more reading

[jonathanmoeller]

Does your Kindle cause you to read more?

I realized that mine did, but only after I got the Kindle app for my phone. I spend an inordinate amount of time waiting in places - lines, offices, whatever - it's marvelous to pull out my phone and sync to wherever I was reading on the Kindle device. Certainly easier than lugging a book around, and by far better then reading the magazines from 1974 in the waiting room.

[Sandpiper]

Yes.  I still don't read a lot, but I do read more than I had for many years pre-Kindles.  In my childhood and younger years I did read a lot.  Then I just got away from it?

[CrystalStarr]

I read so much more!  I've been reading ebooks for years. My first was on a green screen Palm PDA at least 10 years ago.  I never really stopped after that.  But it is so much easier now with the Kindle and whisper net and all of that.  Just hit a button and poof!  You have a new book to read.  And the e ink makes the whole experience a joy.  I just find myself devouring books since my first Kindle came via Santa about a year ago.

[arshield]

I first started using my Palm IIIe as an ereader.  Read several russian novels on it.  Eink is so much better.  But proximity is the biggest issue for the amount of reading I think.

[Andra]

I don't know that the Kindles have made me read MORE.  They have just made it more convenient.  I don't have to drag around a duffle bag full of books wherever I go any more.  I just have to carry a Kindle.

[jonathanmoeller]

But it is so much easier now with the Kindle and whisper net and all of that.  Just hit a button and poof!  You have a new book to read.

It is way handy. I get annoyed when I have to wait for physical objects to arrive via mail now.

[teralpar]

Definitely! Since I've had my Kindle I try to read every chance I get. It's just so much more convenient then lugging a book around!

[Randirogue]

Does your Kindle cause you to read more?

I realized that mine did, but only after I got the Kindle app for my phone. I spend an inordinate amount of time waiting in places - lines, offices, whatever - it's marvelous to pull out my phone and sync to wherever I was reading on the Kindle device. Certainly easier than lugging a book around, and by far better then reading the magazines from 1974 in the waiting room.

This is the same for me, especially on the subway in NYC. Having to walk so much here limits how much I can carry, and even when I have my iPad on me, I'll opt to read on my phone for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to: security (harder to nab the tiny phone than the larger iPad, and less likely it'd be jarred out of my hands with devastating results during the exceptionally busy transfers between train and platform),comfort in tight spaces (whether packed or not, I can usually easily pull out, navigate, read and quickly put away my phone and still have a free hand to hold the bar to keep from slamming into someone or stumbling like an idiot too terribly no matter how forcefully the train starts or stops), and multi-purpose (whilst reading, I can conveniently answer a text or phone call without having to fumble devices between hands or pockets or bags or without even having to let go of the bar on the train).

Reading so often on the train, at the gym, and in other temporary/waiting/occupied activities and situations typically gets me just involved enough in the story in each session to make me greater crave continuing to read it when it's even MORE convenient to do so.  As such, I read more books and more frequently... And I am ever so glad of it.

[mooshie78]

Definitely.  I didn't read all that much for leisure until getting my first Kindle in early 2009.  Just too much hassle to buy books and have to store them or give them away after finishing (I seldom re-read anything).  Or to hassle with the library selection, wait times and due dates.

Thus the convenience of e-books has me reading a lot more.

[jonathanmoeller]

This is the same for me, especially on the subway in NYC. Having to walk so much here limits how much I can carry, and even when I have my iPad on me, I'll opt to read on my phone for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to: security (harder to nab the tiny phone than the larger iPad, and less likely it'd be jarred out of my hands with devastating results during the exceptionally busy transfers between train and platform),comfort in tight spaces (whether packed or not, I can usually easily pull out, navigate, read and quickly put away my phone and still have a free hand to hold the bar to keep from slamming into someone or stumbling like an idiot too terribly no matter how forcefully the train starts or stops), and multi-purpose (whilst reading, I can conveniently answer a text or phone call without having to fumble devices between hands or pockets or bags or without even having to let go of the bar on the train).

A lot of that applies to an eInk Kindle, as well. I'll take eInk over LED any day, especially when I'm at home, but a smartphone with the Kindle app is a lot easier to lug about in public than a Kindle device.

