It is in the spirit of families reading together that we created the latest Sony DigiDads project. Of course, we're going the updated route with eBooks and we loaned the dads Sony Reader Pocket Editions. We chose the Pocket Edition for this project because it is simple to use and small enough to fit in children's hands. The video below taken by DigiDad Michael Sheehan is not only adorable, but you can get a good idea from his daughters Natasha, Alexandra and Sally what it's like for kids to use an ebook.
If you're considering the Sony Reader Pocket Edition see what Michael and the rest of the Sony Dads had to say in their write-ups.
Ebooks, Digital Readers and the Future of Printed Writing
How We Read
The Sony Reader Black White and Shades of Dorian Gray
A Library in Your Hands
Beyond being the digital and "cool" way to read with kids, ebooks liberate. As noted by another Sony DigiDad, Max Kalehoff, "Like printed pages to a book spine, books are bound to my home office desk and my night table." A device like the Pocket Edition which weighs less than 8 ounces allows you to travel with hundreds of books in your pocket or purse.
While portability is one feature many ebooks share, openness to various formats of content is not. "Sony has gone out of their way to make their Reader series of products compatible with the widest possible range of electronic books including multiple book stores, public libraries, and Google's library of public domain works" said Jeff Sass from the site Dad-o-matic, who enlisted his 19-year old son in this Reader project. Openness to various forms of content is one of the shining points of the Reader series. Not all ebook devices support a variety of formats and insist on proprietary ones that limit what you can read on your device. Steve Haber, SVP of Sony's digital Reader business wrote an article for the Huffington Post on this topic. It's a great read and good insight into why the Sony Reader team created an ebook that uses universal file standards.
I'd also like to note that Sony Readers support public libraries where anyone can get access to free books. My sisters and I grew up going to our hometown library. Checking out a book was both fun and a great responsibility to have as a kid. The Sony Readers let you check out a book so the ebook library experience still has an old fashioned twist.
Next up for the Sony Dads is a "Video Book Report."Sounds like homework, doesn't it? We'll, it's actually going to be a lot more fun. We've armed the Dads with TX1 Cybershot digital camcorders, Alpha A330L cameras and VAIO P laptops. They'll use the loaners on a school field trip or family outing. Their mission is to film what they see and then use features like GPS tagging and panoramic shots to "report" back on what they learned.