Originally Posted by
SuzanneSLO
I have not yet purchased a dedicated e-book reader, nor have I downloaded any free readers to my iphone. I have shelves of books at home that I re-read or reference from time to time. Even with books I don't keep, I feel good "recycling" them by lending them to freinds or donating them to the local library.
As a result, I am having issues with the idea of only owning an electronic version when I finish reading. For books that I think I will only want to read once, I generally use the library, which admittedly is incredibly convenient for me as I typically walk past it 4 times a week. I also find it interesting that many libraries now offer e-book rentals and more are sure to be offered in the future.
All that said, I expect for travel, I will have several books downloaded to my iphone. I am already starting a list of books that would be appropriate for my next trip, such as pulp fiction recently released in hardback. -- Suzanne
One thing to consider is that Google is releasing a large number of books that are no longer under copyright in an electronic format. I expect, given their history that they will attempt to widely disseminate the ability to read them on just about any platform (including the iPhone). That will be an interesting development. As will the long awaited large iPhone/small tablet Mac that is rumored to be getting closer to release. The latter will likely be about the same size as a Kindle but more "open" in terms of formats I suspect.