E-readers
I’ve been thinking of buying a kindle for a while now. I do read a lot on the computer and now with the iPhone, a whole lot more. But the iPhone is pathetically small for reading and if I want to read somebody’s latest chapter on AO3, I don’t really need to lug my laptop, small though it may be, around all the time.
The iPhone made me see that. Small is better. But there is such a thing as too small. :)
Of course when I say I want an e-reader, everybody (starting with my father and sister and ending with shop assistants) look at me funny. “E-reader?” they say “why?” Meaning, why an e-reader when you can buy a tablet and get internet, videos, films, music AND books all at once.
And here I hit an unsurmountable wall: how do you explain that you just want to read? That you want to have your books all in one place, like you do with your music on the iPod?
I think I just now understand the problem: most people are not dedicated readers/music listeners. Certainly in the case of my father and sister, if you give them a movie, a couple of songs and internet access, they’re good to go (yes, no book necessary).
I don’t need sound or music: 99% of the times I’m reading (paper or digital) I’m listening to music on my iPod)
I don’t need video, internet access or anything else: I’ll be reading, not watching movies, and everything else I might need I can easily do with my handy iPhone, or actually move a few meters to my laptop.
I just want to have all the original, fan and fiction, digital and on paper, that I’ve been saving for years and years, to be right there to read on the doctor’s waiting room or on the bus, instead of being limited to my computer at home.
I just want to have it ALL every where, all the time. All my Conan Doyle’s, all my Austen’s, but yes, mostly Star Trek, Sherlock and untold other fandom’s porn fanfiction. :D
Now the choice begins. Kindle, Nook, iPad or something else?
iPad: too big, too much, too expensive.
Nook: best e-reader on the market. Or should I say the US market? Not available internationally. Next…
Kindle: Amazon store on your fingertips. Limited in format and storage space. No touch screen.
Sony: expensive (what else is new?) and full of proprietary fuckery (what else is new?)
Kobo: open to ALL file formats, touch screen and extra storage space. Very similar to the Nook, but available internationally.
That being said, I’m really surprised all you hear about is the Kindle and the iPad, constantly, over and over, when the Kobo is touch, with extra storage and costs the same as the basic Kindle.
Trully mind bogling.
In conclusion, I do love Amazon. I’ve been buying from them for more than 10 years. But this time I’m going for the open system and telling the “you have to buy from us and just us” spiel to fuck off.
The iPhone made me see that. Small is better. But there is such a thing as too small. :)
Of course when I say I want an e-reader, everybody (starting with my father and sister and ending with shop assistants) look at me funny. “E-reader?” they say “why?” Meaning, why an e-reader when you can buy a tablet and get internet, videos, films, music AND books all at once.
And here I hit an unsurmountable wall: how do you explain that you just want to read? That you want to have your books all in one place, like you do with your music on the iPod?
I think I just now understand the problem: most people are not dedicated readers/music listeners. Certainly in the case of my father and sister, if you give them a movie, a couple of songs and internet access, they’re good to go (yes, no book necessary).
I don’t need sound or music: 99% of the times I’m reading (paper or digital) I’m listening to music on my iPod)
I don’t need video, internet access or anything else: I’ll be reading, not watching movies, and everything else I might need I can easily do with my handy iPhone, or actually move a few meters to my laptop.
I just want to have all the original, fan and fiction, digital and on paper, that I’ve been saving for years and years, to be right there to read on the doctor’s waiting room or on the bus, instead of being limited to my computer at home.
I just want to have it ALL every where, all the time. All my Conan Doyle’s, all my Austen’s, but yes, mostly Star Trek, Sherlock and untold other fandom’s porn fanfiction. :D
Now the choice begins. Kindle, Nook, iPad or something else?
iPad: too big, too much, too expensive.
Nook: best e-reader on the market. Or should I say the US market? Not available internationally. Next…
Kindle: Amazon store on your fingertips. Limited in format and storage space. No touch screen.
Sony: expensive (what else is new?) and full of proprietary fuckery (what else is new?)
Kobo: open to ALL file formats, touch screen and extra storage space. Very similar to the Nook, but available internationally.
That being said, I’m really surprised all you hear about is the Kindle and the iPad, constantly, over and over, when the Kobo is touch, with extra storage and costs the same as the basic Kindle.
Trully mind bogling.
In conclusion, I do love Amazon. I’ve been buying from them for more than 10 years. But this time I’m going for the open system and telling the “you have to buy from us and just us” spiel to fuck off.