What is the Point of Kindle/eBooks?

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Jersey Chick

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The downside to the Kindle for me? Can't throw the book across the room when it pisses me off (I'm looking at you, Johanna Lindsey and your too-stupid-to-be-believed plot twist that sent that sucker aloft.)

Of course, I haven't had to worry about it so far, but still...
 

mccardey

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You people don't bite your books? What about if you're reading Marilynne Robinson and she says something that's just too glorious? What if you're reading Elizabeth McCracken? What if you're reading the incandescent "Foal's Bread" or "Mateship With Birds"? How can you not bite?

I bite books. And sometimes, after I've loaned a book out and it's not returned I can find it - bitemarks and all - on a good friend's bookshelf.

I just leave it there. And that's always lovely.
 

Bubastes

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When I read lovely passages, I rest my book (or Kindle) over my heart and do a "happy book sigh."
 

Roger J Carlson

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The downside to the Kindle for me? Can't throw the book across the room when it pisses me off (I'm looking at you, Johanna Lindsey and your too-stupid-to-be-believed plot twist that sent that sucker aloft.)

Of course, I haven't had to worry about it so far, but still...
Yeah, but I have DELETED books with just as much relish.
 

JackSussek

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Kindle is definitely easier to read than an iPad, but nothing beats the smell of a book. Walking into a library, grabbing a book from the den, picking up a new book at the store - books have a unique smell. Fancy electronics = metal and plastic.

Plus I'd wager to say it's easier to get sand out of a book than an electronic device ;). In the end, I'm all for people reading - however they manage it!
 

RickN

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I prefer the tactile sensation of a physical book, but I'm getting over it. I also read books on my phone, my Kindle, and my Kindle Fire.

In a hostile environment (the beach, the tub, etc) I read physical books.

When I spent 2 weeks in Yellowstone and the surrounding states, I took my Kindle loaded with 100 books instead of putting a dozen paperbacks in my luggage (I read 10 books on the trip).

My Kindle Fire is loaded with non-fiction books and cookbooks. The glossy color screen is wonderful for books with illustrations.

I used to carry a paperback with me wherever I went. Waiting in line or whatever was a chance to read a few pages. Now I read the book on my phone.

Different platforms; different purposes; different strengths and weaknesses.
 

WildScribe

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The downside to the Kindle for me? Can't throw the book across the room when it pisses me off (I'm looking at you, Johanna Lindsey and your too-stupid-to-be-believed plot twist that sent that sucker aloft.)

Of course, I haven't had to worry about it so far, but still...

I thought this was a problem as well, but there is a strange satisfaction in the delete command when you're really pissed at a book. (And ever since the wall denting episode, I try not to throw real books, anyway.)
 

JimmyB27

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The downside to the Kindle for me? Can't throw the book across the room when it pisses me off (I'm looking at you, Johanna Lindsey and your too-stupid-to-be-believed plot twist that sent that sucker aloft.)

Of course, I haven't had to worry about it so far, but still...
Just keep a copy of Twilight at hand to stand in for whatever book you happen to want to throw. ;)
 

JLBrady

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I don't have one (I can only afford the library!) but, having moved to the other side of the country and back, I can tell you that it's an absolute pain shipping your book collection anywhere. And expensive.

Still prefer bound books, but there are some definite upsides to eBooks when it comes to storage space and movement.
 

WildScribe

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Just keep a copy of Twilight at hand to stand in for whatever book you happen to want to throw. ;)

So. Much. Win.

Also, make sure you get it at a used bookstore (or better, Goodwill! My local one has about 4 copies right now at a buck each!) It would be a shame to support the hype.
 

wampuscat

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I don't know if this has been posted elsewhere on AW, but I thought it fit the conversation here. If someone is swayed one way or the other, ereaders are being used to track information. Some people might not like the privacy issues with that. Others might think it's cool that the technology is being used to gather marketing and other data that could be used to help the industry.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304870304577490950051438304.html
 

Jane Wallace-Knight

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E-Books & Kindle seems to be taking over the world, now back when it first came out I heard that Amazon could take your books away from you if the publisher went bust.

Not something that can happen with a paperback or hardback.
Not unless they jimmy the door and filtch them from your bookshelves.

I've seen their current advert - can't avoid it, unfortunately - and the very idea of reading on any kind of screen makes me cringe, I get enough headaches from the PC, thanks.

I hate not being able to flick through pages.

I'd hate something like that to hit me in the eye as I begin to drop off to sleep - and how the heck would you have two or three books open at once to refer back and forth?

And how can you put little coloured sticky notes on various pages?

The screen may be big compared to other handheld devices, but compared to a book it's tiny. In order to get even a paperback's page content onto one screen, you'd need the text to be too small for me to read it.

....I have a really nasty feeling that this is going to be the inevitable future that I will go to my grave being the grumpy old woman grumbling about.

.... however I can also see a point in the future where my own work finally makes it to publication only to find that it's on Kindle only....

No, I haven't got one, so probably eveything I've said is just rubbish, but I've vented some angst, so that's good.

ggg

What do you think?

Is the future already here?

Are books doomed?

I keep mine on an external hard-drive. I can't honestly remember the last time I read an actual book. I get through a few ebooks a week usually. My first book is being published in a few weeks as an ebook, and then not as a paperback until September. I know with the particular genre of books I write that the ebooks sell better than the paperbacks because we're living in the age of convenience. Also, the covers of these books are pretty racy, so I think that's another incentive for people to have them stored on the Kindle or laptop, rather than having the titles on display at home for guests to see.
 
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