Love to Read?

Some say the Internet will eliminate magazines. It hasn’t (but doubtless it has had an effect). Then some said the eReader would put written books out of business. It hasn’t and probably won’t.

Anyway, I received an email ad touting eReaders. What a surprise. I thought early on that there was one reader, then three or four. Now so many I can’t count ‘em on my fingers and toes. The price has come down, and the manufacturers have proliferated in short order (short for me at least).

I went on Border’s Bookstore Webpage and clicked on eReaders. I expected 1-2 but nosiree (slang for no sir), up came nine. Then they compared eReaders so I went there and checked out seven (the most expensive was a Border’s eReader) but the most popular makes were not on the list.

They ranged in price from $119-$299 (far from the initial ones I saw earlier at $499). Competition plus sales I imagine made the break in our favor. Size-wise, they were relatively close and held from 256 MB to 4 GB and even the smallest one could hold up to 1,000 books.

Imagine. One thousand books in a contraption the size of a paperback. Not bad. They weighed from 5.7 to 16 ounces and I would imagine “you get what you pay for.” The batteries might last from 10 hours up to two weeks which means a lot for the excessive traveler I suppose. All but one had a built-in dictionary and about one-half had an Audio Player (not bad for the persons, bless 'em, who refuse to text or read while driving).

Now you ask: Did I purchase one? Nope. Not yet. I suppose I’ll procrastinate until there are fifty to compare. And then I’ll be so exhausted I’ll take a nap instead.

With my cataracts gone with the wind, I can read better than ever. Even tiny print which I dislike with a vengeance. Until then, I’ll stick with the printed page but forgo bending corners to remind me where I left off. Besides, I enjoy giving books away when finished unless they end up on my “ya gotta keep this one” shelf. Happy reading(and screening).

P.S. There are some free eReaders out there, too.