E-readers

I really, really enjoyed the presentation on E-readers in class on Wednesday.  I have to admit that before the presentation, I did not really know what an E-reader was.  Of course I had heard of them, but I thought of them more as a new, not that necessary, technological toy (kinda how I also feel about things like the iPhone as well…).  However, after the presentation, I saw a lot more depth to the E-reader, the reasons it was created as well as its limitations.  First off, I had no idea that there was different E-ink used in the E-readers.  That actually made me feel a lot better, for the idea of E-readers always made me skeptical in relation to issues with eye strain (I have very bad eyes and I think I am a little over sensitive to the topic of eye strain).  I was very intrigued by this, and also felt a little silly that I did not know about this facet of the technology before.  Additionally, I did not really think about the ways in which an E-reader could benefit someone who is unable to read a traditional codex book.  However, all that being said… I don’t think I will be running out to buy an E-reader any time soon.  I was SUPER turned off of the E-reader when the group discussed how the books can ‘disappear’ after a certain amount of time!  You bought it; you should get to keep it!  I am also a lover of a physical book and reread many of my same favorites over, and over, and over again.  I can’t imagine purchasing it (or the “rights to it”) and then having it disappear later.  It is a cool thought to think about how E-readers will affect libraries though… the idea of checking out a device with preloaded booklists, themed or not, is a neat new way of thinking about library sharing.  Too bad you only get to check it out for about 2 weeks at a time… you probably won’t get through all of the texts on the E-reader.  Very well put together presentation that made me reevaluate my own personal thoughts on E-readers.