Hi--

I guess I am biased because I own a kindle and have become very used to it. I couldnt live without it. I just made a post about why I think ereaders are more preferrable to regular reading. http://www.booktalk.org/topic7737.html

-Shelly

Dear Friends,

I would appreciate your positive and, even more so, negative feedback on the quality and points of the following pro-ebook essay. One friend of mine called it "snarky." So I made some changes.

Comments From the Other Side of the Book vs. Ebook Debate by Chris Rippel

In discussions of books vs. ebooks, book lovers often extoll the features they like about books while ignoring features that make ebooks desirable. For example, book lovers often mention sentimental attachment to the smell of new books, but never mention that old ebooks will never smell of mold or be dusty and make us sneeze. So, to be fair, let's imagine an alternative history in which ebooks have been around 500 hundred years and publishers have recently introduced print books. Below are imaginary comments by life-long ebook readers about the new technology of print books. Some comments are sarcastic. This may reflect those ebook readers distain for the very idea of print books. Nevertheless, their comments show that ebook devices also have features that evoke strong feelings of attachment in their users.

“I hate the smell of new print books. By the time you finish reading one, those chemicals will probably rot your brain. I think the FDA should investigate the potential harm caused by those chemicals.” Signed Nose for Good Reading

“With my Kindle I can sit in my home recliner, go to Amazon.com, buy, download and begin reading an ebook in 2 minutes. I would have to go to a store to buy, or wait days for the mail to deliver, print books.” Signed A Laid Back Reader

“The other day, I went to a store selling print books. I could not find the “reader’s reviews” of the books I was looking at. I finally asked a clerk where the reviews are. He said they didn’t have “readers’ reviews.” All they had are short quotes of praise on the back of the book selected by the book publisher. I can't imagine buying a book without reading reader's reviews.” Signed A Careful Purchaser

“I once dropped my Nook ebook reading device in the bathtub and the electronics was ruined. (I can hear some of you saying, “Everyone knows to put ebook reading devices in ziplock bags when reading near or in water. So why wasn’t your device in a bag?” I ran out of bags and I tried reading in the tub anyway.) So, I like the idea of print books because, since they have no electronics, I don’t need to put them in a plastic bag when reading in the tub. If I drop books in the tub, I can just let them dry and they will be good as new.” Signed Water Lover

“Some of you may not know, but print books are actually printed as “hardbacks” and “paperbacks”. Hardbacks cost two and a half times more than ebooks. Why would anyone pay so much? Paperbacks are about the same price as ebooks, but the print is too small. My ebook reader offers five font sizes. I can read the larger size without my glasses. Why would I buy a paperback I must use glasses to read?” Signed Quincy Magoo

“I read at work while eating lunch. I lay my ebook reading device in front of me. When I increase the font size, I can easily read without propping up the device. Works great. Yesterday I tried reading a new print book. The darn thing would not lay open on the table. I finally bent the book completely backward. It made a horrible crack. I thought I had broken the book. But it would finally stay open. Well mostly. I still needed salt and pepper shakers to hold down the pages. Food wipes off my ebook reading device because it is plastic. But when I turned a printed page, some food on my finger stained the paper. I cannot get the stain off. By the time I finish this print book, it is going to be a mess. No one else is going to want to touch it. I am going to have to through it away.” Signed A Hungry Reader

“My ebook collection is 5,000 ebooks. Last year, my house caught fire and my Nook burned up. Insurance replaced the $260 Nook. When I registered the new Nook to my ebook collection at Barnes and Noble, my collection of 5,000 ebooks was automatically downloaded. If I’d had 5,000 print books how could I have gotten my collection back? Even if insurance had given me the money, I don’t have time to rebuy them one by one. “ Signed An Ebook Collector

“I always read several ebooks at a time. Since my ebook reader holds 1,500 ebooks, I can carry all the ebooks I am reading at any one time. I won’t lug around a stack of print books. I don’t like print books because they contain only one book.” Signed A Voracious Reader

Chris, I do especially agree with the last bit. The upside of having all your books in one place is that you can easily replace them.

So that means that if you download a book once, then somehow lose it, you can download it again for free? That makes collections easier to replace.

