James Clay asked the question "So do you like books, or do like reading?"He asks this as an opener to his opinion that e-Books are going to be big. Now I haven't got an e-Book reader so I am not qualified to comment about whether they are a good thing or not, but I know I like reading and I know I like books.
Three years ago I noticed on a web site called 43 Things a number of people were resolving to read 50 books a year, since I had set myself a goal of "reading more" I decided this was an ideal resolution for me. Since then I have blogged about every book I have read. Most of the books I read are fiction, a few are not, many are lent to me by friends and colleagues. I like the fact that although reading is done individually, sharing the experience is easy with others who have read the book. I also like the rapport that is built up that I understand more about the people I share a reading experience with and understand of the books I have liked which will appeal to them.
However I read other things than books: I read quite a lot of stuff across the internet (for example blog posts, tweets, recipes), countless emails (and often lengthy attachments); I read newspapers, magazines, reports, academic journals and conference papers; I read student reports, dissertations.
The books I read are not what I would really like to read in bite-size chunks when I have a few minutes to spare, but all the other things I read are potential candidates for reading while on the bus, sat in a waiting room etc. So in answer to the question: "Would you read a book on a phone?" my answer would be no, but there are lots of other things that I could read on a phone or similar device.
Keywords: 50 books, books, New Year, reading, Resolution