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I have and like both formats, but one of my beefs with the ereader is that when I read a book that I'd like to share with others, I don't always have the option to do that. Had I bought the hard copy, I could pass it along.
If someone wishes to dig up some old threads you will find me stating e-readers are not my thing. Now I have one. I do prefer a real book. I have several built in bookshelves in my home and owning books gives me a sense of pride plus I think books give a home a warm feel. I love owning the read deal. My husband however is not a fan of books when it comes to moving. He suggested a kindle for me last christmas. My sister has the first kindle and I didnt care for it but when the kindle touch came out, I like how it was set up so that is what I got. I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I thought possible. I read about 8 books for free the first few months. Add that bookstores around me are going out of business left and right. The only one left is at the mall. I hate the mall. Ive order through amazon several times but it always pained me to pay maybe a buck or two for a book but pay almost 8 bucks in shipping.
I now have an ipad and read on that as well. I think I do prefer the kindle over the ipad for a couple of reasons. The backlit display is nice for my eye sight. I have a bad astigmatism so my surroundings seem darker than it should. The backlit display helped this however I found reading before bed energized me causing sleep problems. Also the ipad is a tad heavier and awkward to hold where the kindle felt more like holding a real book. What I dont like about both is that often I want to read a book on either device and find out the publisher didnt release it in e-reader form. I also think its a gip that if I buy a real book I can share with others and its pretty difficult to do this with an e-reader. Kindle does have a option but it can only happen if the publisher allows it and many dont.
Fallingwater, I'm glad you realize that there can be more than one option. I didn't think I'd like an eReader, until I had one. Of course, I wasn't vociferous about my preference, so I was able to gracefully admit that the Kindle was a pretty good alternative to "the real thing."
As for having bookshelves and the feeling of warmth they impart to a home, I want to bet that those of us who always had books around still have them, even though we have an eReader. I can't imagine that anyone opened the window and tossed all the books they had accumulated through the years.
To compare, I have e-mail, but I still get the warm fuzzies when the postal person drops an actual letter in my mailbox. The old saying, there's more than one way to skin a cat, applies!
I became a e-reader in March. I love my Kindle/
We travel a bit and I like to read different kinds of books depending on my mood. It's nice to have 3000 books at my disposal to choose from.
Mine is also a Kindle fire. If there is wi-fi available I can also check my email and the all important Facebook (how can my peeps function without knowing my every move!)
My books are free thanks to the public library and Amazon, and I don't have to carry a number of books or a computer every where I go.
I thought I would miss the touch, feel, and smell of real books. Surprisingly I don't. I look at them now and think...I wonder if I can download that one.
I have to laugh or at least chuckle at those posters who poo poo the Kindle. It has literally been a life saver for me. I developed macular degeneration about 4.5 years ago and could not read A SINGLE THING for 4 years in addition to getting an injection in my left eyeball every 30 days for 4 plus years. I could not read nutrition values on labels, cookbooks, newspapers, ads, books even large print were not going to work. I went into a deep depression and almost lost it.
Then I discovered Kindle. Life is good again. I get free books from the library, free from amazon and even though I read at the 2nd largest print size, at least I can read again.
And I find I am reading a bigger variety of books. We download, read a sample chapter or two and then decide if I want to continue. I would never stand in a book store reading 2 chapters of a hardback book. I discovered WWII novels which really surprises me but they have peaked an interest in world history and geography.
I miss the feel of a good book but trust me the alternative to not reading anything at all makes the Kindle a godsend to me.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu
I have to laugh or at least chuckle at those posters who poo poo the Kindle. It has literally been a life saver for me. I developed macular degeneration about 4.5 years ago and could not read A SINGLE THING for 4 years in addition to getting an injection in my left eyeball every 30 days for 4 plus years. I could not read nutrition values on labels, cookbooks, newspapers, ads, books even large print were not going to work. I went into a deep depression and almost lost it.
Then I discovered Kindle. Life is good again. I get free books from the library, free from amazon and even though I read at the 2nd largest print size, at least I can read again.
And I find I am reading a bigger variety of books. We download, read a sample chapter or two and then decide if I want to continue. I would never stand in a book store reading 2 chapters of a hardback book. I discovered WWII novels which really surprises me but they have peaked an interest in world history and geography.
I miss the feel of a good book but trust me the alternative to not reading anything at all makes the Kindle a godsend to me.
That's GREAT! I'm truly happy for you! I, too, cannot fathom a happy life without reading.
When I developed multiple sclerosis 20+ years ago, I read a lot about it and discovered that a common attack was temporary blindness. Well, at that point, I had had attacks of dizziness, an attack where my body was numb from the neck down, and an attack where I couldn't move my right leg. (They all resolved.) But while all of those were going on -- as horrendous as they were at the time -- all I could think was that this is better than not being able to read.
It's an interesting phenomena. When I asked my husband what he'd "prefer" -- being deaf or being blind -- he said that he'd rather go blind. That way he'd still be able to listen to his music and play his guitars (and hear himself play). I, of course, need my eyesight to read.
