I am having a debate with my boyfriend about the electronic readers that allow consumers to download books directly to the device and have built in touchscreens and lights.

I say that I would not buy this product because I prefer actually reading a book in my hands. My boyfriend feels that these electronic readers are better than regular books.

What do you think?

I'm in the same pickle - I love having books, the smell, the feel of them in my hand - but I really like the idea of being able to instantly download books I'm interested in and having more than one book on hand. I had a Sony Ebook Reader, and I was dismally disappointed with it because I only had it for two days and the battery died on it and all of my data was lost! (In all fairness, the first day with it, I loved because I went book crazy.) I have heard/read that the Kindle doesn't do that, though. And I've heard that it can also sinc with your iPhone, if you have one.

If anyone has any actual experience with the Kindle, I would love to hear it though, so I can decide if I want to buy this or not.

One of these days I really want to try out an electronic reading device. But I doubt I'd allow it to replace my books. There is definitely a certain sensory satisfaction that goes along with owning real books.

My wife gave me a Nook for Christmas. After some difficulties in registering the thing, it now works well.

While sitting in my recliner at home, I can, within 2 minutes, use my Nook to search for a new book at Barnes and Noble's online store, by it for $10, download it into my Nook and begin reading. I have done this ... twice.

And the reading experience is just fine. I find it amusing that when people talk about the smell of books, they always mean smell of book glue which lasts a couple of weeks. They never mean the smell of mold and dusk that makes us sneeze.

I have often read people complain that ebook hardware is a lot more than individual books and, therefore, they will not buy one. Since my Nook can hold 1,500 titles, it is more like a bookshelf than a single book.

Loading my $260 Nook with 1,500 titles, at $10 a title, would cost $15,260. A library with 1,500 paperbacks, at $15 a paperback, on shelves, at $25 per shelf including uprights supporting the shelves, would cost around $23,750.

1,500 titles in a Nook is $15,260
1,500 paperbacks on shelves is $23,750

So if you want to collect a lot of titles, I think ebook readers should be considered.

Thanks for that post, ChrisRippel. That was one of the most helpful electronic reader posts so far.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/

I found this Nook you are referring to and it does sound pretty darn good. I wonder if you can load ebooks on it that you find elsewhere. Or must they be bought from Barnes & Noble? There are a variety of free sources for ebooks such as the newsgroups. So your $10 per book cost could drop to free for many books available on the newsgroups.

Chris OConnor wrote:Thanks for that post, ChrisRippel. That was one of the most helpful electronic reader posts so far.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/

I found this Nook you are referring to and it does sound pretty darn good. I wonder if you can load ebooks on it that you find elsewhere.
Or must they be bought from Barnes & Noble? There are a variety of free sources for ebooks such as the newsgroups. So your $10 per book cost could drop to free for many books available on the newsgroups.

You can load ebooks in PDF and EPUB format through your computer. This is called "side loading." I have not done it, but I have read reports from others who have. So it can be done. Actually, the Kindle also will accept PDF books and possibly some other formats. The reviews and news reports seem to overstate the closedness of Kindles.

The $9.99 is a common price for many non-fiction ebooks for the Nook and Kindle, but prices actually range from $.99 to over $100 dollars. Fiction ebooks seem to average a little less than $10, but I don't have an average price. Prices seem to be in line with the price of mass paperbacks.

I THINK it may be the case that you can often buy a new ebook for the mass paperback price even when it is still only available in print as a hardback. For example, The Lost Symbol has the following listings on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
- Kindle and Nook $9.60
- Hardback: $17 (B&N); $12.00 (Amazon price)
- Paperback, large print: $24.80 (B&N); $20.46 (Amazon)
- Audio CD: $24 (B&N); $19.80 (Amazon)
- Audio download: $24.90 (B&N); $26.25 (Amazon)

No mass paperback listed at either store.

I know almost nothing about the lending of books, beyond the fact that Nook ebooks can be lent 2 weeks and only once.

I recommend doing a Google search for Nooks and read reviews.

You will find negative reviews of Kindles and Nooks.

Nooks have been criticized for being slower than Kindles and Sony Readers. This is true. Nook page turning is one second slower than the other two devices. This seems like a BIG deal when the devices are side by side, but in actual use, it is not a big deal.

My Nook takes 1 minute and 10 seconds to turn on. This is irritating, but it is about the only major irritation so far. One way around it is to simply leave the device most of the time, like a cell phone and recharge it every other night.

Any sane person gets their books from a local second hand seller or the library thereby reducing costs, benefitting the local economy and getting the opportunity to meet new people. New book stores are impersonal and the selection is often insulting. Nooks and Kindles are thoughtful but if you have a laptop you really don't need a secondary screen in front of you to get your reading in.

I'll post what I posted in the other thread about this.

wilde wrote:Did anybody see colbert's interview with sherman alexie? Pretty much, he isn't allowing his books to be on Kindle, and he's against it, and I agree, for pretty much the same reasons as him.

If it becomes a major thing, books are going to start getting pirated, people will lose jobs (mostly independent book stores and publishers, etc), stuff like that.


I also don't like the idea of carrying ALL of my books on one electronic device. I mean, it's not like an mp3 player where you can put the music on shuffle; books don't work like that. Plus, nothing's quite as nice as smelling and holding a book in your hands. Call me crazy lol~

Oh I would love love love one of these but dont have the money at the moment. I dont keep any of my books anyway but I keep a amazon wishlist and order about 5 books at a time. Plus im also ordering books inbetween that due to various book clubs im part of so a kindle would take all the hassle out of doing that.

As an author, I was reluctant to go the ebook route because I was afraid my ebook would get pirated, but in the end I felt I had no other choice but to hope that Amazon and B&N have safeguards in place that will prevent pirating.

Besides regular books are being pirated at an alarming rate, though most readers are not aware of it.

Though I love the feel of books, I want to get a Kindle, though I am concerned about dropping it or losing it.

I'm tired of carrying around heavy books, and trying to find books in libraries.

I read from a Kindle for a few minutes and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, especially because I could change the font size.

The Kindle put me more in control.
Randy