A whole Universe in my hand
E-reader is probably one of the most brilliant inventions of this age (in my opinion though). Even for a person who loves feeling the soft texture of paper, hearing that swift sound every time a page was turned, I cannot help but fell in love with this elegant little gadget. It’s certainly a must-have device for every bookworm. Why? Well, from my personal experience, I can put forth some compelling reasons to convince you so.
- No more heavy bag pack:
Before I own this little friend Kobo, I had to bring at least three heavy books — usually two thick textbooks and one not-so-small novel, everyday to class. Unfortunately, I only have access to such ease when I already finished my days at university. I wished I’d had such luxury back then, which would have save me the trouble every time I prepare for school.
Although school is over (for now), I still revise some of my textbooks. It might have been a big struggle had it not been for Kobo. Carrying one big heavy book everyday to work sounds a great deal of work to me.
Besides, every time I go to a coffee shop or elsewhere, I only have to bring this little fella to enjoy almost any book that fit my mood, which I think is a lot more convenient and labor-saving.
- No more cumbersome dictionary:
I mostly learn vocabulary by reading. It’s a burden to use the dictionary either paper or electronic version on my phone every time a new word pops up. Every time that happened, I would lose track of what I was reading and struggle to regain focus since these mischievous words only appear in obscure and mind challenging paragraphs. And now, with Kobo, all I have to do is press and hold. The answer comes just as easy.
- No need for note and pencil:
There will always be some well-put sentences, some useful phrases that I want to note back for later usage. That undoubtedly very useful habit of mine was too time-consuming, not to mention if I forget to bring my notebook, I had to take photos of those passages and write down these desirous sentences in another free afternoon, which rarely happen. I grew tired of such custom and ceased doing it for a long time until I have Kobo. Its highlighting and adding note functions allow me to keep record and revisit the notes anytime.
- No more cleanups:
It’s a tradition that every Tet holiday, we clean up the house so as to start another year afresh. My family, mostly my mom, would take this to the extreme. The house must be spick and span, not a speck of dust. Usually, I would be in charge of all the book cases in the house. We have altogether three large bookcases, with enough books to drown me in it. Normally in one year, each member of my family (four in total) bought about 20 books or so. At this rate, there might have been a fourth one. But we started to make use of E-readers so as to save space as well as time to sort out which book to give away, which to keep, clean up and rearrange those in the bookcases.
Since one little small Kobo can hold up to 6,000 books, I’ve determined to only purchase titles which I really love for my private collection instead of buying every book I wish to read. My mom has also started to use Vietnamese based B.Box since I adopted Kobo. She pointed out that it helps with her wrist since heavy books hurt her wrist sometimes when she lies down to read, which I thought was insightful.
- Adopting a minimalistic lifestyle:
After reading Sasaki Fumio’s “Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism”, I was persuaded that I must adopt this lifestyle. I pay little attention for material matters and dislike the burden of owning too many stuff. I sometimes ponder if I lose any belongings which loss would I ache for. The answer always comes down to all my books and cellphone. Thanks to Kobo, most of my books are now compiled into one place, so now I have to look out for two things only. (Yes, I know that if I lose Kobo, I will lose all the books I collected, but paradoxically lesser things to care more care can be given, right!?)
By the way, I strongly encourage you guys to take up this lifestyle. Ever since I read the book, life has become much easier for me (for real). I’ve created more space and time for myself to work and rest effectively and efficiently rather than sitting next to a pile of unused stuff and worry about how to make use of them. I used to believe that buying for later use was the key to save time but in reality, I ended up wasting more time and energy arranging to use them up before the expiry date. But of course unless you can obtain any benefits from it, being a minimalist can be harsh. You must learn to refrain yourself from buying tempting but unnecessary things. Getting a new nice-looking things might satisfy your craving instantly but ultimately a newer one will appear and you’ll end up throwing them away into some forgotten corners.
Even when we are independent of certain material matters, we are deeply dependent on the concept of possession, possessing a status, an abode, etc. all most everything under the sun. Fundamentally it’s not a bad thing to have something but too much of anything is always bad because the more we own the less we truly possess. To me, this lifestyle encourage me to own the quality of things rather than the quantity. Of course either ends of the spectrum are not desirous. A balance of owning things but not too much is what we seek…Well, a little off site, sorry guys.
To sum up, I enjoy E-reader (a lot, as you can see). If you guys are considering buying one yourself, go for it my friend. And if you are skeptical, I hope that this post might help you make up your mind (either way).
P/S: My sister kept whining that I didn’t mention her contribution as the person who introduced me to E-reader so here goes: Thank you my wonderful lovely sister! Love…
