The smartphone represents the death of ergonomics.

A featureless and unremarkable slab of plastic, aluminum and glass. If one is to think that form follows function, then the function of an object should be obvious from analyzing its form. The smartphone defeats itself, its shape says nothing of what it does. Is it for taking pictures? is it for writing? is it for reading? is it for communication? When every answer is yes, then what is it good for? It's not particularly good at any of those, it is just good enough. The most basic of the common denominator, an abstract rectangle, a basic black mirror of nothingness.

Ergonomics are about shaping an object so perfectly to its function and to human biomechanics that its use becomes spontaneous when the object is used and it doesn't hurt or harms the user. “The maximum of comfort, security and efficiency.” The smartphone is not any of those, for any of the things it does. It is awkward to hold for a call, it is strenuous to read or even watch media in, it is uncomfortable to hold to take pictures with, touch control are inefficient for gaming or typing.

There's one thing the smartphone is though, it is small and it is portable. That's it.

When you experience the functions of dedicated devices, the shortcomings of the smartphone show up even more evidently. Holding even a hobbyist camera, reading on an e-ink screen, playing games with an actual controller (or mouse and keyboard), writing even on a basic mechanical keyboard. A smartphone will never compete on that level of tactility and comfort.

The smartphone is the death of ergonomics.

E ink displays are damn good in natural lighting. I've used them outdoors to read maps. Also larger screens are easier to read.

I will pick up my phone to look at the time, use it for 15 minutes, put it down and still not know what the time is. With ebook readers this is not the case

I use a tablet but I think a phone would work just as well. Never actually tried an e-reader to do a comparison but haven't had any issues so far to incentivise me to do so.

Plenty of reasons.

An e-reader is essentially what a book was 20 years ago, except it's an entire library.

Using it doesn't deplete your phone's battery, and a good e-reader can stay powered for a week or more with constant usage. Your phone, given all the background services etc., would die within 8-10 hours.

Then there's the display. Better aspect ratio for reading, better approach for readability (eink), better optimised for reading (cold-warm frontlight), the list goes on.

1. Easy to read in sunlight
2. No eyestrain
3. No distractions
4. Long battery life, and you preserve the battery of your phone
5. Doesn't get warm in your hand like a smartphone

This is why I only use ereaders with true eInk screen (no LCD) and without Android

Yeah idk you can get a working e reader that is over 10 years old for 15€ so they aren't that expensive.

Follow up question: any recommendations? I definitely don’t want kindle, and the only alternative I often see mentioned is kobo. But it seems that also comes with its own software pre-installed? Can it be easily replaced without jailbreaking? Do you need a kobo account for anything?

Are there other brands that don’t try to push you into their ecosystem?

Lack of distraction, easier on the eyes, larger screen, much easier to read if it's sunny out.

I like to use it as an extra screen for when I'm taking notes on a pdf/ebook on my laptop, so I don't need to dedicate half my laptop screen to the book. And like I said, it's a bigger screen than my smartphone.

I will answer to some things

• they're expensive, but they also outlast most modern laptops. A first gen Sony still fulfills its purpose of reading epubs. So in the end it isn't as expensive. Secondhand it is also a lot cheaper and again, they don't age that much
• most readers are waterproof
• e-readers have little storage, but a book is a few MB's. So even with 16gb, you probably never fill it
• color is fun, but I'd recommend steering away if your end goal is reading books. You need to push the backlight way earlier than on a bw ereader. If you do read comics, it looks like an old newspaper in terms of picture quality. The colors are far from accurate, but you only notice this side by side with the actual comic/phone
• I would steer away from kindles. They're known to just update and kill your setup. There are plenty of devices in which you can play around without this issue. Kobo and pocketbook are in my opinion the most viable options. Long battery life, supports many formats, supports koreader if you want. Boox is also fun, but due to android the battery life is a lot less. With the boox you're able to run Android apps though, so you could more easily use it like a notepad with your familiar apps

I prefer reading on an ereader. I find them easier on the eyes, especially in the evening and you can bring them into bright sunlight - they will work even better.

