I never would have guessed I’d be writing this, but I’m beginning to prefer reading from my iPhone over reading a paper book. For the past six months or so, I’ve done all my devotional Bible reading from the YouVersion Bible App, and I just finished reading my second book on the iPhone Kindle App (BTW, it was Tribes by Seth Godin – an amazing little book on leadership).
I think I like it so much because:
- I’ve always got my book with me since it’s on my phone
- the backlight is really nice – I can easily read in the dark
- I can have a new book on my phone within minutes of placing my order in the Amazon Kindle store
- It’s more eco-friendly
- I could be wrong, but it seems like there is less strain on my eyes
Makes me think that there will probably be a day soon when everybody does most of their reading on a handheld device.
Regarding the eye strain, my optometrist told me the biggest problem is the angle in which you are reading. This will not apply with a handheld device because you will be looking down as you would be when reading a book, however when viewing a computer monitor, you should be viewing it at a downward angle rather than directly in front of you.
I have become quite fond of my Dell Mini 9. Not so fond of using the PDA phone a lot because a 2.2 pound netbook is not that bad. http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?sduid=165415&t=1259013
Also, Pastor Chris has a point about being about to write notes in a bible and pass it along to someone, your kids for example. So I have not been using an electronic bible. I like to write in mine.
I use the free ESV Bible Kindle on my ipod touch for my lunch time bible reading. It’s great. It’s actually a good conversation starter too. If someone sees you reading a paper bible (or analog bible), they’re not going to ask you about it. For some reason everyone wants to know what you’re up to when using pda, ipod/iphone, or really any hand held electronic device. It offers a great chance to let them know about what you’re learning from God’s word.
Mike, that’s very interesting. Good point about having a marked up Bible too.
Chris, that’s cool. It’s really neat to see the accessibility of God’s Word opened up through new technology.
I don’t know if I could ever get used to not holding the book in my hands.
i like to read in the bathroom, actually, most of my most prolific reading takes place there…therefore, i don’t want to take my “phone” into the lou with me everytime…since i’ll be using it all day. with a celluloid book, i can check it out from the library, read it (in bathroom), and return it…no germs to worry about. :)
Lan, you still have to hold it, and even flip the pages (on the Kindle, at least. Some of the others work like teleprompters – scroll speed depends on the angle of the screen), but I know what you mean. It’s a little different, at first, until you get pulled into the book and don’t notice anymore.
Brad, remind me not to borrow books from you. :)