eReader - what's the point?

[KimR]

look up an unfamiliar word and have it defined for me immediately on the same page, search for a word or phrase and locate it immediately from the entire book...shoud I keep going?

These would be the two biggest advantages for me! Quite often I have to go back and search for little pieces of information I know I've read but forgotten. Sometimes I give up because I'm already hundreds of pages into the novel and have no idea where to look. I don't know how many times I've wished there was a built-in search feature.

 

[Auggietina]

I love my Kindle. I used it on the plane without an issue.

I will never go back to paper books.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Travel. I can try packing the 6 books I'm currently reading (as well as those my DH is reading), or I can slip an ereader into my carry-on.

 

[elainesj]

It's worth a try.

I was like you....LOVED books. I love the feel of them, the page turning, everything about it.

Caveat...i don't have an ereader...I've used my netbook, my laptop, and my blackberry to read books (with the ereader program). I started it out just to "Try it out". I found I loved it. No more aching hands, much more comfy when reading in bed, and just so portable and convenient. I'd like an ereader one day but haven't been able to justify a dedicated one to myself. Maybe I'll start using a tablet instead.

 

[Missy1961]

I don't have one--yet! I know I will get one someday. Don't get me wrong, I love books, magazines, etc. & will probably continue to buy them. But there are so many pluses to an e-reader. And they are getting more reasonably priced.

For a long time, I didn't see what all the fuss was about Ipods. Then my sister got me one for my birthday, and now I can't live without it. I have a feeling the same thing will happen when I get an e-reader!

 

[SaraJayne]

I have a nook that I've abandoned. I prefer real books.

My favorite place in the world is a bookstore...browsing, paging through books and bringing home a bunch of new books! I love the feeling of having books piled on my side table, waiting to be read. I also love holding a real book, turning the pages, etc. Holding a piece of plastic just doesn't do it for me.

The ebooks are the same price as buying a real copy of it, so no price savings at all.

So I've done it both ways and found which way I like best and I'm sticking with real books.

 

[bettymae1121]

I have a kindle and I love it. I can carry it with me 24/7 so I always have something to read if I get stuck waiting (I'm pregnant right now so having my books to read while waiting for appointments alone is worth the purchase price). I can read it in line at the post office or the bank, and it's great for when I travel.

I also read a lot of fan fiction, so I can now read that sitting in my living room or in bed rather than being tied to my computer.

And now kindle has e-lending so it's an even better deal!

 

[luvmy3]

I'll just say that now that I have owned a Kindle or other reading device for years, I just don't see the point of having hard copies of books

 

[RitaE]

For me eyestrain was a huge factor. I can read off my Kindle without having to find a pair of reading glasses and I never get headaches from reading now.

Plus, the closest bookstore to me is about 40 minutes away. Technology brings them to my living room. I've also eliminated hundreds of paper books from the house. No more clutter or dusty pages. Also, if a book pops into my head and I want to re-read it, I can find it in seconds. I never lose my books now, my books never get destroyed or lost now.

And no .... even if I misplace the Kindle I still have my books on my computer database and in the cloud storage the stores keep for you. Amazon doesn't keep a back-up copy of my paper books for me but they keep my eBooks available for as many re-downloads as I want.

My Mom always swore she'd never read off of one of those "things" and now she owns 3 of them and she's always pestering her friends to consider them.

 

[DVCLiz]

I have a nook that I've abandoned. I prefer real books.

My favorite place in the world is a bookstore...browsing, paging through books and bringing home a bunch of new books! I love the feeling of having books piled on my side table, waiting to be read. I also love holding a real book, turning the pages, etc. Holding a piece of plastic just doesn't do it for me.

The ebooks are the same price as buying a real copy of it, so no price savings at all.

So I've done it both ways and found which way I like best and I'm sticking with real books.

This is another point I'd like to make - a "real" book isn't necessarily just a paper book. The story is just as "real" to the reader, whether it's a digital file or a paper bound physical item.

If you have a definite preference for one format over the other, that's certainly fine. Most people will like one better than the other eventually. But it's not true that one is "real" and one isn't. One is made of paper and one isn't, that's all.

 

[SaraJayne]

This is another point I'd like to make - a "real" book isn't necessarily just a paper book. The story is just as "real" to the reader, whether it's a digital file or a paper bound physical item.

If you have a definite preference for one format over the other, that's certainly fine. Most people will like one better than the other eventually. But it's not true that one is "real" and one isn't. One is made of paper and one isn't, that's all.

I prefer to hold a book I can touch (ie, real). You can not touch a digital copy of a book.

I'll stick with calling them real books.

 

[RitaE]

I prefer to hold a book I can touch (ie, real). You can not touch a digital copy of a book.

I'll stick with calling them real books.

Go ahead if it makes you happy. I prefer to call them physical books. Calling them "real" to me gives the impression that the electronic versions must be the opposite - so we're all reading our fake books on our digital readers.

It's funny how people can get really caught up over the terms though. I've seen people get into a snit over your "real" books being referred to as DTBs (dead tree books).

