Awhile ago, I bought a Sony Reader, before Amazon’s Kindle was available.  For years this market place was bogged down with a classic chicken and egg problem or in this case, a content and device problem.  So I think Amazon deserves full credit for finally pursuing this emerging market, and of course their credit is coming in the form of outstanding revenue.

This reader has really made an impact on my reading experience.  I buy many books with real immediacy rather than deferring until I have time to go to the book store; I do a good amount of technology reading so going to Barnes and Noble has never really cut it for me.  I enjoy buying things to read at the moment I run across something I want to read, which typically comes from other online reading.

In addition to immediacy and easy online access, spontaneity has allowed me accumulate a broader range of reading material.  Certainly more during my different walks of life than while standing in a book store – my current collection includes HTML5, The Art of Capacity Planning, Playing Poker like Pros, The Iraq Study Group Report, Inaugural Addresses of the President of The United States and Victory Secrets of Attila the Hun.

While my collection habits have changed for the better, my reading habits have also been significantly improved.  I’ve never been the read a single book at a time guy, but I also wasn’t about to carry a backpack full of books on commuter rails or international flights.  With the reader, I can easily tote around a few dozen things to read at any given moment – so I can concurrently, and practically read many books as the mood strikes me.  This also means that I read much more because I have my current collection with me during short read times, while I wait for the kids’ practice to end, wait for appointments, etc.  The reader easily holds 75-80 reasonably sized books, so I collect things for my family to read too – and I often hand the reader to one of my kids when I catch them glued to the PlayStation.

I think I’m better off with this reader and while I’m certainly no political fanatic, I’ve really enjoyed reading things that I’ve always wanted to – like the Presidential speeches.  There are tons of really great things in there.  Here are a few of my favorites factoids…

Many of the earliest presidents though Theodore Roosevelt refer to our earliest government based on freedom, liberty, for the people, by the people as a “great experiment” that the entire world was watching closely.

Washington, taking his oath on Wall Street and learned of his election while on a well deserved vacation – a bit tired from fighting the revolutionary war, of course.  Near the very end of his speech, he states that the president should cost the people no salary, just small necessary expense reimbursements and he immediately transitions to the fact that he plans to return to vacation.  I think he was the first guy who accepted a new position and then notified his boss that had a previously planned vacation – so clearly one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Grant stated that “I know no method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stingent execution”.

Worth an eRead.