Sony Reader Touch - my new toy

My Sony Reader (Model PRS 600) arrived in the mail a couple of weeks ago. I was terribly excited about receiving it, but completely unprepared for the resulting love affair. I know, I know! I am a book lover! This blog is, after all, entitled 'Paper and Ink and Glue'. But I want to be honest with you, and the truth is that I adore my ereader.

I still think e-books shouldn't be called 'e-books' because they are not 'electronic books' any more than they are 'electronic scrolls'. The word 'book' denotes a physical format (sheets of paper bound between covers), not an abstract collection of text.

I'm also aware of the fact that a change in format radically changes the reader's experience. The move from paper to ereader is no trivial one. Let me assure you that I will continue to buy the paper versions of those books which I love best.

I was, however, caught unawares by several of the positive apsects of having an ereader:

• I always have it with me, because it's lighter than most books I read
• Countless classics, and lots of other books, are available for free online
• The E Ink screen is even easier to read than I imagined
• It's easy to hold
• The ability to highlight and make notes (let alone to carry lots of textbooks around at once) has already made study loads easier. With just a couple of clicks, I can scroll through all of my highlighted notes and find the parts of the text which caught my attention!
• The size of the screen (7 inches, slightly smaller than an average paperback) isn't the least bit annoying. I hardly notice as I flick through the pages.
• I am reading much, much faster than usual. This is partly due to the adjustable text size (bigger fonts make for faster reading) and partly due to the fact that I always have reading material on me. In the past two weeks I've read four novels on the reader, none of which I would have read otherwise.

There are a couple of down sides, though:

• Transferring selected files from the library on my computer to the ereader is easy enough (just like an MP3 player), but if I try to sync some of my texts get doubled up
• The device charges through USB, but the computer has to be active (i.e. not in sleep mode) for this to work- I accidentally drained my entire battery by leaving the reader connected to the computer overnight

Neither of these is any great obstacle if you're aware of it (especially since I already have a USB to AC adaptor), but it can get a little annoying.

If you're toying with the idea of getting an ereader but aren't yet convinced, I suggest visiting your local Borders store, where the Kobo reader has just been launched. There should be a model on display for you to play with. Angus & Robertson will soon be selling the same model. At $199, the Kobo is the first affordable ereader widely available in Australia.

I paid a good $100 more for mine, but I think it was worth it for the touch screen, which enables the highlighting and notes functions. It always pays to do your research.

If you already own an ereader, or if you are comfortable with reading on a laptop screen, I suggest you visit feedbooks, a fantastic site which with loads of books (including, much to my delight, books of philosophy) available for free in both PDF and EPUB formats.