Reading with an e-reader, some pros.

So, several years ago I hacked my PSP so that I could read books on it. I would hold it sideways in my hand and advance the page with my pinky, an awkward position that I quickly got used to. It had a small screen and you'd have to change the text to white on a black background or it would give you a headache focusing, but there were several advantages to this. First, access to books. As much as everybody loves their local bookstore it has to contend with the physical problem of space. Even large chains like B&N can only accommodate a small percentage of all the books written in their gigantic, warehouse like stores. However, in the digital medium you can fit thousand and thousands of books on a microSD smaller than your thumb. Thus, with access to the internet and its endless storage capacity you can find and read any book you could ever want in less than an hour. For example, finding a copy of William S. Burroughs' Junkie in rural Alabama is impossible and it would have taken me a week or more to order it. But, with the possibility of an e-reader I was halfway through it by that evening. The next positive is space, since you can only carry so many books on you at once; even a normal sized hardcover becomes awkward to carry around with you all day if you don't have some type of bag. But, I could slip my PSP in my pant's pocket and have 200 books available to me at anytime. Third, you can search through all of the text automatically with a single keyword or phrase. How many times have you remember something mentioned in a book and then spent 20 minutes trying to track it down because you didn't underline it? Lastly, it does free up where you can read. You don't need a light source and it's small and light, making it perfect for reading during long car trips at night or when you don't want to disturb your roommate.
Anyways, these were a few of the benefits that I noticed while using an e-reader. Of course, there were also serious problems with it but that's a different story.

Microsoft's prototype ipad competitor

Microsoft has an interesting video here on engadget showing a conceptual touchscreen device that seems geared toward productivity. It is not exactly an e-reader, or perhaps I should say not simply an e-reader, but watch the video it has some interesting features.

Also here is a good slideshow of the pros and cons of six e-readers that aren't the ipad.

Alex, I'll take e-readers for $500.

Another e-reader that’s more than an e-reader. Made by Spring Design, the Alex has an e-ink display and an LCD display. On the smaller screen, you can surf the web, while reading Thomas Pynchon on the e-ink display (Oh wait. No Thomas Pynchon for the e-readers! Why not? If we’re gonna talk about techo-paranoia, let’s get Pynchon into the mix. Good thing we have DeLillo in e-ink.). Hell, you can even read and watch a movie at the same time. It’s just like studying for finals, except now you can do it anywhere.

This e-reader can do things that the Kindle and Nook can’t, but that iPad is looming on the horizon.

The E-reader is Coming! The E-reader is Coming!

The e-reader race is on!

Although not the first, Kindle is definitely the most popular e-reader, and sales of e-versions of books at Amazon were greater than physical books this past holiday season. Stories have been dedicated to the popularity of e-readers, the growth of e-readers, and changes in e-readers. It seems that suddenly people are reading again. So as some cringe over the loss of physical books, it is important to remember what books do and that is to provide information, to tell stories, to make us think.

Why have we fetishized the physical book? I think this issue is akin to Linus’s blanket—it’s something we are comfortable with. After all, a lot of people are comfortable with gas guzzling SUVs, but it’s time to get over it. No one is saying, let’s abandon books. What we need to say is, here’s a new way to interact with a text, how do we do it?