**Be sure to enter our contest (details at the end)!! One lucky spouse will win a Sony Reader for her (or his) active-duty spouse! What a wonderful Valentines present that would be!**
My husband's year long deployment to the sandbox taught me all about the wonders of technology. The beauty of communicating via webcam most nights was an amazing blessing! In only his first days of being settled at this base in Iraq I wrote: "We Have Established Communication". Isn't it amazing where technology has brought us in the last century, the last decade, even just a few years?
I recently had the opportunity to use a Sony Touch, a hand-held, portable, digital e-book. This is cool stuff! Although there is something about turning the pages of a real book as you enter your own little world, I have to admit the Sony Touch digital e-book has A LOT of appeal. I can go online and purchase books and have them automatically downloaded; even better I can go to my local library's website and download a book for free, if they have it in stock! The beauty of the Sony model is the versatility. You aren't limited to as many book-formats as some readers. The Sony Reader is able to read SEVERAL eBook formats!As I started to tell my husband about it last night he jumped in to tell me about the potential of an e-reader when he was in Iraq. He had BOOKS with him; mostly they were pleasure books. But with some time to kill at the end of his 16 hour work-day he enjoyed pulling out a book as he got ready to fall asleep (of course after kissing me goodnight via webcam). Problem was he had TWO trunks. Two trunks to get him to Iraq and the same two to get him back. Two trunks to hold ALL of his stuff for a years worth of living. So the books that he bought over there (via online or at the little PX) he had to leave behind because he just didn't have room. Room is such a commodity that the thought of keeping books electronically is a huge plus!
Another fun thing I saw with the Sony Reader was that it can also hold music (mp3 format) and images. So thinking about our service-members far away from home ... what a convenient way to get a quick glimpse of family & friends back at home. (They don't carry cell-phones out there to store images, due to no real cell-phone coverage.) BTW the Sony Reader weighs like 10 ounces, that's next to nothing. 10 ounces and it holds about 350 books... that's almost crazy talk :)As a side note, I'm also thinking about PCSs... We all know about the weight-limits established with each move a military family makes /and/ we all know how heavy a box of books is! That much less clutter and weight is a huge appeal to me.
I'm sold, obviously! So...
What do you think?
“Will e-books change the way you shop for books?"
Leave a comment and you will be entered in our contest to win a Sony Touch from Borders for your deployed or state-side Active Duty spouse. This contest ends January 30th, so don't delay! (We want to have enough time to notify our winner and get it out for Valentine's Day!)
Once you have done #1 (and you must do #1 to enter) you may then increase your chances of winning by:
2. Become a fan of MilitaryAvenue on Facebook. Once you are a Fan, let your military-family friends know about this contest by posting this story as your status. (Link to: http://militaryblog.militaryavenue.com/2010/01/valentines-contest-for-our-deployed-win.html) (Post a comment below to let me know you did this.)
3. Follow MilitaryAvenue on Twitter and Retweet this story. (You can use the link http://bit.ly/6AnN5H) (Post a comment below to let me know you did this.)
4. Have a Blog? Blog about the contest and leave the URL of your post in the comment field below. (Post a comment below to let me know you did this.)
IF you comment you will be entering for a chance to win a Sony Touch pre-loaded with 10 top titles (selected by Borders) for your active-duty spouse. Winners must provide the APO or an on-base / post address to ship to upon winning as Borders will facilitate shipping readers to the winners.
This is great stuff!!
- Leanne from MilitaryAvenue.com
PS: If you do comment keep in mind I need to get in touch of you if you are selected as our winner. Either be sure to leave your email address in the comment, leave it in your 'profile' when you leave a comment, or send me an email with your email address (leanne@militaryavenue.com) and which comment you left. Good Luck!
we are an avid reading family, be it magazines or books. eBook readers are definitely becoming the way to go in the military lifestyle. not only are they great for portability when you are traveling, but when it comes time for that inevitable PCS, you won't have so many books to pack/unpack! and let me tell you, even just one less box to unpack at a new place is SUCH a wonderful thought!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome goodie for our Soldier can use! Thank you for doing this!
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the weight savings during pcs's.
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to win this for my wonderful husband! He would be so appreciative to get this amazing gift!
ReplyDeleteWe have three (almost four!) bookcases full of books - and can't stop buying them! DH has even less then two trunks (different mil branch) for his stuff for the length of time he is gone and also mentioned what to do w/ his books when he leaves. We figured we were looking at a high price of shipping them all home to me! This would be an awesome thing for him to have!
ReplyDeleteI posted on twitter! http://twitter.com/Tsoniki/status/7600731571
ReplyDeleteI think E-Books are a great idea for Deployed service members.. My husband loves books, and reads more then one at a time.. When he is under way in the Navy it's hard from him to take a lot of books because of the lack of space on board.. This would be perfect for him..
