eReaders

eReaders

The printed word is as strong as it ever was, but a lot of times it isn’t printed anymore. Instead, many books are now completely digital in nature, and they offer many advantages over their physical counterparts. For example, you can fit literally thousands of ebooks in a space smaller than that of a single paperback. You can also do content searches on ebooks that would be next to impossible with the printed form. And instead of driving to the bookstore to pick up the newest best seller you can just download it in the comfort of your own home (or wherever you may be).

Of course, these advantages are offset by a requirement, and that is a simple one – you must have something to read them on. Until the cortex data ports are installed in most humans, a good ebook reader can be the best friend an avid reader can have.

The ebook reader can, as with everything else on this list, come in a number of different forms. The most obvious is a dedicated ebook reader, and here you will find the Amazon Kindle, the Barnes and Noble Nook, The Sony Readers, and more. These types of readers favor easy on the eyes electronic ink over color splash. And the displays allow you to take them practically anywhere with a very low power requirement. A lot of ereaders even have their own connection to a store front, allowing you to download directly to the device and avoiding the computer middleman.

eReaders can also be software in nature, made to run on both personal computers and mobile devices. For example, both Amazon and Barnes and Noble offer free ereader software versions that run on laptops and iPhones. With the Amazon Kindle version of the software you can even split your time between computer, smartphone, and standalone reader without even losing your place – the software syncs automatically.

Outside of the convenience of having many, many ebooks at your disposal in a comfortable reader, there is another advantage – book price. New titles often sell for $9.99, quite a bit cheaper than the hardcover version of the same book. Cheaper books prices and ease of portability and storage makes eReaders a very nice gadget to own in whatever form you prefer.