During the holidays, I had a new weapon for staving off the boredom that accompanies family gatherings, and it fit neatly in a tan leather case the size of a grade-school chapter book.
Actually, it was 18 books, from the classic "Wuthering Heights" to the recent novel by Mohsin Hamid, "The Reluctant Fundamentalist." It was a minilibrary, which normally would have filled both of the tote bags I used as my overnight baggage and been quite a bit heavier. But I didn't go for a bricks-in-a-bag option.
I went for the 9-ounce Sony Reader, an e-book device that fit so snugly in my purse I hardly knew it was there. In 2006, before "Kindle" meant anything outside of a fireplace, Sony had launched its first Reader for electronic books. Although modest by the standards of general electronics sales, it boosted the e-book industry.
Last year, the Amazon Kindle was the new contender, pounding its gloves together, readying for the prizefight. But Sony was out with a new model, and what a slim, pretty young thing! I let my eyes do the choosing.
I installed the software with no problems and purchased books through Sony's eBook Library application via a USB cable, very much like an iPod syncing to iTunes. Because I didn't purchase the optional AC adapter, the USB was also my method of charging the device's lithium battery. A full charge gives you approximately 7,500 "page turns," according to Sony.
The first thing I noticed as I cracked open "Wuthering Heights" was that I got constant comments from friends and family. "What's that?" they asked.
"It's an electronic book," I'd say with a slightly patronizing tone. It's not often that I obtain a new gadget so early in its life that I actually get to explain its raison d'être. "You put a lot of books in it, and then you can read them anywhere."
Then, inevitably, they'd ask to "see." I'd demonstrate the buttons: toggles at the bottom left and the middle of the right side for flipping pages; the all-powerful menu button that could lead you from the page you're reading back to the Reader's main navigation page; the useful bookmark button; and the magnification button, which can set the font at three sizes.
"Oh," they'd say. "Is that all?"
Unfortunately, yes. That is all. In this age of multi-tasking machines - and people - the Reader does one thing, even if it does it well: It lets you carry books you want to read in a small package. The internal memory can hold up to 160 volumes, a limit I have yet to test; e-books cost anywhere from $1.99 to $20 through the Sony eBook Store. Sony boasts that there are more than 20,000 selections available, but it doesn't carry magazines or other periodicals.
The Reader, I realized, is a bit of a one-trick pony.
True, you can listen to music, especially if you add memory cards to the two slots at the top of the machine. But the Reader isn't primarily an MP3 player, and the number of songs is limited by the size of your memory cards.
You also can load photos, but -they will show only in black and white. The E-Ink screen technology, used in both the Sony Reader and the Amazon Kindle - because it simulates the visual effect of ink on paper --serves up only a monochromatic display. This is why graphic novels and other visually-based books are rarely turned into e-books.
That said, I did spend hours with my Reader. Whether I was by the fireplace, filling time on the train or falling asleep to the lullaby of prose, I was turning page by six-inch page. I covered ground and saved my favorite pages, although I bemoaned the fact that I couldn't draw my usual doodles on the margins.
I was satisfied with the reading experience. But was I as satisfied with the $299 cost of the Reader? Maybe. I'll need a few more vacations to make good on the investment. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go fill that extra space on my bookshelf with color photos of my friends and family.
E-mail: shih@northjersey.com
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