[mooshie78]

Definitely true.  I do a tad more reading when out and about since getting an iPhone 4s since I always have it with me.  I seldom carried my Kindle or iPad around before.

But still not a ton of reading on the go as I don't take public transits or have unexpected wait times etc.

[Carolyn62]

I was having vision problems and avoided reading for about 2 years. I've always been an avid reader and missed reading. Audio books are great, but just not the same. I'm reading so much more now, as much as I used to before my vision problems!

[jonathanmoeller]

I was having vision problems and avoided reading for about 2 years. I've always been an avid reader and missed reading. Audio books are great, but just not the same. I'm reading so much more now, as much as I used to before my vision problems!

Awesome!

This is one of my favorite things about ebooks (and technology in general) - they give us a way to cheat what would otherwise be insurmountable physical limitations.

[jcarson84]

I don't know if I necessarily read more than I did before I got my Kindle. I read on average 1-2 books per month, and that hasn't changed. What has changed, however, is what I read. I'm finding whole new genres I never thought to try, and a lot of indie authors who are amazing. I'm really enjoying all the cheap ebooks there are out there, that I never would have tried (or been able to try, in many cases) without my Kindle.

[jonathanmoeller]

I'm really enjoying all the cheap ebooks there are out there, that I never would have tried (or been able to try, in many cases) without my Kindle

Yes. I think the traditional publishing world had become stagnant and retrograde, and that the relative ease of creating ebooks will lead to improvements in both the quality and quantity of available fiction.

[valleycat1]

Amanda +1 - I've always been a voracious reader, and one of those whose first concern when traveling was how many books (& which ones) I wanted to pack.

What Kindle has changed for me is that I tend to have several different books going at once, instead of usually reading one at a time, since it's easy to select whatever I'm in the mood for at a given moment.

[jbcohen]

I don't know about more, the Kindle has simply saved me from myself.  I have always been somewhat of a book worm to the point that my library in my basement of my home is massing for a take over of the entire basement then the next step would be the entire home.  Seriously I am drowning in books down there.  The kindle has helped me stem the tied of the books at least to a point and hold back the wave of books a bit by going digital with them.  Although my Mack Bolan books are still in printed form, I would much prefer them in electronic format rather than the printed form they are in now.

[CoffeeCat]

I read far more since owning my first kindle back in '09 then i did in years prior. I always loved reading, and spent endless amounts of time in bookstores shopping/working, but reading for long amounts of time was a chore for me--I could never find a way to sit and read that was comfortable for long amounts of time. My Kindle solved that.

The book in 60 seconds thing is a huge bonus too. I also enjoy being able to read on my smartphone when I don't have my Kindle around.

[jonathanmoeller]

The book in 60 seconds thing is a huge bonus too. I also enjoy being able to read on my smartphone when I don't have my Kindle around.

Yes. The phone thing is excellent - it's a lot easier to keep a phone with you then a book or even a full-sized Kindle.

[mooshie78]

Yeah, the synching between apps on different devices is probably my favorite feature of the Kindle.  Phone is always with me, so that's what I read on on the go.  Sometimes read on my iPad when traveling as I don't often take my Kindle on the road any more.  At home I usually read on the Kindle 3.  Awesome to have it all stay synced up.

[jonathanmoeller]

Yeah, the synching between apps on different devices is probably my favorite feature of the Kindle.

By the time I finish reading my current book ("The Waters of Eternity", by Howard Andrew Jones), I'll have read it on three different devices.

[KindleChickie]

It definitely has me reading a greater variety of things, along with spending much more.  I relied heavily on my local library preKindle.  I read overwhelming nonfiction, current events, newspapers, history, bios, etc.  now maybe 40% is fiction?

[jonathanmoeller]

along with spending much more.

Somewhere, an Amazon employee just got his wings. 

[Rie142]

I don't know that the Kindles have made me read MORE.  They have just made it more convenient.  I don't have to drag around a duffle bag full of books wherever I go any more.  I just have to carry a Kindle.

Same for me.   I have always read a lot.   Now it is just easier. 

[pahiker]

I definitely read more!  202 books this year and counting!  I have less expense and easier access to books and I carry my kindle everywhere I go.  When I finish one book there is always a new one waiting.

[Randirogue]

Somewhere, an Amazon employee just got his wings.