I'm in a quandry. I'm considering buying one of these.
Pros:
1. I will likely read more, simply by dint of convenience.
2. I don't have room in my house for any more books.
3. I will feel whizzy and exciting and a bit greener.
Cons:
1. I like real books. Real paper book-type, sniff-me-I-smell-like-a-book books.
2. I will be decreasing the number of paper books in circulation and thus contributing to the future reduction of the second-hand bookshop industry.*
3. My Mother will disown me.
4. I will be giving money to Amazon, and not my lovely local(ish) independent bookshop.
At this point, I am thinking of a Harry Hill style "FIIIIGHT!" and seeing what happens. I'm aware this is not a complete lifestyle choice. Even if I have a Kindle, I can still buy paper books. But then, what if I want to read the book I have on paper on my Kindle.** But I can't LEND people books I have on a Kindle. Nor have they yet invented a way for me to nose at what other people are reading on the tube with an e-book.
Humph.
Anyone got any thoughts?
* And then where will all the old spinster gay men go? This is my retirement plan!
** They should do what they do with DVDs/Blu-Rays and flog 'triple play' books, with a code to download a digital one. Do they do that? Why do they not do that.
9 comments:
* current thinking is that while e-books will decrease the size of the paperback market, it won't dent the market for hardbacks and may contribute towards a move in that sector to higher production values. So you could still have a bookshop with really nice hardbacks in it.
Also, it came as a bit of a shock to me to find that kindle editions can actually be a lot more expensive than paperbacks so you probably won't stop buying paperbacks entirely.
I expect to use mine primarily when travelling - I can download a guidebook, A-Z and dictionary (if abroad) as well as lots of holiday reading and save myself a lot of weight.
This is ENORMOUSLY helpful. And I can see the particular benefits for travelling. I have lugged tomes across Europe an India.
I am always happy to enable.
Two more cons - paper books don't go wrong and you can drop them on the floor.
Then again I've read books on my Kindle iPhone app and having less text on a page means it feels like you get through them quicker.
GSE is right, of course. I got a Kindle at Christmas, and I enjoy its convenience, especially when travelling/commuting. But the first *real* book I bought afterwards was Art Speigelman's Metamaus, which just wouldn't work on an e-reader. (I also kept buying vinyl after I first got a CD player, and even after i-Tunes came along.)
They are freaking excellent! Ever lugged a gazillion kilo Lonely Planet across a continent? Just download it!
In Australia printed books can be very expensive and most Kindle editions for me are cheaper. Now when I am travelling I can just download a couple of books for the flight and I don't have to struggle to fit them in to my hand luggage.
A high percentage of the books I read are just trash (hello Jackie Collins!). Now I buy my trash on kindle or in a op-shop and buy the books I want to keep in hard copy. I feel slightly better about my carbon footprint knowing that I am not contributing to so many paper books being produced and transported...
As for lending your Kindle books, it's only available in the US right now but it can only be a matter of time.. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200549320
Also - you can get really cute covers for them with a dinky light.
Geoff - I do drop things. This is a stone cold fact.
Tim - I still buy CDs. I have reached a strange event horizon where because i still buy new ones, I can't throw away old ones. Quite what I'm doing hoarding the greatest hits of Bananarama in physical form is qyestionable.
Lala - You're totally selling me on the dinky light business.
look at the link on my blog and the dinky light will fade into insignificance
Hmm. I'm not sure I can agree with Mr Franzen, though. Who seems to be being a bit extreme about it all.
GSE - your blog is having one of its periodic moments of not letting me in.
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