Kindle? Why not a good old fashioned book?

[cm8]

I totally agree with you.
1. I can't afford a kindle gizmo.
2. If we lose power, as long as we have an oil lamp or candle, I can read.
3. I'm kinda old-fashioned and I like books too, as well as
keeping my budget tight and can't help but think
this whole electronic book thing is a racket:
you have to buy the books and I haven't seen any of these available at the library for free, like real books.
Not to mention, will the books be like the gaming systems where they are constantly being updated and old games
won't play on new players so you have to buy the new version of the same thing?

We don't have a gaming system either or a Wii and we still manage to stay quite busy and happy without these things
And to top it all off, my cell phone is only a phone- it doesn't take pictures or surf the web, or play games or anything else
and I like it that way

I totally agree!

 

[dyna]

I will prolly eventually buy a kinle or nook but they will have to come down in price more 1st.

I'm a reader an read many many books but is very very rare that I pay more than 50 cents for a book an often buy a whole box for 3 - 5.00. Sometimes trade a box of books for a box of books. Right now I have 2 small boxes of books I have not read after reading I out them in box an pass them on the last box went to the Vets hosp near me.....I'm another that books could take over my house if I let them an I refuse to let that happen.

Buying books as cheaply as I do it's hard to justify the cost of the kindle or nook. I almost always carry the book with me I currently reading an on vacations take several to read but we drive so that not a big deal.

 

[Prose]

I love love love my Kindle, but for a slightly different reason....I love to read, but mostly nonfiction, newspapers and magazines. I get the NY Times delivered right to my Kindle every day. It keeps a little over a week of back issues in memory...no stack of papers piling up before and after being read, no need to run to the store to see if there are any copies left of the Sunday paper, no feeling guilty for all the paper I am using. I can skip articles or entire sections as I like.

I also like the option of reading a sample of the book before I buy it. If the writing style is clunky or it's not what I had expected, no money out of my pocket.

I like that the Kindle is not backlit -- true, there's no reading in the dark, but even at the beach or by the pool in bright sun, I just pop it in a big ziplock bag to protect it from sand and water and read to my heart's content.

I like have something to read with me at all times. I don't really get a lot of dedicated time to read, so if I am waiting in a doctor's office or during lunch, I grab those few moments to pull out my Kindle and read. It was great to have handy during chemo...it is absolutely a great gift for anyone undergoing any kind of medical treatments.

I still love books, go to the library often and buy books for my daughter. But the Kindle is definitely one of my favorite things.

 

[Michelle and crew]

The kindle is great for some. Feeling superior for not having one is pretty stupid. What works for others might not work for me. That doesn't make me any better, lol.

 

[MandJHuff]

I love my books... My daughter and I both are avid readers, but she had shown interest in an E-reader for some time so when the prices basically dropped so low we gave in and bought her a Nook a few months ago. I have started sneaking it away from her and using it myself. To me the biggest benefits are the convenience of being able to grab those new books as soon as they are released without having to make the 45 mn trip to the bookstore as well as the much lower price than you would pay for the hardback. I also enjoy the fact that once it is read I don't have the book lying around. I still love the feel of the book and that was my standing argument when we were looking at them, but I have to admit that I love the convenience of it! It actually bothered my husband when I was reading the last book, because it was so convenient I was taking it everywhere so I could finish the book! LOL He was like.. really, you brought it to the FOOTBALL game? Why, yes love... I did

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

What makes electronic books better than paper books?

If you are a prolific reader and travel a lot, it's much easier to carry a Kindle than 3-4 big paperback books.

 

[Michelle and crew]

If you are a prolific reader and travel a lot, it's much easier to carry a Kindle than 3-4 big paperback books.

My dad is a doctor who travels a lot. He listens to them in the car, and while waiting for folks, he can just pull it out and start where the audio left off. He still buys books, but he reads a dozen or so a month. Their home was beginning to look like an edition of 'hoarders." Mine looks much the same. I have boxes of books that I need to get rid of.

 

[Marionnette]

I am a librarian and I freely admit the Kindle/ereaders worry me. I am very worried that libraries really will now become obsolete and I will eventually be out of a job. I keep thinking that if I need to find a new profession, I better start looking and training soon! But so far at my library, we have many people (lots of immigrants) who don't have internet, let alone afford electronic luxuries and buy ebooks. So we are still busy.

