In a recent blog post, we received a comment that, while the Kindle was a favorite eReading device, it wasn’t the choice for technical material. Honestly, this is something we’ve wondered about! We’re seeing that eBooks are becoming more and more popular with SAS users. But, are these books being read directly on the eReader? Or through an app on a PC or other device? 
We don’t know! Tell us!
Today’s question: How are you reading your SAS eBooks?
- On an eReading device like a Kindle, iPad, or Nook?
- Or through an app on your PC?
Hmm… Of course, the answer can be more complicated. You may be reading eBooks through an app on an eReading device… No matter what configuration you’re using, tell us your preference for reading technical eBooks!
Chime in and help direct the future of your eBooks!
1 Comment
Hi,
I travel between cities and customer sites and so I will always buy an eBook over a printed book whenever there is a choice. This is important to me because with eBooks I can now carry around an entire library of reference material that was impossible/impractical just a few years ago.
I use a combination of Kindle for iPad, iAnnotate PDF for iPad, PDF readers on PCs/Macs, and occasionally Kindle for Android. I also use Dropbox to keep a consistent up-to-date collection of non-Kindle documentation/books to read across multiple devices.
When reading is the primary activity, I prefer to use the iPad. Occasionally, when waiting in queues, I might use the Kindle app on my Android phone, but only for reading fiction where the size of the screen is less important. For reading technical books/documentation, such as the available SAS PDFs and eBooks, I find the iPad screen is the smallest screen comfortable. These books are usually ones that were originally printed in larger sizes, such as A4, and often contained detailed diagrams.
When reading is a secondary activity and the eBooks are being used for reference, I'll usually be working on a PC/Mac. In this situation I prefer to use either a Kindle app or a PDF reader depending on the origin of the book. I'll jump around between bookmarks, annotations, keep referring to the table of contents and search for keywords. Sometimes I'll want to copy and paste quotes, references, links and code samples, so reading and working on the same device is important.
When reading eBooks, the most important features to me are:
* Offline access when there is no internet access (e.g. flights)
* Universal access across multiple devices (primarily iPad and Mac/PC)
* Remembering the last page I was reading (preferably across multiple devices)
* Easily setting bookmarks and moving between them (preferably across multiple devices)
* Easily making annotations/notes and finding them again at a later date (preferably available across multiple devices)
* Easy access to a hyperlinked detailed table of contents
* Searching for keywords
* Copy to clipboard for small quotes and code samples (when working on a PC/Mac)
I hope this helps. Thanks for giving us the opportunity to provide feedback.
Cheers
Paul