I read on my nook for many years, but have gone back to books. I find it is easier to read with black letters on white paper, and holding a books seems better. However, i do miss the opportunity to look up a word i am not sure of the meaning.
3
I suppose it's a bit strange, but I've yet to engage with the more modern means of reading. I'm still reading printed books and enjoying them as much as ever.
My wife has a reader of some sort and has never mentioned it, so I've assumed that it's not a must-have item.
16
I've owned several Kindles over the years; the original keyboard design, Paperwhite, and Oasis. I would never travel without one.
I disagree with Mr. Chen's opinion of the Oasis on a couple of counts; I find using the page turn buttons much more convenient than swiping. That was a primary reason for my Oasis purchase. I also find the shape of the case very comfortable.
17
It’s the Apple iPad for me. The iBooks app is terrific for epub formats and the kindle app lets me read Amazon formats. Easy to switch from reading books to browsing the web. Not locked into the Amazon ecosystem. Books can be backlit for day or night. Not for bright sunshine though.
15
Dedicated buttons for page turning make reading much more relaxing.
17
I've seen this claim for years, and I know folks who got a Kindle or similar device precisely because it was a dedicated viewer, and would lack the distractions presented by a multi-function device.
I'm not one of them. My eBook viewer device is a 7" Android tablet that can do other things.
One reason is that too much of what I read requires *color*, and e-Ink is a monochrome technology. (Trying to read something like a volume on art illustrated with color reproductions on a monochrome device fails badly.)
A second reason is eBook format. I use an open source viewer application called FBReader that handles ePub, Mobi, and AZW3 native, and can display PDFs, CBR/CBZ files, and DjVu via plugins. It does *not* handle volumes with DRM, but I don't *get* such things and don't care. I largely don't have to care what format a volume is in.
Volumes on my device live on a 32GB external microSD card, and I can carry a *large* library around with me.
Yes, you can go for weeks without charging something like a Kindle, but I made it a reflex to regularly charge things that needed it. I *don't* have things suddenly die because the battery is drained.
It helps that I *don't* use a smartphone. My cell phone is a low end feature phone that only does calls and SMS. That's all I want it to do, because other things are something else's job, and need a larger screen than a practical phone can have.
The easiest way to cure smartphone addiction is not have one... :-)
14
@DMcCunney So you agree with the author?
3
A Kindle is indispensable for travelers. I alternate between Berlin, Barcelona and San Francisco. Before Kindle I always took a second carry on packed with books, an option that no longer exists. Now I have a library in my pocket.
An extra advantage never mentioned is the ease in acquiring books in languages other than English. With three library cards I can lend out whatever I decide not to buy and read immediately. It may be necessary to use a VPN to purchase from other Amazon stores. I used to dream about this. Now it's real.
I frequently take a paper book with me..but just one.
31
For all those asking why not just read a paper book, I do, often, if the print is large enough. But being able to customize font size, contrast, etc., make ebooks much easier for me to see, whether on my Kindle Paperwhite or the Kindle/Nook/Kobo apps on my iPad Mini.
Plus ereading means I no longer have to choose a purse based on whether it’s big enough to hold a book (or two—I’m a fast reader!)
40
I love my kindle. I spend much more time with it than with my computer or my phone. With its small screen, it is much easier to read in bed than a book. It doesn't keep me awake because I use a really dim screen that I can read in the dark with the light turned off. So I fall asleep with great literature echoing in my dreams. The kindle shuts down after I fall asleep. It has cured my insomnia. I read books for free from the vast digital archives of my local library. Best of all, I picked up this amazing gadget at a garage sale for $5.
45
Love my Kindle Oasis!
No distractions (almost non existent interenet access), good lighting (can read in bed comfortably), adjustable fonts (helps with my waning eyesight), and low cost of Kindle books got me to buy this.
My internet addiction got me out of books. Kindle Oasis has got me back into reading books.
16
E cigarettes are pure nicotine plus flavors. Vapers may cut down on cigarettes, but they still get their nicotine fix.
1
@MEM Vapers also cut down on tar and other lung-killers.
1
@JD
The Vap liquid usually contain propylene glycol, glycerin, nicotine, flavorings, additives, and differing amounts of contaminants - in all over 80 chemicals such as formaldehyde and metallic nanoparticles have been found in the e-liquid.
1
@SteveRR Better or worse than actual cigarette smoke?
3
The trouble with e-books is that you can’t borrow, share, resell or buy them used. A used book is almost always much cheaper than an e-book.
Yes, you can get public domain e-books, or “borrow” an e-book from a library. But the limited selection of the former, and frequent need to wait for the latter, hinder their usefulness.
As for phone addiction, my solution is to disable notifications. Who really needs to be alerted that someone has posted a tweet? And keep the dang thing in your pocket or purse until you need it!
