Why my Kindle is still part of my mobile Reading – GigaOm

I’m a voracious reader. On average I read about 50-60 books a year (and That number May be conservative). Up Until I got my iPad I had a library room in my home overflowing with books. Shortly after I got my iPad I stopped buying paper books and went ebook-only. About two years ago I finished Replacing the Majority of my paper books with electronic copies and donated most of my paper books. The Only Ones Left were either books That I could not get an electronic copy of, were signed by the author (s had a note from my father in them), or were a coffee-table books.

So as a power reader, I wanted to outline how, in Read These Days, and why my Kindle still matters.

My Purchasing Habits

Generally speaking, my purchasing strategy is to avoid Device lock-in. It’s hard to avoid any sort of lock-in, so I’m more willing to lock myself into a great thatlets me read the book on whatever device I want, as opposed to a platform like iBooks, where I need bothering iBooks and an Apple device to read the books.

Almost all of my ebooks I buy on Amazon. I use Amazon Because I can read my books on any platform. The only books I buy on the iBookstore are sheet music books (iBooks handles the images slightly better than the Kindle app), or Books That are only available on iBooks. These books are Usually Apple-related books.

I do still read comics (Although not much due to the expense). In buy my comics from ComiXology. I’m still not thrilled That ComiXology removed in-app purchases, but I’ve Adjusted to it.

i also still use my local library quite a bit. They are pretty good at getting new releases (They have the new Stephen King book, Revival) and as long as I do not mind a waitlist, I Can Usually find the book I want.

As for magazines, I either read Those in the Amazon, magazine, or an iOS app. I’ve Made a Conscious Decision to only buy magazines thathave a decent shelf life, so I’ll Usually buy a Guitar Magazine That HAS songs I want to learn or a decent set of lessons.

The apps

Since I use Amazon to A Certain Degree I’m locked into That app. While there are ways around That problem That I will not go into here (in this regard, Google is your friend), it’s Easier to stay within Amazon’s little house. I’m a big fan of typography, and the iBooks app appeals to my sense of elegance. Within the Amazon app, I’m a big fan of collections. I’ll Usually Create a Collection for Different book series I’m reading. I also keep a collection named Reading List. This collection is books within my huge backlog That I’ve prioritized reading. Whenever I’m stumped on Deciding the Next book to read, I’ll go to That collection and choose something to read.

Occasionally I’ll pick up a DRM-free book from A Different Store. This May either be a free book on an author’s site or a special deal on the publisher’s site. In this case I May toss the book into iBooks, but more likely I will email it to my Kindle Personal Documents. I like Personal Documents Because it stores all my books in the cloud. One of the big problems I have with iBooks is it does not store side-loaded books in iCloud.

For magazines, as I said, I buy a lot of guitar-oriented magazines. For These, I actually prefer to use the magazine’s iOS app. This Is Because thwart the iOS version willhave video lessons. Total Guitar and Guitar Techniques are two magazines thathave either audio or music embedded inside the app. These apps are the one exception to my desire to avoid Device lock-in Because I’ve found the experience on These apps ice father superior to a multiplatform solution like Zino.

About 90 percent of the time, I ‘m reading on my iPad 3. It’s still the best size for me; I’ve contemplated getting an iPad mini, but the lackluster new iPad mini upgrade combined with my iPhone 6 Plus definatley Eliminated my desire to get one. I’ll read on my iPhone 6 Plus about six percent of the time. Usually, this is either When I’m waiting for a meeting to start or I’m squished into public transportation. The last four percent is spent on my Kindle fourth

Why the Kindle still matters to me

I choose to read on my Kindle when i dont need a multipurpose device. A good example is this coming Monday: I’ll have to go performaces my civic duty and sit for jury duty.

I called ahead and the courthouse allows potential jurors to bring any electronic device They desire, since We will be Sitting around for hours. Certainly I’ll pack my iPad and iPhone with me, but I expect I’ll do most of my reading on my Kindle. That’s Because my Kindle will go almost a month on a charge. I do not Have to worry about the battery draining.

The Kindle is overpriced imperative if I’m going to be reading anywhere near a bright light. When I go the beach in the summertime I’ll toss it into my bag. It’s overpriced cheap enough That if something happens to it, I’m not out a ton of money. I’d like to get a Kindle Voyage at somepoint The Back lit screen and better PPI. At That Point, I’d expect to use the Kindle more When reading at night. I have not been a big fan of the clip on lights (mine is now attached to my music stand), so I’d appreciate having a back lit screen.