by Rachon Ward

Created on: July 13, 2010   Last Updated: July 14, 2010

Most people know by now the purpose of an e-reader, but have you thought of the advantages this little wonder holds. There are many besides the fact you can carry several hundreds of books with you, depending on the extra storage options.

With an e-reader those who are visually impaired are given back the gift of reading. I for one cannot read a large print book, yes my vision is that bad. I took the gift of reading for granted until I started losing my vision, but since purchasing an e-reader, I have read non-stop. So with this in mind I hope e-reader companies bump the font up a couple of notches. Better yet, why not set the font up like word programs, let the reader choose what is best for them.

For those who home-school an e-reader is a must have item. I now can tote class assignments ( using PDF, word or rich text) and reading assignments wherever we go. Works great for those 15 minute appointments that turn into an hour. It is also great to use in waiting rooms. We are able to get more work done than before.

If the school systems would take advantage of e-readers, imagine the money this could save you the taxpayer. Schools could purchase e-readers for every student and load all their text books for the new year. An e-reader costs $300.00 at most. The average text book is $75.00 or better, multiply this by six to ten books per child. Don't forget the tons of text books that have been thrown out due to errors. This would allow the school to change books cheaply during the year. Example of: Johnny starts reading at a grade below grade level, but improves by two grade levels before the end of the school year and now needs a new book. All a teacher would have to do is delete the old book and add the new book. Rather than order a book and wait for months for it to come in. If there is an error in a text book you could correct the error instantly without having to throw away tons of text books.

Children could carry one e-reader versus ten text books. Many of these books are far to heavy. I've seen poor elementary students with book bags heavier and bigger than them. This would save the child's back and parents money at the chiropractors.

Think of all the trees you would be saving. We lose thousands of trees every year to generate paper. You could help in this effort and enjoy yourself at the same time.

E-readers have opened a whole new world. What are you waiting for? Grab an e-reader and read the day away.

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