Reading books on the iPad

Randy Murray who writes over at the excellent First Today, Then Tomorrow:

I will still buy printed books. I love them. But the barrier has been breached. It is so easy to purchase eBooks. There was one less heavy thing for me to haul around as I travel. I don’t have to search for space on my overflowing shelves. And I found bookmarking and looking up unfamiliar words and phrases to be remarkably helpful. For example, when the term “sally port” was introduced, but not explained, I touched the words and looked them up. Remarkable.

Last week I wrote about my experience of writing with the iPad and touched on how I’d started using it more and more as an e-reader. Randy makes some great points here too, but for me the iPad’s strength – and the Kindle’s too, for that matter – is in its accessibility.

From simple things, like the ability to change font size, to more complex functionality, like built in audio and video footage (done primarily through standalone apps at the moment), e-readers enrich the reading experience.

E-books might not be traditional or smell nice when you buy them, but they have plenty to offer. And for some readers, such as those with poor vision, they could be life changing.

As I said last week, we have a choice. We can read both printed books and e-books. It’s up to us. That can only be a good thing.