a question for Kindle readers.

[Kristen Tsetsi]

There's been a lot of talk lately about ebooks, the death of the print book, etc., and after reading yet another such article (on my computer, ironically) I immediately posted this facebook status:

...will not give up on print. Say what you will about the unstoppable advancement of technology - the experience of reading a book v. the experience of reading an ebook cannot be compared to anything else but newspaper articles, and articles take an average of maybe 10 minutes to read. I simply don't see people giving up their books, or the book experience.

I should have added they will very likely do both - read their ebooks, but also enjoy print.

What do you do? Do you still buy paperbacks even though you have Kindles, or are you Kindle-loyal? And why (for either)?

I don't have a Kindle, yet (can't afford one), but I have to admit that even though I will never give up my books, and will never stop buying real books, e-readers are looking pretty attractive, too. I just don't know if I can make the transition, though. I just don't know...

How do you fold down a page? How do you make a note in the margin? How do you underline a favorite passage on an ebook?

[VickiT]

How do you fold down a page? How do you make a note in the margin? How do you underline a favorite passage on an ebook?

Hi Kristen,

My reader isn't a Kindle, but I can do all those things. Not only that, I can export those notes to my PC. 

I love all books: paper, electronic, and audio.

Cheers,
Vicki

[Edward C. Patterson]

Kindle does all that and more. It talks to me. Now I've tried to train my 1,000 page History of the Sung Dynasty to talk to me, but it won't even belch out  a Ni hao ma?

Edward C. Patterson
 
Rowling has caved! Yippee yeah! e-Book Harry Potter, complete with a horcrux coming as soon as she can make her deal.

[VickiT]

Rowling has caved! Yippee yeah! e-Book Harry Potter, complete with a horcrux coming as soon as she can make her deal.

Fantastic news! 

[Pawz4me]

What do you do? Do you still buy paperbacks even though you have Kindles, or are you Kindle-loyal? And why (for either)?

I haven't bought a single "real" book since I got my Kindle in February 2008.  I much prefer the reading experience on a Kindle, and I love not having to give away books to someone or find a place to donate them.

How do you fold down a page? How do you make a note in the margin? How do you underline a favorite passage on an ebook?

With a Kindle you can bookmark a page, highlight text, make notes (although not in the margin).

[Imogen Rose]

I will still collect hard back signed copies of books of love. Most of my reading will be on my kindle. It's a bit like the iPod for me. I've never purchased a CD (though I love looking at CD cover art) since I got my iPod.

Imogen
(who used to love, and still hoards her old LP's)

[Edward C. Patterson]

Well, think of it as another phase for books (like VHS, Tpes and 3.5 ridgies). I have sitting in my collection a not too old book (Ch'ieng-lung period - 1735 or so) of the Tao Teh-ching (The Book of Changes) by Lao Tzu. That book is completely written on thin bamboo strips, each sewn together and afixed to a silk backing. It's quite a bulky thing to tote considering I have a paperback of the same work in translation that I can fit in my back pocket, and it also is on the kindle. But, yes, the thing is over 200 years old (as I said not that old by Chinese standards) and is in better shape that my 1800 edition of the Law of th State of New Jersy (in colonial print and yellowing).

Edward C. Patterson
I should take a picture of that Bamboo book and put it up here. Maybe tomorrow. How say y'all).

[ReeseReed]

I read via the kindle app on my iPod touch, and I absolutely love the convenience of carrying my library in my pocket.  Now, I've never been one to mark up my pleasure reading books...I mainly still buy print for non-fiction works that I expect to use for notetaking.  I also love, love, love that many children's books are available, and I can so easily lie in bed with my kids with my touch in the palm of my hand and read to them.

[EliseBell]

http://elizabeth-silentscreams.blogspot.com/2010/05/independent-authors-death-of-publishers.html

wrote a blog on this subject those are my thoughts/opinions on it.

[Victorine]

I doubt all paper books will go away, but I think ebooks will change the publishing world.  If the majority of the people buying books are buying ebooks, then large print runs might be in jeopardy.  But as POD costs go down, this might become more the norm.

Just what I think.

Vicki

[scarlet]

the last paper books I got were a gift from the author!  Since getting my kindle, the only time I've bought DTBs was for a long trip on which I was not taking the kindle.

[bluefrog]

I love reading on my kindle. I wasn't sure that I would when I first got it. I thought, "I feel like I'm reading on a calculator." That lasted about 10 minutes. Once I got into the story, that was all that mattered.
I still buy print books, too, but only if they wouldn't translate well to the kindle. Graphic novels, art books, pattern books, kids books.
(my grandson wants a kindle, but I've told him he doesn't get to play with it until he can actually read.)

[traceya]

Hi,
I haven't bought any DTB's since getting my Kindle - can't say that I won't but I do love the convenience offered by the Kindle.

