Thread

Singapore’s National Library Board offers micropayments to build reading habits

288 points · 149 comments · geox

tombert · 1789921845 · focus · HN ↗
I read a lot, and I own a lot of physical books, but I almost never actually read physical books anymore. I'm one of the happy few that used my Kindle for more than a week after getting it as a gift.
I find that reading on an ereader is many times easier for me, primarily because I can make the text gigantic and I don't lose track of my place on the page nearly as often. I'm not dyslexic (I've been tested), but I do think that there's some issue with my brain where if the text is small I really can't follow it. On all my computers the text is gigantic and even then I will click and highlight text as I'm reading so don't lose place. I would love to be paid to read but I don't think I'd love to be paid to read physical books.
I remember my grandmother was wholly unconvinced that my Kindle was a different thing than an iPad or a Game Boy, and that it was not "real" reading, for whatever reason.
1. sien · 1789948004 · focus · HN ↗
  I don't think you're one of the happy few.
  You're more like one of the happy many.
  Amazon has sold an estimated 70 million Kindle readers.
  Ebook sales are at least 20% of book sales.
  I read 60+ books a year. Almost all on my Kindle. My partner and my sister are similar. I know of one person who has bought a Kindle and not used it much.
  Australians alone are reading 1.6 billion pages a month on Kindles.
  <a href="https://www.techguide.com.au/news/gadgets-news/australians-devoured-1-6-billion-pages-a-month-on-their-kindle-e-readers/" rel="nofollow">https://www.techguide.com.au/news/gadgets-news/australians-d...
  1. Accacin · 1790003518 · focus · HN ↗
    I'd be surprised if a lot of people aren't like myself. I prefer physical books at home, but if I'm out and about travelling I always take my kindle.
    Saying that, I rarely buy ebooks. I generally 'find' them online but only if I own the actual physical book. If I don't have the physical book whilst I'm travelling, I'll buy the eBook and then I'll usually buy the physical book too.
    tombert · 1790005897 · focus · HN ↗
    I get a lot of books from Libby to read from my library.
    Annoyingly they don’t work with KOReader but the Pocketbook reading program is competent enough nowadays.
    thewebguyd · 1790006344 · focus · HN ↗
    > I prefer physical books at home, but if I'm out and about travelling I always take my kindle.
    Same. I prefer hardcovers, I usually look for first editions, etc. I'd prefer not to lug them around so I also have a kindle for if I want to read away from home. I usually borrow the ebooks from my library though when the ones I want are available so I'm not buying twice.
    I don't think I could ever get rid of physical books entirely though. There's a somatic element to reading that I appreciate that you lose entirely with an ereader.

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