For Christmas this year, Nate got me a Kindle.
The great things about it:
Download books pretty much anywhere and everywhere, with very little waiting. Download time is fast.
Holds up to 200 or so books, and more if you get an extra memory card. We're currently living in a small apartment, so saving space right now is a big plus for me.
Saves paper, if you're into that sort of thing.
You can download sample chapers to check out the book before you buy.
New books (currently in hardback) are typically $9.99 or so versus $20-whatever.
Convenient if you're a frequent traveler. You don't have to lug a bunch of heavy books around, and if you finish all you've brought before your trip is over, just download more.
You can "clip" sections and save them to refer to later. You can also bookmark.
You can also subscribe to magazines, newspapers, and blogs.
Easy-to-read screen and it's easy to use.
The not-so-great:
Kinda hard to share digital books. One of my favorite things is passing on books I think others will like. Even with my spouse it would be tough to share, unless I'm willing to give up the Kindle for a while.
It's an electronic device and my primary reading time is during lunch. I'm eating and drinking and trying not to drip. Not a deal breaker, by any means, but you have to be more careful with the Kindle than a paperback.
You spend a lot more money on books. This is good and bad. But with no waiting for a trip to the bookstore or shipping from Amazon, you get instant gratification. I'm glad I'm supporting writers by buying their books, but man, I'm spending a lot more money in this area than I normally do.
The buttons. The way the Kindle is currently designed, it's really easy to accidentally go to the next page or the previous page when you don't intend to because your fingers hit the buttons on the side of the Kindle. I've read that this design element is being addressed in the next incarnation, so eventually this won't be an issue.
Image quality is very poor. I would not buy a book on the Kindle that had pictures or other images that I wanted to study in detail. I also wouldn't subscribe to magazines where images are important, like say, an architectural or art magazine. The grainy images are frustrating.
Some libraries offer e-books the way they let you check out normal books. This isn't the case in Austin so this falls on the "con" side of the list for me. But if Austin offered this service, it would obviously go to the other side of the list.
Not all books are available on the Kindle.
Aside from these mostly minor complaints, the Kindle is pretty much the perfect gift for me. I love to read, but would never have bought this for myself due to the price. Right now I'm inhaling books and reading a ton more than I had in recent years. And maybe by making it easier to get books (in whatever platform, including iPhones) the publishing industry won't go down in flames the way it currently seems to be doing. We can hope.
4 comments:
I'd been wondering about the Kindle. Do you find it more difficult and/or less satisfying to read on an electronic screen versus a printed page? I know that my eyes get tired reading on my computer in a way that they don't when I'm reading on paper.
Also: speaking of the publishing industry going down in flames, the company that published my book went out of business. This means they definitely won't be reprinting my book. But it also means that all rights now revert to me, and I can do whatever I want with it, including going to another publisher that might actually promote it properly.
No, I don't find it less satisfying. It's not the same as reading on a computer. The Kindle screen is very easy to read and easy on the eyes. There's something about the design that's seemless. I don't think about the fact that I'm reading on a Kindle; I'm just reading, if that makes sense.
That's cool about the rights. Since you have an idea for another cook book, you might be able to try to get a two-book deal.
Next year, I'm going to play it safe and get jewelry or something. hehe
No temptation to tell what the present is early. No lucky guesses from you. And there are no negative aspects from what I can tell.
:)
But it was the perfect gift!!! Not that I will ever turn down jewelry ...
And Katy, I did think of one more downside. Sometimes there are really gorgeously designed books. Currently there's no way the Kindle can compete with creamy paper, beautiful illustrations, and a gorgeous book overall. But a mass-market paperback? No problem.
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