Top 10 Reasons to Use an eBook Reader

By Andrea Edmunds

We imagine most people have the same initial reaction to eBook readers that we did. Sure it’s great, but there’s no way it will ever replace real books. Plus, if it’s anything like reading text on a computer, count us out.

But as technology has developed and the popularity of eBook readers, especially the Kindle, we started to wonder why Oprah called it her most favorite gadget. Oprah considers herself to be a professional reader and has the Midas’ touch on the books she picks for her book club. She’s no stranger to reading and if she likes it maybe there’s more to it. So, while there are always pros and cons to everything we do, we came up with the Top 10 reasons we like eBooks. Who knows, maybe this will be enough to convince you to make the switch:

1. Don’t have to pack 10 or so books for one trip. Probably the most compelling reason, especially with rising costs to bring baggage on planes, it makes it easier to keep bags light.
2. With dedicated services, you can have thousands of books available virtually at your fingertips. Just the concept is enough to get us excited. Any book we can think of is available and we can get it whenever we feel like it.
3. Saves money buying new books. Many New York Times Bestsellers are available for $9.99 and some of the old books (like the Nancy Drew Files) are available for less than $1.
4. Portable. Just like a book, you can take it anywhere. Compared to some of the big reference book I’ve read or even textbooks, these eBook readers are a piece of cake to carry around.
5. Can last for 2 weeks without being charged. Sure it’s electronic and it has to be charged, but when you wait two weeks to charge it, you can almost forget it’s electronic.
6. Compact, everything in one place (books, newspapers, blogs). Today’s world is all about consolidating, making every gadget do more. So being able to consolidate and get all your reading material in one place makes it invaluable.
7. The Kindle is especially flexible switching from read to me to regular reading easily. Sometimes it’s hard to go to work when I’m reading a really good book. The Kindle makes it easy because you can just switch to the Read to Me function and at least listen to it in the car.
8. Can zoom in on text and different sizes. Sometimes the text on those old paperbacks is just too small to read easily, being able to change the font size at least means you can probably use it longer than some of your old books.
9. Supports multiple document formats. You can even do homework/work on it. Not that you’d want to, but the option is available.
10. Ergonomic. Admit it, your wrists hurt when you hold the book open for hours on end. This stays open by itself while you nurse your wrists back to health.