ReplyDeleteBecame a Fan on Facebbok and left comment in my Status section : Holly Shade Endress http://militaryblog.militaryavenue.com/2010/01/valentines-contest-for-our-deployed-win.html Great way for our Deployed Soldiers to enjoy reading while they are away!!
ReplyDeleteTwitter Following and Retweeted!!
ReplyDeletestampingholly
At: 'Our Letters to You' - Valentine's Contest for our Deployed: Win a Sony Touch for your spouse! http://bit.ly/7iuUFZ
I think E-books could make a lot of military living easier. Less to pack when PCSing and less to have to bring on a vacation or to a deployment.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is currently deployed to Iraq and I’m at home with our 6 young children. We have 2 sets of identical twins, ages 3 and 1, and 2 singletons, ages 7 and 5. (I’m not joking! Proof is on my blog at http://www.itstwinsanity.com.) This is our first deployment in 6+ years of military life. It’s been so hard. My husband actually left in January 2009 for a year of various schools and training and then deployed immediately after finishing that. This means 2 full years of separation for us. It’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to do, even harder than having newborn twins (twice!)
ReplyDeleteI think ebooks can change the way some people shop for books. Personally, I prefer to settle down with a hardcover book and enjoy it with a cup of coffee. That never happens these days of course. My husband would prefer to read an ebook because he loves technology and he has limited space. He can only fit so many things into his trunk. He brought along several books to read in Iraq and he’s asked me to ship him several more. I’m not sure where he’ll put all of them! I think ebooks can expand a personal library without requiring the physical space of an actual library. That’s convenient!
Thanks for hosting this contest!
I have been looking at this for my husband while he is deployed. Like everyone else has said, trying to get the books home after you read them is difficult. My parents and sisters have an e book reader, and LOVE it. I have played with it and it is fantastic. Thank you for offering this to our Military.
ReplyDeleteI think that it will make it easier for our servicemembers to read books instead of taking a ton of them overseas. Plus it will cut down on how many books you have to move. Plus I enjoy reading and it would be easier to take one ebook than a huge book to read.
ReplyDeleteI posted it on FB and I'm a fan on FB.
ReplyDeleteI follow on twitter @ Sailorsprincess and tweeted about it
ReplyDeleteThe reason I think my husband is so deserving of this gift is because of what he sacrificed not only for our country, but for our family.
ReplyDeleteWhile he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, our children were in a near-fatal car accident, that did, in fact, take the life of my mother. He was brought home from overseas in about 3 days time, and sat with me day after day, next to our kids, then 6 & 4, waiting for them to wake up from their comas. That was his last deployment (and 4th.)
He then put in for a compassionate reassignment so that he could be my support system through losing my mother. He helps so much with our kids, taking them to therapies and the dr. No one could ask for a better husband. He loved being Infantry more than anyone else I have ever met-but he loves us more. He changed his MOS in 2007 to Recruiter so that he could stay with our children and help them deal with their traumatic brain injuries.
He has always loved to read, it helps him relax. I think this gift would be the greatest gift ever for him. I could not afford to get him one this Christmas, as we only exchange one gift between the two of us so that the kids can always have a special day. I don't think there is a person that would appreciate this more than my husband, Aaron.
If you would like to see more of our story, it is on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipQTJnk54Ng
HOOAH!!! GO ARMY!
Nicole Wight
JazzerGyrl27@aol.com
PS-I have been a follower on twitter for a long time, and I am a fan on FB, too!
ReplyDeleteMy husband would love this! Thank you for the opportunity to win it for him.
ReplyDeleteI follow you on Twitter (keithcs) and I retweeted the message!
ReplyDeleteI am an avid reader and I currently have a Kindle and I really like it alot. I think that the Sony touch has way more options and I would love to try it out. I have been trying to get my husband to read more and I think if he had one of these he would read more because he could shop for the books that he would be interested in reading instead of me trying to get him to read the kinds of books that I like.
ReplyDeleteI follow you on FB and I posted the link on my page!! Thank you for doing this!!
my e-mail is tostdiek@comcast.net
Hi Leanne!
ReplyDeleteFab contest!
Just posted a blog - http://tiffanysilverberg.blogspot.com/2010/01/wednesday-warrior-salute-calling-all.html
Tweeted and Facebooked!
Keep up the great work!
My hubby would love this. I have tweeted about it yesterday and just blogged about it.
ReplyDeletehttp://leavingandloving.blogspot.com/2010/01/calling-all-military-wives.html
What a great idea! My husband would love this! What a great idea for a contest too! It would defintiely make packing for deployment much easier!