9
@Bob: I take issue with your assertion that borrowing e-books from a public library is problematic. I have at least twenty books queued up from my library right now, and I can set them to auto-download when they're ready if there's a wait list. I have never struggled to find something worthy of reading in my library's e-collection. Quite the contrary. There are more appealing e-books in my library's collection than I could read in a lifetime, and accessing them is simple.
46
Thanks for your great reply, @Allison. Your points are quite valid if you want to "find something worthy of reading". But to find a specific, perhaps specialized book, the usual choices are between a re-sellable, share-able hard copy or an e-book without those options.
4
Phones aren't the only alternative to an e-reader. My outstanding Samsung S2 mini tablet works great with the Kindle app, showing color with things like food in cookbooks. It is incredibly lightweight and easy to hold as my primary reading device not just for books but also news via app or browser such as the Times right now. I wouldn't want or need to carry an extra Kindle device around even though they are very nice.
As for phone addiction, just use self control. Put it in your pocket and leave it there until needed. Having a smartwatch allows for a quick glance to see the nature of an email or message. Given that so many are routine and can await a response until a dedicated part of the day to answer them, the phone stays in the pocket to allow for living life including walking, driving, reading the NYT, and paying attention to the people you're with...
5
Wow. When I want to get past my screen overdose, I pick up a book. There's nothing quite like physical text on physical paper.
14
While a dedicated e-reader might have the edge on lighting and typography, Apple’s iPad is adequate in both departments. Where iPad pulls ahead is content.
First off, iPad can download all Kindle and Audible content, and for the latter, its built-in speakers come in handy.
For those of us who are tired of Audible's gouge pricing, a budget-priced competitor has emerged. For only $6.95/month the iPhone/iPad app Audm provides access to articles from current issues of dozens of the best magazines, including The Atlantic, Wired, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, New York Magazine, and many more. You can read the articles from the screen or—and here's the killer feature—you can have the articles read to you by professional narrators while you work out or make dinner.
On top of that, iPad is a powerful web browser, able to run Chrome and sync bookmarks with iPhone and a PC. This is useful for comfortable reading of posts in Facebook groups, and for the writing and upload of your posts.
iPad supports subscriptions to the top newspapers, who update their news articles throughout the day.
iPad's interactive functionality enables you to craft comments about newspaper articles and upload them for publication, as this comment shows.
iPad is WiFi friendly and thus is able to connect to the web without hassle, download content at high speeds, and sync with your other devices.
As a reading platform for nearly anything, iPad has no equal.
8
...except in full sunlight. I have an iPad Pro 10.5 and while I love it for a lot of reasons, I far prefer the kindle Paperwhite for reading text outdoors. Not to mention the weight (and the fact I cannot do anything else on the Paperwhite but read, but of course that’s the point the article is making).
An iPad Pro also costs much, much more.
18
@Chris H Chris, I've got the base iPad Air, which sells for $500. I'm strictly an indoor reader, so will defer to your experience with outdoor screen readability.
1
I use a samsung 10" tablet, the kindle app is superior to Amazon's it is backlit, bigger and easy to read. Much the same price and far cheaper!
I had a Kindle way before I had many fancy phones and iPads. I read voraciously, even though I have a personal library of about 10,000 physical books. Since I updated my phone and iPad and have the Kindle app on both, all I’ve done is skim books. Not satisfying and I’ve become so addicted to my phone that I’m having severe neck problems. This article is perfect timing.
Only 2 problems remain:
I’m persnickety and wish I knew in advance which Kindle I’d prefer.
And
I think I broke my brain! I’m longing for the days before what my Grandfather, in his time, would have called gizmos. Oh, how I read and read and read for hours and without having a phone nearby to glance at for the time, I truly lost track of it. I despair of that ever happening again.
11
I read a lot of history, science etc - my experience with Kindle App on iPad is that things like photographs, maps, diagrams etc never work too well. eBooks are also a pain to cross-reference, flipping the pages back and forth to check something. I do like the search though, so long as I know what specifically I’m trying to find.
My Kindle App is mostly filled with cheap books, or samples, or random single reference sources I don’t want cluttering up my shelves. I find the App a bit frustrating sometimes too (plus my iPad is very old and slowing). I still like my paper books, but yes the smartphone is a royal pain to concentration and I keep meaning to go ebook. Hmm.
6
Thank you for this!
I love my Kindle paper white. If you asked me to choose one between my phone and the Kindle that I couldn’t live without I probably would choose my Kindle - though I do have the Kindle app on my
Phone for those numerous occasions when I’m waiting to pick up
the kids etc.
For now you’ve convinced me to stick with my current Kindle- but it remains a fine break from the potential whirlwind of activity waiting for me on my phone.
6
I love real books, but my Kindle (Paperwhite) is the best non-essential purchase I ever made. It is a pleasure to read on, weighs next to nothing, and I can carry a virtual library around with me-- including a multi-volume history of Western music, even one volume of which is too heavy for the daily commute. It's almost perfect.
27
I am an avid reader with too many books on the shelves. So an e-reader is great for books you want to keep but don't need on those bulging shelves.