 

[SaraJayne]

Go ahead if it makes you happy. I prefer to call them physical books. Calling them "real" to me gives the impression that the electronic versions must be the opposite - so we're all reading our fake books on our digital readers.

It's funny how people can get really caught up over the terms though. I've seen people get into a snit over your "real" books being referred to as DTBs (dead tree books).

I have no problem with them being refered to as DTB's. They are dead tree books.

 

[Pakey]

My company pays for my ereaders and for my books so that's the biggest reason I use one.

I travel a lot. It's so nice to haul to just one small device and one paperback (for takeoffs and landings) rather than hauling a ton of books. I travel internationally with just carryon and having an ereader has made a huge difference in my travel enjoyment.

At home, I have two lap dogs that are constantly on my lap. The ereader allows me to read and turn pages with one hand which makes it easier to deal with those dogs.

I can read in bed with a small reading light attached to the top of the ereader so that I don't disturb my husband. I would need better lighting with an actual book.

 

[tlbwriter]

I buy most of my books at the half price book store. On occasion, I'll buy a new one if it is by one of my favorite authors and it has just been released. I did a quick look at the Amazon Kindle and looked at the eBooks that are available and the price of the books in electronic form are generally twice as much as what I pay at half price books. Sometimes, if it is old enough, the book is the SAME price as what I pay at half price books. It seems that very few are less than $3.99 or so. AND, I can sell my books back to the half price book store when I'm done. So, saving money on books doesn't seem to be a reason to get one.

If you're not looking for a specific book, but just want to browse and pick up whatever looks interesting, half-price stores and used book stores are great. But if you want a specific book, you may not be able to find it there.

Also, the eReader is an electronic device. It has to be turned off for airplane takeoff and landing. This is generally the first 30 minutes and last 30 minutes of a flight. I like to keep reading during these times.

I don't know about you, but the VAST majority of my reading is not done on airplanes.

 

[Shyvioletisme]

I get the purpose of them (portability, lighter than carrying 2-3 books at a time) and I even have the kindle app on my phone with a few books, but I don't think I could ever fully commit to an e-reader. I tend to keep most of my books and reread them for years and years. The idea of rebuying my book collection would cost thousands of dollars and I'm just not willing to spend that. yes, you can get all the classics for free but a lot of my books are modern books and to buy the e reader version would cost me more than I paid for it to begin with since I buy a lot of mine used. I've bought a few books for my app when they have been cheap, but in general the cheap books available are stuff I have no interest in reading, so I'd be spending the same amount as buying the real book in a store. So while I see the good in it, I also see that buying one would cost me way more money than it is worth.
I certainly don't knock people who love their e-readers. If you read the kinds of books available for cheap and/or don't have a lot of books at home already and it's simpler for you to use one, great. Just for me, it's not worth all the cost. I carry a big purse anyway and it's just as easy to toss a couple of paperbacks in (I save hardbacks for reading just at home) and go.

 

[Tink42]

I was always one who liked the feel of reading a book - until now - just finished Stephen King's 11/22/63 and it was so heavy. I hated reading it in bed as it was a work out just holding it. I have an e-reader under the tree waiting for me.

I think another thing I am going to like about it is keeping it in my purse when going out. It seems I am always waiting around for something and to be able to pull out my latest book will be wonderful.

 

[Karibeth19]

Wow - where to start? It always puzzles me that people who are not interested in a certain technology seem to need to prove that their way is better, with thinly veiled snipes at those who choose to invest in the technology. I have several friends who are "what's the point" types, too - it's as unpleasant to hear in person as it is to read online.


For the record, at least two of my most die-hard "never, ever read from an electronic device" friends now have their own Kindles and you would think they were invented specifically for them lol.

As to your question, the first point I'd make is that not everybody chooses the same set of requirements you do for selecting your reading material. Not everyone needs or wants to buy used books, resell them, etc. Some people like to read new hardback books (which are almost always cheaper in ebook form). Some people like to keep the books they have purchased to reread them.

I think ereaders are wonderful inventions. I can see or hear about a book, search for and download it immediately, and be reading in less than a minute. I can store an endless number of books on Amazon's servers (I have Kindle products) and move anything back and forth when I choose. I can enlarge the font size, change the background color (on the new Fire), have the book read out loud to me (if the publisher allows it), lend a book to another Kindle owner (again if the publisher allows it), check out a digital book from the public library, send a book as a gift to a friend and have it delivered immediately to her account, look up an unfamiliar word and have it defined for me immediately on the same page, search for a word or phrase and locate it immediately from the entire book...shoud I keep going?

Do you have shelves of books overflowing in your house? Always needing to buy more bookshelves? Not me - I have weeded my paper book collection down to fit the available shelving I already have. Everything else is in ebook form. If I want to buy something in paper to keep forever in that format, guess what? I do!!! Because there is no law that says I have to choose one or the other - I can have ebooks and paper books at the same time. In fact, for some favorites I have both!!

