, reply, and then jump right back into the book. It prevents me from having to juggle both the e-reader and the phone.

The same is basically true when I'm in a train station. "When was that train coming again?" -> switch to public transport app, find the time -> switch back to my book again. Easier than having to close and put away my e-reader, get out the phone, and then reverse the process again.

Those are some of the reasons I only read at home alone, when no one is trying to contact me. You found a solution in reading on the phone. I cannot read a book at all jumping from one activity to another, it doesn't matter which device is used. I can only focus on a book when there are no interruptions at all.

[pdurrant]

The obvious solution is the Yotaphone 2 or Yotaphone 3.

I read on E-Ink on my phone.

[Barbara1955]

In Bright sunlight I can read on my phone with the light setting on High. The Background is Green & the Boldest Font.

[Barbara1955]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

The obvious solution is the Yotaphone 2 or Yotaphone 3.

I read on E-Ink on my phone.

[Alohamora]

Originally Posted by DuckieTigger

@Katsunami: interesting how you can read with a phone in total darkness and a front-lit e-reader is too bright with an acceptable contrast. I have not found any situation where I can read with a phone or tablet, but my front-lit reader won't do. But then I leave my Oasis2 in the lowest setting for light all the time and it works for me from total darkness to full sunlight and everything inbetween. The only adjustment moment I need is when walking from outside full sunlight into my house.

I saw things basically the same way Katsunami did when I borrowed a Paperwhite and tried it in low lighting. With the front light adjusted low enough to be comfortable, the contrast was low, downright murky. LCD screens appear to have better contrast.

I am absolutely in awe of how good modern smartphones have become, fast, great screens, all day battery life. Direct sunlight is the only situation where I could still wish for improvement.