iPad and Kindle: The demise of the Book

[SheFly]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.

[Dannielle]

Guilty. I haven't bought an actual book since I got my iphone (over a year ago). I read constantly but always on my phone now.

[sundial]

I still prefer the tactile experience of turning yellowed pages of a classic novel.

[shootingstar]

Guilty. I haven't bought an actual book since I got my iphone (over a year ago). I read constantly but always on my phone now.

Do you use a bigger screen? If not, still reading a book or just emails?

My jobs in the last 20 yrs. means being in front of the computer. It's a relief for my eyes to do something else for several hrs. away from the LED.

Online of major /city daily newspapers, entire version is still not all there online..unless I pay for full access. Otherwise I just borrow sections of papers at the cafe.

I'll read my selection of 3-5 stories in online daily newspaper ..but it's time-consuming to watch some screen refreshing with some of the ads, etc. That's why I veer off to read hard copy if available..for free. I do read Momentum online but I think some stuff is missing from the hard copy version. So sure journal articles that I read online..if they are under 10 pgs. I lose patience reading online.

Do I care about having an e-reader at this time in life? No, other expenses are more pressing. Besides I know some major public libraries are loaning out e-readers so if I want to try it ... So I'm not worried about being out of "sych".

My books get dogeared, especially the ones I like, with different bookmarked pages where I jump around randomly. Like the one I'm reading now for the 2nd time, about a woman kayaking solo along the northwest coast.

[stella2]

I didn't think that I'd like ereading. My partner persuaded me to get a kindle and I quickly came to love it. I then became convinced that I would never want an Ipad and would definitely never read books on one because the computer type screen would make my eyes ache. Well, you've guessed it, I now have an iPad. It is with me virtually all the time and I read books on it voraciously, I read much more than I ever did. I admit I prefer ereading to reading paper books. It's difficult to say why. I never put the book down and forget where, I never lose my place, I can have any book available within seconds wherever I am, but it's more than that, an intangible something. Apparantly, sales of electronic books are going through the roof. Hopefully, all of this won't mean the demise of the publishing houses since there will be an ever increasing market for ebooks. It will just mean some changes in the industry.

[SlowButSteady]

After about a year of deliberation, I purchased a Kindle in May.

Pro: Reads like paper and I love that I can electronically bookmark pages and preview books before I buy. I also love the fact that I don't have to drive the nearly 50 miles to the Barnes and Noble. It has got to be a much greener alternative. Less expensive to purchase, too.

I had a three book a week habit and storage space for books...well, I just kept having to stuff them in bags and when I had fifty pounds or so, I'd donate them to the local "friends of the library" fundraiser sale.

Con: My biggest complaint is that I can't read it in the swimming pool. I still have to buy a few trashy paperbacks for those days I'm floating around. Alot of texts and trade journals are not available in e-format yet. Magazine selections are (currently) limited.

I'm sure they are working on developing a color format that is not backlit, but right now it's not available. The pen & ink drawing formats are kind of classy, though.

Musings:
And on the "green" front, will outdated, used e-readers become a landfill/ environmental issue? Probably. Will the decreased use of paper products and fossil fuel offset the increased use of petroleum products to make the devices?? Or vice-versa?

On the economic front, loggers lose jobs due to decreased paper production. On the environmental front, there is a need for fewer pine plantations, which is both a good and a bad thing, imo. Since I am in the South, where pine plantations are an economic factor in more ways that just paper production, I still debate this. Pine plantations are also leased to hunters, who pay hunting license fees that support more diverse habitats and nongame species...I could go on and on.

I could even mention that fewer paper newspapers are becoming an issue in vet med and pet stores and pet groomers and boarding kennels as well as private homes, where used newspapers have been an industry standby for lining cages and paper training pets!

I don't want to get started on what's going on in the publishing industry.

[OakLeaf]

Oh, and I have read (yes, online) that the backlighting on some of these devices could actually be keeping people awake at night...

True of computers and game consoles, but ereaders aren't backlit. That's why they're so much more readable than ordinary screens. (It's also why I find it a real PITA to have to have a second device, aka a book light, to read in the dark.)

[Catrin]

I have had several digital readers, but always wind up selling it and returning to books. There just isn't any comparison. It is nice that they have the e-ink technology and that they are not back-lit, but I enjoy actual books more. If they DO go away, it won't be in our lifetime.

[Mr. Bloom]

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.

SheFly

Like shefly, I can only read new books...but mine have to be hardback too! There's something about the smell of a paperback that bothers my allergies. I buy hardbacks and then donate them when I'm done.

I'm typing this on an iPad...but haven't taken to reading books on here...the light of the screen has a tendency to keep me awake when I'm ready to sleep, I can't risk dropping it from an exercise bike at the Y, and i can't dog ear the page as my bookmark

[OakLeaf]

Survey says: e-reader owners read more. A lot more. They switch off their other devices (TV and internet) and read...