iPad and Kindle: The demise of the Book

[Pascale]

I don't even actually have a Kindle, I just use the free downloadable version on my android phone or my iTouch - I absolutely love it!

[katibosch]

I have an eBookwise reader (more obscure than Kindle, Nook, etc.) that I bought several years ago. Still functional, lots of books available. I am having trouble justifying the cost of the books I buy for it, though. I buy almost all my (paper) books used and also sell the ones I've read back to the used bookstore, for a net cost of around $2.00 for a paperback book. Same book purchased for my reader would be around $5.00 - 6.00 or more, with no possibility of resale, obviously. For now I think I'll mostly stick to paper books, although I am trying to downsize on them a lot -- have two big bookshelves currently, would like to get down to one much smaller one.

[Bike Writer]

I don't have a Kindle or other type of electronic reading device and would have thought that book lover me would never consider one. I have been intrigued by them because of

• size
• portability
• lower cost than a hardcover
• ability to hold a whole library
• etc.

so the key word is intrigued but not sold. I think they have their application and purpose for travel and portability and will appeal to a lot of people and to those who love them I say great!

For myself, I like the "experience" of a hand held book, the way they smell, especially leather bound books, the feel of them and particularly the weight of a book on your chest after you just read a fablous passage that makes you want to pause and reflect or ponder on it before you move on or reread that passage for the sheer joy it gave you.

Even if I ever were to buy an electronic device I could never give up that experience. Plus the fact that I love to be surrounded by books, on bookshelves, propped between bookends on desks and tables and stacked in various piles and places both at home and in my workplace. I'm hopeless in that I find comfort in just looking at books I've read or are waiting to be read.

[KnottedYet]

Even if I ever were to buy an electronic device I could never give up that experience. Plus the fact that I love to be surrounded by books, on bookshelves, propped between bookends on desks and tables and stacked in various piles and places both at home and in my workplace. I'm hopeless in that I find comfort in just looking at books I've read or are waiting to be read.

It's not an either/or proposition.

You can have both.

I love my iPod for reading. I love my books. I used to live and breathe libraries. I catalogued new books. I worked in the mendry repairing old books. I know several authors who LOVE that their books can sell in ebook form. I know a lot of readers who are thrilled to find out-of-print books in e-form.

Having a e-reader is not a form of betrayal. What matters is the story. What matters are the ideas. Doesn't matter if they come as pixels, print, script, CD, radio broadcast, American Sign Language, or Braille. Fondle the media, but honor the story.

[Bike Writer]

Knotted, agree with you 100%. I have considered one, however it's not a priority for me at this time. I like reading about the positive experiences people are having with them because it gives me more reason to consider a purchase some time down the road.

But when I get one it will be for convenience and portabilitiy, it won't replace snuggling up in a big easy chair with a warm throw, a cup of coffee and an old fashioned book

As you can see from my bike, I'm a throwback from a different era - but I do appreciate and embrace teckkie stuff too and find it difficult to be far from my blackberry.

[KnottedYet]

But when I get one it will be for convenience and portabilitiy, it won't replace snuggling up in a big easy chair with a warm throw, a cup of coffee and an old fashioned book

It doesn't have to "replace" anything. It is it's own thing. I can play a CD of Bach in my car, but that doesn't mean I have to give up going to the symphony. You can have both, nothing has to replace anything else.

As you can see from my bike, I'm a throwback from a different era

Nah, no more than all the rest of us who have similar bikes.

Enjoy the ride!

[OakLeaf]

Ironically, it's some of the oldest texts that are most accessible digitally.

My dad is a scholar of Christian history, and the only way he can get a lot of what he likes to read - out-of-print texts, in German and English, many from the 19th century and earlier - is via Google Books, which he then downloads to his Sony reader.

I just caught a headline that the Dead Sea Scrolls were going to be digitized, but I didn't notice in what format.