ReplyDeleteI just blogged about this at http://imeanreallyreally.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-stuff.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for doing this!
I retweeted it & became a fan on facebook! This would be a great gift for my hubby whom is depoying this sunday for six months!!
ReplyDeletemy husband would love this! what a great gift idea!
ReplyDeleteMy husband is deploying soon and I just thought of maybe buying him an e-reader for Valentine's Day. Love this idea!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea!! I would love for my husband to have this since he deploys frequently and carries WAY too much stuff!
ReplyDeleteGreat stuff! We'll be heading into deployment #2 later this year and I'm sure this would come in handy! Thank you!
ReplyDeletesaraheileenivy@gmail.com
What an awesome idea! My husband as well, left back countless books during his deployments. Not to mention the room they took up in the care packages I would send. :) Thanks for doing this, my husband loves technology! Thanks, Jessica
ReplyDeletejnjchilcoat@yahoo.com
I would love to win this for my husband!! I have a reader on my cell phone and love it, I think this would be great for him when he has to travel/deploy!
ReplyDeletePosted on Facebook!!
ReplyDeleteThis would be so ideal for a subby like my husband! Space is so limited there, the more compact the better.
ReplyDeleteretweet on twitter
ReplyDeleteI tweeted and I'm a follower on twitter too!
ReplyDeleteAWESOME!! Thanks for the chance at winning this for my husband!! I'll be blogging about it at http://hooahandheavenlymoments.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteCheers!
My husband reads a lot!! This would save a bundle on shipping on all those books that I have to send him each deployment.
ReplyDeleteWe are big readers and we will definitely buy more books for the reader because of the ease and portability. What a great thing to have!
ReplyDeleteMy husband is leaving soon and I know would love to have this great toy to take with him. Thank you for doing this!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome giveaway! We love reading!
ReplyDeleteI blogged about you :)
ReplyDeletehttp://juliethearmywife.blogspot.com/2010/01/sony-touch-reader-giveaways.html
Okay here we go (I SOOOOO want one of these for Huzzy since V-Day, our anniversary, his birthday and another deployment are all coming in the next two months!):
ReplyDelete1. E-readers will definitely change the way I shop for books. Especially for my husband. He's on a submarine, so they can't bring much with them. And the type of sub he's on.. they are super-secret and go WEEKS without contact. When you are on a sub, you can A. Read. or B. Watch movies. Movies get old after a while and books take up so much space that they don't really have room to store many of them. An E-reader would allow me to pre-load it with books and let him have tons to do during those lonely weeks without e-mail, fresh air, sunshine or any sort of contact with the outside world. I mean, those fishes they are with gotta get boring after a while! On top of all that, I'll be deploying myself (reserve Navy officer)... probably within the next two years... I'm so stealing it if I win it for Huzzy ;)
2. I became a fan on Facebook. I'll tweet about it tonight... can't do it while I'm at work ;) Ya know, since I'm working ;) I'll let you know!
3. I already follow you on Twitter and I sent out a Tweet that said: WifeyofaSailor
OMG.. check out my blog! I now have FIVE Sony Touch Readers giveaway contests on it. FIVE. Holy crap! www.wifeofasailor.com #borderscontest. It was sent 18JAN10 at 1515EST.
4. It's on my blog! http://wifeofasailor.com/2010/01/17/sony-touch-reader-giveaway-for-active-duty
Oooo... I'm so freakin' excited. At least if I don't win, I know the person who does TOTALLY will deserve it!
I think the Sony will make it much easier when it comes time to PCS and for when the hubby goes TDY - condensing many pounds of books into 1 small portable device is awesome. Because of this I'm sure ebooks will make us more likely to purchase more books.
ReplyDeleteEbooks will forever change the way that I buy books. We love books, but not the weight of them. My husband loves to read, but can't take ridiculous amounts of books to read with him to field, deployment, or just on his way to schools. This would be perfect for him. It won't change the way I buy books for my children though. It also won't really change the way that I buy cookbooks, I love the pictures in the cookbooks, and I wouldn't want an eReader so close to the stove. But for my other reading, it would completely change it!
ReplyDeleteEbooks and the readers will make the way I buy books much easier. I hate when I finish reading a book and don’t feel like going out to the store, but want to start reading something new. With the Reader, I can just go online and download a new book. It would be great for traveling as well, it holds soo many books in such a small space.
ReplyDeleteI tweeted and am following.