I truly feel that we are part of the biggest reading/writing revolution since Guttenberg invented the printing press and I don't see that revolution coming undone in any significant way.  Just like iPod etc changed the way we buy and listen to music the eReaders are changing how we read, it's a fact of life.  I'm just very, very grateful to be getting in so close to the ground floor because I'd be almost willing to bet that it won't take long before self-publishing an ebook will become as costly [or as difficult?] as self-publishing a traditional paperback - there's always someone out there who'll figure out a way to lock in the majority of profits for themselves 

Cheers,
Trace

[Sean Sweeney]

DTBs are still going to be around, but in a few years, they will be in smaller print runs.

Think of it this way: did people stop going to Broadway shows just because a new movie theater opened? Did people stop cooking on stoves when the microwave entered their lives? The answer is no.

Brick and mortar stores are still going to be around. They are already adapting (read: B&N with the nook, Borders with Kobo). They are being smart. They will continue to adapt.

Publishers just need to catch up.

[Kristen Tsetsi]

This has been interesting - thank you all for responding!

My husband went to an Apple store with a friend yesterday, and he came home salivating over the iPad. His friend, who has an iPhone, was tempting me with its capabilities. "You can even turn book pages on it like you're reading a real book," he said.

I have to admit, it's tempting. But this morning, as I read a paperback on the couch and lay it face down when I want a break, I'm still pretty attached to the "old" way, I guess.

[Andra]

I don't purchase many paper books at all any more.  I still read the ones that I have and I check them out from the library when I can't get a Kindle version.
It's so nice to be able to hold the Kindle one-handed and still be able to turn pages.  I can make the font bigger when my eyes get tired.  I don't have to find a bookmark, because the Kindle remembers my place.  If I want to add a bookmark or a note, I can.  I carry an entire library with me in my purse at all time.  I NEVER have to worry about being out somewhere and not having something to read if I get caught in long lines or whatever.
And I don't want to be rude or anything, but you are passing judgement on something that you have not tried.  That's a little unfair.  When I got my first Kindle, I wasn't sure what to expect and my thoughts were similar to yours.  But after reading on it for about 10 minutes, I was hooked.  So it's very possible that you might change your mind if you had a chance to try an e-ink screen.  I show mine off whenever I can - if you post your location, you might find a K-boards person close by who would be willing to show theirs off (if you are near Austin, TX let me know).  If you are in Florida, Kindles are in some Targets.  You can also go to a Barnes and Noble and look at a Nook or try to find a Sony Reader either in a Sony Store or a Best Buy.  The interfaces and the buttons are different, but you can see what all the fuss is about on the screen.  You can't really compare the e-ink screen to the iPad since that's a different technology.

[caracara]

well said Andra! couldn't say it better.

I read on my Kindle, and re-read my favorites in DTB format because my favorites are the only ones ever purchased by me, I still love my library.  The story is the important thing, not the format, if you only read because you like the feel of a book you, in my opinion, missing the point, the story is the same no matter what you read it from, the formatting shouldn't get in the way which is what makes my Kindle so lovable.

[4Katie]

My reading, when I can find time for it, consists mostly of fiction - I just read for pleasure. I don't need any bells or whistles such as notating, highilghting, etc. Because I have arthritis in my hands and my eyesight isn't what it used to be, the Kindle is everything I need. Easy to hold and easy to read, no matter how late it is or how tired I am.

The only DTB's I'll buy from here on out is reference books.

I love my Kindle.

[Edward C. Patterson]

As promised, here's pictures of my Tao teh-ching - thicker than a Kindle (I got lazy and instead of taking pictures, found the saved gallery from the store where I purchased it).






Needless to say, along with my Chou Dynasty cowry shell money and a few 3,000 year old Chou Dynasty coins, it's among my prized possessions. BTW, photo 2 is opened to the last page and photo three is opened to the first. You can see that it is the beginning as it says yi-chuan (scroll one) tao ke tao nung shen - tao ming ke ming nung shen tao, probably the most famous opening lines in Chinese literature. (The path that is, is not the true path. The path that can be named, is not the true path). etc.

Edward C. Patterson

[VictoriaP]

Andra nailed it. 

In the year+ since I first got a K2, I've read some 250 books.  Exactly two were on paper. I no longer read paper unless a.) I absolutely have to read that particular book for some reason AND b.) it's not available in any electronic format whatsoever.

As Andra said, you're railing against a process you've no personal experience with.  I never ever marked up a book prior to Kindle, because books were sacred to me.  I annotate on my K2 all the time.  I never got rid of a book prior to Kindle.  Now I replace parts of my library every month and cheerfully send the paper versions off to be loved by others.  I never carried a book with me day in and day out; now I have approximately four hundred in my purse wherever I go, with thousands more available wirelessly in just seconds.  I've discovered literally dozens of new authors since I went ebook only, some of whom are new to the business, but many of whom have been widely published for years--I just never paid attention to their work in my monthly bookstore visits.  Oh, and my hands don't hurt from dealing with heavy, awkward paperbacks and hardcovers, so I can read for even longer stretches.  (This may not be an advantage; my house needs cleaning!  LOL)

Having an e-reader has dramatically enhanced my reading experience.  You may or may not find it does the same for you. 

