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Why didn't I buy a e-reader sooner? (dubvee.org)

submitted 2 years ago by ptz@dubvee.org to c/books@lemmy.world

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I've got a large collection of e-books, but I've always just read them on my phone. Finally broke down and bought a proper e-reader with the nice e-ink display. Why didn't I do this forever ago?

It's got a backlight, but using it under a lamp with reflected light is just so much easier on my eyes and feels more like a paper book. I also haven't read a book written on dead trees in a good minute, so sitting under a lamp just brings back a missing piece of the experience I didn't even know was gone.

I also just can't get over how "fake" the display looks. Fake is usually not used to describe something positively, but in this case, it's a huge praise. The text and book cover images just look like they're printed on a sheet of paper and slipped inside to make the device look functional...like a movie prop. Turning the backlight on diminishes this effect somewhat, though (which is another reason I prefer to leave it off).

I also love that I can just set it down and not worry about coming back to a dead battery, lol. The reader app on my phone is set to prevent it from going to sleep or turning off the screen, so sometimes I'll set it down to go take care of something else, forget, and come back to a nearly dead battery.

To everyone who has recommended these gizmos to me, I finally get it. I know I said reading books on my phone was good enough, but I was wrong.

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[+] Boozilla@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago (5 children)

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[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 8 points 2 years ago

What I really miss is the browsing. There's no similar experience to just wandering a section of a big library/bookstore and seeing what looks interesting.

I definitely prefer custom fonts and the ability to use a size that fits more than 3 paragraphs on a page though. And having whatever book I want on hand immediately.

[–] metaStatic@kbin.earth 7 points 2 years ago

it's the smell and while I agree with the sentiment I'm team e-reader all the way.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

I'm one who definitely prefers reading books. But, you'd have to pry my e-book reader from my cold dead hands. It's so much more convenient to read everywhere without having to haul around the weight of paper, it fits neatly in a backpack and I always have a full library of stuff to read. It multiplied my reading 10 fold.

I would definitely love to start a book collection once I have a home of my own. But right now I can still read to my heart's content without having to worry about storage space or costs when moving places. It's almost perfection. Planning to upgrade to a kobo soon.

[–] dresden@discuss.online 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Haha, I am one of those people. Never thought about like that. Though I go with "physical" not "real".

[–] ptz@dubvee.org 2 points 2 years ago

I've bought ebooks almost exclusively for the better part of the last decade, so I'm with you. I like being able to bring an entire wing of a library with me that takes up no physical space and practically no digital space (in the grand scheme of a 256 GB SD card, anyway).

To each their own, and yeah, dunno why some people feel the need to gatekeep.