Another topic is: an ereader is for reading. Not checking mail, discord or signal. Not for browsing Lemmy. Not to quickly check up on something. It's for sitting down, relaxing and reading. That is worth the investment for me.

Also, they keep. I can still use my first gen keyboard kindle after 15+ years.

I since then upgraded to a pocketbook for reading and a onyx air 5c for ttrpg sourcebooks and I could not be happier.

I chose an e-ink ebook reader.

Specifically because I wanted the ability to turn backlighting off, and use a soft warm book light to read by.

And also the fact that it uses an extremely low amount of power is great. I still forget where the charging port is after a year and a half with it because I don't need to charge it very often, even with the amount of reading I do. The biggest power drain is the lighting.

Plus I like being able to toss my phone away and not have notifications while reading my digital collection.

I just bought a ReMarkable Paper Pure tablet for note taking, but have discovered that it's really nice as an e-reader too. I think I'm limited to free e-pub sites like Project Gutenberg, but it's just really easy on the eyes and the battery life is crazy long. Also, I can just set it down and don't have to switch it off. I just finished Agatha Christie's "And then there were none" on it last night and I'm not a huge reader either, but it was just so much nicer to use than my phone. One of the reasons too is that I don't get endless notifications and other distractions while I'm using it.

| and they’re also easier on the eyes

This is my main reason for preferring to read on e-readers. A book is a long-ass journey, and to be staring at a regular screen for that long can be painful business.

I also like that there's at least the suggestion of old-school physical connection to the book. It's a device that does just one thing (and is very good at it as a result), and you find yourself treating it the way you used to treat a paper book. I guess it's the same sort of "positive friction" you get when you listen to vinyl or something like that. Makes the experience a bit nicer. Like, yeah, you could open notepad on a smartphone and read the complete works of Shakespeare for free in Courier New font, having to scroll every 2 paragraphs, but who the fuck wants to do that?

The basic form factor of the book has been perfected over centuries, and e-readers emulate it to a fair degree.

I think most e-readers are waterproof, too 🤔 One would hope so, at least! Reading in the tub or on a beach is one of the benefits of its portability.

Primarily the reasons you gave in your closing. Battery and easier on the eyes.

But I also like that it's dedicated to just books, without the myriad of other distractions that a phone brings.

Kobo.

Eink is easier on the eyes, over long reading sessions.

The difference in cost for a black and white or colour ereader is fairly minimal now, mine was about $30 more than the black and white. I'm using a Kobo Clara Colour. I have installed NickelMenu and KoReader and absolutely love it.

The difference between that and my phone is significant. My phone has to be maximum brightness to be readable outside, but my Kobo is fine. Eink relies on reflected light so bright external lights like the sun don't make it look bad, they actually make it look better. The size is also a bit more suited to reading, though you are correct that phones are often close to that size now. These are reasons, but they are not the main reason.

It can't do music or web browsing, nor can it have much in the way of apps and games. It can't get messages or emails, and notifications are not even supported. Why do I use it? To read. It is for reading while doing nothing else. I can decide that I will now read for an hour and just put my phone somewhere else, maybe on charge, while I do so. I can focus on that one task and smash it out without anything else getting in the way. It is glorious.

I am going to get an MP3 player soon given how great my experience of separating reading has been. Using my phone for everything is great for travel but the cost is the constant intrusions. I have notifications off for most things and that helps, but the availability of everything all the time is just not something I cope well with. I think my phone will continue to be my camera for the most part, and my communication tool as well, but moving music and reading off seems to be a good path.

For me:

Better aspect ratio for large amounts of text. I just can't imagine reading an entire novel on my phone.

No distractions. No notifications, no other apps I could be using instead.

Related to the previous point - e-readers are for reading. I'm much more likely to read a lot if I can compartmentalise "other stuff" to my phone. Not to mention other features like the ability to look up word meanings and change text size - all stuff in service of e-readers being "for reading". (There might exist phone apps that can do this sort of thing, but my point is that on an e-reader it's built-in).

