I'm curious to know how many people use their smartphones/PDAs as ebook readers. Because I did and am excited to share it with you.
I discovered this wonderful use of my Series 60 mobile phone recently when I had to spend a few hours erasing and formatting my PC's hard disk. I had downloaded some Mobipocket ebooks to read while waiting for a bus or a friend, and during power failures, which happen very often in my city.
I had read the first chapter of Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles over a period of three months. I wasn't very serious about it. Then the disk formatting business and a series of power failures let me complete the remaining 200 odd pages (a few hundred screens in my mobile) in a single day.
Reading a book on my mobile's tiny screen was a bit weird at first, but I quickly got used to it, just like when I read my first book on a computer screen. I had forgotten the story after having read it a few years back so it was like reading it afresh. The novel I read on the 178x208 screen was as gripping as it would be on printed pages.
The size of the text was about 7 points. Pressing the * key for the "full screen" view and holding the phone about 10 cm from my eyes made reading comfortable. Mobipocket Reader has an automatic bookmarking feature. So, after you close an ebook, you can continue reading from where you left. No strain for the eyes, though your mobile battery has to be recharged more often. The whole thing is so simple, painless, and fun.
There's not much formatting in Mobipocket ebooks. Just bold and large letters for chapter titles and no italics, at least not in the free books. The Styles book was missing the illustrations from the original and I had to browse through the print version to check them out. I guess it was just lack of interest on the part of the person who created ebook, because Mobipocket Creator allows you to insert pictures.
My mobile library consists of Agatha Christie's The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Secret Adversary, and Ambrose Bierce's The Devil's Dictionary.
The free and user-friendly software I used was Mobipocket Reader, downloadable from mobipocket.com. When you close the program, it automatically bookmarks the page you were reading last. When you reopen it next time, you can continue reading the book from where you left. It occupies little memory, so you can keep it minimized.
Not many people find the idea of mobile reading interesting. At Mobipocket's online store, it's the dictionaries that sell.
Now I've also finished reading The Secret Adversary and I'm hooked to reading great stuff on my phone.
Try it yourself if you've got a compatible phone (PalmOS, Windows Mobile (PocketPC, Smartphone), Symbian OS (Series 60, UIQ, Series 80, Series 90), and Blackberry). If you're not using your smartphone/PDA as an ebook reader, you're missing a lot.
Article comments
1 - Justene
I had one of the first ebook devices and thought I'd hit nirvana. The Pocket PC is small but I'd give it a go.
Do you download onto your PC and sync up or download onto your phone?
What kind of battery drain does it have? The regular programs don't drain much but the internet drains a huge amount. If the ebook drains heavily and I risk losing the phone, it's less attractive.
2 - Elizabeth Bennett
The easiest way, I think, is to download it to your PC and move it to your phone using a data cable. But I'm lazy, so I download it to my PC, then zip it, then upload it to my account at zedge.net, then download it to my mobile. Downloading the .prc file without compressing it doesn't work, because you can't save it as an ebook.
The battery drain depends on how much time you spend reading on your cell. I spend at least an hour a day reading on it, and I recharge it once in three days, i.e., one day earlier than usual.
One nice thing about Mobipocket is that it's fast and doesn't hog the memory.
3 - Mayank 'Austen' Singh
Lizzie,
I tried 'reading' Shakespeare sonnets and Austen's P&P in my iPod shuffle, but did not enjoy it. The 1863 edition of my copy of P&P lying by my side (even as I'm writing this) gives me more pleasure. I guess I'm an old-fashioned guy!
4 - Elizabeth Bennett
Shakespeare and Austen on iPod shuffle! I won't recommend mobiles or PDAs for serious reading. I guess the shuffle breaks each line of a sonnet into four lines to wrap it to the screen.
I don't think I'd enjoy reading Austen's books on the mobile. I'll check it out.
By the way, how many lines does the shuffle display per screen? 12 lines per screen on my cell.
5 - Deano
Just out of curiosity anyone tried the new Sony Reader? The article I've read claims it will be using a screen technology based on e-ink rather then CRT or LCD screens. This supposedly means it will be readable in any light (just like real ink on paper) and at almost any angle. It is supposed to hold up to 80 ebooks with a 6-inch screen and battery power that lasts 7500 page turns.
After some irritating disappointments with ebook technology, I find myself looking forward to getting a hands-on look at it. There's something quite enjoyable about carrying around an entire personal library in your bag....
6 - Dmitri
There's also a WAP-based reader that works with most cell phones that have WAP access, check it out