I've got a large collection of e-books, but I've always just read them on my phone. Finally broke down and bought a proper e-reader with the nice e-ink display. Why didn't I do this forever ago?
It's got a backlight, but using it under a lamp with reflected light is just so much easier on my eyes and feels more like a paper book. I also haven't read a book written on dead trees in a good minute, so sitting under a lamp just brings back a missing piece of the experience I didn't even know was gone.
I also just can't get over how "fake" the display looks. Fake is usually not used to describe something positively, but in this case, it's a huge praise. The text and book cover images just look like they're printed on a sheet of paper and slipped inside to make the device look functional...like a movie prop. Turning the backlight on diminishes this effect somewhat, though (which is another reason I prefer to leave it off).
I also love that I can just set it down and not worry about coming back to a dead battery, lol. The reader app on my phone is set to prevent it from going to sleep or turning off the screen, so sometimes I'll set it down to go take care of something else, forget, and come back to a nearly dead battery.
To everyone who has recommended these gizmos to me, I finally get it. I know I said reading books on my phone was good enough, but I was wrong.
I love mine, too. It's nothing fancy, and is pretty old at this point. Maybe I should consider an upgrade.
Of course I can't mention it to anyone in person without them telling me how much they prefer reading "real books". It's no joke happened 100% of the time. I don't know why people feel required to reply that way.
Haha, I am one of those people. Never thought about like that. Though I go with "physical" not "real".
I understand the appeal of physical books. And in some ways, they are a better experience. It's just mildly annoying how predictable it is. I pretty much avoid talking about my e-reader at this point. I'd rather talk about titles and authors with my friends who read anyway.
Yeah, I don't care about much about how you read, it's so rare for me to meet people who love reading. So after the initial "I prefer physical books" thing, we just move on to what we read and like.