ReplyDeleteJust became a fan and posted in FB status Joanna Denny http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=name&id=710000289 http://militaryblog.militaryavenue.com/2010/01/valentines-contest-for-our-deployed-win.html
ReplyDeleteThank you very much MilitaryAvenue for the resouces and the great things you offer such as the chance for our spouses to win wonderful prizes. All of our spouses are deserving because they all voluntarily make the ultimate sacrices for their country and they do it selflessly!! My husband is currenly deployed to Iraq and would love to have this to catch up on his reading. Being deployed doesn't allow for a lot of free time, so this would be the perfect gift. Thank you and continue to do the great things you do!!
ReplyDeleteWow, great idea! I know my husband would benefit from reading books this way -- so often it seems he doesn't have time to sit down and read. But with this new technology, he would have a number of books just waiting for him in his cargo pocket!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great idea! My husband had so many books sent to him during his last deployment, he was just shipping them to me because he didn't have enough space. This would also be great for us during PCS moves, whoever isn't driving can be reading, and then there is the time to relax and read at hotels or temporary housing before we have our household goods. What a great investment. I've posted this on my Facebook as well. God bless!
ReplyDeleteMy husband would LOVE one. THanks for doing this!
ReplyDeleteyes, I think this will allow me/my husband to buy more books. Too often I am reading a blog or something else and hear about a book I’d love to read but forget about it by the time I get to a book store. This would give me the opportunity to go straight to the borders and purchase it right away. Plus if the books are cheaper then I am more likely to buy even more! and just from a specific store (Boarders) instead of going to any random store.
ReplyDeleteI blogged about your giveaway here.
ReplyDeletehttp://cecoakley.blogspot.com/2010/01/many-sony-touch-reader-giveaways.html
thank you so much for the opportunity to win this! The sony e-reader would change teh way we buy books, because we would simply buy more! This would be perfect for my active duty husband who is going to deploy very soon. With the weight limits they give him, and where he will be, he can't be taking a lot of stuff with him. This would be an amazing gift to him! Thank you again! email-( jessicajane.loveatyahoodotcom)
ReplyDeletehow lovely!!! I would love to enter for such fabulousness!!!!! Hubby would love it :)
ReplyDeleteHubby would love a reader! He's got a 20 hour flight to guam that it would really be handy for lol. It would be great to load up before a deployment and cut down on the stuff he packs with him.
ReplyDeleteThis would be such a blessing in our house! We have a closet full of text books because my husband is such a nerd for science/math/physics/astronomy. I am sending him books constantly to Afghanistan, but he has to throw them away when he finishes them due to weight and storage limits. Even our apartment is crowded with the books. We spend so much money on books monthly.
ReplyDeletei am now a follower on twitter and re-tweeted!
ReplyDeleteI also blogged about the giveaway on my blog http://jessicajanehandmade.blogspot.com/2010/01/crossing-my-fingers.html
ReplyDeleteMy husband does so much for me and his family, I honestly do not know how he can work, and yet find the time to keep this family together through all the struggles. My husband is an avid reader, anywhere from comics, to old and new books and stories. He reads the Bible everyday and keeps in touch with the Lord, and brings his blessing's to our family everyday. I am very blessed to have him as my husband, airman, strong side, rock, backbone and most of all my everything. I would love to win the Sony Touch for him, while he is working out in the field for 5 days a week, and I know that he would love it and use it all the time. I just want to show him how much I appreciate him and how blessed I am to call him mine, and how much love and devotion he has brought to his family.
ReplyDeleteThank You,
Security Forces Wife.
I blogged about the Sony Touch for your Active-Duty Spouse on my Facebook. Here is my Http for facebook if you would like to add me and view my post: http://www.facebook.com/#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=100000625082319
ReplyDeleteThank You,
Security Forces Wife.
great gift idea! will be looking into this for sure for my Soldier :)
ReplyDeletei posted both on twitter and face book the link this is a wonderful idea and i love to read Yes it will change how he reads it would change how i read as well molafa2085@hotmail.com
ReplyDeleteAs I sit and sort through our belongings for our 11th move in 14 years, I don't think I could come up with something that fits a military family better!
ReplyDeleteHaving just PCS'd and unpacked no less than 20 boxes of books, we would LOVE a Sony Reader... I think we would byuy more books too- there's something about the instant gratification and purchasing a la iTunes! I would love to win one for the hubs!!! He's a bigger reader than I am!
ReplyDeleteWe bought one for my deployed husbands mom and she loves it. I'm a big reader and I'm always encouraging my husband to read more and I think this would help nudge him along!
ReplyDeleteMy email is kelleyburress@ameritech.net
We love books! An e-Reader would change the way we purchase and read books ... by making them more accessible! Would love to be able to download instantly; and my Soldier husband would get through his ever-growing professional reading list with ease. What a great giveaway. Thanks for honoring military in this way!
ReplyDelete