Comments on: TSS: Thinking About Ebooks

By: Becky

Becky — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 07:24:54 +0000

I know there are a lot of philosophical debates about e-readers, but I have to say that I love my Kindle. I got mine almost three years ago, and I love the way it has freed up my reading. Rather than clogging up my library account with a lot of fast, easy reads, I now buy them for super cheap on my e-reader. Why? Because I like to put on hold the hardbacks and hard to get books at the library. I also really enjoy the fast escape into the kindle. I haven’t had an issue at all. In fact, I love that I can’t see what page I’m on, so I don’t fret about how far I am into it. Also, since I travel back and forth to Hawaii all the time, it really helps alleviate the number of books I pack.

Listen. You know yourself. The Kindle hasn’t eliminated my piles of books, but has given me another easy way of carrying around a large number of novels in one little space! Good luck with whatever you decide.

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:57:11 +0000

I have a Nook and like it a lot. It was a birthday present from my husband. He thought it might help get rid of or at least make the piles of books smaller. We’re still debating whether or not that’s actually happening. We decided on the Nook over the Kindle because the Nook allows PDF files and I can download books from the library. I haven’t tried it yet but looked at it the other day and it seems pretty easy. I’m not sure about the library lending overseas though. I find it incredibly easy to read and easy to use. It’s great for travel too.

By: Jen - Devourer of Books

Jen - Devourer of Books — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:12:05 +0000

I wouldn’t buy a Kindle, because I have issues with Amazon, but the new Kindles are CHEAP, and I hope they will push down the prices of other devices that I would consider (the Sony or the Nook) even farther. That being said, I can see why you would choose a Kindle, being in the UK and actually getting a dedicated ebook store.

By: Molly

Molly — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:47:22 +0000

When I ordered my Kindle two years ago, I had no intention of it replacing my “real” books (and in fact, I have purchased more “real” books over the past 18 months than any other time in my life – so the eReader has not decreased my support of the industry). I did order it because I like to have reading options when I travel, but don’t like the weight of all those books.

What I have discovered is that my Kindle has become my classics library. I LOVE downloading all the public domain titles and having them available to me in one 2 pound device. I like having a built-in dictionary so I don’t procrastinate building my vocabulary. I like that I can change the font size to coordinate with the weariness of my eyes. And I like that I can annotate and/or highlight portions of the book to access at a later date.

I hope you are pleased with whichever device you choose.

And….might I add….I am more than a tad jealous of your upcoming trip to Paris

By: Heather J.

Heather J. — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:37:27 +0000

I have mixed feelings on this as well. At first I said I’d never get one, but not I’m reconsidering. I’ve heard rumors about an ereader coming out from Google that will have some pretty amazing features though, so I might wait for that one.

That said, I DO have the Kindle App for my Droid phone and I really like it. I’ve got a ton of free books on there and one that I paid for. Is that App not available for you yet?

By: S. Krishna

S. Krishna — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:42:30 +0000

I know we talked about this on Twitter, but yes, yes, yes! I’m lost without my Sony for when I travel, and you travel so much! Plus being able to get books you want from Amazon’s dedicated UK store would be nice, plus every time you come home, you can load up your Kindle with US books you want and not have to lug/ship tons of books home!!

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:31:32 +0000

Ooooh Paris! I am so jealous. I got a Kindle when they first came out (3 years ago I think?)and, while I used it a lot at first, I eventually got burned out and missed paper books so much that I put my Kindle down for at least a year. I have recently come back to it and decided that there is a nice balance. I definitely think and ereader is a great investment, but, like you already figured out, you can’t get rid of paper books all together.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:20:52 +0000

I am extremly tempted but am going to have a look at the prices of e-books in the new amazon.co.uk store before making a final decision.

By: Nishita

Nishita — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 06:22:48 +0000

I have started reading ebooks on my iPad, and I quite enjoy the experience. The ipad’s display is really nice. It also has apps for the Kindle and the Borders app, so I don’t feel quite as tied down to a single publisher.

I must admit that I enjoy reading books with illustrations (children’s classics such as Winnie the Pooh and Alice in Wonderland), and chick-lit, thrillers, and such.

I tried reading the Gutenberg books and I just could not move on. However, I really do think e-books are the next wave of publishing; the format and the technology is only going to get better and the prices even lower.

If you are unsure about committing, wait awhile and see…

By: Steph

Steph — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 04:00:43 +0000

Tony & I just bought ebook readers not too long ago (just over a month now, I think), and we are loving them. We did not go the Amazon route because I dislike feeling tied to a single purchase source, and some of Amazon’s privacy and DRM policies trouble me (like when they went and deleted everyone’s copy of a certain book a while back… it troubles me that they have that power). We went with Sony eReaders, which may actually wind up being cheaper than Amazon Kindles… We wrote a rather extensive post about them, which you might enjoy: http://www.stephandtonyinvestigate.com/?p=3570

Also, I can’t stress enough that we are a multimedia household. We continue to read paper books alongside electronic books, so for us, it’s not an either/or situation. The ebooks are great for things in the public domain or borrowing certain modern titles from the library, but when it comes to adding to our collection in a substantive way, I still prefer paper books.