The Kindle ... I'd rather have a book - or even 200 of them ...

[cool_moose]

Another month rolls by … as does another year. With my recent once-monthly entries, it would appear that the next time I write something, it will be ‘next year’. So it seems that this is the time to wish all a Merry Christmas (Happy Chanukah, whatever…) and a wonderful and fulfilling 2008. I’ve enjoyed reading some impressive journals this year;

Comments

[colinmarshall]

Kieran had an insightful comment about the Kindle: "I refuse to buy an Amazon Kindle because I don't want to be seen schlepping around something that looks like a piece of medical equipment."

I didn't do a Kindle post, but I did do a Sony Reader post when I bought one for Madelaine. I'd be game for some type of e-book solution -- the stream of press copies that comes to be through the mail collects into large, none-too-convenient, stacks -- but none of the existing technology fires me up. I'll give 'em time.

"The Death of the Book" is the trustiest tool in any lazy journalist's shed. People act as if computers/the internet/e-Readers will deal the death blow to the printed word themselves, without the reading population's cooperation. The only -- only -- way for e-books to displace physical books is, of course, for those who prefer the real deal switch sides of their own volition, and I'm just not seeing it. Real books, the sort that don't require a separate device for human comprehension, are just too convenient; I'll be deep in the

[cool_moose]

Well, I might have guessed that you would have beaten me to it. I must have missed it last January, although I never knowingly miss a 'colinmarshall' post. Read on ...

[cobalt999]

Real books, the sort that don't require a separate device for human comprehension, are just too convenient

Importantly, they're convenient where it counts, which is ease of use. The disadvantage of carrying a book rather than an electronic reader is that you're carrying only one book, when you could be carrying a library. But how often does the average reader feel compelled to carry two books? Only sometimes. Three? Almost never.

And this might be my own idiosyncrasy, but I can't pencil in the margin of a pdf file. Add to this all the usual nostalgia and attachment to conventional media, and the book ain't going anywhere soon. Magazines are different story, though I suspect they'll hold on at lower circulation.

[zinear]

Two ideas that I liked about the Kindle: getting newspapers and for document reading. Big newspapers are hard to read while traveling, and it's easy to keep documents around in electronic form. I'm not sure how well these ideas were implemented as features in Kindle, though.

Saving paper is the other appeal Kindle has. ;)

Even so, for books (and often academic articles), I prefer reading hard copies. I'm not sure why. Perhaps because I got used to it as a kid?

Though, in school, I would have preferred to have some textbooks in electronic form—my back would have been much happier, especially in the hot summer months!

圣诞节快乐

[cool_moose]

I think the Kindle's appeal might be in getting to read the books I'm mildly interested in - but not enough so to purchase them at three times the price. And required textbooks (thankfully I no longer need them) for university students' brief (one semester) perusal would seem to be a good deal. Merry Christmas, Steven.

Re: 圣诞节快乐

[csn]

Where did you look that one up? :)

Re: 圣诞节快乐

[cool_moose]

In a Google dictionary, I guess. Did I miss?

[smpte]

There are some things I could use a Kindle-like device for. Carrying a big bag of books back and forth across a huge campus has me wishing I could carry more of them around electronically. The Kindle has some problems, and I don't think I know any actual person who plans to buy one or wants to get one as a holiday gift.

[cool_moose]

A fairly expensive holiday gift, at $369.00.
Perhaps Jeff Bezos will do what Jobs did for the iPhone - drop the price by 30% after the first mad rush is over. Have a great holiday and 2008!