My other concern with getting a Kindle is that I would be afraid the format may go obsolete one day. How many of us rebought our favorite VHS movies on DVD? My 8mm home movie tapes are the same way. I want to actually own my book and have it be an actual tangable item. I would worry if all the books I buy in digital format may "poof" away someday, or if the Kindle/Nook/e-reader companies gets bought or changes hands, would that affect my digital book investment. Or if you drop and break the thing. But I suspect the ereader will kill the book store before the library (since books are free there).

Yeah, I admit the whole ereader thing scares me!

I wouldnt worry about librarian jobs too much. Our library is a community center and a big part of the community. On any given afternoon you can find storytime sessions for the little ones, tutoring sessions for the older kids, and book discussions for the adults. There is a thriving lending library of video materials and it includes vhs formats (but no beta max). There are meeting rooms for the seniors to congregate and study nooks for the students. As far as one digital format leading over another I think that you will find that any of the ereaders will have software updates that will adapt to any changes. Right now Amazon will convert non drm'd .pdf materials to kindle format for free if you email it to them. And for people who want to do it themselves there is free software (calibre) for converting .pdf files to a form that is readable on a kindle.

 

[JaymeC]

I love love love having a kindle. For all the other mentioned reasons and more.

Do you remember that lovely scene in Beauty and the Beast where Beast gives Belle the library? I watched that movie for the first time around 9-10 years old, and ever since then I have wanted a library! Then I went and married another avid reader and while we both would love a library... we tend to lean towards living in small places. Right now our house is about 900sqft with two kids and a hyper lab mix pup There just isn't enough room for the library of my dreams. I don't know if there will be one day down the road or not So for now, I keep my library on my kindle. I probably have well over 200 books on there, and I've only had it a year and a half. The average cost for book is probably under $2 as I bargain hunt a lot for it. Some of my favorite books I've repurchased and have both in Kindle and in paper form, cause honestly looking at my favorite books on the shelves DOES make me happy. But gone are the days where my shelves were overflowing with the books I just hadn't sorted out to take to the library or goodwill store.

Plus I know a lot of people mention taking them on vacation, but with me it's also taking them daily. My kindle goes in my purse. It goes with me everywhere. If I'm caught unexpectedly and want to read I can! And if I'm reading a behemoth like Stephen King's Under the Dome book, I can still easily fit it in my purse

And it's great for me when I get up the motivation to actually go to the gym I now can actually read because I can make the text size large enough that it's readable!

And probably the best quality about it, since you can link up to 6 devices on one account my husband and I don't fight over who gets the book first since we each have a kindle and can read it on our own LOL

 

[The Iron Giant]

I received the latest Kindle as a birthday present and I'm really enjoying using it.

But I am a little annoyed at some of the prices on Amazon for ebooks. There have been numerous times I've seen where an actual book costs less than the Kindle version. This makes no sense. I thought one of the big selling points for a Kindle was that you would spend less on books.

The New York Times happened to have an article today on this exact issue:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/media/05follett.html?_r=1&ref=technology

 

[vicki_c]

I received the latest Kindle as a birthday present and I'm really enjoying using it.

But I am a little annoyed at some of the prices on Amazon for ebooks. There have been numerous times I've seen where an actual book costs less than the Kindle version. This makes no sense. I thought one of the big selling points for a Kindle was that you would spend less on books.

The New York Times happened to have an article today on this exact issue:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/media/05follett.html?_r=1&ref=technology

Yep, I pre-ordered that book (it's Fall of Giants - Ken Follett discussed in the article) and was shocked when I saw $19.99 show up on the bank website. Now I really wanted the book, and I am reading it. I tried to look at it like it doesn't cost me any more (maybe $1) than buying it at B&N, so if I didn't have a way to read it electronically, I would be buying it there anyway. Although some may feel the book's value is diminished by not having the hard copy, I think some of the benefits discussed in this thread ADD value to a digital book. So although I was initially shocked by the price, I think I'm okay with it.

 

[JaymeC]

Unfortunatley the pricing issue is becasue of the publishers, not Amazon or any of the other e-book readers. They were of the opinion that Amazon in particular was pricing e-books too low, so they refused to sell unless THEY could set the price. That's why with 5 of the 6 big publishers the prices tend to be higher than usual, and its something like 50% of the books out there (and a lot of the anticipated books unfortunately). You can try writing them and sometimes they'll lower the price, but not nearly often enough!

 

[RitaE]

I have Fall of Giants checked out as an Overdrive eBook right now. For once I actually bumped my checkout time period to the full 21 days.

