06 May 2011

My first ebook

I have read my first entire book on a reader. It was a light read that only took a couple days and I wanted to put down my reflections on such a momentous moment for me. Things were different and some I liked and some I did not.

I borrowed the book from BookLending.com. That was a very positive experience - after some initial stumbling and not being sure how my book would be delivered to my ipad. Still not sure how, but it was there with almost no fussing. And I'm psyched about still being able to get free books from time to time.

I read on my kindle app for the ipad. It worked well and I had no problems. I noticed an occasional glitch that would eliminate a space between words, but then I notice typos in real books so as we say in Spanish de igual.

I missed the front cover of the book lying around the house when I read a book. I couldn't remember the author's name or the exact title and I couldn't just flip it over to see that. It's like a little of the personality of the thing is missing, but this of course doesn't effect the read or the content. You can click out of the book and see the cover.

I had some reservations about reading in bed. I hate reading magazines in bed; they're so unwieldy and it's hard to see the page when lying down. The ipad actually performed better than I expected or should I say the cover did. The cover acts as a stand so I could balance it on my (ahem) mid section or the mattress.

The angle at which I normally read (not in bed) made one portion of the screen dimmer than the rest, but by no means illegible. I read outside for a bit with a concern that the glare would make it hard but I was in the shade and it didn't bother me. I could see myself reflected in the screen while I read but I forgot about it after a while. That might bother some people though. I guess the dedicated book readers are non-reflective and I can see how that would be nice.

I was trying to flip back through and reference something earlier in the book. Never ever has a paper book given me a spinning wheel signal when I am flipping pages too fast, but I found what I was after.

I miss page numbers and seeing how far along I am in a book. I did discover that there's a way to see how far along percentage-wise and a location number but it is not a page number. I wanted to make some notes for myself and normally I would put down for myself what page number I'm referring to, but a location number seems less tangible or less accessible somehow.

My husband had to help me figure out how to lock my screen. The sensor that flips between horizontal and vertical would get excited and hop around when I was shifting around in my chair and that was quite annoying. Real books don't jump upside down when you're reading them. Once it was locked in place it ceased to be a problem.

I will be doing it again as I am far from bookstores and as we've seen there are going to be fewer bookstores even in the USA to browse. I'm importing a bunch of books too but a limited supply to be sure. I'm already grateful for my ipad as I may run out of paper reading material before my boxes arrive.

2 comments:

  1. I'm interested to hear how someone like you who has read a lot feels about the ebook experience. I'm going to be a late to the party mostly because I don't read enough at the moment for it to make sense. Someday, though...

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  2. Even though I read a lot I wasn't sure about it. Now that the devices do more than one thing, i.e. check email or internet. It feels like a more justifiable expense. I probably would not be here yet still if I wasn't in a foreign country where English books are scarce. The ipad is really a bit heavier than I wish it were. Like reading lying on your back holding the book aloft is uncomfortable, not like a paperback, but probably the same as a hard back book.

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