Having said that, technical and scientific books really need a nice hardcover. As for which e-book: let us try to keep Barnes & Noble, recently sold to a hedgefund, in business. Fight back against Amazon and buy a NOOK. Has good dictionary lookup, you can load free books available on Guttenberg, and PDFs as well.
8
@Mark I've owned NOOKs since they first became available, and I don't see any reason to switch to a Kindle. The latest model let's you switch from cool to warm light either manually or on a schedule, and it's lightweight and lovely to read on. I wish more people knew about them!
8
Or buy a book.
4
After years of intense personal struggle, I have found a sure way to reduce smart phone use: I leave it in another room.
My arms just can't reach that far...am I unique that way?
11
I received a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas about seven or eight years ago. Before that, I couldn't read a book in bed with the lighting we had in the room. With it I have read many more books than I ever would have otherwise. I fall asleep easily after a few pages just like I would with a real book, a nice way to drift off. I currently have a few good reads going and can easily flip back and forth among them as the mood strikes me. After reading this, I'm keeping the Paperwhite as long as it lasts.
18
I'm a big e-reader fan. I still have an old (inoperable) RCA eBook hanging around. Still use my keyboard Kindle to play Scrabble. On my second Paperwhite (got a trade-in refund for the first). Agree with other comments mentioning mangled equations. I've had trouble with maps as well. If they can be enlarged, I haven't figured out how.
I like my paper white kindle. I can adjust the font, brightness, take it with me anywhere. Get free books from the library or prime. What’s not to like?
21
I don't own either of these devices and likely never will. I do own a lot of technical, mathematics, and CS books, and I know that the comments on Amazon for practically every one of them include numerous complaints about how terrible the Kindle transcription is, with garbled equations and program code, making the book unreadable and unusable. There seems to be a common thread through the comments on all kinds of technical books: Don't get the Kindle edition; it is terrible. I have taken their advice to heart. If they can't transcribe a book properly, I'm not going to mess around with their little devices.
14
On the Kindle Paperwhite the color tone may not be adjustable but you can change to white text on a black background which is perfect for reading at night. Much less light to disturb the eyes and help you fall asleep when ready. I keep the brightness setting at the minimum readable level.
9
I completely agree with the author. I preordered an Oasis and promptly returned it. I was very disappointed. Iuse my Paperwhite multiple times a day (& night) and wanted a new toy. It was lighter, but more cumbersome and the additional lighting options were unimportant to me.
3
I completely agree with the author. I preordered an Oasis and promptly returned it. I was very disappointed. Iuse my Paperwhite multiple times a day (& night) and wanted a new toy. It was lighter, but more cumbersome and the additional lighting options were unimportant to me.
Should have run this article before Prime Day, when there were deals on kindles.
7
I have an Oasis, and I love the page-turn buttons. When I'm standing outside waiting for the buss during the winter months (and we have a long winter) they let me turn the page without removing my gloves.
13
I am an avid reader and I absolutely loved my Kindle Paperwhite, but recently switched to reading digital books with my Ipad mini and the Kindle app. First and foremost I switched recently because mine started to suddenly shut off and reboot periodically, and suggestions on how to resolve it did not work, including de- and re-registering it. I've yet to call Amazon, but may consider doing this when I have the time. It's always been too slow booting up and shopping for a book. My Ipad is quick and responsive. I can also adjust my Ipad's light when I read in bed at night. It's also in color. It does not keep a charge for as long as my Kindle though. The only thing I would not do would be to read outside in the daylight with an Ipad, there would be too much glare. For the beach, I plan to bring a good old paperback.
6
@David I'm a multi-user too. I have 3 Fires and 2 iPad minis. Solution for the rebooting problem for me was unmounting the SD card. The Fire ran great after that. Also check to see whether you have much storage left. If not, that could be causing problems: delete stuff. Otherwise, Amazon is aware of the problem but hasn't done much. I use the kindles when I travel because they are cheaper to replace. At home I use the iPads.
2
@Elisabeth
Thank you for your suggestions! This article motivated me to contact Amazon. They suggested that I reset it to the original factory settings. I did so and time will tell if this worked. They also informed me that while my kindle is no longer under warranty, they would give me a 15% discount toward the purchase of a new paperwhite. For the time being I still have plenty of options to keep on reading!
I bought one of the first Kindle readers years ago and read on it every day, for hours. About a year ago it died (I thought), I panicked, and ordered a new one. But, I ordered a Paperwhite, thinking the only difference would be the lighted screen. Wrong! I hate the Paperwhite, which uses a touch screen and did away with the page-turn buttons. And, too many confusing menus. I never did find a way to change font size. I never actually read a single book on it. I figured out that all I needed to do was re-boot my old Kindle and it works like new, to this day. At the moment, Amazon says I've bought more than 350 books for it, not to mention downloading dozens from the Gutenberg Project.
4
Oh, just get an actual book.
5
@JoanP If I'm going on a trip, one e-reader is a lot more portable than several books. It's much lighter to hold while reading than many books.
