iPad and Kindle: The demise of the Book

**itself** · 09-10-2010, 06:12 AM

As I am considering purchasing one of these to read books and magazines, I keep thinking, in our lifetimes will we see the end of books being printed at all?It certainly will save a lot of trees. With Kindle advertising their new $139 version, I suspect a lot more people will buy due to the price.

**limewave** · 09-10-2010, 06:15 AM

Originally Posted by itself

As I am considering purchasing one of these to read books and magazines, I keep thinking, in our lifetimes will we see the end of books being printed at all?It certainly will save a lot of trees. With Kindle advertising their new $139 version, I suspect a lot more people will buy due to the price.

Gosh, I hope not! I work for a publishing house. Although, I've moved from book design to marketing/advertising and a lot of online web stuff, my job is pretty secure in that regard. But I know some of my Art coworkers that design covers are getting a little concerned . . .

**Bike Chick** · 09-10-2010, 06:51 AM

I have an IPad and absolutely LOVE it, but I've yet to download a book on it. There's something about the simplicity of holding a book in my hands and folding the corner of the page to mark my place that I enjoy. Maybe I'm just showing my age.

**Roadtrip** · 09-10-2010, 07:04 AM

I too work in the publishing industry and from what I'm hearing is magazine sales are WAY down the last two years and books have been trending down for the last two years as well, but not to the same degree.

My employer had exited the market in several magazine communities and have been publishing fewer, but more solid and bankable books recently. What this ment for me is smaller departments and cuts each of the last two years as titles were axed and people let go.

I used to sit on the other side of one of the book publishers and hearing him talk to authors, telling them that he's love to publish the book, but had to see sales figures on the releases of books already in the pipeline before committing.

We're also publishing many of our books for the Kindle and iPad, so I believe there is a place for both to exist.

I own a second generation Kindle (I gave it to my DH) and my new Kindle is due to arrive any day and I'm really looking forward to it!!!

Shannon

**texascampgal** · 09-10-2010, 07:47 AM

I have a nook and absolutely love it. I chose the nook over all others because of the ability to share books with friends. I don't think the ipad or Kindle offer that ability.

I love reading the physical books too because I liked to see the progress of the bulk of the pages moving from the back cover to the front cover as I read along. One of my concerns before the purchase was not being able to physcially SEE or FEEL that progress. But, the little progess meter on the bottom of the screen feels the need.

**OakLeaf** · 09-10-2010, 08:02 AM

I think books and magazines/newspapers are completely different markets. Most obviously in the prominence of advertiser support (I do wonder what percentage of a publisher's revenues come from product placement in fiction, though). But also in terms of content and the reasons people buy them.

**Biciclista** · 09-10-2010, 09:48 AM

I too see the writing on the wall, er, monitor.
We'll always have some books, but when was the last time you looked something up in the dictionary? (I check words on line) When was the last time you used the yellow pages?
(I do that on line too, besides, it's so much more up to date!!)
I have one magazine subscription that i have had for over 20 years (Natural history magazine) I have noticed it keeps getting thinner... I know one day it's just going to go away.
I'm not buying a kindle until I can no longer buy and borrow books..

**PamNY** · 09-10-2010, 10:01 AM

I don't have an e-reader yet, but would like one.

What will happen to physical books? I have no idea. It's impossible to predict how technology will change things. Remember the paperless office? Sure, things are different -- but there is still paper.

**Crankin** · 09-10-2010, 10:15 AM

I am an anachronism.
I have 6-7 magazine subscriptions (Time, The New Yorker, Bicycling, Momentum, plus magazines related to organizations I belong to). I look up words in the dictionary and I occasionally use the phone book, as I find the information on line is wrong many times. I also read the newspaper every single day and not on-line (although I have the on-line connection to the Boston Globe, I never use it).
I go to the library once a week to ten days and take out 2-4 books. I love the library. It's so much part of my life I would never give it up.
So, while I use the computer for research, work stuff, and communication, I will never use it for pleasure reading.

