Curling Up With A Good Screen

BOOKS STILL RULE
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Although it is hard not to be skeptical, since the electronic replacement for traditional books has been predicted, it seems, since the invention of the light bulb, no doubt strides will continue to be made. But not until I can, for example, go into San Francisco, and various points therein, and tuck an electronic book into my jacket pocket that is as soft and pliable, yet study and reliable, as warm and welcoming and even buddy-like as an old paperback, will I consider going electronic. To me, this Kindle thing looks more like a sleek one-foot-at-a time bathroom scale that doubles as a handy kitchen recipe displayer. No thank you. I???ll read traditional books. On a side note, in the meantime publishers might try to come up with things only they can offer, rather than steering full-speed ahead through the thickening icebergs, like the Titanic and, alas, print newspapers did when they started getting challenged by their electronic competition. On the other hand, more power to those now enjoying Kindle, and if these electronic books get quite a bit better, they definitely will be worth my trying. A huge selling point for me is if they actually do have a softer environmental footprint. Yes, no paper, but sometimes managed forests are still better for the environment than more strip malls. And what actually are the environmental impacts of producing these things, as well as when they start going by the bazillions into our already overflowing mountains of indestructible electronic refuse? (Sorry to be the skunk at the happy cool Kindle Tea Party.)
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Border Enforcement + Immigration Moratorium = Job, Crime & Eco Sanity

Excellent article but you must understand that it is technologically impossible for the Kindle's e-ink screen to be back lit because the screen is opaque. Backlighting causes eyestrain anyway. Like a paper book, to read a Kindle you need a lamp, natural light or reading light. It's still an incredible and wonderful device!

I have been an avid reader all my life having read literally thousands of books. I love the feel of a good hard bound book but at close to $25.00-$30.00 dollars these days it has become something of a luxury. I have also bought and used most of the e-readers out there at one time or another. The Kindle is by far the best piece of technology that I have bought in my life. No more traveling with pounds of books in my luggage. I am able to not only use Amazon as my book source but many other e-book sellers with the negligible price of a dime apiece for the Kindle conversion. Being able to do this is a huge selling point for me. I own both the first and second versions of Kindle and could not be happier. IMO this is the future and a bright one indeed.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dan
"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy". George Bernard Shaw

I have been an avid reader all my life having read literally thousands of books. I love the feel of a good hard bound book but at close to $25.00-$30.00 dollars these days it has become something of a luxury. I have also bought and used most of the e-readers out there at one time or another. The Kindle is by far the best piece of technology that I have bought in my life. No more traveling with pounds of books in my luggage. I am able to not only use Amazon as my book source but many other e-book sellers with the negligible price of a dime apiece for the Kindle conversion. Being able to do this is a huge selling point for me. I own both the first and second versions of Kindle and could not be happier. IMO this is the future and a bright one indeed.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dan
"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy". George Bernard Shaw

The Kindle is great for reading novels, except for problems of getting off-page and returning. This will be a big drawback to students wanting to use it as a text book substitute, which would be a huge market considering the price of textbooks. I think it needs a slightly larger screen with a touch-screen keyboard. Newspaper layout would be easier on a larger screen, including ads that might attract the failing news industry to use it as a medium to replace paper.

i had a kindle for 2 days. i returned it. as a voracious reader i found the following problems...
1. i had no idea where in the book i was (pages do not match up to print pages)
2. i got tired of reading my book in what seemed to be paragraphs instead of pages. (in print that works for my glasses, the display did not hold a lot of what would be a book page)
3. could not get to where the beginning of chapters were.
4. the book i was reading had asterisks and notes at the bottom of the printed page. the kindle version had no notes or asterisks.
5. not good for reading in the pool
6. i like the "feel and heft of a book and being able to see how far i am progressing in it. with kindle you have no idea if you are a quarter of the way or half way through etc.

it is a nice concept, especially if you are used to doing your reading on cell phones or screens, but, in the end, i still prefer to read the old fashioned way

As to taking a whole library with you: it's not just books, it's newspapers and magazines. You can download Word documents for free (they say they charge, but they don't!!!) It's a great way to carry phone numbers, etc. The instant dictionary greatly enhances reading; even better once the Kindle has a touch screen.

To fdefazio: If you lose your Kindle, and contents, you can download previously bought books free. Battery last at least two weeks, even with fairly heavy reading. Several Kindle positives-- Most Kindle books cost $9.99 or less-no sales tax or delivery fee;lphysical book may cost $25-30 plus 7 percent or so sales tax, plus delivery costs of $10 or more: If buy at bookstore, factor 45-70 cents per mile in transportation costs---if library-mileage fee coming and going, late fees, no book when you get there. Kindle--download within 45 seconds--can review 1st chapter of all books free. Internet service free on Kindle. I've found I can read the Kindle print better than most books. Now has a thin leather case; feels more like a book. All print is going to electronic paper. Backlighting would cause eye strain like a computer screen. Books aren't back lit.

What happens if your lose your Kindle, and all of its contents. When you get your new Kindle, you download it all back free. As a 2 Kindle family, with one Kindle 2.0, I believe most will get over their aversion to ebooks when they try one. Here are the positives: Most Kindle books cost $9.99, with no tax or shipping fee (of course). Order a book from most sellers and figure up the total costs--$25-30 for hard cover, 7 percent or more in cost, and around $10.00 for 2-day regular shipping. Same costs at bookstore except shipping. Figure in 50-70 cents per mile in vehicle costs going to and from book store. Again, lose an ebook; replace it for free. Avoid drive to library and to return, and late fees, and not finding what you want. With ebook, download full book with 45 seconds or so; order 1st chapter of all books free. Finally, while the Kindle is still expensive, you get free Internet service.

