I have a Kindle Paperwhite 2013 at home for a long time, one of the company's best e-books. However, I increasingly note that I do not read from the Kindle, but from my smartphone, and in today's gatherings we will talk about why this is happening.
When I bought my first Kindle, I was pleasantly surprised by its capabilities: syncing between devices, sending books via email, a cool backlit screen in the end, and of course, long battery life. For the first few months I read exclusively with the Kindle and enjoyed it immensely. Significantly less eye strain is one of the key benefits. I remember reading 'The Name of the Wind' for six to seven hours in a row and apart from natural sleepiness (it was in the evening) I did not feel any fatigue for my eyes. At the same time, if you read on a tablet or smartphone, then after a couple of hours your eyes begin to water and the feeling as if sand was poured under your eyelids.
And yet, two years later, I noticed that I take my Kindle with me less and less, and prefer to read from my smartphone, although this is obviously less convenient (for the eyes, for sure). I thought about why this is happening and came to the conclusion that sometimes I just don't feel like taking an extra gadget with me, and you can read 20 minutes on the subway just fine from your phone. Plus, the Kindle app has a convenient synchronization of books and read locations, so even with frequent device changes, I didn't have much of a problem continuing to read where I left off.
It seems to me that the problem with most 'add-on' devices such as e-readers, players, fitness trackers and tablets is that at some point the user gets tired of carrying another gadget with him and he just does everything from his smartphone. In any case, this happens to me: I listen to music, count steps, watch films and read books from one single phone. Let it do it a little worse than individual devices, but it takes up minimum space in your pocket and always with you. What can I say gadgets, if in the last Friday column some of you said that a smartphone can even replace a computer with it!
What do you say, dear readers? Is a smartphone the only and universal device for you, or do you prefer e-books specifically for reading?