**SheFly** · 09-10-2010, 10:22 AM

My name is SheFly, and I have a book problem. No - seriously. I can only read brand new books - not books first read by someone else and then passed to me. Yes, it's strange, but I was taught great respect for books from a young age - no dog-eared corners, no bent spines, no high-lighting, no notations. And yes, this fetish DID include my college textbooks, and yes, that did cost me a lot of money.

I've thought about an e-reader due to the cost of my books (I read A LOT). Buying new books every couple of weeks adds up over time. I figured that the downloadable books might be cheaper.

I just can't get past not having a real book in my hands, though. Turning the pages is gratifying. Oh, and I have read (yes, online) that the backlighting on some of these devices could actually be keeping people awake at night...

I'll keep on with my books until I no longer have an option. That may come in my lifetime, but hopefully not for a few more years.

SheFly

**Crankin** · 09-10-2010, 10:30 AM

Come on, SheFly, I'll take you to the library...
I had to train myself to stop buying books. I got obsessed with using picture books to teach historical concepts to my middle schoolers about 15 years ago; they used to greet me by name at Barnes and Noble because I bought so many. Now I have a huge collection that I am saving for some grandchildren that I might never have!

**SheFly** · 09-10-2010, 11:33 AM

Originally Posted by Crankin

Come on, SheFly, I'll take you to the library...
I had to train myself to stop buying books. I got obsessed with using picture books to teach historical concepts to my middle schoolers about 15 years ago; they used to greet me by name at Barnes and Noble because I bought so many. Now I have a huge collection that I am saving for some grandchildren that I might never have!

Crankin' - I CAN NOT do the library. Trust me, I've tried. I just can't bear to read a book that someone before me has handled, and in some cases, mis-treated. I know it's weird, but I can't help it.

SheFly

**Selkie** · 09-10-2010, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by SheFly

Crankin' - I CAN NOT do the library. Trust me, I've tried. I just can't bear to read a book that someone before me has handled, and in some cases, mis-treated. I know it's weird, but I can't help it.

SheFly

First and foremost, I sit in front of a computer at work. I'm not going to do it during it during my free time. I don't own an IPOD, BlackBerry, or any of these technical devices.

I'm old fashioned and will stick to paper books as long as they are available.

I'm also like SheFly. New books for me, but if a friend offers me a book that she/he has read, I will take it. When I was part of the working poor, libraries saved my life. This is why, after I finish a book, I donate it to the local library.

For those of us who spend a lot on books and are avid readers, we should consider having a TE book exchange.

**MomOnBike** · 09-10-2010, 01:37 PM

I can't imagine not going to the library. That's how I kept my kids in books. As poor as we were, if I'd had to pay for all the books they read. . .

My husband bought me a Kindle last week to take to chemo treatments, and for other on-the-go reading. I love it, but it won't replace my dead tree editions any time soon. Anything with pictures, for instance, is best on paper.

What I do like about the Kindle is being able to buy books from distant places and read them right away. That and the lack of mess. If only my local newspaper were distributed by Kindle (or whatever).

I don't think a Kindle is good for, say, textbooks, or any other reading where you want to keep a finger in one place while consulting a different page. A law student, for instance, would find e-readers highly unsuitable. OTOH, a bike tourer can have a bunch of guide books right there on the Kindle, with a minimal weight penalty.

IOW, there is room for both e-readers and dead tree books. I'm glad I have the option to use the one best suited to the purpose at hand.

**hebe** · 09-10-2010, 01:58 PM

My oh has a new Kindle and loves it, he does a lot of travelling and really appreciates the saving on luggage space. As for me, well I like to have a book in my hands, powered by my eyes and my imagination not batteries. I don't mind if it's new, borrowed, from the library or whatever. I do find the light on the Kindle slightly anti-social.

I use hard copies of phone directories too, and have a real fondness for hard-back atlases. I love the tactile qualities of books, the way the pages feel and flick, the shinyness of the photos, the smell of some of them. I'm a lost cause. oh didn't even need to ask me if I wanted his old e-reader before putting it on ebay.

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