Kindle books versus oldfashioned ones ??

[nightdreamer]

I'm have sort of an internal conflict here. I've loved books for 50 years, even the smell of new paper. But I'm finding that for anything new I look first to see if there's a Kindle version. I hardly go anywhere without it. Technical books I won't get on Kindle because it can be hard to navigate or see drawings in sufficient detail. At least not at the same time. Also, when I pay $150 for a book, I sort of want to have something physical in my hand. Overall, I love it, but there is a sad nostalgia about not having a physical volume to add to my shelves.

They're supposed to be able to read PDF, but I've had mine lock up often enough on them that I've given up on that angle. And for any public-domain ebook, there are a number of free format converters to turn them into .mobi files which Kindle reads.

 

[Warren_Paul]

I always preferred having a book on my shelf, but now that I have a Sony Reader, I'm probably going to get ebooks from now one because A: they are cheaper, and B: digital download. So many times I was caught waiting for printed books to be sent over from the UK - takes two weeks - without anything to read. Local stores are far too expensive so I get my printed books from the bookdepository.

Books worth having on your shelf I'll still get printed, like Anne Lyle's book, and the last Wheel of Time when it comes out.

I have to admit that I like my Sony Reader, even though for years I was anti ebook-readers. I also use it for text-books in a class, and for beta-reading my own work - for some reason it works like printing out the pages, rather than reading them on a screen. I notice things I'd otherwise miss. And it's just so much more convenient for going places with, and lighter than a paperback - especially a hardback.

 

[Pyan]

I swore I'd stick with paper - but having the Kindle has made me aware of so many advantages:

• It's lighter than most big p/bs, and certainly more wieldy than a h/b
• The books are cheaper.
• You can download a sample if you're not certain whether you're going to like the book.
• And this also applies if you've never read the author, as well.
• If you finish a book late at night, you can get the next in the series without even getting out of bed!
• You can subscribe to a newspaper and have it delivered every morning.
• And best of all - in my own case - the bookshelves don't pull the damn plaster off the wall...

I'll still buy my top authors in h/b, just to keep my sets complete - but as that's now down to about three or four, financially and space-wise, I'm much better off...

 

[Gary Compton]

I swore I'd stick with paper - but having the Kindle has made me aware of so many advantages:

• It's lighter than most big p/bs, and certainly more wieldy than a h/b
• The books are cheaper.
• You can download a sample if you're not certain whether you're going to like the book.
• And this also applies if you've never read the author, as well.
• If you finish a book late at night, you can get the next in the series without even getting out of bed!
• You can subscribe to a newspaper and have it delivered every morning.
• And best of all - in my own case - the bookshelves don't pull the damn plaster off the wall...

I'll still buy my top authors in h/b, just to keep my sets complete - but as that's now down to about three or four, financially and space-wise, I'm much better off...

Hey Pyan, this time next year you'll be boiling water with a kettle, rather than an open fire in your garden. Welcome yo the 21st century

 

[Pyan]

LOL - and if anyone had prophesied how I just read that post when I thought that the Sinclair ZX81 was the ultimate in computers, I'd have laughed in their face...

 

[Gary Compton]

Joking apart, it's funny how us old timers like to hang onto the past but in reality progress will win.

So sadly paper books will end up in museums and sell at Sotherby's for 100's of thousands.

Hang on to your collection, for that reason!

 

[Bugg]

I swore I'd stick with paper - but having the Kindle has made me aware of so many advantages:

• It's lighter than most big p/bs, and certainly more wieldy than a h/b
• The books are cheaper.
• You can download a sample if you're not certain whether you're going to like the book.
• And this also applies if you've never read the author, as well.
• If you finish a book late at night, you can get the next in the series without even getting out of bed!
• You can subscribe to a newspaper and have it delivered every morning.
• And best of all - in my own case - the bookshelves don't pull the damn plaster off the wall...

I'll still buy my top authors in h/b, just to keep my sets complete - but as that's now down to about three or four, financially and space-wise, I'm much better off...

This is pretty much how I feel about it, too, especially the shelf space. I'll keep collecting the authors I like in paperback, but just about everything else will be on the Kindle.

Another couple of plus points: if your eyes are tired you can adjust the text size till it's comfortable, and you can put the Kindle down and keep reading if you need to do something else (like, in my case at the moment, blow your nose!) without having to scramble around for your bookmark, and it saves on trips to the charity shop to donate books when my shelves get full (which means reclaimed shelf space!).

Negatives - it's pretty much useless for maps, and it saves on trips to the charity shop to donate books when my shelves get full (which means less money for the charity!).

