Tag Archives: reading

Virtual reading

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My reading style is changing. More and more I’m starting to read e-books. And given my choice, I’m reading Kindle books.

Admittedly, I like the feel of holding a book in my hands. Holding an electronic device isn’t as pleasant nor, in many ways, as convenient as reading a book. When I want to do serious study, it’s hard to beat a spread of books around me on the desk.

But I’m being converted. Specifically, I’m being converted to books in the Kindle format, even though I have never touched a Kindle device. Here’s why I’m changing my reading habits:

  1. Easier to carry. I travel a good bit and am finding it increasingly helpful to carry a number of books in a device that fits in my pocket. (I use an iPod Touch for reading when traveling) Some complain of eyestrain when reading off of a backlit monitor; I haven’t found that to be a problem.
  2. Synched between multiple devices. I’ve got the Kindle app on my iPod, plus I have the Kindle program on my Mac. I can read a book on one device, then open it later on the other, and, if I have Internet access, it will open to the place where I left off. I can also read different books on the two devices, should I so choose. And there is supposed to be an online version of the reader, which would allow me to read from another computer when traveling.
  3. Backed up to the cloud. What’s been the biggest selling point for me to get me to start doing serious reading via Kindle is kindle.amazon.com. As I read, I can highlight certain passages. Then I sign in at kindle.amazon.com and all of the highlighted passages are there. It’s a great way to save a summary of the book. Plus I can share those highlights with others, along with my comments, on Facebook.

I’m using that last feature with a book that I’m using in the “Christianity in Culture” class I teach this semester. I’m using N.T. Wright’s Simply Christian, which I purchased via Kindle. I read through the chapters, marking significant passages, then I have those passages available to me as we discuss them in class.

Most of the e-books that I have are ones that I picked up for free. Yes, I’m that cheap. I think that Simply Christian is the only one I’ve paid regular price for, and that was cheaper than buying a physical copy. The applications are free. My total investment in all of this hasn’t reached $15. And I’ve acquired over 30 books, though some of the free ones really weren’t worth the price.

So, if you haven’t tried e-books, I’d encourage you to take a test drive. If you have, I’d like to hear your experiences and any tips you might have to share.

Am I reading too much?

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the time I spend reading things on the Internet. It’s a bit ironic to be writing this in a blog, but I’m wrestling with the “dispersion” of my thoughts as I read so many short articles. Obtaining information via blogs and Internet articles is not the same as getting it from books (though it does bear a certain resemblance to newspaper reading).

Years ago, my watch was stolen during a home invasion. I used that as a time to try and lessen my time addiction; I waited more than a year before I bought another watch. Week before last, my laptop was stolen (OK, Herald of Truth’s laptop). One thing I lost were all of my RSS subscriptions, all the feeds to articles, blogs, etc. that I read regularly. I had over 200 subscriptions.

I’m going to wait a while before replacing them. I’ll try and still read some blogs, and I invite you to feel free to point out to me good things that I might be missing. But for a time, I’m going to slow down my Internet reading (fully recognizing the irony of doing so while continuing to write).

This may be through the end of the year. It may be through the end of tomorrow. We’ll see.

But I want to get back to the deeper question: does reading widely on the Internet keep us from focusing on deeper thoughts? Or does it help us to be well rounded? I’d very much appreciate your input.