This past Friday a colleague lent me a book to read. And when I say book, I mean an actual book. Hardcover. 252 pages. The title looked interesting and the content was relevant to me, so Saturday morning I picked it up and started reading in bed whlie Miss CrackBerry slept in.
There was nothing odd about this scenario, or at least I didn't think there was, until at 23 pages into the book it dawned on me... apparently I now hate reading physical books. Though I had attained this book for free, I put it down, grabbed my PlayBook, fired up the Kobo app, bought the book for $20.69 (could have bought it on the Kindle for $9.88 so Amazon had better get that Kindle app for the PlayBook out asap!), downloaded it, then continued to read happily for the next two hours.
For the past few years I've mainly done my reading on E-Book devices. I was a relatively early adopter of the Kindle, own an iPad and iPad 2 which when I do use them it's mainly for reading, and since getting the PlayBook have done a lot of reading on that. And when I don't have any of these bigger-screened devices around I'll read on my phone. But as much as I've been an adopter of E-Book readers, it wasn't until this weekend that I really reflected on why I prefer reading on a digital device.
I'm sure there are many more reasons than this, but here are mine:
- I can read in silence (no sound of pages flipping)
- I can read whatever books I want and the people around me don't know what I'm reading (I have pretty eclectic and occassionally weird taste in books so don't need people I don't know seeing what I'm reading)
- I can have my entire library with me wherever I go (I tend to like to re-read a lot of my favorite passages)
- I don't need to go to a bookstore to buy books (just need an internet connection)
- I like that I can change up the font size (make it big so I can read on a treadmill)
- I can look up the definitions of words I don't know on the fly
Put it all together and I find it almost a painful experience to read through a real book... unless of course, you know, my battery is dead or I'm trying to read outside. But most things being equal, I'm definitely a digital guy.
Which brings us to the question of this week's CrackBerry Poll.... are you an E-Book addict like me, or still loyal to paper?? Vote on the poll above and sound off in the comments!
Read more
From the forums: The BlackBerry PlayBook 10 concept and this one looks a real beauty
Currently, as far as we know, another PlayBook isn't on the cards anytime soon for BlackBerry. That doesn't stop our CrackBerry forum members from wanting a new and improved BlackBerry 10 tablet though. Andreas Kimishis1 has come up with yet another concept and I must say that it looks glorious. Since BlackBerry confirmed that the original PlayBook would not a get BlackBerry 10 update...
CrackBerry Asks: Do you still use your BlackBerry PlayBook?
Looking back to when BlackBerry released their first tablet, the PlayBook, seems an age ago now. When BlackBerry 10 came to the market PlayBook users were looking forward to the new OS running on their PlayBook's as promised by the company themselves. Unfortunately, things changed and getting BlackBerry 10 onto the tablet never panned out. I don't mean to sound negative in any...
CrackBerry Asks: Are you picking up a new tablet or sticking with your BlackBerry PlayBook?
With the BlackBerry PlayBook not set to receive any further significant upgrades, there has been plenty of folks out there looking towards Android, iOS and even Microsoft to fill their tablet needs. A new Nexus 7 was just announced, Apple has the hottest selling tablet ever with new iterations on the way and while Microsoft hasn't exactly been making waves with their tablets, they did...
Searching for a discounted BlackBerry PlayBook in Canada? Check out our forums for help!
Many people up in Canada have been taking advantage of some great sales on the BlackBerry PlayBook over the last couple of weeks. While the 16GB wifi version has been found for as low as $99 at stores such as Staples, finding available stock at these stores has been pretty hit and miss. Some persistent folks have found stock at other retailers and gotten a price match for the advertised...