ETA: An injection in the eyeball? My gosh, I feel faint from the thought. You're a strong lady.
In 2003 or so, when I started having serious trouble with my eyes, I downloaded Microsoft Reader to my laptop (which cost around $5k new in 2000, as laptops were expensive at the time). You could change the font size - sort of, it just made the overall page bigger and you had to scroll left-to-right and down to read an entire page. Electronic books were at least as much as hardbacks, often twice as much, and there were maybe 1,000 books TOTAL available.
I looked at the first Sony e-reader (the Libre?) in maybe 2005, the iRex in probably 2006, but they were still expensive and not a lot of books available. I actually used my Palm to read books for a bit, but all you'd get was a sentence at a time or so. I cheerfully paid full pop for a Kindle the first month they came out, because I expected Amazon to really push to get more books digitized. I also used to volunteer for Distributed Proofreaders, a group which scanned out-of-copyright books in, edited them for OCR errors (very carefully leaving in "original errors" like archaic spellings and grammar) and made them publicly available.
I don't enjoy most books on tape as the narrator always seems to be between me and the heart of the book - they are fine for nonfiction, but I'd prefer to read for myself as long as I can.
That's GREAT! I'm truly happy for you! I, too, cannot fathom a happy life without reading.
When I developed multiple sclerosis 20+ years ago, I read a lot about it and discovered that a common attack was temporary blindness. Well, at that point, I had had attacks of dizziness, an attack where my body was numb from the neck down, and an attack where I couldn't move my right leg. (They all resolved.) But while all of those were going on -- as horrendous as they were at the time -- all I could think was that this is better than not being able to read.
It's an interesting phenomena. When I asked my husband what he'd "prefer" -- being deaf or being blind -- he said that he'd rather go blind. That way he'd still be able to listen to his music and play his guitars (and hear himself play). I, of course, need my eyesight to read.
ETA: An injection in the eyeball? My gosh, I feel faint from the thought. You're a strong lady.
No Kudzu, I'm so happy the Kindle works for you. Since my hearing has been degenerating to where I am now considered deaf, I panic at the thought of my eyes failing me - and they have. I have had 3 eye surgeries, so far, and looking at #4 within months. I completely understand your feelings about not being able to read.
And yet, DandJ, while I am so glad I can read again, I agree with your husband. Having lost my sight for a few weeks while having little to no hearing, if I could choose which one to give up, it would be my vision - as much as I love to read, I'd prefer to hear a baby's giggle again or play my piano.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,029,371 times
Reputation: 28903
Quote:
Originally Posted by NY Annie
No Kudzu, I'm so happy the Kindle works for you. Since my hearing has been degenerating to where I am now considered deaf, I panic at the thought of my eyes failing me - and they have. I have had 3 eye surgeries, so far, and looking at #4 within months. I completely understand your feelings about not being able to read.
And yet, DandJ, while I am so glad I can read again, I agree with your husband. Having lost my sight for a few weeks while having little to no hearing, if I could choose which one to give up, it would be my vision - as much as I love to read, I'd prefer to hear a baby's giggle again or play my piano.
Wow, Annie! I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through all of this. I wish you well. I wish you health. I wish you many hours of playing -- and hearing -- your piano. And I wish you many hours of happy reading. I wish it all for you. Be well.
Wow, Annie! I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through all of this. I wish you well. I wish you health. I wish you many hours of playing -- and hearing -- your piano. And I wish you many hours of happy reading. I wish it all for you. Be well.
DandJ, thank you. It is what it is and I'm happy I've had over 50 years playing my piano. We are looking for a family to donate it to before the move so some other child can learn to love it as I did. And we've downloaded over 10,000 books ... so far. One summer I started at one side of the (small-town) library and tried to read my way to the other before the summer was over. I actually made it halfway. It was not only great for me but it really helped my kids as I included them in the every other day library visits.
We are taking 2 keyboards so I can still "mess-around" a bit.
I just got a kindle about a month ago and now it won't charge. I debated a long time between the kindle and the nook and now I'm disappointed with the kindle. Amazon is going to send me a new one but now I'm nervous that this is going to happen again. I'll give it one more chance and then I'm getting the nook.
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I do prefer a real book. I have several built in bookshelves in my home and owning books gives me a sense of pride plus I think books give a home a warm feel. I love owning the read deal. My husband however is not a fan of books when it comes to moving. He suggested a kindle for me last christmas. My sister has the first kindle and I didnt care for it but when the kindle touch came out, I like how it was set up so that is what I got. I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I thought possible. I read about 8 books for free the first few months. Add that bookstores around me are going out of business left and right. The only one left is at the mall. I hate the mall. Ive order through amazon several times but it always pained me to pay maybe a buck or two for a book but pay almost 8 bucks in shipping. 
I debated a long time between the kindle and the nook and now I'm disappointed with the kindle. Amazon is going to send me a new one but now I'm nervous that this is going to happen again. 