25
@JoanP I love actual books but I live 28 miles from a library and 60 miles from a bookstore. I can check out a book from my library on my kindle in the middle of the night or in an ice storm without having to leave my house.
29
@JoanP For business travelers, a Kindle is just a godsend. I have an older generation Oasis which I can easily tuck in my back pocket. The peace gained by not seeing a notification every 30 seconds about the latest outrage while you try to read - it's priceless.
19
I have a lot of textbooks on PDF. Does anyone know how easy or hard it is to load PDFs on these e-readers? Which ones is compatible with PDFs?
@Takeme Downtothe easy to load, but my experience has been that PDFs don't work well on the Kindle (but otherwise I'm a big fan).
3
@Takeme Downtothe I read PDFs on my Kindle Fire all the time with no difficulty.
2
@Takeme Downtothe
It's really easy to send a pdf to a kindle when you do it once.
https://www.wikihow.com/Add-a-PDF-to-a-Kindle
4
That would be a rather large drawback...
Might actually use a photo of a phone and not a tablet...
While Amazon provides an extraordinary service loved by millions, their predatory philosophy worries me (your margin is Amazon's opportunity).
I use Barnes & Nobles Nook - although having been slammed by Amazon their future is uncertain. Their latest eReader is larger and cheaper than the Oasis.
I find using an eReader more relaxing - it feels more like reading a book than using a screen. And as I age, my old eyes appreciate being able to increase the text size. That's tough to do on paper :-).
16
@Ted totally agree with you. Regardless of the B&N model I definitely try to avoid Amazon when there is a reasonable alternative. I worked in publishing and amazon is terrible outlet if you are a publisher.
I also love my ereader in the beach and in bed instead of my surface
2
People seem to like their Kindles. I probably would, too, if it worked. I use it as a snack tray while I read a book.
5
I still have my original Kindle, a white one, which cost me $359!
It has a small wheel on the right side, which was used to reach the line in which a word was written, for which I needed an explanation in the dictionary.
Than I bought the second Kindle, which has a keyboard on the bottom.
Now I'm using the last of my Kindles, which is extremely light and I can hold it in one hand, because it weighs close to nothing.
Our daughters have their own Kindles.
2
This article failed to address my two most important concerns: dies have a good dictionary look-up function, including foreign languages; and does it allow the read to make notes? Without those I'm no buying.
@Andrew Dabrowski Yes, and yes. I believe you can download dictionaries in many languages and the integration is seamless. And you can make notes which also sync to your account, so if you delete the book and re-download it again later they're still there.
5
@Andrew Dabrowski Yes! An English language dictionary comes with the Kindle. I often press on words I know simply because I'm interested in the etymology or I've been seeing the word for years without using it and have never been quite sure how it was pronounced.
For books in other languages, you have to buy the dictionary -- I got PONS for German and Larousse for French. Again, all you have to do is press on the word and the translation appears. At first, the Kindle may balk at going to the dictionary unless you're connected to WiFi, but after a couple of tries, it will give you what you want. (I'm usually on airplane mode to save battery life.)
For notes, you just highlight a passage and you can make a note or keep it highlighted so you can find it easily (a Your Clippings document is created when you do that).
I got my first Kindle Paperwhite refurbished and on sale because I figured why not, but I didn't use it for months. Then I got sick and it was the only way I could read comfortably in bed. No worries re type size (which is adjustable) or brightness of screen (ditto) or reading lying on my side. All my reading-light problems became moot.
Four years later, I have the bulk of my library on my three Kindles. If you having aging eyes that don't do well with small type, or if you have small hands and like to read a lot of doorstop-sized history books, the Kindle Paperwhite will be the best thing that ever happened to your reading life.
21
@Andrew Dabrowski the Kindle has free foreign language dictionaries installed. for German, for example, there is a Duden German-German and an Oxford German-English. the Kindle knows when a book is in German and you can select which dictionary to use (and switch while reading). you can also read the dictionaries like any other book. you can buy and install other dictionaries. I don't particularly like the French-French dictionary.
3
The only thing I’d disagree with in this article is the statement that dogs don’t like raincoats. Our dog (who we lost last year after a long happy life) practically insisted on wearing her raincoat before going out if the rain was heavy. Then again, she was a phenomenally intelligent dog, maybe that’s the difference.
7
@Ed Martin My assumption was the statement referred to dogs not liking people in raincoats. We'll have to read the mystery book to find out.
6
My Corgis don’t mind people with raincoats but hate umbrellas.
3
I'm a Kindle addict, I have a PW, Voyage, and the last version of Oasis and I love them like children. I'm also a Kobo user so I can check out library books here in Vancouver.
I have terrible eyesight and I'm back to reading a couple of books a month since I started using eReaders. You can adjust the font size so there's less strain on your eyes.
I'm also an avid user of the highlight function. I'm the type of book nerd who quotes books in greeting cards. I used to write quotes in a little notebook. Now I just pull them up at the ready.
