Has your love of reading been Kindled yet?

[Karafan]

Just got a Kindle (Touch) after months of holding out.

I don't think my affection for the physical book will ever be usurped by this flash new upstart, but i'd be interested to hear of other MB'ers who've dabbled and what your feelings are about it!

Best as ever

Karafan

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I haven't yet dabbled; at first because of my love of books (the physical entities: the feel, look and smell - and the memories of the last time I'd read it etc etc) and, I'll admit, my techno-phobia. It was knowing that this latter was irrational that I decided to investigate the medium, and there are aspects I can see as advantageous; in particular, the "bedtime" aspects - the backlighting, which means I don't have to have a bedside lamp on to read, and the adjustability of the print size.

On the other hand there's the cost, and the necessity of buying second copies of texts. Why isn't there a Kindle equivalent of Audacity (which allows you to rip LPs and Tapes to CD), where a book can be downloaded onto a Kindle?

What do you think, Karafan? Do you recommend Kindle?

[umslopogaas]

I have no interest in this technology, I have always collected books and I like to have the actual written text on the shelf. In fact I've just come back from Waterstones where I collected an ordered copy of 'England Their England' by AG MacDonell, one of the funniest books I know (chapter 7, the drunken village cricket match, is fall off the sofa stuff); I've already read it, I wanted a copy as a present. And while I was there I picked up a volume of the complete Sherlock Holmes stories; I wanted the long stories, but the only way you can buy them new seems to be in a complete volume with the short stories, which I already have.

I appreciate the point about the advantages of Kindle if you read in bed, but I dont, I read on the sofa and go to bed to slleep.

I inherited my book collecting enthusiasm from my grandfather, indeed I also inherited a lot of his books. I think he would have been horrified at the thought of reading a book that only existed in electronic format.

I might go for Kindle if I still did a lot of long distance air travel, I used to carry lots of books to wile away the hours, but they do weigh a lot and eat into your hand luggage allowance. To be able to get loads of books into one little gadget would be a big advantage.

[johnb]

In fact I've just come back from Waterstones where I collected an ordered copy of 'England Their England' by AG MacDonell, one of the funniest books I know (chapter 7, the drunken village cricket match, is fall off the sofa stuff).....

Strange you should mention that book. I read it in my late teens and have recently been thinking about buying a copy!

As for Kindle - if it had been around when I was living most of my life away from home in hotels I would probably have been very interested. These days the main benefit would be to relieve my grossly over-flowing book shelves - but I'll stick with the real thing for now.

[vinteuil]

As for Kindle - if it had been around when I was living most of my life away from home in hotels I would probably have been very interested.

... same here. Much of my so-called working life involved much travel; a kindle wd have been ideal.

But it is an inadequate succedaneum for the real physical thing on the shelves and in the hand.

[Anna]

I haven't been tempted, so often when reading diaries, autobiographies, short stories, I just put a book mark in, return it to the shelf and take down again at a later date. However, I know of several people who have got Kindles due to increasingly poor eyesight and lack of large print books available. so I think it's a marvellous invention but not for me as I also love the smell and feel of books and turning the page, and turning back the page to reread a particular section. I don't think Kindle can give you that pleasure.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

If you only need to carry a single book, then it has to be the real thing. But if you need a barrow-load, then a a Kobo, Kindle, Sony Reader or iPad are the answer.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Last Wednesday, Frau Alpensinfonie bought me a paperback, which I put in my rucsac for our afternoon walk around Ullswater. The monsoon which followed turned the book into a soggy mess. It took until today to dry it out, but although slightly wrinkled, it's as useable as ever. I wouldn't fancy the chances of an eBook reader under such circumstances.

[umslopogaas]

johnb, dont hesitate! My own copy of England Their England is a Picador paperback, but the copy I just bought as a present for a friend is a paperback published by WLC (Wildside Library Classic Book), ISBN 9781434404916.

[Mary Chambers]

My son, whose work involves a lot of long-distance travel, finds his Kindle invaluable. I don't want one unless my eyesight gets too bad to cope with proper books. I suspect most of the books I read are too obscure to be on Kindle, anyway.

[Petrushka]

I have a huge and tottering pile of unread books, not to mention books I want to read again, and they should, I imagine, see me out and I'm only 58.

Last Sunday I went to a Book Fair in London and just felt so excited at being surrounded by books, books and more books and no Kindle will ever give me that same buzz.

[teamsaint]

I make my living (for now!!) selling (mostly)paper books.
But I have to say that everybody I know who has a kindle loves it.....and it really is a simple and user friendly technology.....but i still recommend buying real books !!!!

[antongould]

Lady Gould got a Kindle from Santa and loves it on holiday - but like teamsaint prefers books at home.......

[Gordon]

I've had a Kindle since Xmas having been given it by the family who thought my tottering heap of books [mostly if not all read] was about to bring the house down. So far so good - handy when I go up to town for meetings - but on the whole I still prefer paper. display OK but not perfect in some light conditions. The optional light that runs off the Kindle battery is not worth the extra but a protective cover is a good idea but not the Amazon one, it's too pricy.

Browsing the Amazon shop is free can be fun even of you don't buy anything. I have the G3+WiFi option - but don't assume that Amazon let you browse anywhere but their shop or let you link via your router to other machines!! On line shopping on their shop is good and works well after you've set your accounbt up. You can link to a computer using USB.

I must have read several novels I would never have seen in the shops by simply browsing and downloading which is very quick with the wireless version. The prices vary but are cheaper on the whole than paper [they are due VAT unlike paper] BUT they have been rendered into a text format which is peculiar to Amazon and athough one has bookmarks, going back to reference something is a bit awkward because there aren't any page numbers. You can insert commenst and remarks into the text with the inbuilt keyboard.

The worst thing about the Kindle is the quirky software and ergonomics of the control buttons but this is not necessarily all versions. It seems reliable and battery life is fine as long as you remember to keep the WiFi turned off after you use it.

[Jonathan]

I have a Kindle as well, I've had it since March and I use it from time to time. Trouble is, due to too many networks within range at home, it won't connect to the internet so that part of it doesn't work. I've spoken to my ISP and Amazon and they both say the same thing and there is nothing I can do about it. I have yet to try and connect using my phone though...

I've bought 1 book for it and downloaded some free ones. It's also good for pdf files of shell books (as long as they aren't in colour).

I'm happy with it but it won't stop me buying paper books!