Shelveen Singh
I have been reading physical books for as long as I can remember. From textbooks to magazines to newspapers, and yes to literary novels, they have all been something I can feel, touch, and hear the pages crinkle as I turn the pages.
I am also a tech enthusiast and have all kinds of gadgets in the Apple ecosystem. From the iPhone to the MacBook Pro and yes, also the iPad.
In the last couple of years, I have canceled my newspaper delivery since I can read all those articles on Apple News+. I have also canceled all physical magazine subscriptions, also because I can read all those articles on Apple News+, however, I find myself less and less going to those sections of the iPad. They show up on my feed whenever something is released, but I refuse to click it and read it. Nevertheless, that is not my current predicament.
I am a reader of all types of books, from mystery, thrillers, all the way to economic and finance books. I still have my Barnes and Noble membership where I go and buy physical books and discover new authors and wait for new releases. Needless to say, I spend a lot of money on physical books. A friend recommended me to Amazon Kindle subscription where you can get millions of books for only $10/month. I thought that’s fantastic!! I browsed the catalog and didn’t find all the authors on there, but there was plenty I could read for the cheap price. I immediately signed up for the plan on the free 30 days trial. I started reading a book on the top sellers list and after about 20 pages, my eyes started to strain and I left it at that. The next day I went back to the green and read-only another 20 pages and felt tired. Usually, I can read 100–120 pages a night easily before going to bed. On the third day, I went back to a physical book and was able to read 150 pages and didn’t feel tired at all. I thought, what is wrong with me? I started doing some research on the strain on eyes on reading on a screen and viola! I’m not alone. Thousands of people still read physical books, I guess that’s why Barnes and Nobles still have physical stores for people like us. This brings me to my last ummmm let’s call it an issue:…
Some hybrid people want to read the physical book at home but want to travel with the iPad and then read the electronic version. Unfortunately, you have to purchase the book again (albeit at a lower price for e-books) for the e-book version. I was left kind of baffled, why would I pay for the same book twice? I already own the physical copy, I just want the electronic version when I travel…it should be too hard to give me access to both. I started doing some research and couldn’t find any company that provided this service…so Amazon/Apple/Barnes and Noble and whoever else is out there selling books…how about we buy the e-book version and you send us a physical copy in the mail? Or at least give us a bundle discount?