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Things I like about my Kindle (Kindle Touch, wi-fi version, no ads): A single battery charge lasts a ridiculously long time. Weeks, not hours - and I read a lot. I love the light weight and small size. I can stuff a 1000 page tome into my purse and no one is the wiser. It is discreet - no one comes up and asks me tedious questions about what I am reading while not caring at all about the answer like they do when I am reading a 1000 page hardcopy (why do people do that, anyway?). I can control the font size and which font I read with. I can read on my smartphone when I want to be really discreet and it will sync up with the Kindle. I have access to a huge number of free books that are out of copyright. I can look up words in the dictionary in-line, and can translate sections that are in foreign languages on the fly (although that is sort of hit-or-miss). I can highlight passages if I want to, and I can un-highlight if I want to. I can turn off the display of highlights entirely without disturbing my existing ones. I can mark pages and take notes without physically damaging a book, and I can un-mark them too. I can see what other people highlighted, or I can choose not to. I can carry around a gigantic library in a small device that never tires out my wrist to hold. It turns out that I can read even longer with a Kindle than a physical book because of the form factor. I can switch to landscape and prop it up sideways if I don't want to hold it at all. If my eyes get tired but I. Just. Can't. Stop! I can increase the font size so I don't get a headache. I can decide I want a book, order it, and it shows up on the Kindle in literally seconds. I can pre-order new books I want and find them magically available at the moment they are released, without having to go to a bookstore and trying to find a copy that hasn't already been thumbed to death and otherwise damaged by other people.
I totally agree - all reasons I love my Kindle too.
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sometimes, for no apparent reason, the Kindle version is actually MORE expensive than a hard copy. Which makes no sense to me at all.
This is not for no reason. I don't agree with the reason but there is a reason. At the moment, the prices of ebooks from "the big six" publishers are set by the publisher, not Amazon. Meanwhile, the price of the print version on Amazon is set by Amazon, not the publisher. The publishers don't care what Amazon is selling print books for - they tend to price ebooks based on their own suggested retail price or "list price", despite that retailers typically sell print books for less than the suggested retail price. Publishers will look at it this way: "Our suggested retail price for this book in paperback is $15.99, therefore $11.99 is a reasonable price for an ebook, far less than what the print version is worth." The fact that Amazon is selling the paperback for $10.47 doesn't factor into it for them.
You will find that books which are not published with one of "the big six" will have prices set by Amazon and typically reasonably priced in comparison with the print version. If you look understand the Kindle price details, if it was set by the publisher, it will say "This price was set by the publisher". If it doesn't say this, it's set by Amazon.
Why do the big publishers have the right to set the ebook price to begin with? Because they and Apple all joined an agreement called the Agency Pricing Model and basically bullied Amazon and other retailers into it. Granted, Amazon was attempting to sell ebooks at a loss in order to run their competitors out of business, which would be bad for the industry in the long run so this is how Apple and the publishers tried to combat it. But by conspiring to raise prices, they broke anti-trust laws (and pissed off a lot of ebook readers). Fortunately, Apple and 5 out of 6 of these publishers are currently being prosecuted for this. A few of the publishers have backed down and agreed to settle. Part of the settlement is that Amazon's total sales of ebooks from each publisher could not amount to a loss so this will prevent Amazon from trying to run their competitors out of business while at the same time, stop publishers from conspiring to raise prices. Apple and 2 other publishers are still fighting it and I don't think the settlement with the others has been put into practice yet - but whenever it finally gets all resolved, it should mean that Amazon once again has control over their ebook prices and we will see less cases of an ebook being more expensive than the (new) print version.
The e-reader is not a replacement for a book. It's simply another way to access a book. I have quite a few books stored in my Kindle and I can take them to the beach, to the doctor's office, in the car, (well, except of course, I don't read while I'm driving). I love that I can enlarge the print for those times when I forget my glasses.
I still sometimes buy print books, especially when I get a remarkable bargain. (Dollar store, garage sale, etc)
Both. I'm reading the 50 Shades Triology. The first book was a paperback. I downloaded the 2nd book on my Kindle app via iPad. The 3rd book is paperback. So I'm switching back and forth.
As someone who is very tactile, I love the feel of holding a brand new, fresch, crsip book in my hands, and the smell of the pages. Plus, I like the feeling of accomplishment as I get closer and closer to the end of a physical book.
I've looked at iPads, Kindles, and Nooks, and I'm just not impressed- especially with the kindle. You have to pay for EVERYTHING on there, and full price, which I totally do not get. A hard-copy book? Sure . . .you've got production, transportation, and then the bookstore has to make some money, too. But on a Kindle? There's no freakin' way it costs practically the same amount to, say, produce a newspaper, as it does to transmit a few words over the airwaves. For that price, I may as well buy the hardcopy version, lmao. Plus, I've been told that I'm "odd" for constantly having 2-3 books with me at all times- but that pales in comparison to the what- 1,000 books you can download onto a kindle? Who the heck even has TIME to read that many books? So, imho, e-readers are a waste of time and money.
With a GREAT library system in my town, I really can get the latest titles (and some- truly- antique titles) for FREE. Hell, my mom was doing a project, and I was able to get SEVERAL an antique books shipped to the library branch right around the corner from house, for her to use, for FREE. ALL thanks to the partnership the different library systems have establishe din my state. Try doing THAT on stupid kindle, LMAO. Remind me again why I'd even spend a dirty, rotten, rusty PENNY on one of those useless devices? ;-P Now, it might be different if I lived in the boondocks and DIDN'T have access to such a great library system, but until tha that happens, I'll stick with the price of FREE, thank you very much ;-)
I've looked at iPads, Kindles, and Nooks, and I'm just not impressed- especially with the kindle. You have to pay for EVERYTHING on there, and full price, which I totally do not get.