In short, there are many, many features of current ereaders that have nothing to do with money. In addition, there are thousands and thousands of free books and lots of opportunities to save, share and buy cheaply. Current bestsellers are never going to be cheap - in any format.

As to your point about the airplane, I've never been on a flight that made me turn off my Kindle for 30 minutes on each end of the flight. Five minutes, maybe. For those times I take a paper magazine or do some needlwork. If I so chose, I could also have a paper book for flight restricted reading times. The possibilities are endless.

You summed it up perfectly! I find the arguments against owning an e-reader because of the love of paper books and bookstores so funny!! Like you said, there is no law saying just because you have an e-reader you can never read another paper book or set foot in another bookstore again! I love my Kindle like a second child, but I still love to go into Barnes and Noble and spend hours browsing the shelves. I pick up books, leaf through them, make notes about the ones that look interesting, and then go home and download them to my Kindle. Some types of books I even prefer to read in paper, such as Jen Lancaster's memoirs, since she uses a lot of footnotes and that can be a bit frustrating on an e-reader (though, I think she's trying to find a way around that for her future work). If it's a book I truly love, I buy both the Kindle and paper copy.

I could go on and on about the free books that are offered every day! I've found amazing titles and authors that I would have either passed by at the bookstore, or maybe never would have even found. Some are great, some not so great, but I download everything that looks even remotely interesting, because there's no risk. It costs me nothing, and if I don't like it, I just delete it. I was in heaven last year on Jane Austen's birthday, because Amazon offered not only all her classics for free (they are always free), but also a whole bunch of the "sequels" written by other authors. So many of those books I had seen at the bookstore, but was never quite sure if I would like them (Some of the Austen sequels are great, but some are awful!). That gave me the opportunity to download them all and try them for free!

Plus, Amazon has a great trade-in program for videos, video games, electronics, and textbooks. I've traded in over $300 worth of movies and games that my family no longer wants for Amazon credit. That's a lot of Kindle books!!! And, it works better than trading in books to my local used bookstore, because I can't get new releases there.

There are plenty of great reasons to own an e-reader, but if they don't work for you, that's fine. However, it does bother me when people make a decision about something because of invalid reasons. I know someone who doesn't want a Kindle because she's afraid she'll lose all her books to a virus or a crash. If she took the time to research it, she'd realize that's not possible, since everything is stored on Amazon's server, and if something goes wrong with the hardware itself, Amazon CS is over-the-top helpful and will either fix it, or send a new one. I've tried to explain it, but I don't know that she believes me.

I love my Kindle and I truly think I've read more since I got it than ever before!

 

[DVCLiz]

I get the purpose of them (portability, lighter than carrying 2-3 books at a time) and I even have the kindle app on my phone with a few books, but I don't think I could ever fully commit to an e-reader. I tend to keep most of my books and reread them for years and years. The idea of rebuying my book collection would cost thousands of dollars and I'm just not willing to spend that. yes, you can get all the classics for free but a lot of my books are modern books and to buy the e reader version would cost me more than I paid for it to begin with since I buy a lot of mine used. I've bought a few books for my app when they have been cheap, but in general the cheap books available are stuff I have no interest in reading, so I'd be spending the same amount as buying the real book in a store. So while I see the good in it, I also see that buying one would cost me way more money than it is worth.
I certainly don't knock people who love their e-readers. If you read the kinds of books available for cheap and/or don't have a lot of books at home already and it's simpler for you to use one, great. Just for me, it's not worth all the cost. I carry a big purse anyway and it's just as easy to toss a couple of paperbacks in (I save hardbacks for reading just at home) and go.

This is also something I hear frequently from friends who don't think they would like ereaders. But really, no one is asking you (the general you) to rebuy anything. You can continue to keep adding paper books to your collection as you choose. But are you saying you will never buy anything else again in your life? That the paper books you now have are all you will ever read?

If not, then an ereader can be great for adding new things to your library without the hassle of having to store them and/or dispose of them later. After all, not every book is a classic. Case in point - I adore Tina Fey and I bought her new book Bossypants the minute it was out - but I'm not really sure that it will always be on my bookshelf in hardback form. If I'd bought the paper version, I'd have read it once immediately, and maybe a second time a few months later, before donating it to the school book sale. With the Kindle, I can buy it, read it as often as I'd like, and when I'm done it sits quietly in the cloud waiting for me to download it again if I want. No fuss, no bother.

 

[onelilspark]

I travel a lot. So when I'm flying with only a carry-on, it's a lot easier to bring a Kindle than 2 or 3 books with me. Plus, when I have downtime in between appointments, I can find a Starbucks and pull out my Kindle very easily. Where with a book, it wouldn't fit in my bag with all my folders.

When I'm on vacation, I used to take 4 or 5 books with me, I'd usually be starting on the last one when I came home. It's great just to take 1 device with me instead.

As for flying, it's a stupid rule that I hope will be banished one day. An e-reader is not going to take down the plane. But in the meantime, I usually look at the magazine in the seat pocket. It's really only about 15 minutes up and 10 minutes down. I can handle that without something to read.