The Productive Magazine is almost ready, we’ll be compiling it this week, and we’ll be working on an iPhone friendly version too. When talking about the magazine, someone asked me about my take on Productivity and e-readers (kindle, ebooks, audio) and my usage of those. Here goes:
My iPhone is my ultimate “reading” device and I love it
I don’t have a Kindle, I don’t have an iPad (yet :-) but I have an iPhone… and here’s why it’s boosting my productivity and readership:
1) I can read anywhere, anytime
I’m an impatient person and when I’m on the move, in the car, I still try to be productive and get stuff done. I hate waiting in the lines and I need to get anything done when I can. Now that I have my iPhone connected to a 3G network with me, I can do several things:
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I read news and blogs with Google Reader
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I can read ebooks in PDF format (and Kindle if I want)
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I can read books online (I read the Count of Monte Cristo recently… and it’s a very big one - all on the iPhone!)
2) I can listen to stuff when I’m doing something else
When I drive, I get a lot stuff done, while I have my iPhone plugged into car audio system:
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I call people in my @Phone context in Nozbe
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I listen to podcasts
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I listen to audiobooks
Digitalization of content is great, I’m loving it.
I know that the book is meant to be read in a quiet environment, on a comfortable armchair, near a fireplace, etc… but guess what? While I still try to get this kind of environment, having all the content in a digital form helps me read a lot, helps me consume a lot more and learn a lot faster.
I have the content with me in this one small device
Another thing is the fact that it’s all in one device - my iPhone - my phone - so I don’t have to carry anything extra to read or listen to. I have it all in this device… all of the time.
Considering audio content even more
Since I’m going to gym more often now, travel a lot more by car and by subway, the audio content becomes my main way of consuming content now. That’s why I recently blogged about it and that’s why Productive Show is now available in a form of a video podcast.
Currently I have an extensive list of books I want to purchase from Amazon… and I may choose the audio route instead and by them from Audible. Still struggling but the audio content makes it more probable that I’ll eventually consume these books…
Still reading old-school books, but not that many anymore…
Yes, I’m still reading books in a traditional way… but the barrier of entry is getting bigger and bigger for me there… I prefer to just grab my iPhone and read something there when I have a spare minute… rather than searching for a book, schlepping it with me and reading it when I can…
Question: __How do you consume books and content? Do you use mobile devices? Will you buy Kindle or iPad? Or do you still die-hard prefer old-school book reading?