I was given an e-book reader (the Sony one) for Christmas, so it finally gave me a chance to try one out. When these came out first, I was sceptical. I love the feel of a paper book, and I love to read in the bath, which is not something I'd risk with such an expensive piece of technology. But I'm open minded, and anything which offers me another way to get at books has to be good!
We were spending about ten days away over the Christmas break so it was the perfect opportunity to test it for real. I brought way less books than I usually would, which was just asa well, because we were barely within weight restrictions on the flight. Instead, I loaded the books that came with the reader, and boarded my flight.
I was actually surprised how easy it is to hold and read. Not exactly like a book, but close enough that when you've been reading a few minutes, and you've got used to the way you turn the page, you soon forget that it's anything different. It's not back-lit, so the screen is easy on the eye, and one of the winning features, when it gets late, and the old eyes get tired (or you've forgotten your glasses) you can increase the font size.
I have some niggles- there's no way of annotating text, or making notes, and frustratingly if you want to attach a notebook or even just a few bits of paper to the inside cover, you can't switch over the reader so that the 'empty' cover is on your right. Great for the left-handed, but I would have to reach across the text to scribble on a piece of paper inside the cover. For a technology which is ideal for text books, and for anyone who has to carry around a lot of books for the sake of their work (for example reviewers) I would have thought Sony would have wanted to make taking notes easier.
Then there's the books available. I know it's early days, but there's a limit to what books are available. The Sony shop itself has a poor selection (nearly all new releases) and Waterstones, which launched the reader in the UK and Ireland wasn't a whole lot better. Then I ran an Internet search on 'Richard Ford e-book', 'Roddy Doyle e-book', and 'Maeve Binchy e-book' and came up with a few titles, but most of them are available cheaper in paperback (and even hardback, new, if you look hard enough.)
Finally price- the reader itself is pricey enough, but for new books, publishers only offer a saving of a euro or two for the digital versus the printed version. This for doing the work of downloading the file onto your computer, and transferring onto your reader. (They save on printing, inventory, storage, transportation, invoicing and returns costs.)I know book price probably isn't the main reason why anyone would buy a digital rather than a real book, but if the publishers want to catch the reader who reads more than three or four books a year (and who else would fork out for a reader?) they're going to have to work harder on pricing. Personally, I can see myself catching up on my (out of copyright and cheap) Classics on the reader, but sticking to real books for most reading.
