10 reasons I like reading ebooks more than paper books.

Open Thinkering Technology, Amazon Kindle, books, ebooks, reading

There’s 5 big reasons and 5 smaller reasons I enjoy reading books on my Amazon Kindle* than standard paper books. Blog posts like this are usually prefaced by claims by the author to have a huge paper book collection/voracious appetite for reading/capability to use big words. Assume all of the above. :-p

5 big reasons

  1. I can carry hundreds – if not thousands of books around with me. Which means reference library everywhere I go, and the ability to have several books (e.g. novel/business/academic) on the go at once.

  2. Finding out the meaning of an obscure word takes about two seconds.

  3. I’ve got instant access to pretty much any book I want.

  4. Highlighting is portable, either via the Amazon website (if one of their titles) or a text file (if one you put on the device).

  5. Weight. Many of the books I read for work, pleasure and study would be fairly weighty tomes. It’s easier on my arms – and my luggage!

5 small reasons

  1. It’s virtually impossible to ‘lose your place’ in an ebook.

  2. No-one can see the cover of the book you’re reading (and therefore make implicit judgements)

  3. You can change the font size – or even the font type in some cases. Some paper books are set in tiny, horrible fonts.

  4. I love 19th-century fiction (especially Dostoevsky, Tolstoy and Gogol) which means many books I want to read are completely free.

  5. Speed. It’s only anecdotal, but I’m positive I can read faster on my Kindle.

Bonus 11th reason

Audiobooks. I love being able to decide to listen to a book instead of reading it when my eyes are tired from work.

  • I’ve got the previous generation, but with a cool, limited-edition Moleskine cover. Awesome.