8
I resent my deep relationship with Amazon but have to admit that it makes the best ereaders. I've owned 2 Nooks, a Kobo Glo HD, a Paperwhite, original Oasis, and 2nd gen Oasis. My favorite by far is the original Oasis. It's so light but easy to read, and the removable cover with half the battery is genius.
6
One if the great inventions of all time. Right up there with white out, the Salk vaccine, titanium faced drivers and pop top cans. Now, if only someone could incorporate the smell of the open pages of a new book into a Kindle...
20
@JRB As long as they are new books....the musty smell of old books triggers my mold allergies...
2
@JRB Agreed. Definitely need Smell-O-Vision on my Oasis.
@JRB Buy a leather cover for your Kindle....
5
Please explain to me how a paperback book isn’t the superior antidote to screen addiction?
6
@Kate Yes, I prefer analog books, but e-books are just so easy. I sit on my sofa, go to the e-library, and I’m like a kid in a candy shop, clicking on what to add to my wish list, what to put on reserve, find a new book to read right now. I use the OverDrive app on my iPad.
8
@Kate I carry almost a hundred books in a kindle the size of a single paperback which gives me a choice of what to read next, depending on my mood, and to refer back to books which I have already read.
14
@Kate For anyone my age (I'm 64), the ability to change font size is the single most important factor. I no longer read paperbacks because the type is just too small.
29
Please... this book about dog psychology, what is it?
11
@michaelInside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416583432/braipick-20
2
I am also so interested to know what book this is!
@surfer Thank you. Was interested as well.
You can read a book on Kindle app on your iPhone. You can control brightness, switch to black background. Phone addiction is poorly defined. It depends on what you do on your phone. Holding a Kindle or using Kindle app on your phone are no different.
4
@AA No one is saying you *can't* read on your iPhone. It's just that it's--for most people--not an optimal reading experience.
If you're at all a fast reader, you're swiping at the small phone screen every few seconds. IMHO, you lose the immersion factor that reading a good book is all about. On the Kindle or other e-readers (or on a tablet-sized device), the flow is much more book-like.
Plus, the whole point is to remove the danger of being interrupted by notifications from email or TwitFace.
4
@AA
Or better yet- I have the Kindle app on my iPad mini. I use the Kindle app on my phone only for emergencies!
3
@Jeff - The iOS Kindle app recently added a continuous scroll option. You just constantly drag text up a little at a time. It's much more natural than changing an entire page of text at a time.
With that, plus the white-on-black text, my Kindle Voyage has been retired.
Books are the best cure for addiction to screens!
3
Or... get a book?
2
I'm dying to know which book on dog psychology you were reading. I'll download it to my Kindle immediately.
3
I have carried a Kindle Fire and a smartphone on my more than an hour commute and have found that if I just put my phone in my backpack and carry the Kindle I get my reading done and don't get distracted by whatever is happening on my phone.
When I am at lunch, I can check my personal email on the Kindle and see what kind of Twitter insanity is going on just to catch up. I hardly need my phone at all.
1
I bought the Oasis *because* of the dedicated page turn buttons. If anyone knows how to disable the blasted touchscreen page turn, please tell me! Near as I can tell, the touchscreen's only use is to randomly lose my place when I switch hands.
I'm also beginning to suspect that either I read a LOT more than the author or my Oasis has a defective battery. I've never had the battery last more than three days, and that's with disabling the light and leaving the wi-fi off.
6
@Adina I agree - Though I use a super cheap Kindle Fire. I would love to be able to define specific areas on the screen to do the page flipping so that I can hold the reader more like I might a book.
1
@Adina . Depending on your model, re: disabling touch screen - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dh6PEMAdlxU#action=share
3
My first Kindle reader (still works) had a key board, followed by a couple of PWs. Then I got a Fire tablet and the PWs have been sitting unused for a couple of years. Sure it is a little bigger but it can do so much more and much of what I read has graphs and maps that are in color and much more readable with the tablet. I think that I paid about fifty bucks for it. Of course, there is a down side apart from the size. I purchased one for a friend that read a lot of books. She discovered Candy Crush and now spends more time playing than reading. Oh well, the worst gift that I have ever given--pop, pop, pop.
2
I would like that in the future the e-readers will be implemented in secondary schools as a school tool to carry textbooks that are extremely heavy. Sometimes my daughters seem to have parachutes on their backs instead of school supplies. It weighs more than or equal to the battery of a car. In addition to that, I perfectly agree that e-readers reduce the possibility of distraction as cell phones or tablets cause.
5
Why does one still have to swipe to see the next screen? The absolute best part of using the Kindle APP on my iPad mini 4 is the fact that scrolling is available. I hate using the Kindle Paperwhite now that I have found scrolling on my Kindle APP. Tap tap tap tap. Waste of energy.
