Until recently, I never realized how popular e-book reading was. In fact, prior to about 6 months ago when I got a notice from Amazon about the new Kindle2 I didn't even know that readers existed!
I thought you had to read them on your computer. I've known about Project Gutenberg for about 10 years and had even downloaded a couple of documents from there for some work I was doing, but I don't enjoy reading a book on my computer screen. I thought this idea of the Kindle sounded pretty good, IF it was all they said it was. Unfortunately, I know I couldn't use a lot of Kindle's features while living abroad.
The cost of English language books in Japan is really prohibitive, and I have to travel a minimum of 45 minutes to get to a store that sells them, 90 minutes to get to another. Combine the cost and the hassle and I was very interested to learn more about this new technology. What I found was eye-opening. And very pleasant! :thumbup:
I started with a net search of readers. There are a heck of a lot of them out there. Then I did a search for e-book reader forums and read what everyone was saying, especially the software writers as I figured they would be the ones with the latest information. A lot of the 'reading public' had their tried-and-true device and were holding on to them despite changes and advances in the technologies, while the software writers were working towards improving the best of those machines. That led me to three devices; the Kindle, the Sony, and iRex. Although getting great reviews, the iRex was just waaaay too expensive and seemed more advantageous for technical reading than what I needed in a book reader, leaving me with the Kindle and the Sony.
Riding the rush hour trains in Japan is a lesson in itself in e-book reading. Most of the commuters have their eyes glued to their mobile phones and PDA's, using them for reading newspapers, reading the internet, and reading books. (Some are just watching TV on them,) but these days I don't see so many people with paper books, especially the large 'manga' (telephone book sized comics) that were so popular 10 years ago. In fact, the stores selling the manga have all reduced their stock to half of what it used to be! That is quite telling in and of itself.
Searching for e-books turned out to be the biggest delight. No only are there numerous on-line vendors carrying all the latest books for sale and immediate download, but there are many, many free archives with untold numbers of older books in every genre. (Including, I might add, knife related, bushcraft related, gun related, etc.) E-book forums have their own archives of free e-books, as well as free software for managing and converting e-book formats to the one you need for your reader. I'm not technically oriented and can't write code, but these programs are GUI and so it's just a push of the button and I have another book to read.
When all was said and done, and I had decided that this wasn't just a passing fad, I decided what my needs were for an e-book reader, chose one and ordered it from the States. Like digital cameras replacing film for 95% of the people, the e-book will slowly replace the paper market. It's just much more convenient, cheaper to produce, more ecologically sound, takes up less storage space, and works just as well. True, an e-book doesn't have the warm, cozy feel of a cherished leather-bound volume so the bibliophile might not want it. But for an avid reader it's a joy!
Stitchawl
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