For The Love Of E-reading

I never thought I would live to see the day the day that I would be able to buy and read five hundred page books that weigh no more than my finger. Nor did I ever imagine that I would be able to carry twenty novels in my handbag.

I was one of those sceptics who swore with every breath in body that I could never read from a screen and bear turning pages with a press of a button and in the case of my iPod touch, a tap on the screen.

This is not a piece is not about flossing about my many gadgets, but it is more about how my view has changed on e-books.

Every avid reader who has a Kindle will tell you that one) you have never bought so many books in your life. Of course this is after your initial reservations but after the first book it’s almost as if you cannot help but buy more and more books even at four in the morning.

Two) You’ve never bought books at such a low price. Like for real! The most I’ve paid for a book delivered via Kobo is R72! And this was for a newly released book.

And of course we all think these gadgets cost way too much! Take into account that for brand new books you could be saving R130 per book, and for the more commercial books you are definitely saving at least R50.  After ten commercial books, you’ve saved R500 and all those classics like War and Peace and Ulysses that you’ve been meaning to read but have not had the will to buy? They are most probably free!

You can make notes on your Kindle, and your Kobo app on the iPad or the iPod. So if you are into the self-help genre or cannot read without taking notes, then voila!

Of course with certain gadgets you use them for other things as well. I use my iPod for listening to audio books at the gym (always those books that seem to be hard to get through when reading on text) and of course my music, which I cannot live without! Many people use their gadgets for email and to work on documents and such, like your iPads and your Galaxy Tabs.

But back to the Kindle. The New York times at a click of a button, delivered to you fresh off the press. What? Who wouldn’t fall in love? And you think you’ll miss the smell of paper? Hmmm…

This is not to say that I no longer buy printed books. I still do, but the price difference throws me off. Another reason I am still buying paper books is that I am forced to by book publishers who don’t publish all their books on e-format. If you are a fan on series books, this does become a pain when the first four books are in e-format and the fifth book is not available on Kindle!

I would advise every reader to get a gadget. Whether you read a hundred books a year or just one. Whether you want to get subscriptions to international newspapers or magazines or none at all. It’s user friendly and you will never have to worry about shelf space or fighting with your spouse over old papers again!

Note: I know someone who is selling their well kept and almost new Kindle 2^nd Generation for R 1 250 (including delivery in South Africa) less than half the price on Amazon. If you are interested or hoping to negotiate, can’t promise, email me: Simyn13@gmail.com

Happy reading!