Yep, I admit it. After all my skeptical notes about ebooks and how pointless it is to use them instead of a regular book… I bought an ebook.
The book I wanted wasn’t available in physical form. Plus, now that I have an iPad, I’d been meaning to at least see what all the fuss was about — or so I rationalized. And, in my defense, I was using rewards points, so I didn’t really “pay” for it.
But I have to admit, it was kind of nice. I could flip back and forth between pages with a quick tap on the screen, the print was easy to read, and the immediacy was nice: No waiting for the library or bookstores to be open.
That said, you don’t have to wait for the library or bookstores to be open. Seems like a dangerous precedent, since I have, in the past, been known to pace the floors without a book in the middle of the night. It seems like it would be an awful lot of temptation to just click over to Borders and buy a book, price be damned.
I will say that ebooks are cheaper than normal books. Using a Borders coupon emailed to me, I paid about $6. But I don’t generally buy normal books, either. So the price is still high. (I can only get that particular reward once a year — twice if you count that Tim has an account with the program. The rest of our rewards are for other items we want but I don’t want to pay for.)
On the other hand, it is an excellent way to avoid the clutter that can happen with books. And this wasn’t a piece of literary work that the library would have. It was a bit of pleasure reading in the form of a Magic book. Tim has introduced me to them as a way to better understand the game, since the story lines in the books tend to be related to the cards that come out.
So… I guess I’m torn between not wanting yet another far-too-easy/convenient form of purchase and the fact that it can come in pretty handy.
I don’t think that I’ll ever really be a convert. I like turning pages. I like being able to drink a glass of water without worrying about shorting out my book. Also, since Tim and I both use the iPad, it’s not always convenient to have an ebook on it.
But there are merits to this previously-scorned medium, much as I hate to concede the point. For example, Tim was able to read this book much more quickly than he usually reads. I think part of it was the larger print and bigger spacing between lines. (So, in the future, I’m thinking large print books would be easier for him.)
So, okay, ebooks aren’t quite as silly or redundant as I initially thought. I can admit when I’m wrong. Sometimes. Eventually. And now I’m off to consider how to use my other $9 of credit. It may even be on another ebook, who knows?
Carol in Sparks says
Check your library. Our library has digital downloads of both audio books and "regular" books. It does use Adobe Digital Reader so the interface is different than what you are describing but hey – $6 is $6.
Dulcibella says
You hit on the reason I am loving my ipad as a reader. My 50 year-old eyes really appreciate the adjustable font and adjustable lighting. And how easy it is to download a new book at any hour of the day or night. And you instantly have a book to read! And just because you have a reader does not mean you can never purchase a real book again. And another great feature is that while you are reading and come across a word that you are not familiar with, you can tap the word and get right to a dictionary to find out the meaning of that word. I think that is very cool!
And thank you @Carol in Sparks for the tip about the library! I am going to check with my library right now to see if they do this.
Donna Freedman says
Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org) has more than 33,000 free books available.
Other free e-books sources can be found with a basic search.
You will never run out of things to read. Yay!
Sonja J says
The Kindle app for the iPad has classic books (i.e, Jane Austen) for free. 🙂
MutantSupermodel says
Found you through your mum and am glad I did, there's a kindredness (is that a word) in your style. Whatever, my point is I like. 😉 I'm pretty much completely avoiding ebooks because of the too easy to buy point. I just know what's going to happen and it's scary so I just keep raiding the library which is super easy for me to do (online searchable database, deliver to my local library, and my local library is in the train station I get off to go to work).