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A real book. I like to read while soaking in a very hot tub of water, smoking a fine cigar and sipping on fine brandy.
This is pretty darn awesome.
I've been downloading free pdf books off of the web onto my e-reader, and this is an added advantage to having one as opposed to having to go to the library or buy the book on amazon. I could just print it out or read it off the computer, but that is kind of a hassle and a waste.
for many years i only read paper, but recently got on the nook bandwagon. Since when i read it's at night, my version with the glowlight works great. As i tend to read fantasy series, SF, etc i've found that thru the e-book formats (such as nook and kindle, as well as sites like smashwords) i've discovered some interesting reads at low or no cost to try new authors. And to be honest I have enjoyed most of them, many who otherwise would be unpublished. And while their books may be a good value, i also see it as a chance to help a new writer get their start. To me that's sort of like supporting a local band that you enjoy seeing and listening to...hoping they can go on to better things...
I'll still grab a book of our shelf to read now and then, but most of what i'll be reading in the future will be an "e" version.
I like both.
A Kindle is great for traveling.
A book is just.. A wonderful thing.
Until the Kindle books come down in price, I'll be purchasing actual books. The free e-readers and $3.99 specials have mostly been disappointments.
The free e-readers and $3.99 specials have mostly been disappointments.
I assume you mean free ebooks, not ereaders. With it comes to freebies and bargains, I only grab the ones which have a number of positive reviews. Basically, I wait for the general public to tell me if it's any good or not. It's usually pretty reliable. A lot of bargains and freebies are self published so there's no quality filter whatsoever which means most of it will be crap. Once you get a vetting system that works for you though, you can usually find the good stuff. I have certain rules, like no unprofessional looking covers (if the cover looks amateur, the writing might be too) and it must have at least 20 reviews which an average rating of 4+ stars. Oh, and I always read the sample first.
I am a electronics nerd. I hold an amateur radio extra class license and embrace smart phone technologies.
I hate e-readers and will never have one.
I love going to used book stores and thrift stores to peruse their selections.
I read close to 150 books a year and love to hold a book in my hands.
The smell and touch of the pages and the knowledge they hold is beyond description.
E-readers are beneath me.
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 have to agree.I love the feel of a book in my hand,turning the pages.The smell of the paper.Coming from a poor family,as a kid, the library was my best friend.I do own a kindle,it was a gift.I don't buy many books though because you can get a lot of free books on line.Some are worth reading,some are not,but you are not out anything.By the way,yes in a sense the library is free,but those of us who pay taxes are supporting our local libraries.Happy reading.
I do not think it is a question of "preffered." For some of us, as I see by the responses, it's not a matter of prefferece but necessity. Do to aging eyes it's a necessity. I got my hand-me-down Kindle from a friend for which I am so grateful because my ability to read print was slowly diminishing. Also a move to a smaller apartment prevented me from taking my many year's collection of beloved books.
So needless to say the Kindle was manna from Heaven. I also like every feature it has to offer besides the ability to adjust the font. I have actually heard people say e-books are "evil" because they will replace printed books. No, I don't think they ever will. I believe they will have a place in our lives just as all the other electronic devices humans have invented.
My mom lived to the age of 94. Imagine all the inventions she saw her lifetime! I once asked her about that and what she thought about it. She said she said she didn't think there was anything human beings hadn't invented that wasn't an improvment as long as they were useful to somebody. I think that makes a lot of sense.
I am a electronics nerd. I hold an amateur radio extra class license and embrace smart phone technologies.
I hate e-readers and will never have one.
I love going to used book stores and thrift stores to peruse their selections.
I read close to 150 books a year and love to hold a book in my hands.
The smell and touch of the pages and the knowledge they hold is beyond description.
E-readers are beneath me.
Like you're the only one. I still stop into my used book store when I'm in that shopping center. I was holding books in my hand starting at age 3 and learned to read by spelling out the words on the cans and packages my mother brought home from the grocery store. Our branch library in Philadelphia allowed me to take out more books than children were usually permitted because the ladies there knew I'd read them all by Saturday, when I'd return for more.
Currently, I own a Kindle and have loaded it with lots of books. Most of them classics and many that are out of print. Some new ones that turned out to be drivel (but they were inexpensive so I don't mind) I have purchased and borrowed print books that turned out to be not-so-hot. Crap is everywhere. Right now, I'm reading The Sandpebbles on my Kindle, and Julie & Julia in print. (Picked it up in the dollar store for a buck.
Unfortunately, our local library (in Luzerne County) is not yet participating in the e-reader lending program, but when they do, I will sign up.
Words, no matter the medium, still hold knowledge beyond description. It's hard for me to understand how some folks think that it's an either/or choice. (I've still been known to read the back of the cereal box when I'm having breakfast).
For those of us whose eyes don't work as well as they used to, the adjustable print-size on my e-reader is an added benefit. As is being able to take hundreds of books with me when I go to the beach. Or "turn the pages" when the arthritis in my thumbs is acting up.
For about the 500th time, there is a HUGE supply of free ebooks available for just about all readers (I put the qualifier in, but I'm not sure I can actually think of an ereader for which that isn't true). In the US, anything published before 1923 is currently in the public domain and otherwise there is a rolling 95 years on books published between 1923-1977 (after that it gets complicated).
Shakespeare, Dickens, Austin, Bronte, Shelly, Burroughs, Stevenson, Wells, Conan Doyle, Dostoyevsky, Dumas, Kipling, Verne, Wilde, Joyce, London, Melville, Poe and a cast of thousands on thousands are public domain and free. Many "modern" authors' back-catalog is between $1.99-$6.99 (unless published by Penguin, Hatchette and a few others).
And before anyone decides an e-reader is "beneath" them - that hubris will vanish when your eyesight starts to get dodgy.
For about the 500th time, there is a HUGE supply of free ebooks available for just about all readers (I put the qualifier in, but I'm not sure I can actually think of an ereader for which that isn't true). In the US, anything published before 1923 is currently in the public domain and otherwise there is a rolling 95 years on books published between 1923-1977 (after that it gets complicated).
Shakespeare, Dickens, Austin, Bronte, Shelly, Burroughs, Stevenson, Wells, Conan Doyle, Dostoyevsky, Dumas, Kipling, Verne, Wilde, Joyce, London, Melville, Poe and a cast of thousands on thousands are public domain and free. Many "modern" authors' back-catalog is between $1.99-$6.99 (unless published by Penguin, Hatchette and a few others).
And before anyone decides an e-reader is "beneath" them - that hubris will vanish when your eyesight starts to get dodgy.
LOL! This exactly! They deserve the fate of the man in the Twilight Zone episode where the sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust is estatic that now he has all the time and all the books in the world to read and then breaks his glasses so he is unable to read them. Such would be a well-deserved fate for someone who says an e-reader is "beneath" them!
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