No, this is not the requested ereaders post. I think two people (@shewgirl and @gigglesigh) want me to summarise the state of ereaders for Australian readers as they are today. Anyone else?
Just some thoughts on my actual reading experience thus far:
- I never thought it would happen but somewhere along the way ebooks have become my preferred format for reading. A year ago I wouldn’t have thought this possible, given my very strong attachment to the whole idea of paper books. After all, I grew up loving reading, and I have over 3000 paper books. Turns out, I like reading, and I can get over my attachment to a long-familiar format. (I’m even getting over device attachment, having used two different e-ink ereaders in the past year, along with the iPad and iPhone, as well as occasional reading on the computer.)
- Not only do I like reading, I like convenient reading. You might be wondering, if I can state that I like reading, why the formats matter. Surely paper or digital shouldn’t make any difference? Well, I love being able to carry a range of different books on a single, light device. It means I can read my current escapist enjoyment fiction and dip into more serious literary fiction occasionally while reading snippets from all those professional texts I have always been meaning to read (management titles are far more bearable when I can read them in small doses).
- The whole online thing? Easy, quick access. I can get a book loaded onto my device in seconds. This feeds my love for instant gratification and is possibly not such a good thing for my credit card, but gawd it’s good.
- Sure, not everything is available in ebook format. This is changing though, with a lot more titles available to Australian readers now than they were just a year ago. (Yes, yes, this is a throwaway general uncorroborated statement. It’s just based on my observations over the past few months. If you like reading stuff in less popular genres, it’s possible the books you want to read are not available.)
- And you know, years of forcing your eyes to focus on words does take its toll. With my ereader I can increase the size of the font. Reading glasses? I don’t need no steeeeenkin’ reading glasses!
- The whole smell of books thing? Over-rated. New book smell? New car smell lasts longer. You mean musty, mildewy, silver-fishy? I prefer the smell of the tea I’m drinking while I read!
- Oh, and I seem to have lost all interest in bookshops and booksales… (I am not even going to the Save the Children Booksale this year! This is momentous: see the 2006 sale, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010…)
4 Comments
O.M.G. I can’t believe you’re not going to The Booksale. (Does M feel the same?) Momentous indeed.
Like you, I’ve been surprised by how easily I’ve switched to reading on my iPad. You just cant beat the convenience in terms of reading and instantaneous buying (unless of course the book isn’t available in the format, which has occurred a couple of times but it was easy enough to move on).
The booksale was never A Big Deal to M. As it happens, I have missed it! It was from 19 – 24 August… (This year I didn’t even check)
I’m generally preferring e these days myself, or at least for most basic reads. While I’m neck deep in the Malazan series (e), I’m not really doing other reading (p) though. Malazan requires too much focus to wander.
I have very little interest in secondhand at all now.
Snail, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I admire your ability to read the Malazan series 🙂
More on paper reading matter: I am seriously considering cancelling all my remaining print magazine subs. They just languish, unread, these days.
As for secondhand – yep, interesting that I’m not the only one to be losing interest. I wonder how the secondhand bookshops are doing these days…