Discussion – I going to do it…I am going to buy an e-reader

After over a year of agonizing over whether or not I should embrace the an e-reader I’ve decided to go for it.

What do you guys think?  Have you invested in an e-reader yet?  Will you?  If you have do you like your reader?

More and more publisher’s are offering ARCs in ebook only formats.  It is much easier to get my hands on free ebooks than the paper versions. 

What were my main reasons for waiting?  Well there are about 170 of them sitting on my shelf in my bedroom.  I just have way too many paper books.  The other reason is I get a lot books from the library and the library doesn’t rent out e-books yet.

What sold me on getting one?  Three things.  I got to play with one that a guy I work with bought.  I loved it.  The text to speech is quirky but cool for finishing up a book when you have to hop in the car.   Second thing it supports audible.  So I can put all my audio books on there.  Yeah, I have an ipod for that…but it would be handy to have them all in one place.  Third, it supports pdfs.  I have to do a ton of patent reading at work.  Often I go to meetings with a twelve inch tall stack of patents.  Then the group struggles through them as we try to find chemical cmpd names and references.  No more.  I will bring my patents on my Kindle, I will not have sore arms, and I will quickly search for terms I need to find.

It helps that more and more ebooks are available; often for free.  Netgalley.com has a wide range of ARCs available for Kindle.  Amazon Vine is starting to offer e-books, Librarything.com Early Reviewer program offers a ton of e-books, and when authors contact me they want to send me an e-book.  I have had to turn down a number of authors because I don’t have an e-reader.

So I am going to do it.  Hopefully I enjoy it.  Another major perk it not having to drag along half a suitcase full of books when I go on long trips for work.  I think I am still trying to convince myself it is a good decision.

Needless to say I am getting a Kindle.  It just seems to be more compatible with other things.