The Kindle thread

[mistermagic]

So I just finished a book on finance and am now about to start Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Now that's not really exciting news so the catch is that I got my mum to download it on her Kindle.
People who know me will be familiar with my hatred of non-physical books such as this crock of shit. However, one has to keep an open mind so I will give it a try and get back to you once I'm done.

Feel free to post your thoughts on electronic v physical books war.

 

[SUTSS]

I got a kindle again at christmas. I definitely read more when I have one than when I rely on physical books. It's so much easier to get the books and I can decide I want to read something at 1am and not have to wait until the morning to trapse up to the city and look round the bookshops trying to find it. I still do read physical books though. They tend to be bought on a whim when I have 20 minutes to waste in the city so look round a bookshop.

 

[silkyman]

I use both. The Kindle was great for taking on holiday and when you get used to it is just like a book really.

But I've also got shelves (and boxes) full of books.

 

[BCFC Jordan]

Bought a Kindle late last year. Was initially wary about whether I'd enjoy reading a non-physical book but I've probably read more than ever since buying it. I like to read at night so the built in light is convenient, a lot of books are good prices and the one touch dictionary on hand is useful.

I do miss reading physical copies sometimes but I'd really recommend a Kindle to anyone that reads books.

 

[mistermagic]

This is not going the way I hope it would although it is going the way I expected it...

 

[This Charming Mike]

I've had a Kindle Fire for two years and it's been one of my best and most useful purchases to be honest. It's great for my commute to and from work, reading late into the night is easier thanks to the lit screen and, most importantly, e-books are so much more affordable and accessible than traditional books.

 

[Techno Natch]

I had a kindle for a couple of months and did really enjoy it. It was great to be able to download books whenever I wanted and it got back into reading. I then put my foot through it and it broke.

Since then I've been reading physical copies again and actually I like that just as much. When I am on my last book, I look online and order another one so I always have the next book ready. The books fit in my backpack fine to so no issues there.

Both methods are fine and have their place I think. The only problem is I only have one book shelf and it's filling up fast.

 

[mowgli]

I love the feel and and smell from books, i've resisted buying a kindle as i'm an old fashioned old fart but each to their own.

 

[Ginola14]

MM, don't say that you've changed.....please, don't say it...

 

[mistermagic]

Meh, I'm 16% through the book and while I can appreciate the practical side of it (it's very thin so takes less space than a single book let alone a few) I'm just not sold on it. Ok the dictionnary is quite good (tbh most words in The Grapes of Wrath are Oklahoma-slang innit) but there's nothing like turning pages and looking up when your chapter ends or how far in the book you are.
It's ok I guess but unless I just become unbelievably lazy and start buying books in a kindle rather than actual books on amazon, I can't see this being the start of a trend.

 

[Gladders]

People need to move on, Ebooks are the future just like streaming tv and films are becoming more common. If it doesn't need to be physical then there is no point in it being physical!

 

[Red]

Vinyl records were thought to be consigned to history because of technological advances and they're becoming more and more popular now. People have their own preferences, just because something is more technologically advanced it doesn't necessarily mean for that reason alone people should prefer it.

I prefer my Kindle, but I appreciate the liking for books too.

 

[silkyman]

I think there's plenty of room for both. I'm a bit of a collector so have shed loads of books and DVDs where I could easily have stuff digitally.

But when it comes down to it, a book is words on a page. CDs might sound colder than vinyl. BluRay has better sound and picture quality. But with a book, it's essentially the same. You get immersed in the words.

 

[Gladders]

Vinyl is a speciality thing and not really an argument for it.

I wasn't really talking about quality either I was more referring to space.

I still regularly buy blu-rays but the first thing I do with them is copy them to my hard drive and put them back in the case and they gather dust. In the mean time i can watch them whenever I want where ever I want without worrying about finding them on the shelf taking a disc out and putting it in the machine with them eventually getting scratched, especially if they are the kids!

Same thing with books and music.

 

[mistermagic]

Thread needs updating.

