Green reading
That chunk of paper you’re curling up with was once a part of a very happy tree in a very happy forest. Here are some alternatives.
There’s nothing better than curling up with a
good book on a rainy day (if the monsoons will ever deign to arrive). However,
that creature comfort comes at a cost. Not to us, but to the environment. That
chunk of paper you’re curling up with was once a part of a very happy tree in a
very happy forest. With so much of green cover disappearing, we have to perhaps
think of taking our books into the digital age.
One may argue that there is something amazing
about feeling the rich grain of paper under your fingers. Plus, there’s nothing
like a good collection of books attached to all your fond memories; possibly
some with notes in them, some gifted by relatives and friends. Not to mention,
constantly staring at a screen with a backlight is not good for the eyes.
Our pitch
Now, what if we told you that there is way
you can bake your cake and eat it too? Going digital does not mean you have to
give up on books. Just get the books that matter to you. Rather than having the
nth pulp fiction paperback lying around to attract moths, you can purchase
those in digital.
Reading on smartphones and tablets, we agree,
can be a bit tiring on the eyes. However, there are apps that offset that. If
you own an Apple device, like an iPhone or iPad, you can turn on Night Shift
mode, which engages a soothing yellow cast. And most e-readers have night modes
that you can switch to, to conserve battery.
For those voracious readers who love the feel
of paper, there are devices made on special Electronic Ink (e-Ink) displays,
like the Kindle Paperwhite, which feels and reads a lot like paper. It’s
perfect for devouring your books under any light and it gives you the feel of
paper. Plus, no more turning pages, or finding the paragraph you left off at.
iPads, phones, and Android tablets with
high-density coloured screens aren’t only useful for reading books.
You can also subscribe to all your magazines
for much less than their news-stand prices. With that, you get never-aging
digital copies, plus you can bookmark your favourite home makeover ideas,
scrapbook them, save recipes to Evernote or your gallery, and sync them to your
phone, so that while shopping you can have that information readily available.
E-books are also weightless, which means you can carry an entire library
without any extra baggage or storage space at home. You can read anywhere,
annotate, save quotes, and actively scrapbook from all your favourite
magazines.
Going digital also means getting your copy of
an international book on launch day without waiting for delivery. The cherry on
top of this digital cake is that e-books cost a fraction of the cover price.
The biggest cost is the tablet, but considering good tablets start at about Rs.
6,000, including the low-end Kindle, it is a worthy buy. Or you can read it on
your smartphone screen or listen to an audiobook.
Let us look at apps that help you go digital
faster
Apple ecosystem
Everything is readily available on the Apple
App store, the biggest collection of books on the iBooks store, major magazine
publishers on Apple Newstand, and also latest Indian and international
releases.
The Google ecosystem
Google also has its Play store, which has an
equally massive collection of books, movies, magazines, apps, games and more.
Buy once, and you can read on all the devices associated with your Google
account. The prices are fantastic and you get several national and
international releases.
Zinio and Magster
These are the biggest apps for magazine
aficionados. You can subscribe from a massive selection with the biggest brands
and access both Indian and international editions. Zinio is superior, with a
better user interface and design. Its offline sync mode allows you to read even
while you’re travelling in a low network area. Magster looks a bit dated, but
has a larger collection of magazines. Both have the ability to share and save
clippings.
Issuu
The app has a large collection of popular and
independent magazines, including digital-only publications. Its interface is
fantastic and is perfect if you want to publish your own magazine. And a lot of
magazines are free.
Evernote
Though not a reading app, Evernote is the
perfect tool if you want to save snippets from magazines and books and share
and access them across devices. So you can just access your Evernote app rather
than search through reams of paper for a piece.
Amazon Kindle App
The e-commerce giant’s heart has always been
in books and now it has one of the largest book collections out there. It’s
best experienced on Kindle devices, but you can download the app on your
smartphone and enjoy one of the biggest book stores out there.
Audible
Audiobooks have come a long way, and Audible
has the biggest collection. They are a bit more expensive and heavier (in file
size terms) than e-books, but are read out by seasoned actors, who do an
excellent job.
ComixOlogy, Marvel, DC
ComixOlogy is an Amazon comic store with a
massive selection of comics and graphic novels. You can use Marvel’s or DC’s
comic stores to read the latest issues. Reading comics on your phone may be a
bit of a chore, which is why we recommend a nice large tablet — over seven
inches — to be able to truly enjoy the art in each panel.
Other apps
You don’t need to be stuck to your platform’s
ecosystem; you can be free to chose whatever apps you get the best prices and
collection from. There’s Nook, Aldiko, Kobo Books, Marvin and Scribd with
amazing user interfaces and cool reading features.
Also, in this new digital age, a lot of
writers choose to give away their books for free, or sell them on their own
sites, or on self-publishing and independent sites. If you get any of these
formats, you can read them in apps like Moon+ Reader, NeoSoar, KyBook or
Universal Book reader.
We urge you, though, to buy and support the
artists and writers, and not pirate, so that they can eat and write more great
books.
Happy reading, folks!
The author is a freelance writer
Source | The Hindu | 11 June 2016
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan
& Co
Best
Paper Award | Received the Best Paper Award at TIFR-BOSLA National Conference on
Future Librarianship: Innovation for Excellence (NCFL 2016) on April 23,
2016. The title of the paper is “Removing
Barriers to Literacy: Marrakesh VIP Treaty”
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