I see that many in this forum are not interested in Kindle for one reason or another. I was exactly the same way. My husband has one and I used to think that I would not like it. I do like the feel of holding a book and be able to turn physical pages. I like the graphics on the cover of a book. However with that said, Kindle has it's advantages. There is nothing like traveling with a Kindle versus traveling with five books in my luggage. The ease of being able to download new books as needed is a very appealing feature to me. It is also very convenient to be able to download new releases instantly instead of waiting for it to arrive at your local bookshop.

wilde wrote:Chris, I do especially agree with the last bit. The upside of having all your books in one place is that you can easily replace them.

So that means that if you download a book once, then somehow lose it, you can download it again for free? That makes collections easier to replace.

Yes,

On the Nook, I can't actually erase stuff on the Nook itself.

I can only delete content in my library at the Barnes and Noble online store.

I thought this was an irritating design flaw...
...until a friend pointed out that this prevents "losing it."

So now I think this is a good.

I believe you can erase content on Kindles.

To remain consistent I have to claim this is a bad.

BTW, the friend I mentioned above, didn't like the last comment because it reminded him that I do not actually own ebook content the way I own print books. When I buy a print book, I still have the book in my possession even if the publisher and bookseller go belly up. What happens to my content if Barnes and Noble goes bankrupt? How do I get my ebooks that I own, but do not have on my ebook device at the time? This may not possible at Barnes and Noble, but it may be true of Kindles or other ebook devices. Nooks and Kindles link us permanently to the companies supporting our control over large portions of the content. This is a serious issue which probably does have a down side.

Chris Rippel

I had my first look at the Sony reader this week, and I have to say that I am underwhelmed. The device comes in two models, one a little larger than the other. I found the screen on the larger one a bit too small for comfortable reading, and the smaller one was out of the question for anything more than an email or very short article. Also the screens were quite shiny, and I found that they had to be held at just the right angle to be read under the bright lights in the store. I think this could get annoying. The contrast also seemed a little fuzzy, but perhaps this could be adjusted. I couldn’t find a control for this, but maybe there is one.

As a reader, I like both paper books and electronic books. When I renovated our home, I had bookshelves built in, and they are FULL! I can't fit a razor blade in. So for that reason alone I like the Kindle. It is also very convenient for travel. I recently read two 900-page books, Roberto Bolano's "2666" (in hardcover) and Jonathan Littell's "The Kindly Ones" (in Kindle format). The availability of Littell's book in Kindle format certainly did not influence my opinion (indeed, I was just so-so on the Littell and loved the Bolano), but the Kindle was easier on my wrists. It also has note-taking capabilities and a dictionary.

Now, putting on my writer's hat, I think the Kindle can be very helpful. Certainly, there is a lot of dross out there, but many good books fall through the cracks these days, and being able to market one's book without a large outlay of cash is wonderful. The Kindle was the stepping stone for my first book (War on the Margins; I am having difficulty with the url coding)to get published. The Kindle version was well-accepted, so I then did a self-published paperback, and then the book was picked up by Duckworth (which, alas, doesn't do digital). I am now doing the same with my second book Flesh and Grass, beginning with a Kindle edition in the US.

I'm not sure if it's because the Kindle or any other kind of electronic book isn't as popular in Germany as in the U.S., but I prefer 'ordinary' books to electronic onces. I think the 'reading-feeling' only appears when you hold a real book in your hands and can turn the paper pages. Of course, electronic books do have many advantages, like having many books in a small computer and being able to read whatever you like because of the big choice, but it's not the same. Or just imagine the smell of a new book, an electronic one could never give you the satisfaction you get when you smell at a new book. Well, it sounds kind of queer, but I really like it. =) And what about losing your electronic book? If I lose one 'real' book, it's sad, of course, but it's only one book. But if a Kindle broke, one would lose 'a whole library', which would be a great loss.

And as you rarely see people with electronic books here in Germany (even in big cities like Cologne) I think, most of the people here prefer the good old book, too.

But I'm interested what it's like in the U.S. because it sounds as if electronic books are very popular with you. Is it like that? Is the 'electronic-book-market' as big as the market for paperbacks yet? Would be great if someone could tell me.