Friday, December 10, 2010

To Kindle or not to Kindle



Or iPad.



I've been one of those resistant to the Kindle. Maybe it's my age, but the weight and feel and smell of traditional books is hard to give up.

Also, I'm a defiler. I mark up my books so well, they are rendered of zero or less value to anyone else by the time I'm done. I tend to write down whatever thought or inspiration comes to mind as I read, making it impossible and ill-advised for me to ever loan them out. Sometimes I think the safest place to commit my thoughts is inside my books. Some poor soul is going to find them in the penny bin of Goodwill store someday and wonder just what I was thinking. Or not. I think most unwanted books, today, are ending up in the incendiary.

Anyway, you'd think I'd be the last one to take books techno--but I've found myself contemplating a Kindle or an iPad anyway, and this is why: there are books, mainly reference types, which I don't need to own a hard-copy, and that would be excellent reading material in the car, or airport, or bathroom. They are books I usually want NOW, not a few days from now or a week from now.

Maybe I can have both--hard-copies for some and e-books for others.

The Kindle I want is priced at $189, whereas, iPads begin at $499.

What are your thoughts on digital book readers? Do you own a Kindle or an iPad? Why did you go with one or the other? Also, I need a horse themed gift for under $20.00 by Tuesday. Any suggestions?

14 comments:

  1. I own a kindle and love it! mine is the older one K2 but i love it. i download a lot of free books and just enjoy it. i have 70 on there and i still buy paperbacks also. it take a week to adjust to it, but you will be happy!

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  2. First, thanks for following my blog! I'm like you about books -- I think all of us book lovers of a certain age love the feel and smell of a book. And, like you, I do like to mark them up. That being said, my husband bought me a kindle for Christmas last year and then held his breath for my reaction. I was happy to get it -- I was curious about them but didn't want to spend the money myself (I'd rather spend it in a tack store). I use the Kindle a lot -- a year later. I use it for books I want to have right now. When I want to read but don't have a book on hand, I can download a book in seconds. It's also great for travel -- one slim Kindle v. many heavy books. I don't use it for books I know I'll mark up or books that I think might have complicated story lines where I want to flip back and forth to keep track of characters and events.

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  3. Is it hard to adjust to reading the print on a screen? Does it look like paper print?

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  4. Thanks, Annette--I didn't think about that--flipping back and forth. Does it have some sort of easy retrieval--like if you made a comment in the margin is it easy to find it later? It sounds like both of you like the Kindle! Interesting! I'm starting to be swayed toward it.

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  5. The thing is, Linda, you don't have to give up hard cover books. You can have both, together. Some books might be more suited to a Kindle, if you're not looking to have them take up shelf space at home, and lots of magazines and major newspapers are on it too. Plus I like the idea of a dedicated reader, so vote for the Kindle over iPad. Though I don't have either, yet.

    Horse gifts under $20? Kohls online has horseshoe ornaments for just a few dollars each, you can buy a little collection maybe?

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  6. Well, it's done now. We went out and looked at them in person and ended up getting one. Now, my husband has to wrap it and place it under the tree.

    There were a few things I was surprised about.

    1. It doesn't have a lit screen, so you have to buy a book light.

    2. There are lots of competitors out there--one with a stylus for notes in the margin (the Sony)

    3. e-Books are cheaper through the B & N and Amazon readers. (The Sony store is a bit more---and every reader communicates directly to its particular store.)

    4. You need to buy a cover for it which run about $34.99-59.99.

    5. It has an excellent search function for skimming through your book. I think I'm going to love that part. For instance, if you're looking for a poem about lilies--just type in lilies and it'll bring up every mention of it. Pretty nice!

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  7. BTW, the Sony was $299.99 rather than $189 (Kindle) price.

    And you're right Joanne--you can have both. Although, after seeing it in person, I think I'm going to really, really like it!!

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  8. I have a Kindle (just wireless, not 3G) and really like it for certain types of books - I like real books for other things. I did a review at my book blog - see sidebar.

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  9. I am not sold, my sister and older daughter have one and love them, I want to hold the book in my hand. Partly I am not too smart about electronics.

    Oh and Linda I would love to come to the Christmas Party but I just can't afford it.

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  10. Linda,
    I own B&N's nook and love it! If you look in my sidebar, I have a list of websites that offer free ebooks. Most places that have the nook books also offer books for the Kindle or Sony e-reader.

    I think you're going to love it. I still read paperback as well as the books on my nook.

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  11. Kate--I went to your blog, The Readers Closet, and read your Kindle discussion. It was very good. I'll post the link here for others:

    http://readerscloset.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-about-kindle.html

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  12. Lea, please don't let money keep you from coming. Chaps is a coffee house and some people will just be getting coffee. The present exchange doesn't have to be anything big--it could be some horse item you have around your house--it's more like a white elephant. The point of the get-together is just that--to get-together. I'm going to bug you some more about it up until Tuesday.

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  13. Kindle! Hubby gave me mine early (for Christmas) and I haven't put it down - all FREE books so far! I love it, best techno gadget out there in my opinion.

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  14. Sally, you're tempting me to go open mine up and start downloading! Any favorites for the FREE books?

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