The Next Best Book Club discussion
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Amazon Kindle has Morphed into Reading Quirks :)
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Perhaps its not as hot a topic as i thought.
This is the new Ebook that Amazon has put on the market that is selling like hotcakes. Each one costs about 400 smackers. You can wirelessly download books for 10 bucks a pop automatically to the reader and you dont spend a dime for the service.
I will say that i wont be considering it much unless/until the price drops. 400 bucks is waaaayyy to much dinero for me to drop on something that in essence is merely displaying words. Not to mention that 10 bucks a book is also a bit steep. Now, if the reader was 100 bucks, and the books were only a few dollars each, then i might consider it.
However, I am a real book snob. I like to go into a book store, browse books, hold books... I like to show them off when I have company. An Ebook doesnt allow me to do that. It wouldnt have the same feel as a real book... And i surely wouldnt be able to bring it into a nice hot bubble bath with me!
I am also afraid that the newer generations (youngin's or what-have-you) will jump all over this trend and bring an end to books as we know it. The younger generations are technology-hungry. Everyone owns Ipods and Laptops, cell phones and palmpilots.... This might bring reading to the forefront, but may also shelve BOOKS forever!
Anyone else have any input?
I don't think that I could look at a computer screen long enough to read a book.
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There has been a lot of discussion about this in the Rory's Book Club group under the Amazon's Kindle thread. A couple of people have it and have been talking about its merits.
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There are several reasons why I won't be getting a Kindle any time soon:1. The price. $400. Yowza! I can think of a lot of other things I'd rather spend that on.
2. The price of books. Yes, the cost is much cheaper than buying brand-new books, but what if you rarely (if ever) buy brand-new books. I don't think they will ever be able to compete with used, remaindered, hurt, or other severely discounted books that most of us consider bargains. (Or free, from the library, like Marlene said.)
3. Limited choices. I know that they are adding thousands of books all the time, but it will take quite a while for ALL books to be available. And what about certain editions?
4. Not practical. I am a stay-at-home-mom of two small kids. A Kindle + kids = a recipe for disaster. I can just imagine it getting lost or broken because I would somehow manage to leave it within their reach. Then, it would be a $400 piece of junk.
5. I like the look, feel, smell, etc. of 'real' books. No matter how great an electronic reading devise is, it will never be able to mimic those qualities that I love about books. Sure, the material is the same, but the experience would be altered for me.
Now...that all being said, here are some reasons I might consider getting the Kindle in the future:
1. If the price goes down. I don't like being the 'first out of the gate' when it comes to electronics. In fact, I usually prefer to 'bring up the rear' because tech history has shown that waiting can bring about a lower price and/or a better product. Which brings me to...
2. If a second generation model (version 2.0) comes out. Especially if it includes more features, or at least, has worked out any possible kinks in the first version.
3. If I see that it has 'staying power'. I really don't like to drop a bunch of money on something until I know that it will be hanging around for a while and that it will remain compatible with future developments. (Think 8-track, beta, and laser discs.)
4. If I suddenly become a jet-setter. Or at least a long commuter. I don't really go anywhere now, so I don't see the need to condense for travel purposes. But, if/when I go back to work, that could change.
5. To be green. Of course, we may not be able to have paper books forever and electronic readers will be the norm. Who knows? I do my best now to buy and sell used copies and to borrow from the library, but I do still indulge in the occasional new book. This might not be an option someday.
Those are my reasons, which I'm sure might differ from others. I would like to hear everyone else's pros and cons list. :-)
I wouldn't ever want to drop $400 on a Kindle, but my company bought all of us the readers for Christmas. I am very very deeply in love with it. I take a lot of trips to conventions and what-have-you, and not having to lug a backpack overflowing with books is a significant boon. I love the way the text appears on-screen, and turning pages gets to be really intuitive after a while. I hate to say it, but at times I forget that I'm reading off of a screen.That said, I still buy obscene amounts of paper books and don't ever really see myself doing otherwise.
wow... your company bought you a kindle for Christmas??? we got a box of chocolates each lol... cheapskates
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I wasnt thinking about getting it until at least this coming xmas... that will give it a full year out in the publics hands, and hopefully drop the price! But yeah, Ive thought about all the cons... and at the moment I am still really sitting on the fence. nothing has made me jump to one side or the other just yet.
It will be interesting to see if this sticks around for the long term... So many of the new techy things disappear from one year to the next.
Your companies gave you Christmas presents??? My DM gave me a chocolate Santa from Lindt...does that count?? *L*I'm apparently clueless! I've never heard or seen this Kindle thing. But I agree with what others have said...there's nothing like a book in your hands. I do have an iPod shuffle (and love it!) but some things are just better off "old fashioned!"
Not a fan of the Kindle, i have really bad eyes and my doctor told me about a year ago that the only thing that may have been keeping my eyes strong as they are, was taking off my glasses and reading my books. It works the muscles or something like that. The thing looks cool as far as not having to pack seven books everytime you take a long trip, but there's no force on this earth that could make me go out and spend $400 for it.
Logan: Glad to hear you like it. I ordered one last night, so now begins the wait until Wednesday!
I don't know if I can give up the feel of a book in my hands, the texture of the pages as you turn them, there is something real and romantic and obsessive about the book itself, that's totally fascinating to me.
I agree Lorena. I love the feel and smell of books. I hate the thought of having them in a little machine. Books are still one way we have left and being independant from using energy. You can read a book anywhere anytime and never need to plug it in, charge it up or stick a battery in it. I hate the Kindle in fact, I worry someday they will take books from us.
