It's the Ebook not the Ereader that matters

Category: TechToday

With new versions of Nook, Kobo, and the Kindle out, I frequently look at my first-generation Sony PRS-600 ereader (with its slow processor and poorly lit screen) with a mixture of derision and pride. However, once I pick it up during my lunch break and start reading, I realize that pride overturns any other negative emotion - two solid years of reading news and dozens of novels and manga have made up for the dollars I overpaid for the device.

I was talking to a co-worker the other day and she told me that she owned a first generation Kindle. I asked her what she was reading and she said she doesn't use it much anymore because she can't get much ebooks in Shanghai. It reminded of reviews and comments from Forbes, PCWorld, CNET, and other news sites when ereaders first came out. I remember an article saying that most people who received an ereader as a gift eventually toss it unceremoniously to the couch or to some unexplored corner of the bed to be neglected until remembered. For a lot of non-bookworm early adopters, ereaders went out of fashion faster than netbooks.

Amidst impressive specifications like screen size, annotation features, Android OS, touchscreen, and apps, people forget that it's not the ereader that's important - it's the book stored on the ereader not the ereader itself. Sure, the idea is just a digitally updated version of Don't judge a book by its cover and Bruce Lee's Don't look at the finger or you will miss all the heavenly glory (from the classic uncut version of 1973's Enter the Dragon). But it's still true.

"Read. Or I'll break your thumbs."

Sure, I'm craving for the new Kobo Glow or Kindle Paperwhite, but when I pick up my PRS-600 and start reading a book like Neil Gaiman's American Gods or Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, I remember exactly why I bought an ereader: To read.