[CaroleC]

What do you do? Do you still buy paperbacks even though you have Kindles, or are you Kindle-loyal? And why (for either)?

I bought my Kindle on March 29th. Since then I have purchased:

20 e-books, and
0 (zero) paperbacks or hardbound books.

It's not a matter of "Kindle-loyalty" so much as the fact that the Kindle is much easier to read (less eyestrain, squinting, etc) than a paperback, and it is more convenient because I carry it with me in my purse everywhere I go. I love the fact that I never lose my place, because Amazon keeps track of that for me.

I would *like* to be able to say that I would buy a paperback if the book wasn't available for Kindle. However, I must blushingly admit that this is simply not true. I put off reading such books, instead of buying paperback versions. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of e-books from which to choose, and I can always find something that appeals to me.

At one point in my life my book collection was large enough to fill 87 large boxes, and this became quite an albatross. Before buying my Kindle, I managed to do quite a bit of culling and had reduced its size to 12 boxes (over several years). I doubt I will ever get rid of the remaining books, many of which are quite dear to me. But I will not purchase more.

[Cardinal]

When I told several of my friends that I was thinking/bought a Kindle they went on and on and on about their love of physical books.  Which is fine, for them.  For years I have not liked holding physical books or squinting at tiny font sizes and have dreamed of eReaders since before they existed.  Since getting a Kindle I have bought more books than I probably have my entire adult life, and have been reading on a daily bases which I haven't done since I was a kid.

I'll continue to buy physical non-fiction books (but would also like a digital copy of them), and books for the author to autograph.

But this morning, as I read a paperback on the couch and lay it face down when I want a break, I'm still pretty attached to the "old" way, I guess.

With the Kindle, and I suspect other eReaders, when you return to a book it will be on the page you were last on.

How do you fold down a page? How do you make a note in the margin? How do you underline a favorite passage on an ebook?

All of these can be very easily done on a Kindle.

I think if you prefer physical books, that is fine.  So long as there is a choice so people can decide how they want to read, all is good.

[Kristen Tsetsi]

And I don't want to be rude or anything, but you are passing judgement on something that you have not tried.  That's a little unfair.  When I got my first Kindle, I wasn't sure what to expect and my thoughts were similar to yours.  But after reading on it for about 10 minutes, I was hooked.  So it's very possible that you might change your mind if you had a chance to try an e-ink screen.  I show mine off whenever I can - if you post your location, you might find a K-boards person close by who would be willing to show theirs off (if you are near Austin, TX let me know).  If you are in Florida, Kindles are in some Targets.  You can also go to a Barnes and Noble and look at a Nook or try to find a Sony Reader either in a Sony Store or a Best Buy.  The interfaces and the buttons are different, but you can see what all the fuss is about on the screen.  You can't really compare the e-ink screen to the iPad since that's a different technology.

Oh, I'm sorry - I thought I was very careful to not sound like I was passing judgment. Not in the negative way it sounds, anyway. I fully understand why OTHERS like their Kindles (or other e-readers). It's just a personal attachment issue I have to books made with paper, I think. And until I started this thread, I had no idea the Kindle could do all of those things (bookmark, accept notes or highlights, etc.). It sounds VERY cool - don't get me wrong.

[Kristen Tsetsi]

A
As Andra said, you're railing against a process you've no personal experience with. 

I'm really not. I didn't mean for my expression of a preference - and genuine questions about Kindle - to be perceived as judgmental. I truly don't dislike the Kindle. As of now (not having a Kindle or other e-reader, and only knowing what it's like to read on a computer and not enjoying it very much because of the screen), all I have is a personal preference. I have no opinion of anyone else's preference. No judgment.

[Edward C. Patterson]

Kristen:

There are "screens" and then there are "screens." Computer or back-lit screens are harsh on the eyes. In fact, I don't think the iPad can be classified as an e-Reader, because it is backlit. Don't take it to the beach unless you need a mirror.  However, Kindle, Sony & Nook use eInk, which is good on the eyes, and with the ease of hand hold (even with the DX), and for us blind folk (I read and write with only one eye - well, an eye and a half - a semi-cycloptic experience), the ability to adjust font size has saved me the cost and time of learning yet another language - Braille. Plus for completists like myself, there's an egoistic happiness harboring in my soul knowing that I have 6,000 plus works in 1,273 items in a device that fits into my man-purse. If they were in print, it would take a twenty five room mansion to hold the same quantity. It's one of the perks of living so long to see it. 

Edward C. Patterson