A tale of two Kindles...

[temporus]

I may seem to wax poetic about ereaders, and Kindles in particular here a bit.  Okay, more than a bit.  Probably more than just about any other topic these days.  But in any case....

We spent the weekend down with the in-laws, and during the excursion, my wife left her Kindle at the house.  No big deal, as her parents are book junkies just as much as we are, and when it happens, she's usually able to find something to read.  And probably, it's not a bad thing as her parents have different reading patterns, so if you recall my prior Venn diagram, if you add in her parents to that diagram, you'll see another area of her reading that overlaps, and makes her circle fuzzy.  (That doesn't sound dirty does it?)  In any case, she picked up Eat Pray Love, and devoured it over the course of just a few days.  Which meant that when it was time to go to bed she needed to read something else.  No worries, we were home, and she had her Kindle.  She snuggled up all ready to read herself to sleep as is her habit, and she picked up the Kindle and....low battery. 

This doesn't happen all too often.  But it is the hazard of digital reading.  I couldn't figure out what I'd done with her cable to charge it, and she was too tired to start digging through my stacks of physical books, so I took out my Kindle, checked the battery, and handed it over.  I have somewhat different books on mine, we have some in common, but they aren't identical.   For one thing, I'll often snag and download freebies to check out later.  And by later, I mean, who knows when.  So she went through my collection, found something and settled in to do some reading.

Had I been properly prepared, I'd have all her books also on my Kindle, and making use of the Sync feature, she'd have been able to pick up any book she was reading right where she left off.  Short of that, I should have been able to download any book she was in the middle of reading in just a moment.  And I could have, had we both not been rather tired, and not thinking all that clearly so late at night.

So, even as we are in a transition into a digital reading household, the transitory period is not without its flaws and challenges.   I would complain, except that on her device, this is perhaps the second time I can recall where we explicitly ran afoul of the battery life.  (The K2 has quite good battery life.  As opposed to my K1, which has a considerably shorter battery life, and some design issues which I suspect leads to a drained battery when I leave it in my knapsack.)

My wife told me last night that for the first time, she wished specifically that she could have read a book (referring to Eat, Pray Love) on the Kindle.  She wished she could have highlighted parts to go back and re-read.  Not that you can't do that with a real book, but that it would have been easier on the Kindle.  Interesting to observe the changes technology makes of our habits.

So what about you, has digital reading affected your habits and preferences?  

Comments

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I still don't own an eReader. I just can't make up my mind about which one to get.

[temporus.livejournal.com]

Naturally, I'm fond of the Kindle, but it makes sense that I want to see more people use my platform, as that helps to ensure its continued existence.

That aside, the new Wi-fi version (or the competing Nook Wifi) seems to me a decent option for you, based upon your general be-at-home-ness. 3G is cool, and neat for checking email, etc, when not at home, but if you're going to be more often than not, somewhere with wireless or tethered to a PC access, then its an extra expense you probably don't need to spend.

Now, of course if you want to go all out for the iPad, it's not a shabby option (except for the cost) because then you could use the Kindle App, the B&N ereader App, the iBookstore, and if Borders doesn't have one yet, they'll probably have an App for that too.

I've shied away at this point from the Sony readers, not because they are bad, they aren't, but because I don't know how long they'll be supported. There will be a lot of new cheaper readers flooding the market in the upcoming 12 months, stuff like the Kobo (you can bu at Borders) and other competition. It's hard to know for sure who will really last. So I'm more inclined to stick with the "big brands" just to increase my odds of longevity.

[jongibbs.livejournal.com]

The only good thing about delaying so long is that prices seem to be coming down fast :)

[temporus.livejournal.com]

There is a rumor floating on the web, that Apple will be bringing out a smaller sized iPad by Christmas. Something closer in size (and hence cost) to the Kindle. I can't decide if that actually makes sense from a business point of view or not. The price range mentioned is about $200 cheaper than the current versions, and I don't know if that'll work or not. If that happens, expect further price reductions by the dedicated ereaders.

[eimarra]

I'm not sure. I don't have a dedicated e-reader, just my iPod Touch (with lots of apps, including Stanza, Kindle, and Air Sharing, which I use to read PDF books that authors or publishers make available). It's great when I'm at the dentist's office, or if I have to wait in a long line (post office, grocery store), but I don't go out of my way to read from it when I'm at home, unless I have a specific reason to do so. (For example, the PDF I'm looking at as a beta reader for a friend.) I don't think I'm a firm convert yet.

[temporus.livejournal.com]

I'm of the opinion that the smartphone sized screen isn't quite big enough for comfort. I feel that the minimum size you need is one comparable to mass market paperback. So, I think that using the Touch in the fashion you mention, that's a good use, for those short stints when you're stuck waiting. While the kid's get a haircut. Waiting for your take out order, etc. But long-haul reading doesn't strike me as enjoyable on such a tiny screen. (I'll grant that I'm the guy that haul's around the largest laptop he can find, because I don't like a small screen on my PC, so I definitely have a marked preference.)

Note, I'm of the same opinion on the smartphone sized screens, independant of the software, or even entertainment format. While you *can* watch TV shows, or movies on those screens, it's not my first choice by a long shot. Anything over the length of a youtube video, and I'd have a hard time sitting and watching it on a tiny screen. But...that could be just me.

[eimarra]

On the other hand, I have read several full-length works on my Touch because of time or proximity issues. For example, most of my reading before I voted on the Hugos was actually on there. Would I have liked a larger screen? It wouldn't hurt, but it is nice to literally be able to slip something into my pocket.

[temporus.livejournal.com]

Hmm...this makes me rethink the viability of the rumors that Apple is going to come out with a new iPad of a size closer to the Kindle. Maybe a mid-sized tablet, bigger than a smartphone, but still small enough to fit in a pocket or purse has a niche.

Don't get me wrong, if I had one of those, I'd use it from time to time to read a book too. Not sure if I would get through a whole book, but with the Kindle app, I could sync up my saved place easy enough that I wouldn't have to worry. When I was field testing one of the Android phones for work, I started to play with the Kindle App, and it wasn't bad. Better than it is for my Blackberry (which is maybe half the screen size as your Touch). But I still am not sure I'd have wanted to read for hours on it.

[eimarra]

I can see the value of being able to sync between various devices like that.

Actually, the Apple rumor I'd most like to be true is that they're going to come out with an iMac with a multitouch screen. ;-)