Since the inception of ebooks, there has been an ongoing argument about the value of print in the experience of reading. I’ve had many a discussion and even written about my opinions on the matter, so I’m not going to repeat myself.
I read in bed, almost every single night. It’s not the only place I read, but it’s the most frequent. Many times my wife will want to go to sleep before me, so I’ll have to turn off all of the room lights and read in the dark, which isn’t a problem because I read on a Kindle Paperwhite. Over the last few months, I’ve finally realized that this is, without question, my perfect reading experience.
I’m a huge movie buff. I love seeing movies in theaters, and even now have a theater room in my home. Watching a movie on a huge screen in a darkened room is one of the most immersive entertainment experiences available. That rectangle of light draws you in to tell you a story, the blackness around you blotting out all other stimuli.
And that’s exactly how I feel about my Kindle. With all the lights off and that soft white glow surrounding the words on my Paperwhite’s screen, I feel more immersed in the books I read than I ever have. I don’t have to have a lamp on, or a book light throwing shadows around the whole room. I’m free to darken my surroundings and go into sensory deprivation mode, drawing all of my focus into that little rectangle of light where a story plays out before my eyes.
It’s fucking perfect.
The experience isn’t limited to the Kindle, so please don’t take this as brand-shilling – I just happen to own Amazon’s e-reader rather than a Nook or a Kobo. For any of the front-lit e-readers (or tablets, if that’s the way you go), the experience would be the same. And it’s an experience you can’t get any other way.
External lights have come close – everyone who reads a lot has spent at least one night as a kid under a blanket-tent with a flashlight or book light – but it’s still not quite the same. That complete dampening of surrounding light, and the screen carved out of the darkness in front of you is the absolute finest way to be immersed in a book, eschewing all distraction.
There is just no better way to read.