One more thing to bear in mind about electronic reading devices and the commercial arena in which they must survive. Right now, Kindle and other devices obtain their loyal followings because the other dispensaries of reading material do so at a much higher price. Those other providers have to pay for storage, binding, printing, marketing, distribution, and a host of other mundane marketing and sales concerns. Once those other providers have been virtually eliminated and the distribution of literature and other reading matter falls almost exclusively within the domain of electronic distributors, the costs that were formerly related to binding, printing, and storage will be forced onto the reading public either as embedded costs in the devices themselves or as periodically incurred fees for service. Eventually the harsh realities of the business world will force their way into the lives of people with about as much welcome as a home invasion robber.

Like I said in my previous post, I think that such devices have a certain place, but on the whole I elect to smell the leather binding, to feel the pages in my hands, and to cherish the small burden that an enjoyed book offers without the threat of a dead battery.

I can see a use for Kindle and similar devices. A good example would be the downloading of textbooks. Instead of creating generations of children with chronic back problems as a result of lugging around a gaggle of textbooks that weigh a several pounds each, they could put them all in a reading device. From that kind of perspective it makes sense.

What doesn't make sense is that at the moment, if a person is poor, all he needs is a free library card and he can be literate. If electronic reading becomes the norm, the poor will simply be left behind. Kindle costs over $300, and even if the devices were to creep down to the sub-$100 range, show me a poor person who has children to feed who will part with the money instead of paying rent or buying food.

Another problem is that when something happens to the device, all its contents are lost. This experience would be fundamentally different from that of a person who loses a single book out his collection of 1,000. While I am sure that advances in the technology will make this less of an issue, it is clear that someone other than the person holding the Kindle or similar device will have to set up an archival service to control loss. If that someone is not the owner, the cost of that service bumps up the real cost of electronic ownership and readership.

Just another electronic device that no one really needs. And you know, I have never had a book lock up and refuse to book, run its batteries down, be difficult to read in direct sunlight and be limited to a single user. When they get downloadable books that can be freely passed on to another reader, it might be worth thinking about. Until then, I'll stick to paper and leave the gadgets to those with more money than interest in reading.

I am a librarian I own a Sony Reader. I love books, but I also love being able to download an ebook to my Sony reader and have it automatically returned to the library after 2 weeks! Libraries are keeping up with the e-trend; many do have e-books for check-out (for free). I sit on my couch with my Sony reader and it feels right, not cold and hard and metallic. It's a totally different experience than reading a book on a computer screen. It's hard to imagine until you've actually tried it.
I never wrote in my fiction books, and that's what I prefer to read on my Sony. I love it, and my family loves that I no longer have 10+ books stacked up on my end tables! I can't wait for the next generation of e-book readers!

I am a Kindle lover too, I love to hold books, but it took about two weeks, and I do not feel any less like I read a book when I read it on the Kindle vs paper.

One comment though, the Kindle actually works great in the tub! Just put it in a big ziplock first.

When I was still in school, I picked up the habit of making self-aggrandizing margin notes, highlighting, and applying Post-It flags in a spangled fringe around the edges of my books. I still do it to this day. I don't know what I expect to happen that'll require me to reference obscure information and clever prose, but I still fastidiously mark my literary territory.

I love the fact that the new Kindle lets me do this and actually facilitates the recall of it all. I'm a total gadget-phobe, on the verge of Jitterbug ownership. But when you improve something as spiritual as reading, I'll quickly turn advocate and devotee.

While I'm a news junkie, I've always hated news papers because of the ink that blackens and irritates my fingers, pages and pages of ads I have to wade through, tons of useless information (sports, comics, etc..) and then having to recycle piles of it one way or another on someday of the week/month I can't seem to recall until it's past. Going online for news truly has bettered that experience for me. Books, on the other hand, are different. Paperbacks are easy to take on a plane, bus, or train, take to the beach or give to a friend with similar tastes when your done. You always have sense of how many pages of joy you have left in a chapter or to the end of the story, and it's fairly easy to flip back to something read earlier in the book to clarify an oversight on your part. Books also have a warm feel to them, as opposed to the cold plastic and pixels. Until they overcome the touchy feely stuff, I'll stick with printed books, thanks.

As a Kindle owner, I am finding it to be (for me at least) a better reading experience thus far. For one, I like having all of my reading materials in one place (i.e. whatever book I am working on as well as my daily WSJ). In addition, I find the books I do own (and do love, I would like to point out) are just taking up space and gathering dust. It's as if I have them on bookshelves more for the sake of a trophy case of accomplishments than going back to re-read the majority of them (although some I do go back to for sure).

I do see the concerns of other posters, but we need to keep in mind this is very early on and it seems pretty inevitable that we will keep moving towards electronic access to media and away from hard copy (records, CDs, books, newspapers, etc.) I think that, over time, it will just become a much less expensive and accessible way to read. At $359 is it accessible to everyone? No... but that will change over time with improvements and competition.

Library is a key word in literacy in a society. It allows the poor the access and the sharing, both of which are overlooked in this article.