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Ask HN: How do you read online books?

2 pointsby cauliflower99about 3 years ago
I love reading and my company give us access to O&#x27;Reilly learning which has more knowledge than I could ever absorb. However, my big problem is that I have to read from a screen which means I need to be either in front of my laptop or on my phone, neither of which I find particularly enjoyable for study.<p>Do you have any hacks to read books &#x2F; ebooks &#x2F; pdf &#x2F; blog posts effectively that makes it feel like you&#x27;re not looking at a screen all the time? Is there any technology out there than solves this problem?<p>Thanks!

5 comments

sybercecurityabout 3 years ago
O&#x27;Reilly has an android and iOS app so tablets are an option instead of phones. I use a tablet for ebooks most of the time. Either Kindle or calibre (depending on how I got the ebook). Lots of ebook apps have settings to reduce eyestrain.<p>I&#x27;m used to tablets for reading now. I prefer that over the desktop experience. I still buy print if I think the book will require a lot of jumping between sections or use as a quick reference lookup later on. I know there are features to recreate that in O&#x27;Reilly Safari Online, Kindle, etc. but I personally feel they are awkward.
pamorosoabout 3 years ago
I&#x27;ve been reading exclusively ebooks and digital content since 2010. Over the same time span I bought only half a dozen print books.<p>My current reading devices are an 8&quot; Android tablet for technical ebooks, the tablet or an Android phone for straight text ebooks, and a desktop computer for most other digital content such as blogs, online books, websites, and so on.<p>Digital reading feels second nature now. What works for me is to do many short reading sessions, e.g. a couple of screens at a time.
WallyFunkabout 3 years ago
I prefer PDFs over EPUB files. EPUB looks too raw for my liking. PDFs retain the original style of a book. I have a separate monitor with Okular[0] running on it to read e-books. But to answer your question: an iPad is preferable too, and more ergonomic as you can lie down when reading a book which I enjoy too.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;okular.kde.org&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;okular.kde.org&#x2F;</a>
simonblackabout 3 years ago
Many online books can be downloaded and then read on a Kindle or similar. Use software such as Calibre to store the books in a &#x27;library&#x27; or convert the book&#x27;s file-format.
elviejoabout 3 years ago
I own an ePaper Android tablet. Onyx boox max lumi. All my books are on it either PDF, epub or even kindle. Is such a relief for my eyes, and I can read more for longer.