 

[Gumboot]

I refused to even consider an ebook reader for a long time. Within a couple of days of getting one I pretty much decided I'd never buy another book again. I can't think of a single downside.

(Actually, that's not strictly true, I can think of one or two, but they're very minor).

 

[Spade]

I just upgraded from a Sony PRS-300 to a Nook Simple Touch. I love it and have only bought one paper book in three years.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

Okay, okay. People seem to say that they love their eReader, prefer it over paper books, etc,.


But let me ask you this: How much are you out if you ruin your eReader? How much if your Kindle gets old and no longer takes a charge, or if it gets stolen past warranty? If you ruin or lose a paper book, one is normally out no more than $10-$25, and the high end for being a new hardcover-and normally no more than $5 from a secondhand shop. Also, I would think that a paper book should be taking a high drop a bit better than a Kindle would. Say, from a second floor of stairs, perhaps by grabby kids?

 

[Warren_Paul]

I just upgraded from a Sony PRS-300 to a Nook Simple Touch. I love it and have only bought one paper book in three years.

I wanted to get a Nook, but they aren't available here.

At the time when I got my ebook reader, there were four options - Kobo, Kobo Touch, Kindle Keyboard, Sony PRS-T1 - and only two of them were touchscreen, which is something I wanted in my purchase.

So I had to decide between the Kobo Touch or the Sony Reader. I went with the Sony Reader because Whitcoulls(which is the local support for Kobo) is a rip-off when it comes to ebooks - they cost $25NZ each, the same price as a printed book. The Sony is also a considerable bit cheaper, equally priced to the Kindle, while at the time Kobo Touch was close to twice its price - although I'm annoyed to see it is now the cheapest touch screen reader on the market over here.

I've been happy with my choice so far, although now Kindle Touch are out here in NZ, but I'm not convinced on whether a Kindle is worth getting - concerned about file format.

EDIT:

or if it gets stolen past warranty?

Don't let it get stolen. I'd hope you would take just as much care of it as you would any other piece of electronics, which means not letting kids get their grubby hands on it or leave it somewhere where it can easily be picked up by someone else.

It's absolutely no different to how you look after your cellphone, or your ipod. Should you just get CDs instead of an ipod because CDs cost less? Because CDs wont break if you drop them from a high place? Should you just use a wired home phone, instead of getting a mobile phone, incase it broke, or the battery lost charge?

If yes then might as well go hide under a rock and ignore all developments in technology.

And you don't lose all the books, there is always recoverable copies from the shop you purchased it from, or from the backup on your computer, so you're looking at just the cost for the ebook reader, which is getting cheaper and cheaper as time goes on.

 

[The Procrastinator]

I put off getting an e-reader for years as well, but took the plunge last year, and was very pleased (quite amazed actually) to see that the e-ink screen was all it was cracked up to be. I have the bottom of the line Kobo Reader (they probably don't make em like that anymore) and while it is simple it does what it should - I can fit heaps of books on it and I can read without eyestrain. It's light and easy to carry. It's easy to read "no hands" for when you have the reading munchies. I have a cover for it and a booklight, which slots into the cover without any awkwardness - on the nights when there are power problems (I live on a farm, off the grid) I don't need to break out the candles anymore. My e-books are backed up and no kid is getting near this thing.

I am budgetly constrained but this simple e-reader was well worth the investment. Of course I still read real books as well, but my little Kobo is a welcome addition to my reading options.

 

[Moonbat]

If my kindle got lost/broken/stolen I wouldn't just lose 1 book, I have over a hundred on it, so the cost of losing my kindle (£150) compared to the cost of losing 100+ books means that I'd probably be better off. Then again, books don't break easily, and I'd be very surprised if a burglar broke into my house and stole 100 books

Just reading through the last couple of pages of this thread it seems that e-readers are better and everyone who has one likes/loves it.

 

[Warren_Paul]

If my kindle got lost/broken/stolen I wouldn't just lose 1 book, I have over a hundred on it, so the cost of losing my kindle (£150) compared to the cost of losing 100+ books means that I'd probably be better off. Then again, books don't break easily, and I'd be very surprised if a burglar broke into my house and stole 100 books

Just reading through the last couple of pages of this thread it seems that e-readers are better and everyone who has one likes/loves it.

Definitely, 100 books would cost way more to replace, but here is the thing; you never have to pay for a replacement copy of an ebook. Even if you lose your backup copy on your computer, you should always be able to get a free replacement from the shop you brought it from. Just log into the website's account and the download link should be there. If it isn't then start getting your ebooks from a better shop.


For all of us who preferred the good old printed books - which included me until recently - unfortunately I have to say ebook readers are the future, just like mp3 players are the future of music. And for good reason, saves so many trees.

