Friday, June 17, 2011

Missing my Books

I recently found out that from Amazon I was able to download "Kindle for PC" for free. This is a program that allows you to read ebooks (like you would on a Kindle or other reader) with just your ordinary computer (In my case, on my laptop). I've been thinking about getting a ebook reader since they first came out so I figured this was a great way to see if I'd like it or not. Although I do realize that eReaders have more features than my PC version allows. Do you have an eReader; e.g. Kindle, Kobo, etc.? Do you like it?

The other day I set aside the book I was reading to give an ebook a try. I am now about 3/4 of the way through my first ebook "Spirit Thorn" by Zacharias O'Bryan and let's just say I'll be glad to get back to my hardcopy books. Here are a few things I don't understand/am missing when I compare my Kindle for PC with books:
  1. I miss my standard page numbers. I am instead given a percentage of completion and a location number (a number that doesn't correspond to page/screen numbers) which seems to skip numbers at an irregular rate.
  2. I spend too much time on my computer as it is so reading on it too just makes my eyes burn...ouch.
  3. The "pages" turn too easily so sometimes while I'm reading I'll accidentally skip a page which leads to confusion on my part.
  4. I like to curl up in my bed or my favourite chair when reading... my laptop is too bulky and not at all conducive to this.
  5. My laptop is heavier/bigger than most of my books which makes it tricky to carry around and since I tend to only read one or two books at a time it isn't such a problem to just carry them around.
  6. I like the feeling of accomplishment when I look at the side of a book I've been reading and see how much (in thickness) I've read compared to how much I have still to read. Although the percentage in the eReader does give me this same information I just don't get that same feeling.
How about you? What other things have you found that you liked/disliked/missed when reading an ebook?

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