Because geek is cool and clever

Too busy for books? January 16, 2007

In my younger days I was an avid reader of books.

Then I discovered computers and later an invention called the internet and fated most of my unread books to stay that way – unread.

Over recent years I’ve managed claw back at least some of my spare time (usually the times when I’m not near a computer) to my enjoyment of books but that old internet is still more of a distraction that I would sometimes like it to be.

I was therefore interested in an idea behind the website Daily Lit (dailylit.com) which poses one simple question.

‘Too busy for books? Read them by email.”

Here’s how it works. You browse the site and find a book that you would like to read and then decide on the frequency of the emails you will receive from the site. For example, if you always take a lunch break at one o’clock, you can choose only weekdays at that time. Then it’s simply a case of providing your email address and you will immediately start to small chunks of your chosen book in your email inbox at the time you want them.

Given that many of us spend a large part of the day reading emails, adding one more to the daily deluge should be almost unnoticeable from a productivity point of view and eventually you will have digested a good book.

The only minor drawback is that the literature on offer is that which has gone out of copyright and can be legally distributed for free. Anyone who has dallied with ebooks on a computer, mobile phone or PDA will be familiar with the list of elderly classics that include the likes of Agatha Christie and Charles Dickens so don’t go expecting the latest Tom Clancy blockbuster.