Page-turn buttons instead of a touch screen (depends on the e-reader). This is a minor thing, but it lessens fingerprints, which makes the screen nicer to use.

Less distraction, easier on the eyes, single-purpose and immediately jumps into your current book at your current spot.

I carry an XTEINK X3 with me at work so even the elevator ride can get me through a paragraph or two of whatever I’m reading. They go on sale often and both the X3 and X4 are under $100 at full price. You need to sideload your own EPUB files, but that’s never bothered me.

https://www.xteink.com/

I want to read books after I wake up, but also not keep my phone in my room or use it very much at all.

I like using e-reader because it's cheap, better on the eyes, the battery lasts forever, and generally screens are bigger than the phone. Also not killing your phone battery showing text is a plus.

I've been kicking around a couple of nook simple touch for several years. it's ancient, android 2.1! It was easy to jailbreak them and add a launcher, and a couple sane ebook readers (though you'll have to find older versions of apps that will work with eclair). pop stuff on it over usb, and it's on there. The ones with backlights are getting super rare, but if you don't care about that you can probably snag one for round $20 places like ebay.

Really can't beat that, costs more to get a power bank to keep from killing your phone reading things.

I spent two years with inexplicable migraines. LCDs literally hurt. As such, I have an extensive collection of e-ink devices! Seriously, for a sad few, a typical display might as well be like hammering your skull every time you look at it. Hell, I even used the Windows Remote Desktop app on my Inknote just to do basic computing. (I got better.)

E-readers do a good job of bridging the physical book feel with technology. I was of the same thought that a phone would be enough until I held a Kindle in my hands. The first thing that popped out to me was that the screen was super close to a real book. I doesn't have that electronic screen look so it's much easier on the eyes. And you can change the color temp to make it even easier. It's also not silky smooth like a phone screen. There is a tiny bit of texture that makes it feel closer to paper. It's subtle but noticeable.

The second thing I noticed was that it was slightly bigger than the special edition colored paperback version of Game of Thrones I was reading at the time. The size being slightly bigger as one of the most comfortable books I've ever held in my life did change my perspective on e-readers being a viable replacement. Get a folding case that looks like a book and the fact that you're holding a Kindle disappears once you get used to it.

E-books don't take up that much space either. My whole collection is just over 1.5GB. Like 215 books in various formats. That might be nothing to someone who reads a billion books a year, but that's not me. My Kindle has 16gb of storage. Other models have much more and I feel like I would never fill it. I'm not gonna waste space on my phone for something I'm never gonna use it for.

I'm not tempted to stop reading halfway through a page to check social media when I'm holding my Kindle. I never needed to jailbreak my Kindle to put my own collection of books on it. I don't know if I'm lucky or if Calibre on Linux is just that good. Get one. Use it to read a short book. If it clicks you won't go back.

and they're also easier on the eyes

I found that's the ultimate decision criterion for me. If you're fine reading on your phone, i.e. you don't lose sleep because of the extra light spectrum you beam into your face, just stick with the phone. It's always there and you are already trained to keep it charged around the clock.

Reading ≠ reading; people have different concepts in their heads. There are people who need the haptics of an actual book. Some may think reading on your phone kind of cheapens the experience. It's where the diarrhea stream of social media also comes through. Or work emails. I've talked with a colleague once and she insisted on a reader device because she didn't want to give the impression she was on Instagram while reading at the airport. So you need to figure out these preferences as well.

Right now I am not using my reader. Because switching between text to speech and reading is too convenient right now.
But aside of that a dedicated book only device is way better for focus. Our phones do too many things. They can be distracting.
I will look into the jailbreak because last time I checked it only removed the screen saver....

The LCD screen and size were the selling point beginning with the first ones. Newer phones can do more, and for some that might be better, but I don't like the smaller screen, and will go to a computer before I try to see a website on my phone. Guess it depends on your needs and priorities.

No reason. You do you