The days have been flying by - it’s hard to imagine that it’s already a month since William’s 18 month shots, but it is. Not much is happening with us, we’re kind of preparing for the inevitable winter onslaught that has felt like it’s just around the corner for a while. Next thing you know, the weather improves, and yesterday was a gorgeous afternoon/evening. The weekend is looking good too.

So, more about the ebook woes. I wound up ordering a refurbished Handspring Visor Neo from a place in the US. It’ll wind up costing about the same as we paid for our Casio Pocket Viewer S460’s, so it’s reasonable. The fact that it’s PalmOS based means that there is a lot more options in the bookreader software than we had/have on the Casio. It’s still kind of a pain in the butt to get books ready for the pda, but again, there seems to be more support software out there too. I think it will work out for us

Jason asked about using a pda for an ebook reader Wednesday, so I thought I’d share my thoughts on the subject.

Initially, I looked into it because I really wanted to read some of the stuff that’s available online, but I didn’t want to read off of a laptop. I do most of my reading on the bus, so it was important that whatever solution I got be fairly small. I don’t remember what settled me on the Casio, but once I tried it out for a few weeks, I was hooked. I’ll admit that it seemed a little awkward at first — after all, the screen isn’t as big as a printed page, and that means that you’re flipping pages a lot more frequently. I quickly got over that though, and it’s to the point now where I don’t remember what the last paper book I read was, or when I read it. I feel genuinely sorry for Erin, who’s without her book until the new one arrives, because I would rather not go back to paper books myself. It’s just incredibly convenient to have a bunch of books with you, in such a small form factor. I used to read paper books on the bus, and when I’d finish one book on the ride to work in the morning, I’d have nothing to read in the afternoon. Now, I just start up another book. I don’t have to worry about losing my place, because the book remembers where I left off. A set of batteries last between 3 and 5 months for me — we’ll see how the Handspring pda does — so changing batteries isn’t a huge chore.

Once every few months I’d have to format some more books for the pda, which is kind of an annoying process, but I’ve got more stuff to read on my computer than I’ll ever be able to finish, so finding stuff to read isn’t a big chore. I’ve had a chance to read some books that I likely would never have picked up previously, just because I don’t like carrying around/holding a 600 page paperback. So it’s been good that way too. I’d probably be happier with a slightly larger screen, and maybe one that isn’t as affected by lights, but overall, it’s been a really usable device for me. Like I said, I can’t imagine going back to reading paper books regularly again.

Simpson’s quote of the day: “Save me from the wee turtles! They were too quick for me!” - Groundskeeper Willy