I was sitting in the departure lounge in DFW airport waiting to get on my flight and I was reading a a book on my iPhone.
The guy sitting next to me ask, “Are you reading a book on your iPhone?”
I said, “Yes, I am.”
He said, ” That is awesome! Can you really do that?”
We had a good discussion on how I was using the Kindle app to read books and how well it was working for me. He had the Kindle app loaded before we got on the plane.
I am traveling more these days, so I have more airplane time to read. I wanted to try reading on my iPhone, so I got the Kindle iPhone app, got an Amazon account to buy eBooks, and downloaded a few books. The eBooks cost a little less than the paper version. I have now read four or five books on my iPhone and the answer is – Yes!
It did take reading about one or two books to get used to reading on the iPhone for several hours at a time. I had to find the right text size so that the text was big enough for me to read but small enough that I didn’t have to turn the page every sentence.
Here are seven reasons I like it:
- The iPhone doesn’t weigh much, so holding it a long time is easy.
- I can easily read my iPhone in low light.
- The iPhone is small, so I carry and use it on places like an airplane.
- I can carry several books at a time without filling up my bag.
- The iPhone Kindle app keeps track of where I am in the book so it is easy to get started reading.
- I can buy a new book anytime from Amazon with my laptop or with the browser on my iPhone.
- Last but not least, I always have my iPhone with me, so it is very convenient. I can read a few pages almost anytime I am stuck waiting.
There are a few things I don’t like. The airlines want me to turn my iPhone when we take off and land so I can’t read then. When I want to go back to find something in the book, it is not as easy as it would be to just thumb through a hard copy of the book. When I am reading something that require lots of work to understand (re-reading, skipping back to the previous page to check content, etc.), I do find reading on the iPhone more difficult.
Overall, reading books on my iPhone is a great plan for me. I have recently read Dan Brown’s new book,”The Lost Symbol,” and several of the books I have reviewed on this web site including, “The Tipping Point.” I have access to one of the early Kindles and have friends that love them, but for me, not having one more device to mess with is helpful. If you haven’t tried it, you should.
How do you read today? Have you used your iPhone or Kindle to read a book? What works for you?
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I agree reading books on the iPhone is far superior to carrying a book or an extra device around. I’ve still not gotten used to the page numbering (or lack of).
However, I did run across an issue- I don’t read much fiction- mostly books for study that I like/need to highlight and take notes in the margins of my books. You can’t do this on the Kindle app, but you can on the Barnes and Noble app, so… They’ll be getting my money from now on.
I agree that not being able to highlight or take notes is a pain. So if you are reading something you really need to study, re read, take notes, etc. the iPhone may not be the best plan. Even with a reader that supports it, taking notes could be a pain.
I read mostly business books (not techical) and some fiction. I never got in the habit of marking up books, but I know lots of people do.
Let me know how the B&N reader works out for you.
I love the B&N reader. Not having to carry around a book outweighs the hassle of a small screen and I never have a pen when I want to make notes anyway.
I tried the Kindle (no highlights or notes) and eReader (no notes and no where near the selection of recent books). Then there is Stanza (Amazon just bought) Good reader but its kind of a “roll your own solution for documents on your pc that you want to put on your iPhone.
I’m doing the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership in a class at church and I never have to remember to take the book with me. All the notes and highlights are in one one place then they link to their page in the book. Almost as handy as writing in the margins.
I agree with you completely! It is a perfect way to carry a book with you at all times and makes it easy to travel too! I always have my current reading with me and i find it very easy to use! The last time I found it helpful was traveling to Austin with friends and traveling in the car at night was great because I could just keep on reading without disturbing the driver with unnecessary lights!
Great tool!