The Kindle vs. real books debate has raged on for years.
I love real books. Maybe I’m weird, but I love the way they look, how they feel in my hands. I even love the way they smell. The tactile feeling you get when you turn a page, it sends a signal of progress (and yeah, comfort) to your brain.
The problem with real books
They take up space. Hardcovers, which I particularly enjoy, are expensive, bulky, and heavy. That’s OK when you’re sitting by the fire in your most comfortable chair, absorbed in a good book.
I read in bed before I go to sleep. No matter how great the book may be, there’s a more than reasonable chance that I’m going to nod off at some point. Ever dropped a hardcover book on your face? Trust me, it’s not very comfortable. It’s also somewhat embarrassing when a co-worker says, “what happened to your face?” and you mumble, “I dropped a book on it.”
Then there’s the problem of lighting. My lovely wife always falls asleep before I do. Yes, that’s annoying as hell, but it’s not something I can hold against her. I don’t want to disturb her by having my beside lamp on. I’ve tried multiple variations of “book lights” and never found one that wasn’t a pain in the ass.
Kindle goodness
Enter e-readers. I have a Kindle Paperwhite (the latest model, with a 6.8″ screen, 16GB memory, adjustable warm light, no ads). With the Kindle, I can literally hold thousands of books in my hand. It’s adjustable warm light lets me not only allow Francy a dark environment at bedtime, but I can also tone down the blue light that can jack with your circadian rythm and negatively impact your sleep.
Yes, I can still drop it on my face, but at just over seven ounces, less than half the weight of an average paperback, it barely leaves a mark. (Your average hardback tips the scale at 1 pound, 2 ounces, according to these folks. War and Peace or The Stand significantly more.)
The anti-eReader in me lasted a long time. Practicality won out eventually, and I’m now a raving fan of my Kindle. It goes everywhere I go. Works in the bright sun of the Texas Gulf Coast sky, and lights beautifully, but doesn’t disturb others, in the dark of night.
Don’t get me wrong, I still have stuffed bookcase and thoroughly enjoy the look, feel and smell of a real book. But I probably do 95% of my reading on the Kindle.
e-Reader vs. tablet
Let’s chat just a second about a dedicated e-reader vs. a tablet.
Reading on a Kindle is far superior to reading on an iPad (or a phone). The Kindle is made for one thing–reading. A tablet and phone are multi-purpose. A Kindle screen is optimized for reading text. The non-glare surface alone blows a tablet out of the water. The e-reader screen (almost) feels like paper. The backlighting is far superior on a dedicated e-reader.
Importantly, an e-reader isn’t alerting you of new emails, text message, and social media stuff. You can’t dive off into the internet and get lost/distracted on a Kindle. (It does have wifi, and a rudimentary browser. Super-handy for looking up obscure words and terms. Not-so-good, which is good, for avoiding distracting web-surfing and posting.)
Kindles and other dedicated e-readers get cheaper by the day. If you’re going to read on a device, spring for a dedicated reader. There are valid reasons to debate Kindle vs. book; there is no debate in Kindle vs. tablet.
