I could have said, "Why Niles* Is Great in Bed," but I do have scruples.
My husband, because he loves me and because he realized we could write it off (but mostly because he loves me), gave me a Kindle as my Christmas/birthday gift. I fell in love. And the other night, I discovered why a Kindle makes for great bedtime reading.
Since the Sony Reader, the Kindle, and other ebook readers, publishers and readers have discussed the plausibility of paper books disappearing (for example, Monica raised the discussion yesterday).
Yes, I love paper books. I love the smell. I love the sound of the binding giving way for the first time. I love walking into a bookstore, dizzy with opportunities for new friends. But more than that, I love stories and characters. I love whatever brings these stories and characters into my life.
Still, I don't think the paper book will die. At least, not for a long time.
Here are some reasons why I love my Kindle:
- When reading in bed, instead of trying to hold a heavy book open with one hand while hiding the other arm under the covers to keep it warm, I can hold the light Kindle one-handed easily. Also, there's no awkward adjusting when I turn a page (this happens when I'm laying on my side).
- You can get almost any classic book free on Kindle. Who doesn't think free books are a plus? If you're a classics lover, this is a dream come true.
- Books are cheaper. (No, I haven't done the math to see how long it would take to pay back the cost of the Kindle.)
- Currently, if a bookstore overbuys a title, they can return these books to the publisher. They do so by ripping off the cover. These books cannot be reused. Not only that, but if they don't sell, that's a lot of wasted paper and money. With ebook technology, perhaps publishers can save some money and take more risks.
- Though it costs a small fee to upload Word docs on a Kindle, I can. I have yet to do it (since my Kindle is still new), but this feature allows me to make editing notes in the doc. This gives my eyes a much-needed break from the computer screen.
- Speaking of that break, I can read blogs on my Kindle.
- All of my Kindle books and notes are backed up in my online Amazon account. (Yes, Amazon is taking over the world along with Apple.) This means if something ever does happen to my Kindle (God forbid), I don't lose my work or my books. (You can't say this if a fire ripped through your house.)
- The Kindle has a built-in dictionary. If I need to know the meaning of a word, I scroll the cursor in front of that word, and voila! The dictionary's definition appears in the footnotes. I could have used this feature while reading The Elegance of the Hedgehog.
- Buying books (or downloading them for free) is easy-peasy. Literally one-touch. My husband would put this particular feature in the below list (things that I don't love). But I'm the one writing this, so it stays here.
And here are the things that I don't love about my Kindle:
- I can't borrow a book through Kindle. In this economy, I borrow most books from the library or from friends. Perhaps Kindle could work on some technology (like the technology that allows me to "borrow" audio books from my library) so that after a two- or three-week period, the book automatically deletes from your Kindle, or something like that.
- I'm more nervous reading my Kindle while eating or cooking. Sauces splashes on a book are one thing, but I worry about corrupting an electronic device.
- I enjoy the bookstore experience. I love flipping through books to decide which one I'll buy next. Of course, I lose this whenever I shop at Amazon period. Their "Look Inside!" feature will never come close to a real bookstore experience.
Since I don't own the new Nook (Barnes and Noble's competitive ebook reader), I can't do a fair comparison. My husband researched some of the differences here. If I remember correctly, he decided on the Kindle because the Nook does not offer Word doc support while the Kindle does. As a writer and editor, this is a key feature for me. It does seem that the Nook as some sort of technology for lending books, though I cannot confirm this, and I don't know what this means exactly.
When I asked my husband if he researched the Sony reader, he replied, "Oh, Sony's are out." He's the gadget expert in the family.
*Niles is the name of my Kindle.
My family randomly got me the Sony e-reader for Christmas, and I love it. I know your hubby thinks it's "out," but I can check out library books with it. It's really nice to get something from my local library while sitting at home in my PJ's. I get to keep the book for 2-3 weeks (depending on the title) and can check out up to 7 at a time. There's no way I can get through 7 books in my two-week time frame these days, but it might be a nice challenge this summer.
I fought the technology too, but it's already come in handy while waiting at the doctor's office. I'm sure it'll be great traveling too--1 book instead of my usual 4. (You've got to have choices!) I doubt I'll give up "real" books, but I like it a lot more than I thought I would.
Plus... she's PINK! :)
Happy Reading!
Oh surely none of us have books on our shelves that we haven't read! Even all those 100-year-old books in foreign languages have been pored over! Okay, okay, not so. I too love stocking the shelves and baskets and window sills and even carboard boxes playing a second life as shelves with beautiful or brilliant books. But the readers, the stacks on ym desk and nightstand and end tables, are tipping over! A Niles cousin would help.
You single-handedly (or double-handedly, if you're a proper typer) answered all my Kindle questions...except one:
How does one keep the smaller bookworms of the family from permanently borrowing it?
Ah, well there I have an advantage: my husband and I are the only two in our immediate family here, and I've threatened him.
So many great thoughts here, both from you and from your other commenters!
You face the same physical challenges I do while reading in bed: keeping my arms warm, trying to keep the heavy books open, and awkward adjusting while turning the page. Never thought about how easily the Kindle would fix this problem.
My biggest trouble with the Kindle (besides being like everyone else and loving the feel, smell, and look of books on bookshelves) ... is that my eyes get SO TIRED when staring at a computer screen. I stare at the screen for a majority of my day. I'm sure I'm not alone in this. There is just so much life that now exists online or through different computer applications.
It has gotten to the point where reading a bona-fide book actually calms my eyes after they've stared at a screen all day. Reading a real book feels like giving my eyes a rest. It's weird. So then I think reading a Kindle would not give me this break. It would be more electronic waves surfing into my eyes. Blah.
Thanks for the great review! You've given me much to think on.
When the Kindle first came out, you may have heard me screaming a loud "Noooooooooooooooo!!" from across the nation. I love books for all the reasons you listed: the smell and the feel, the bookstore experience, feeling that binding give way for the first time, and even the way it feels in your hands. To be sure, there are many advantages to moving things into a portable, electronic format (saving paper for one), but with those advantages you also lose all those wonderful things you love about books.
I'm more open to this than I have been, especially when I consider traveling and the fact that when we next move (whenever that may be), my husband and I are going to have at least 87 heavy boxes of books to move and rearrange in a new locale. Just the thought of it makes me tired.
Thanks for the review -- it's always nice to hear from someone who experiences it firsthand.
I love to read while in the bathtub. Would that be dangerous? hee hee?
Ha!
I'm safe because I hate baths.
Here's another reason traditional books won't die anytime soon - regular books make great decorations. What is a house without lots of books stuffed into an overflowing bookcase?? It's so "English professor", isnt' it? Don't we all want to look like smart university professors? :-)
m
OOO . . . what fun! I played with one for the first time several weeks ago and was duly impressed.
Do you have any thoughts about the fact that you have to repurchase any books you already own that you want on the Kindle? That's what has kept me from buying one, honestly. I like rereading, but to have to repurchase to do it would be a real pain. That's what I liked about the iPod (for music)--I could upload CDs I already owned to it.
I didn't think about that. With my iPod, we moved everything to electronic. I don't feel the same need to do that with the Kindle. Although one of the pluses of the Kindle is being able to take a lot of books in one device while traveling. I guess if I wanted to reread a book in that scenario, I'd have to figure it out. Honestly, though, I don't reread a lot.
Of course, I hadn't thought about taking the Kindle on the beach. I think I'd be nervous about that. I guess I could put it in a Ziploc bag for protection and read through the bag.
Also, one more con: I like my bookshelves. And when I go to someone else's house, I study their bookshelves to get to know them. I'd miss being able to do that.
Post new comment