Another great thing about Kindles that hasn't been mentioned: you can get the Kindle app and listen to audiobooks as well--and the app will keep your place across versions. So you can be reading something on your Kindle, then continue via earphones, or listen on your computer while you're doing something else. When you switch back to the printed book, it picks up where you left off listening.
5
For $120 (or less if you look around) you can get the Kobo Clara HD. It has the color adjusting lights for the same price as the Paperwhite. It's not waterproof though.
1
I would have to agree. With a book reader, you just read the book, but you get a backlight, you can vary the type size and you can download books at any time.
And no distractions.
[ I use a paperwhite ] - it is small enough that you do not feel like a fool packing it as well as a smartphone.
It is an excellent single purpose digital device.
13
Perfectly happy with my iPhone for reading e-books with Kindle or Libby. Better still, get up and walk around.
There's another reason for using an e-reader over a tablet or smartphone, at least for me personally: focus. When I'm reading a book I want to give it my full attention. Using a dedicated device not only allows me to avoid distracting notifications, it provides a cue that it's time to concentrate.
5
I've had a Kindle for over 10 years. I gave one to my father, who at 97 is still an avid reader. He can hold it longer than he can hold a heavy book, and he can adjust the type size. He says that it is the best gift that he's ever received.
Also, I can check out books from my local libraries without leaving home when the weather is bad or I am too busy to make that trip.
It's perfect for traveling. Finished reading your current selection or passed a bookstore with a new item that you want to read -- download and go.
55
@GA Foodist Yes! Both my elderly parents enjoyed the Kindle I gave them years ago for the reasons you stated. I check out e-books from the library to read all the time. Has increased my reading time a lot. It is great to use at night when I want to read while my husband sleeps, too.
12
Another Kindle Voyage user, here, and I really love it. Too bad they stopped making it, but Paperwhite seems to be getting all of the love these days. The hepatic touchbars (to turn pages) on Voyage are great. Gotta say, I don't like the idea of a 7" screen. And that odd back on the Oasis turns me off. The compact nature of Voyage, Paperwhite, Touch and the other past models is a strong point, not a weakness, as far as I am concerned.
6
Has any e-reader matched the beauty of a well-designed and type-set book? Seriously, it's an overlooked art form. Or even that of a well-designed website? Whenever I sneak a glance at somebody's e-book, I think, no, I have to stare at pixelated Times New Roman all day and I can't bear to do that for leisure.
4
@Uxf My Kindle Paperwhite is a couple of years old and it has a choice of typeface as well as variable type size. Some people may prefer the Times New Roman font but no one is required to use it. I am currently reading The Goldfinch (784 pages) and by using my Kindle I am able to hold the thing comfortably while I get lost in the wonderful prose.
4
I love my Kindle and paper books alike: each serves a different purpose.
The Kindle is great for commuting, as it fits in a jacket pocket, and for longer travels where luggage space is at a premium. Cheaper than paperbacks too, after the initial investment.
I tend to prefer paper books for history or more complex fiction that requires a lot of flicking back and forward to the maps and dramatis personae.
Both are best enjoyed when the phone is locked in a drawer far, far away.
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@Citizen33 - I would think that someone would have developed a good "flicking back and forth" feature by now, but apparently no.
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@Uxf oddly enough, the kindle app on the iPad does allow you to flip pages. For some reason it never made it into the Paperwhite.
@Shab the is a page flip on the Kindles. tap at the top of the screen and then tap one of the icons at the bottom. that gives you two types of scrolling.
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And if you don't want to give more money to Amazon then take a look at the Kobo readers.
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@James Gaston
Thank you!
My wife and I both read avidly: 1) lots of paper books, realizing trees make the sacrifice (getting as many used books as possible), and 2) Kindle books. They're options, not oppositional. I rarely read a book on my iPhone.
I have the Kindle Voyager, having had earlier versions. I doubt I go to the Oasis, since the nuances are as subtle as well as pricey.
Amazon certainly has its corporate flaws and fatalities. But I'm guessing they've also been the instrument that's brought a lot more authors' books to a lot more readers -- both in paper and via digital.
The Kindle is powerful: one little tool with huge numbers of books, easy to use, access to a library (check it out, so to speak), puts my wife to sleep with joy, and if it cuts down on phone use, so much the better. But the argument over paper vs digital books is a moot one. It's both/and, not either/or. It should be a preference, not a cultural battle.
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I want something that I can read in the sunlight and that won't shatter if it drops from more than three inches. Something like, well, a book.
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@Richard Egan the e-ink screens are actually quite comfortable to read outside. I hate reading on LED screens but I'm a big fan of the Kindle e-ink. Feels a lot like paper.
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@Richard Egan Then buy a book.
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@Richard Egan,
I've read my Kindle on the beach in near-Equatorial sun. No problem. The slightly grayish screen of the older Kindle was actually more comfortable in bright sun than good-quality white paper. The Oasis is whiter and doesn't have that advantage.
