Want To Protect Your eReader From The Sand & Water?

I have a Kindle, but I never think about bring it with me to the beach or while spending time by the pool. Instead, I prefer to bring along a paperback novel with me to read instead of reading a book on my Kindle. 

By leaving my Kindle at home, I don't have to worry about my Kindle accidentally getting wet, damaged by sand grains, or accidentally dropping my Kindle onto a hard surface. Let alone having my Kindle potentially overheat in hotter weather or anything else that could potentially go wrong by bringing my Kindle with me outdoors.

For those of you who have no qualms about bringing your eReaders with you to the beach or the pool, there are several options in protecting your eReader from water and sand! Check out the article I read on the Washington Post website titled How to protect your e-reader from the sand and surf by Hayley Tsukayama. In her article, Hayley Tsukayama writes:

Regardless of the case you choose, if waterproofing is your primary need, test your case before you head to the beach. The best way to do this is to put a piece of paper in the case and seal it up tight. Then dunk the whole thing under water. If you make it through that test without any wet spots, you’re in good shape.

None of these cases, though, will protect you against the perils of heat and direct sunlight. Heat can cause serious, if often temporary, damage to your devices. This is a greater risk for tablet-like e-readers (and phones, for that matter), but overheating is bad for all electronics. 

Keeping your device in the shade is the best defense. Even keeping it under a dry towel or beach chair will help. Or bring an extra cooler with no ice or water in it. If your device overheats, take the case off and let it cool back to room temperature before you fiddle with it again. 

And a final tip: No matter what you decide, put your e-reader in its case before you get to the beach. Better yet, do it at home, before you pack and while you’re on dry, solid land.

I personally thought most of the cases mentioned in Hayley Tsukayma's article were way too expensive for my taste. Especially when I do not spend that much time at the beach or by the pool these days. So, I'd rather leave my Kindle at home while spending time outdoors.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

eReaders May Disrupt Your Sleep!

I've personally had sleep issues for years now... Basically, I have a difficult time falling asleep and staying asleep. I do spend quite a bit of time on the computer at night and do use an eReader to read many books. 

I did come an interesting article posted on the New York Times's blog titled How E-Books May Disrupt Your Sleep by Nicholas Bakalar. In the article, Bakalar writes the following:

Compared with a printed book, a light-emitting e-book decreased sleepiness, reduced REM sleep (often called dream sleep), and substantially suppressed the normal bedtime rise of melatonin, the hormone that regulates the sleep and wake cycle. The e-book users took longer to fall asleep and felt sleepier in the morning.

“Much more has to be known about the kind of impact these devices have on our health and well-being,” said the lead author, Anne-Marie Chang, an assistant professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State. “The technology moves quickly, and the science lags.”

So, perhaps some of my sleep issues are related to reading books on an electronic devices at night near bed time!?