I’m an early adopter. As a lover of new gadgets AND books, what could be better than Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader? Even before Amazon released their Kindle reader I was reading books on my Sony reader. When the Kindle came out, I bought one of the first ones. It wasn’t perfect but downloading books anywhere over a free cellular network? I had seen the future and it was bright with promise.
But then Apple launched their iPad and THEIR proprietary version of eBooks, and suddenly there was real competition. The iPad was bright, colorful, hot. Kindle was…cool…but the iPad could do more. it didn’t bode well for Amazon.
Kindle Course Change
Then Jeff Bezos wisely released software that would allow you to read Kindle books on anything, not just a Kindle. VERY smart. Suddenly I could have my cake and eat it too. I had chosen to buy mostly Kindle books (much cheaper than iBooks). Now I could read those Amazon books on my Apple iPhone, iPad, PC, whatever.
Years passed and there have been many new Kindles (and a few iPads too). I gave my original Kindle 
to one of my children and my iPad wannabe Kindle Fire sits mostly unused. I use my smartphone and tablet everyday and they’re always with me. The phone’s a little small for reading but for me the convenience of having everything in one device outweighs the form factor. I can even use Amazon’s Cloud Reader if I don’t have any of my devices with me.
Two of my children read Kindle books on their Kindles. The other two prefer their smartphones or tablets. Boys, girls…it doesn’t matter. None of them read iBooks. Seems like Amazon’s won the eBook format war.
The Future of eBook Readers?
I heard a few years ago that half of the top ten ebooks in Japan were WRITTEN on smartphones. I can’t imagine doing that but if that’s what you have, I guess that’s what you use. Seems like dedicated readers might be going away. Yet today Amazon is still putting out new Kindles and Barnes & Noble insists Nook still has a future. However, I already carry a phone, a tablet and a notebook. I’m not sure I want to add another device to my daily load.
I picked up an old fashioned hardcover book last night. I had to dig up my clip-on booklight to avoid keeping my wife awake. It felt good to be holding a “real” book again. That is, until I had to fight the booklight every time I turned a page. And then the battery died and I was done reading for the night. So I picked up my smartphone and opened a different book.
I miss browsing through bookstores. I worked for a time as a librarian and love the smell and feel of books. They never run out of power. You can take them to the beach and even loan them to friends. Harder to do that with Kindle (though you can loan some eBooks).
My son tells me that Pokémon Go is coming to the iWatch. I’m not sure I want to read books on my watch but there might be an app for that. As for me and my house…well, half of it anyway…we’re reading Amazon eBooks on smartphones. Where do you prefer to read?