The only Kindle that's "shattered" in more than ten years of rugged use dropped 4 feet onto a ceramic tile floor without a protective cover. They've survived similar drops onto wood and even concrete floors without even a crack. My cat knocks it off my nightstand most nights. They're far less fragile than you think.
Meanwhile, try packing three months worth of reading material for living in a non-English-speaking country. When the nearest English bookstore is a five-hour bus ride away. A Kindle fits in you carryon; paper books would require their own suitcase.
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I find that the Oasis with page-turning buttons is much easier on an arthritic, small hand than an e-reader that requires swiping or touching the actual screen. And, with aging eyes, the ability to enlarge the print is critical.
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The great thing about ebooks is they don't take up space!
I prefer a real book, too, but do I have room for hundreds of them in my studio apartment? No. With an ebook, I carry a little library around in my backpack.
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I have an Oasis and an old Kindle Fire. I also have the Kindle ap on my android phone and on my tablet. They all have different operating features. The ap on my android phone is my favorite, the Oasis is by far the worst one of the bunch. I read quite a bit so when one runs out of juice, I plug it in and read on another. The only advantage the Oasis has is that it is far lighter to hold than the Fire which is a bit of a brick. I had a paperwhite and I hated it so I sold it to a friend for her son. I usually upgrade every couple of years but I can't say anything has caught my eye. If I did buy anything else it would probably be an updated Fire. Besides portability and shear number of books available at a finger's touch (over 1,000 for me), readers have two distinct advantages. You can adjust the font size which if great for my old, tired eyes and I no longer have books taking up room and collecting dust which is huge after I downsized into an apartment.
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Because of a job I have, I’ve used every Kindle ever made. This past Prime Day, when I was spending my own money, I got a Paperwhite. The Oasis is fantastic, but for the price, the Paperwhite wins.
As far as fighting tech addiction, the problem isn’t the device, it’s the connection to the internet. I’ve spent the summer traveling in remote locations, and haven’t had cell service about 3/4 of the time. I find that I use my Kindle more. I also, though, use my iPad. But the only thing that works on it is the notepad, and calendar apps, which are still useful, and a chess app, which I’ve been playing a lot. I’m finding that I look forward to losing cell service, because then I can settle into something for awhile, instead of incessantly flipping from one thing to the next to get that little dopamine hit.
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It is a shame that the article doesn't mention some of Kindle's competitors. I have been using a Kobo Aura One for more than two years which matches every feature Mr. Chen mentions in his article and has been on the market far longer. The newer Kobo Forma is even more feature rich. That said, with connectivity turned off and the print-like eink screen, any ereader seems more like a physical book than an electronic device. Like a physical book, the ereader is a single purpose device dedicated to the act of reading.
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@Charles Axilbund I agree. There are several ereaders out there and I would like to see more information regarding the Kobo models. I have tried Amazon's Oasis, Paperwhite, and Voyage...and the Voyage wins hands down from my perspective. But they aren't making them anymore and I'm starting to look outside of the Amazon ecosystem for many reasons.
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I'd say July 15 was the perfect time to buy an e-reader, if you're recommending Amazon products. That, or wait for December 2.
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I call my Kindle Paperwhite my personal library, where I have access to virtually any book in publication. I love it. You should also have mentioned that e-readers allow you to adjust the size of the typeface, a very useful option that print books can't duplicate. My only problem, I've downloaded more books than I could read in a decade (upside, I'm reading Caro's bio of Lyndon Johnson, 4,500 pages that would weigh in at 15lbs in paper and the appropriate number of trees). I love it!
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I had (still have) a Paperwhite, but bought an Oasis. I like the larger screen and longer battery life with the Oasis, and the Oasis has a larger memory capacity. Personally, I find the Oasis and the Paperwhite about equally comfortable to hold, but then again I do most of my reading sitting up, rather than while lying in bed. The Oasis goes with me when I head to the Cancer Center for chemo and infusions - it fits well in my Scott eVest.
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I love my Kobo e-readers because I can carry books with me and read everywhere, even on the chairlift. Plus, unlike other screens, it is easily readable in full sunlight; no phone or tablet can do that.
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I have had my Kindle Paperwhite for years, and can read on the beach in Florida sun without problems.
Love it, love it, love it!
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The Oasis sounds much less portable.
I have an older, very lightweight Kindle - with a gray screen - that I use when I travel. I love it for that purpose.
I’ve thought about upgrading but I think all the newer models are heavier. Even a few ounces can make a difference when you’re carrying it around.
At home, I prefer paper books.
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I loved my Kindle Paper White for ages, but after deleting all my social media, I transitioned to real books and haven't looked back. But I can also see how this would help someone who feels they can't cold turkey digital devices. I recently pre-ordered the Freewrite Traveler( a modern typer writer with the same concept) that will help me not be too distracted by web surfing. So im glad to see this hunger for digital minimalism. As a millennial, it scares me to see how addicted my friends and family are to their devices since I'm now someone on the outside looking in. I hope in the future our culture will compare digital addiction to cigarettes and take the addiction more seriously.
