I’m a bit strange when it comes to ebooks and emags. I’m quite happy to read a non-fiction ebook or emag off a computer or laptop screen but not a fictional story. I think that has a lot to do with the way they are read. The sort of non-fiction I read is usually computing books which I can skim and dip into and it’s the same with the emags but reading fiction needs more attention than that. It needs my whole concentration and my computer just isn’t the place to do that. Too much temptation to open an email, webpage, etc.
My iPhone though is something that I always have with me, I can take it almost anywhere and the screen quality is quite high so might be an idea place to read from so when Pan Macmillan announced last week that they were teaming up with Stanza – a program that I prefer to eReader – I thought it would be good chance to give it a proper test.
Armed with The Gabble and other stories by Neal Asher I’ve been putting Stanza through its paces. The screen on the iPhone is backlit so I can read anywhere. Swapping pages is a doddle just tap the left or the right of the screen. Getting books has few more steps but is simple enough. There is no direct file transfer on the iPhone so you have to transfer it from Stanza on your computer and then suck in onto the iPhone over wireless. Easy enough job. Stanza remember what page you were on so I can check messages and go right back to reading. You can store multiple books.
Stanza has lots of customisation options not that I’ve used them but you can change the font, the size of the font, text colour, lock it into portrait or landscape amongst others so making it comfortable to read shouldn’t be a problem.
And it is mostly comfortable to read. I’ve read 2 1/2 short stories and I’ve forgotten that I’m not reading from a real book I’m into the words and the story. It might help that The Gabble’s opening stories are brilliant and immersive.
It’s not all good. The battery on the iPhone isn’t really that good and for me needs a daily charge so I’m not sure how much more energy I’m sucking up whilst reading. The backlight might be hurting my eyes slightly a complaint that’s often made about writing on a screen.
Another concern is formatting. I’ve seen a couple of books like the demo of The Book Thief on the Sony Reader that use internet scene break paragraphing rather than conventional indentation. I’d much rather that ebooks stick to traditional conventions when it comes to these things. It’s a shorthand that my brain is used to and is there for good reason.
Overall though I might be seeing the benefits of ebooks especially after today when I was stuck, bored and without a book and all I had to do was get out my iPhone. Though I might be more tempted by a Sony Reader for really long books.
Anyone else tried it?
Links:
Wired.com’s thoughts on Stanza
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