eReaders

These days many people have adopted the eReaders instead of the standard printed book. I must admit I pondered on the prospect for quite some time before I too crossed over. Like many the feel of a book in your hands gave me a sense of accomplishment. When at school I was far from being an avid reader. In fact I still remember to this day one of my teachers Mr. Albert Legault trying everyday to find something that would stimulate my reading habits. Alas even after 3 years of contact he only managed to get me to read perhaps half a dozen published works.
Then many years later someone suggested a fantasy book. Interestingly that same book is now a motion picture. After giving it a try most likely out of boredom I was hooked and embarked on a reading appreciation extravaganza which carries on today. Not that I read dozens of books per week but I have since that day devoured many series. Series seem to capture my interest more than any single volume. No longer do I shy away from books which in the past I would only have considered as a door stop. What was that book that gave me a kick start? The Hobbit an Unexpected Journey written by JR Tolkien. Once I completed that volume I became crazed and hunted every book that JR wrote. Then having somewhat exhausted that avenue I hunted for other fantasy writings. I found that the world was rich with the imaginary musing of countless of authors.
Needless to say I have found that book stories allow me to escape into a world that is only limited by one’s imagination. However some of these books over the years are quite large and heavy. Working in an environment where travelling with bulky books can be somewhat trying not to mention inconvenient. When you try to stuff your book alongside laptop, cables, memory drives and an ever growing cornucopia of technological paraphernalia, finding a better medium was needed.
The last huge book series which I am presently completing drove me over the edge and finally convinced that I had to give the eReader a go. The first few trials were not total disappointments but I certainly did not get hooked to the technology. The sense of accomplishment I would get whenever I managed to complete one of the voluminous tomes would not be shaken easily. However after a short trial period I found that it was much easier to read at night while sharing a room with others. As I am also older being able to enlarge the text print size equally gave me some advantages not seen before. The ability to stuff the tablet in a much smaller crevice also indicated that more advantages could be found. Caring both reading medium leads me to this present post. My series The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan is as stated before a rather large book. Having limited space I could only stuff the book in the front pocket while storing my tablet further in the center of my bag. However the closing of my bag zippers cause undue stress on the tablet corners. Needless to say within a short time I cracked the glass. I had after much searching located a leather bound tablet cover, which I had suspected adequate to protect my investment. Obviously it was not enough.
By now being somewhat comfortable with the eReader I purchased a second unit. Adding some cardboard to try and re-enforce the cover I set myself to travel again. Sadly as I had yet to complete reading my story and having no increase of space within my briefcase, I cracked the second unit. Thankfully the crack was much smaller and allowed me to continue to use it even if I had to learn where the more troublesome points were, being that the glass is a touch screen.
Now I was on a mission. A much more robust tablet carrier had to be located. I searched the internet and walked the malls but the suit of armor that I was hunting for eluded capture. After a couple of weeks I concluded that this was now a job for captain manufacture. While shopping with my wife and trying to explain what was needed a flash of insight hit me. The fact that I was standing within an arm’s length of shelves and shelves of used books probably might have been instrumental. My brain ran away with itself flipping and turning 3D images in my head it was like my neurons were running on overdrive. The next day I came back armed with my tablet and matched it for size against several hardcover books. I purchased a couple and being as cheap as I am even swapped one of them out for a cheaper unit of the same size. After all, I didn’t really care what the titles were since I was not about to read any of them.
That evening at home I set myself to work. Knowing that I would write instructions on how to build one I took numerous pictures. In the coming days I put the steps to paper and now you too can embark on building a strong box to hold that precious little electronic marvel. Follow the link and happy artistic build. It’s quite easy. In my case I actually had several people ask me what was the book I was reading about? With a huge smile I said “it’s not a book but an encyclopedia…..matter of fact it can even be triggered to be just like Harry Potter’s ….with moving pictures and all”……ha ha
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/19327951/eReaderCase-Pamphlet.pdf