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Love my Kindle but I do spend a great deal more on books now!
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I love the 7 inch screen on the Oasis. I do prefer the smaller Paperwhite as a device, but the 6 inch screen feels cramped now.
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Love my e-reader, and although I've never thought of it as a nicotine patch for the digitally-addicted, that's an apt description. I don't know how people do any serious reading on smartphones. Not only is the screen annoying for long-term viewing, but the type is too small for those of us with older eyes. Furthermore, dedicated e-readers are terrific for travel a lot because they're much easier to handle than a physical book on a plane, and they have great battery life. I always thought e-readers were a bit redundant and resisted buying one, but after receiving one as a gift, I've changed my mind. I find myself reaching for it all the time as a much-needed respite from the distraction economy.
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I have the perfect solution to tech addiction - pick up an actual book to read. You won’t have to worry if it is formatted for right or left handed people, you can check it out of the library free, you can buy it used cheaply, you can loan it to a friend. A book has magic in the words for those with time to read. Books are beautiful in a way that tech can never be.
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@ScottC: True, and I have shelves of them at home that I read and re-read, but for travel, an e-reader is superior. And even at home, when insomnia strikes I can pull out my e-reader and dive into a book without disturbing my spouse sleeping beside me.
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@Allison E-books are not free. They are almost as expensive (or more) than actual books. And you can't read more than maybe 50 pages during travel or vacation. So this imagination that keeping many e-books loaded in the e-book reader is more productive than carrying a single book, is a fallacy.
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I often read more than 50 pages in an evening's read, and have gone through several books in a vacation. However, it is still best to not load the Kindle with say more than 20 books as it can be a pain sorting through them. I use Calibre library software (free) to organize my books and then upload to my device. My reading habits have totally changed for the better since my first Kindle many years ago.
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The Nook and Kobo, as well as the Sony, are fine ebooks. This column reads like a press release from Amazon. By repetition, Kindle has become something like a generic name for ebooks, which has left Amazon as a near monopoly, despite the virtues of other devices.
My problem with Amazon is their use of proprietary file formats on their readers. Books must come from Amazon, or awkward side-loading must be used with a file conversion program such as Calibre, in order to read PDFs.
The Nook pioneered the backlit screen; Sony was first to market with a reader at all. Just accepting Amazon as the vendor of choice discourages innovation in ebooks.
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Calibre can change a e-book file to just about any format, although PDF is still problematic for many reasons. I mainly use *.mobi which is not an Amazon format but is not an issue when reading on Kindle. Amazon has a near monopoly for a reason - their e-book readers are simply the best as can be seen from practically all reader reviews. For my part, I am still waiting for a color e-ink reader, so I can read journals, magazines etc. I read my Kindle on the beach in the Florida sun and am not aware of any phone or tablet that can handle that.
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@Jack Walsh Project Gutenberg has a ton of books (mixed metaphor) in MOBI format which can be read on Kindle. No Calibre needed. Download from the site, send it to your individual Kindle email and it is available in your Kindle library under DOCS. On the Kindle it reads like every other book - you can adjust fonts, spacing, etc.
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@Tom T The Fire has color, it's a good screen. But the device weighs a ton which is dangerous. When I fall asleep while reading the thing hits me in the head.
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A kinder gentler Fahrenheit 451 world, in which books are destroyed en masse and humankind is enslaved to screens, is still a dystopian nightmare. Sanity and knowledge are still preferable to whizz bang ignorance. An additional clumsy electronic gadget is not necessary for learning about dog psychology.
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I’ve had a Kindle for 8 years now. I realised a long time ago that an e-ink screen is an entirely different experience compared to a backlit smartphone screen.
One of the things I noticed early on is that reading a smartphone in bed, I stay awake. When I read a kindle, I frequently fall asleep while reading. To me, this is the strongest indicator of how our brain responds differently to the two technologies.
So after 10 pm, my phone goes in a charger in the kitchen, and I only read my kindle. I can recommend this to anyone who wishes for better sleep and rest.
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i find it ironic that the more e-readers improve, the more they resemble...physical books (which seem to be enjoying an anemic comeback). i'm delighted that devices are encouraging more and more people to read and making it increasingly easy to do so. still, hopeless luddite that i am, i will always prefer the physical object.
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And let’s not forget that wonderful thing about an actual physical book: the smell!
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Why is there no mention of Sony's Digital Paper in this article? It is the best e-reader on the market and is very useful for reading documents such as briefs, court cases, etc. The only drawback is that it can only read PDFs and books are hard to find in PDF format. So it would be great if writers like you called on the industry to make books more readily available in PDF format.
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@Craig I believe that Google books are in .pdf format. I haven’t looked at it in years, but if I’m not mistaken, the “classics” I.e. , anything past copyright, are free.
@Craig Sony has abandoned the US market for ePub format e-readers, which is too bad. they've done this consistently across a range of products (for example VCRs, MP3 players) -- they're first out of the box with a great product & then they let it fizzle.
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