Andrew Nimick Point Concept twitter.com/andrewnim

Well Christmas has come and gone. As ever it was a great time and as ever I think I ate too much. So this summer it should be diet and exercise.

I say should be, if like me you got an e-reader and have a heap of books – then the temptation will be to lounge about and do some reading.

Judging by comments from friends, e-readers were high on the list this year and there are a few of them now available in NZ; the Kindle, Sony, Kobo, or use an iPad.

I went a slightly different route.

I bought a cheap seven inch android tablet just for reading.

I did this because I have a bunch of tech and other books which need colour.

I could have got an iPad, but having tried a few tablets, I am still not sold on them as a work machine.

My other reason for going with an android tablet to use as an e-reader was that it allowed me more flexibility in my set up; not something everyone would want.

It means I can use a library programme called Calibre on my Mac and then select books to transfer onto my reader and use the reading software I want.

I am currently using Aldiko for most of my needs.

Calibre is an awesome open source application which is like an iTunes for books.

It will help me find the right meta data and covers for books, which are now public domain and those that have been given away. It also lets convert between formats.

There are a lot of great books out there for free and more are appearing as some authors, like some bands, are releasing stuff for free on e-book and encouraging you to then buy the book as well.

They are also starting to sell the books themselves rather than just through shops like Amazon.

Cory Doctrow, a great Sci-Fi writer, has written a great piece on why e-books should not be constrained – we should be allowed to sell them on as we can do with paper books.

There is actually a counter argument that we should not be able to sell on old books we have read.

One consideration when buying an e-book reader is your eyes. Readers like the Kindle or Sony may be better for you as they have no back light and no glare.

I have no problems with my eyes, but have also found that Aldiko lets me run the brightness right down to an e-ink approximation.

Of course having no back light means the Kindle and Sony last a lot longer on their battery than does my little Android.

But I find it also limits the amount of time I am curled up with my read; a good thing as I am one of those people who can end up with spider webs on me when I am into a good book.

One of the trends I have noticed with e-books, which does worry me a bit, is the crossover between book and app.

Done well I believe it can work well, but I wonder at some of the use for children's books. Reading is an act of engagement in a way TV is not.

The author is using words to describe and the reader is building on those words to create a mental image.

Two people can have very different mental images from the same words.

A picture may paint a thousand words, but the thousand words can paint many pictures.

My concern is that as the written word diminishes (apparently blogging is now old school) so too does imagination.

We become collectors of other peoples' sound bites, never actually filling in the details for ourselves.

We also run a real risk of actually lowering literacy levels and the ability to read and digest complex issues.

I would love to know what some of our local educators feel about this.

And if you did get an e-reader, let us know which one and how you find it – it may help others choose.

Adilko http://www.aldiko.com/

Calibre http://calibre-ebook.com/