Monday, January 19, 2009

Better Read then Dead

P1010032Okay, I know that is mighty strange headline for a blog post, but what the heck, I’m in that kind of mood. The point I’m trying to make is that I used to think I could never read an ebook. I always thought that I had to have  the dead tree version of a book to be able to enjoy the read.

I want to say right now: I WAS WRONG!!!!

To the right you see my most recent gadget. It’s a Samsung Blackjack; not as sexy as an Apple  iPhone, but for my money its just as good. I’ve coupled it with my home version of Microsoft Office 2007 so I can create and edit documents to my heart’s content.

But my most recent addition to my Blackjack is the addition of Mobipocket ebook Reader. This free software has turned my Blackjack into a mobile library of books and documents. My most recent read, which I highly recommend, is Cory Doctrow’s Little Brother, a dystopian tale of the Department of Homeland Security run amok and the efforts of a band of teenagers to resist.

Other books I have read using my Blackjack include:

All of these book, except for Atlas Shrugged are available for free. Mobipocket ebook Reader also provides the ability to import web documents, .pdf files, and office documents and converts them to their reader. Whenever I connect my Blackjack to my computer Mobipocket will ask if I want to synchronize my library. I have met the future and it is wonderful.

del.icio.us Tags: ,

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Friends and spouse adore their Kindles, and now you and your adapted phone....Do you find any difference in your reading with the change in "page" size and scrolling?

dmcoxe said...

Actually, I have come to prefer reading an ebook over a paper-based book for several reasons many of which you asked about.

1. I can control the text size, which is a saving grace for my aging eyes.
2. The page size reduces the pain of being confronted with a large page of text that can appear daunting.
3. I have my Blackjack configured to page forward a block of text at a time so there is no scrolling.
4. I can bookmark pages without leaving shreds of paper or dogeared pages.