That's one that I definitely wanted to see if I liked the book before I committed to buying.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

Well for me the Nook is the best thing since sliced bread because I can have so many more books and not use up any more space. I have books EVERYWHERE there is no more space. I use the library frequently but I am also something of a book horder and I like to reread the same books over and over and have access to them anytime. I guess truly I still use all three methods of obtaining books...Library, buying real books and e-reader. The more methods of reading the happier I am. Kinda like my MP3 player more music without having CD's all over the place.

 

[Pumbaa_]

I am an avid lifelong reader. Have more than 1000 books at home. Reread my favorites the whole 9 yards.

I now own a kindle. Going on 2 years. I will never buy a paper book again. With my case it can feel like a book, but so much easier to read! I can adjust the font size, i can store 1500 books in one space, i can pick up a new book or pre-order and have it the moment it is released.

Kindle has truly changed how I read and I my kindle.

I never thought it would be for me. Love books. I found I prefer the ease of reading on a kindle to a paper book.

Before you say , try one. Cannotbe beat!

 

[bumbershoot]

I received the latest Kindle as a birthday present and I'm really enjoying using it.

But I am a little annoyed at some of the prices on Amazon for ebooks. There have been numerous times I've seen where an actual book costs less than the Kindle version. This makes no sense. I thought one of the big selling points for a Kindle was that you would spend less on books.

The New York Times happened to have an article today on this exact issue:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/media/05follett.html?_r=1&ref=technology

It's not amazon. You can see it right there on the pages of the books mentioned in that horridly written article (did they even LOOK at the amazon pages for the books?)...This price was set by the publisher.

 

[Pakey]

I fought the kindle urge for quite some time. However, I travel a great deal, only using carry-on, and it's so hard to haul books with me. When my boss said he'd pick up the cost of the kindle and books, I couldn't resist. Now I don't know how I ever got by without one. Even at home, I prefer it because I have a little dog who is always in the way and it's so easy to hold the kindle and turn the page with one hand.

 

[NotUrsula]

I received the latest Kindle as a birthday present and I'm really enjoying using it.

But I am a little annoyed at some of the prices on Amazon for ebooks. There have been numerous times I've seen where an actual book costs less than the Kindle version. This makes no sense. I thought one of the big selling points for a Kindle was that you would spend less on books.

The New York Times happened to have an article today on this exact issue:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/05/business/media/05follett.html?_r=1&ref=technology

The hard part is that you are pretty much going to have to used to it. The original Kindle pricing was essentially a loss-leader; the publishers allowed it for a limited time to test the market for e-readers. Now that they know that interest is high, the prices will go back to market levels. There is no such thing as remaindering in e-books, so there is no incentive to cut prices in order to move inventory.

Folks who don't regularly deal with the book market tend to think that e-books are much cheaper to produce because they don't require printing, shipping and warehousing. True enough, they don't, but they do require a rather hefty technological investment for distribution management, and in the end the production cost really just isn't that much different from the publisher's POV. (They do cost the reseller a lot less, however, because the cost of shipping and warehousing has always been borne by that end of the market.) Also, the intellectual content is the same, and the author is equally compensated for his effort, so why should the publisher make a smaller profit on the e-version than the hardback when the title is a new release?

Amazon enjoyed a substantial initial profit advantage because they were first out of the gate with a viable reader. However, they have lost that head start now, and their decision to go with a proprietary format and not accomodate the library market may end up becoming a costly choice for the long term.

 

[solgent]

I guess truly I still use all three methods of obtaining books...Library, buying real books and e-reader.

Me too.

I use the library for most things. Most books I don't mind waiting for and I want to read them and not own them.

I use my eReader (Sony Pocket) for travel & for books that we want to buy that are cheaper in that format. Example, I bought Mockingjay in hardcover at Borders because it was heavily discounted and I bought Clockwork Angel as ebook because it was cheaper that way. I have numerous free (out of copyright) books from Project Gutenberg website.

Going to NYC for a long weekend and all I need for the plane trip & the subway & bedtime is my eReader!

I buy books (a) if they are secondhand and cheap (I'll read them and pass them on) or (b) if I really want to own them and reread them or (c) if I can't wait to get them from the library and expect we'll want to reread them and it's cheaper than ebook format.

 

[luvthemouse71]

My DTBs were taking up too much space. The Kindle versions of books are cheaper usually. Easier to travel with the Kindle. They have been finding bedbugs in library and used books- no bedbugs in the Kindle.

I embrace new technology though. I understand some people have a fear of it.