 

[Moonbat]

Exactly, if my house burnt down, I would have lost my kindle and all my books, but I could replace all the kindle books by buyig a new kindle and re-downloading all the ones that I have bought, most of them are from Amazon and I believe I could get them all again onto my new device.

Hmm, I wonder what the insurance side of things are, with my contents insurance I would (probably) get the price of my kindle, and possibly a big sum for the books I lost, but would I be able to blag the cost of my e-books even though I could re-download them?

Not only would it save the insurance company money (and keep all our premiums low) but the kindle wouldn't add much fuel to the fire. Everyone's a winner, except the arsonist.

 

[Warren_Paul]

You might be able to get the value of the ebooks covered under insurance, but it's a bit dodgy. Depends how clued on the insurance broker is in regards to ebooks. Not that you'd need to get the value covered, and like I said, it's kinda bad to con them like that.

You will definitely get the cost of the reader under insurance though, or at least a replacement.

 

[Vertigo]

I agree WP; ebooks are the future of books. I have been saying so for quite some time and originally was not quite vilified for it but certainly criticised. Times have changed now and more and more people are seeing the benefit. I suspect eReaders will disappear, and probably pretty soon at that, to be replaced by a single device (mobile, reader, web browser, camera etc.) It is happening now but there are still limitations - mobiles do not have the screen size or battery life of an reader - but, with continual improvements in battery technologies, and foldable screens only just around the corner one device will soon do the job perfectly well.

When that happens people will suddenly find they have a reader whether they want it or not, in just the same way that people now have cameras (on their phones) whether they wanted them or not. When that happens I think the 'take over' of ebooks will ramp up to a much faster pace.

The future's bright, the future's ebooks!

 

[Stephen Palmer]

I think the future is ebooks and books.

 

[Ökuþórr]

I still use paper and intend to do so forever.

I like having books take up lots of shelf space.
I don't care one bit if people see what I'm reading.
If I went on holiday I'd only take one book, since I don't go on holiday to read. If I did, I'd stay at home with all my books and save money.
The weight of a book doesn't bother me.
When my eyes get tired, I listen to my body and put the book down for a while.
I got no problem paying an extra pound or two for a physical book.
I'm pretty sure no one will mug me for my book.
I have no problem waiting for a few days for a book to arrive or going to the shop to get one.

Yeah, music and movies are going digital, but books, books are something different. Will digital books fade away and be replaced by some new fad? No, they are here to stay, but so are physical books. People like the easy route, so there may be more digital than physical in the future, but physical isn't going anywhere.

 

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I wanted to get a Nook, but they aren't available here.

At the time when I got my ebook reader, there were four options - Kobo, Kobo Touch, Kindle Keyboard, Sony PRS-T1 - and only two of them were touchscreen, which is something I wanted in my purchase.

So I had to decide between the Kobo Touch or the Sony Reader. I went with the Sony Reader because Whitcoulls(which is the local support for Kobo) is a rip-off when it comes to ebooks - they cost $25NZ each, the same price as a printed book. The Sony is also a considerable bit cheaper, equally priced to the Kindle, while at the time Kobo Touch was close to twice its price - although I'm annoyed to see it is now the cheapest touch screen reader on the market over here.

I've been happy with my choice so far, although now Kindle Touch are out here in NZ, but I'm not convinced on whether a Kindle is worth getting - concerned about file format.

EDIT:




Don't let it get stolen. I'd hope you would take just as much care of it as you would any other piece of electronics, which means not letting kids get their grubby hands on it or leave it somewhere where it can easily be picked up by someone else.

It's absolutely no different to how you look after your cellphone, or your ipod. Should you just get CDs instead of an ipod because CDs cost less? Because CDs wont break if you drop them from a high place? Should you just use a wired home phone, instead of getting a mobile phone, incase it broke, or the battery lost charge?

If yes then might as well go hide under a rock and ignore all developments in technology.

And you don't lose all the books, there is always recoverable copies from the shop you purchased it from, or from the backup on your computer, so you're looking at just the cost for the ebook reader, which is getting cheaper and cheaper as time goes on.

Actually, I don't have a cell phone-or an Ipod. Or an Ipad. I have a laptop because they're more portable than a desktop, and while I'll concede that a tablet could be a good choice, I prefer to be able to type proficiently and to be able to see a screen with my admittedly slowly failing eyes, so smart phones are out of the question for me. And sometimes, all the care in the world won't be a match for sheer bad luck...


(But yes. The screen thing is the main issue for me. I would actually consider a decent e-reader better if they were bigger than a phone screen.)