Just finished reading my first eBook

Yesterday was the day I finished reading my first eBook via my Playstation Portable's Bookr program. The eBook I was reading even got to be Dan Brown's latest, The Lost Symbol. As much as I desire to write a book review about it, I'll pass. Besides, there's so much book reviews of it out there. Just google it. I'm certain of one thing though: It's not as good as you'd like to think.

The Lost Symbol eBook was quite, shall I say, small. Small in the sense that it was only around 7MB, not what you'd expect from a book 452 pages long in its analog form. Yes sir, the wonders of digitization right there. And it's in a .pdf format too. I just pasted it to the program's root folder and I started reading away.

I found my reading experience totally surprising. First of all, I can read regardless of the position I'm in and regardless of the lighting conditions, be it dark or bright, inside a house or outside at night - a very welcome advantage. It absolutely saves you from an argument with your sister about killing the lights off or letting it on. The backlight of the device you'll use will surely aid you in reading.

Flipping through the pages, no problem. With just one press of a button you're on the next leaf. If you missed something on the previous leaf just press another button. If you want to skip ten pages press another. Best part of the pages feature is, you don't even need a bookmark now. It'll automatically load where you stopped previously.

I can even zoom in and out in pages, especially if the eBook's text is too small.

Just a minor problem I noticed is the load time. Sometimes it takes 3 seconds or more for the pages to load, especially if there's lots of pictures on it (Pokemon Prima Guide, ugh). I also consider the battery time a nuisance. I have to recharge my device every 6 hours or so after extensive reading. But that's just me I guess.

Maybe you're saying, "You've read your first eBook. So what? We do that in Kindle all the time. Big deal" Yes, that's you. I'm glad you do eBook reading all the time. But in a nation full of conventional book lovers and analog devices, I consider this a privilege. It's not everyday I see people carrying gadgets, modified or not, for reading. They carry gadgets to play or listen to music or to watch movies.

One thing I'm sure to miss in a book's analog form is its smell. Also the sound it makes when you're flipping its leaves. You know, that book-ish smell of newly printed paper and hardbound and the crisp flick sound a new book makes when you turn to another page.

If I was to choose from a book or an eBook, I'll take both. A digital book is good if you're always on the go. It also saves you from carrying extra weight. An analog book on the other hand is good if you have no wallsockets or extra batteries around, say if you're in a Caribbean getaway or in a long drive to Alaska. Also good if you love the nostalgia of reading something that's supposed to be a real book.

All in all, my first eBook encounter was an absolute success. Total fun if I'd say so myself. And I'm intent on repeating it again. If you're to know, I'm reading Math Word Problems for Dummies and the late Michael Crichton's Prey.

I urge you to try it, especially if you have a Playstation Portable. The Bookr program is free of charge. Or if you have an iPod. That'd work too.

'Till my next installment.