Ok I finished Steinbeck's oeuvre and am 78% through Lionel Shriver's We Need To Talk About Kevin and I used different Kindles for each. The first one was touchscreen and it would tell you how many minutes it would take you to finish the chapter (a rather useful piece of information given that Wrath has very short (mostly useless) and very long chapters). It also has light in it and shit.
The Kevin book I'm reading it on a more dated version where you change the page by pressing a button and can only highlight a word with another button. You also can't click on a word and it gives you the definition which is a bit shit (one of the rare true traits of the Kindle).

So how is the Kindle?

I can see why people use it. It is practical, you can read a small essay as easily as a 1000-pager as it takes the same size in your bag (pretty handy when you're a Ken Follett enthusiast). One of the big preoccupations I had before using one was that you just don't know where you are in a book and the first versions of the Kindle really make you feel like it's a long monologue where all you need to do is press a button to change the page. When reading a book you have the satisfaction of turning the pages which makes you wonder how far you are in a book (as a general rule, I never go to the end of a given book and see how many pages a book is. It's all part of the fun!). You can't do that with a Kindle as from the off you get a percentage (which you can turn off on the new versions. I think). So my biggest worry has materialized: when you're 20% in and you don't think much of a book you're like fuck that shit I got better things to do (I don't)! Then again it's the same with a book but I'm more willing to give the paper a longer go coz I'm turning 30 next year.
I do appreciate the definition that you can get on the new Kindles. I'm too lazy to stop reading a book, pick up an English dictionnary in a French house and see what the word means. A click away and you have the meaning of a word in a few seconds. It's quite handy if, like me, you do most of your reading during your commute and don't have a dictionnnary in your bag. You're hardly going to look it up once you get access to the internet (I don't use the internet on my phone, I have a laptop for that) and reminisce the sentence you found the word in.

That's about it I'm afraid. Kindle is practical and has an embedded dictionnary. Other than that, books kick ass big time.

I'd like to point out that I only used a Kindle because I was given the opportunity and that I did not have the money to buy books. I did not buy a Kindle and probably won't.

Oh and a book never runs out of fucking battery! The fuck!

 

[Ginola14]

I thought for a second, just a second, you had turned.

 

[mistermagic]

I thought for a second, just a second, you had turned.

Hey if it gets people into reading I'm all for it. People have become materialistic which is killing a lot of businesses but at least they'll be able to express themselves a little better! Every cloud and all that.
I also find it quite tempting to just get a book in a split second on Amazon rather than buy it online and wait for a few days for it to arrive by the post. I also reckon that with a generation such as mine that will not be afforded as much space as our parents, a kindle will be one massive space saver. Of course you won't be able to show off your book collection everytime someone comes to visit.

Until then though, books own Kindles hands down.

 

[mowgli]

Got one off the Amazon Prime sale yesterday for £50 brand new, i said before i prefer books but i've been convinced by mates to give it a go.

 

[Pagnell]

Nothing has changed for me. Paper books have some advantages (the main one being the feel of having it in your hands) but the advantages of digital outweigh them by a considerable margin. I normally read between 3 and 4 books per month and it's at least 3-4 years since one of them was printed on paper.

 

[markpvfc]

I have a Kindle Fire and the only disadvantage I have found is that it's to easy to be tempted into playing games rather than reading books. I've started replaying GTA games rather than reading books during my break times.

 

[silkyman]

I also find it quite tempting to just get a book in a split second on Amazon rather than buy it online and wait for a few days for it to arrive by the post.

That's one of my favourite things with it. The other week I spotted that the last Long Earth book was out. This was late on Friday, so even if I had gone for next day, it was still going to be Monday before it arrived. As it was, I'd got halfway through if over that weekend.

 

[Red]

Here's an advantage that browsing physical books in a shop has over browsing the kindle store - you don't have to wade through a shit load of wank erotica before you find something of interest at Waterstones.

 

[Pagnell]

Here's an advantage that browsing physical books in a shop has over browsing the kindle store - you don't have to wade through a shit load of wank erotica before you find something of interest at Waterstones.

I still do my browsing in book stores, before buying it electronically.

 

[mistermagic]

Evil.