I love to read. Unfortunately, I always seem to have more reading material than time to read it! And everyday something new attracts my attention. So while I have been reading about innovation, I have also been thinking about innovations in reading.
There are two innovations that I use that I greatly appreciate. My Kindle and my iPod. I have been listening to books for some time. I started with books on tape, then graduated to CDs. Now that I have a little gadget to run the sound from the iPod through the speakers of my car, I listen through my iPod. I dislike headphones on my ears or earbuds in them so the iPod hadn’t really appealed to me. Plus I most frequently listen to books when I am in the car and anything on or in your ears there is not safe. In fact, after receiving it as a gift, my iPod sat unused until I came across that little car accessory. I had long been using Audible to download books but I had always burned the books to CDs and then listened to the CDs while driving. The iPod is significantly easier. Audible has a great selection of books and commuting has become substantially less boring. With this innovation, I can “read” during times that would not otherwise have been available for reading! It does however have its drawbacks. I tend to read non-fiction and when I come across an interesting point, I like to make notes. Very difficult to do, if not impossible, while driving. Thus I have learned that if a book is great on audio like Peter Drucker’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship, I need a hard copy as well. Especially useful (though not yet available for that book) is a Kindle version so I can go back and search for the salient points I wanted to note and remember.
I LOVE my Kindle! The ability to search is a key feature that I find indispensable. Close behind are the variety of note making features. If you like to fold down page corners on a physical book (guilty!) then you can bookmark pages. If you write on pages, you can type notes. If you use a highlighting pen, you can highlight text. I find myself now doing all of these. And going back to review those notes is so simple. (Of course finding turned down pages isn’t very difficult! 
) While these innovative features are very important, perhaps the most important to me is the convenience and the weight (or lack thereof). When travelling I used to carry at least 3 books with me. No more. Now I have 60 (and counting) with less weight than one book! I am very happy with Amazon’s latest innovation!
These innovations have made it easier and more fun for me to read – about innovation, creativity, Space and a myriad of my other interests. What innovations for reading do you most appreciate?