Not everything is "full price" - many books from "the big six" publishers are (or are even more expensive - see my above post for more details) but there are many more that are less than the print version. There's hundreds of thousands of indie books which are $3.99 or less on Kindle. For those that are more than you want to pay for an ebook, you can always pick them up in print - buying an ereader does not necessarily mean you can't also buy print books too. Fair enough if you merely prefer the feel of a print book but please don't spread false information.
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With a GREAT library system in my town, I really can get the latest titles (and some- truly- antique titles) for FREE. Hell, my mom was doing a project, and I was able to get SEVERAL an antique books shipped to the library branch right around the corner from house, for her to use, for FREE. ALL thanks to the partnership the different library systems have establishe din my state. Try doing THAT on stupid kindle, LMAO.
Actually, many libraries support ebooks, including Kindle format and the delivery would be free and even faster. I can understand wanting to explore old and antique books in print though but if you think you can't access library books in ebook format, you are once again mistaken. You should check with your library to see what titles they might have in ebook format.
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Remind me again why I'd even spend a dirty, rotten, rusty PENNY on one of those useless devices? ;-P
Where do I begin? I don't have much time but tilli illustrated some really good advantages to ebooks. I am not saying they have no disadvantages and it's down to the individual whether those disadvantages outweigh the positives. But generally speaking, there are many, many reasons one might get an ereader.
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Now, it might be different if I lived in the boondocks and DIDN'T have access to such a great library system, but until tha that happens, I'll stick with the price of FREE, thank you very much ;-)
There are many free books on Kindle. Most old, public domain books can be found free as ebooks (some I found related to my ancestry research that I never would have easily found in print) and many modern books are temporarily available for free as promos. I currently have about 30 books I got for free that I still have yet to read and I don't have to worry about return dates.
I was very much real books until we started seeing how many boxes I was packing for the big move. Downsizing from 4000 sq ft to 800. making decisions which books to keep was difficult, especially since I often re-read years later. But there was a bargain offer and my birthday was coming up, so my husband bought me a Kindle. It's been less than 2 months and I'm a convert. I can keep enough books with me that I never run out of reading matter. I LOOOOVE my Kindle.
With the free books on Amazon (we are prime) and other locations, I now have a library of 3,000 books - and counting.
I have finally convinced my husband he needed his own - so he gets one for his birthday. In fact, it arrived today! He's already downloaded his own library of 2000 titles.
What I love - no more trying to buy a book in the Barcelona airport - they are all in Spanish which I don't read - because I read both books I'd taken with me for our 2 week stay. I spent 4 hours in the car repair place yesterday, finished one book and just jumped to the next one without having to lug 2 books with me just in case I finished one.
And the best part is that I have now donated over 600 books - and still unearthed more books. I have 4 boxes of books in my dining room waiting to be picked up. The thought of packing those books, hauling them to the truck, unloading them, finding a place for them or letting them sit in boxes until "someday" when I needed more to read, nevermind the cost of moving them or the cost of buying me 5+ books a month.
Some books went to a senior citizen home, the VA clinic, VA hospital, churches, Coast Guard, and I'm looking for more places to accept. I'm glad the books will be read - that's the whole point, isn't it?
Thanks for your reply. True, my library DOES have ebooks to "borrow." Guess I just prefer hard-copy books. Plus, they never break down
ebooks don't "down break" either - I suppose you could get a corrupt file but I've never heard of it myself. An ereader could break down but it doesn't mean you loose your ebooks. I can pick up reading my Kindle books right where I left off on any other Kindle device or app attached to my account. If you forget to bring your print book with you somewhere when you leave home, you're screwed... if I forget my Kindle, I can just pull out my iPhone and keep reading right from where I left off. Plus, even if I do remember to bring my Kindle, it is a LOT smaller and lighter than your print book (especially hard covers) and therefore much more portable to begin with. Just one or two of the many advantages to ebooks!
ebooks don't "down break" either - I suppose you could get a corrupt file but I've never heard of it myself. An ereader could break down but it doesn't mean you loose your ebooks. I can pick up reading my Kindle books right where I left off on any other Kindle device or app attached to my account. If you forget to bring your print book with you somewhere when you leave home, you're screwed... if I forget my Kindle, I can just pull out my iPhone and keep reading right from where I left off. Plus, even if I do remember to bring my Kindle, it is a LOT smaller and lighter than your print book (especially hard covers) and therefore much more portable to begin with. Just one or two of the many advantages to ebooks!
Gathering up books to sell at a yard sale this morning, it occurred to me that some of these books I've had 40 years or more - and a lot of them were bought used then. A lot of them are in pretty poor shape - whatever they were making mass market books out of in the 60s and 70s really yellowed and deteriorated. (A lot of Fleming's James Bond books and John D. MacDonald just got tossed - cool old covers not withstanding - they were in such poor shape.)
I wondered where my Kindle books will be in 20 years - pretty sure the Kindle device won't be around, but the information should still be accessible. The analogy would likely be closer to certain data files that I've dragged up from my earliest MS-DOS OS PC to my latest Win 7 laptop than it would be to the switchover from vinyl records to CDs.
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