Oh really? Never heard about it! My library does the same thing, for free, so I use that.
lol...I love hearing about other people quirks.
Santina, you like hearing about people quirks? let me tell you one of mine ... I always read the very last paragraph of the book after reading the first page of the book. Then I revisit that paragraph many times (at the end of each chapter, or before I put the book down for the night, for example) more times than not I don't understand what the heck its being said at first of course, but books are like a puzzles to me and seeing that last piece there makes me want to read more.
HI, I'm Val and I just joined. I have been doing vision therapy for my eyes. You could check and see if their are any vision therapist where you live. I also have two computer programs that with exercises on them that really help.
Lorena, what a fascinating way to read a book! If I wasn't so determined not to know ahead of time what happens at the end (I like to think I can figure it out myself) I would try your method as I absolutely love puzzles. One thing I do if I'm having a difficult time trying to read a book, I start in the middle and read a chapter or two and them if I get hooked I go back to the beginning to see what I missed. But the last page. Wow. What an idea!
My post about vision therapy was for Marlene and Kim.
Val, welcome to the group! I really don't read the whole last page, I just read the last paragraph. It doesn't ruin the book for me because its very little information and most of the time it talks about people that have not been introduced in the book on the first page ... but then again my brain works in really weird ways **LOL**
Lorena, I do something similar but only with the last sentence. To my knowledge, it's never ruined a book for me but definitely sparks a light in my head that makes me want to peel back the book's mysteries.
Logan! I am so glad I'm not just a freak, because if you do it also ... wait a minute, maybe we are both freaks! ;o)BTW I never heard of anyone else doing this, I've heard somepeople do read the first and last chapter before buying a book, I couldn't do that it would ruin the experience for me, but there is something about that last sentence, the finality of it all, the way the writer sums it up, the that's how it all ends, that just pulls me in; I want to know how we get there, what has to happen ...
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One quirk I have tho, is before reading a book, I have to know how many pages it is exactly. so I will sneak a peek to the last page (careful to avoid seeing anything that is actually written)and see what number it is. Then I can read it. weird, but what can you do?
Lori, I have to know the number of pages as well. I think that this ties in with my fixation on what I'm going to read next. If I know how many pages I have to read then I know how long it should take me to read it.
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I love it!
I also have to know how many pages are in a book. I try very hard to stay away from the end of the book until I am actually done with it. That is not to say I haven't slipped every once in a while.
Yep, I do it too. I always look at the last page number to give me an idea of how long it'll take me to read it. By the way, this is a strategy "good" readers seem to know to do instinctively - I have to teach this idea to my students (i.e. okay, so you want to read the book in two weeks, therefore you need to read x pages a day blah, blah, blah). I also flip through to see how long chapters are. I always thought I was strange - maybe I am but at least I feel normal here!
Cool Lorena, I think I might try that. Sounds like a fun way to think more about what's happening in the book.
Lori, I have to do that too! I thought I was weird!
Lori, I usually don't even read the preface to a book. I like the book to unfold to me as a surprise or a mystery that I have to experience. When I'm finished I go back and read the preface. Sometimes this is not good because it contains information that would have helped me but it's my little quirk.
Lorena, oh only the last paragraph or sentence. I like this and I'm going to try it. what the heck!
He he he ... we are quite the bunch aren't we? LOL
There have been times that I have flipped to the back and, by chance just happened to stop at an arbitrary sentence or paragraph that really gave away a major plot point. Then I have to go back to where I really was and keep trying to forget what I read. Not many times but it has happened, I swear.
My reading quirk is that I talk. I talk to the book. And it only happens with good books! Yes, I am one freaky emu, but it's just what I do.
Haha. It has to be a book that keeps me guessing.
Okay, I also always have to know the number of pages in a book before I begin reading. Glad to know that I'm not the only one!Another little 'quirk' I have is when reading Brit lit, I read the book with an internal British accent. :-)
Hey Charity that one is mine!!!! Okay anyway I do it too. Any accent that is deascribed I try to emulate in my brain as I read his/her "lines"
The first time I can remember "hearing" a book in an accent was while reading Irvine Welsh's Porno, the sequel to Trainspotting. The way he writes the Scottish dialogue you can't help but hear it in your head.
emma the emu, i get it! here i thought you were an ostrichhowever, i also talk to the book only with me it,s bad books. i keep telling them to shape up
writing with one hand so i can't capitalize
Lorena, I don't read the last paragraph, but I often read the last sentence. AND, I also like to know how many pages are in the book, what the page number is when I am going to be exactly halfway through a book...sometimes I also break it down and say, "If I want to read this in 7 days I have read this many pages a day." Odd, since I hate math!
Haha, I can see that. Usually I'm screaming "That can't happen! That's impossible!" Or, "You asswhole! Kiss her!"
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Charity,,, welcome back girl. Its been too long :)
Another quirk I have is reading by chapter. I can't stop reading until I finish the chapter. It drives me crazy that people can just put a book down in the middle of a chapter. Then again it drives my husband crazy when I say wait until I finish this chapter...lol.
Santina I do that as well.Something else I do is that I have to know how many pages there are then I break them up into 1/4s and 1/3s and challenge myself to read as much in those portions on a daily basis.It makes the book go faster somehow,especially towards the end because well I only have a third left so I may as well go for it and finish it.
Great idea. When I'm done reading for the time being, I close the book with my book mark in it and guage how much I have read so far. Sometimes it doesn't seem like I've read much until I see how far my book mark moved.
What does everyone think of the AMAZON KINDLE....???