• Welcome to the Fantasy Writing Forums. Register Now to join us!

I just got a Kindle!

Legerdemain

Troubadour
Ok, I just got a Kindle and Orson Scott Card's "Pathfinder". I want to know people's thoughts on E-Readers, their value, their positive/negatives, and to tell me what are some good new books for me to be on the look out for!

Whee, electro-readin-atron, take me away!!!!
 

elly

Scribe
In my opinion I way prefer the 'old fashioned' style of reading, yes an E-reader can be helpful at times but a book, I think is much more satisfying to have, and nicer to keep and you don't have to worry about breaking it or whatever. Hmmm books to look out for,, I dunno, what sort of books do you read? :)
 

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
I don't own one, but can definitely see the value in them. There's something to be said for carrying a small library with you in a slim package.

That being said, I don't care for the implication (made by some) that they will one day phase out books made from paper. I love the feel of a paper book in my hands, and the smell of dead trees and ink. I would hate to see them vanish.

Can you see your kindle completely replacing paper books in your life?
 

Behelit

Troubadour
I can think of both notable pros and cons for an e-reader.

Pros:
Portable library
Easy-to-read
New books cheap
Saves a forest or 10

Cons:
Old books may be more expensive
You don't actually own the copy of the book. You own the rights to view it
Easier to break
Electronic(needing to be kept charged)

I wouldn't get one, but I can see it being useful. I grew up with a packrat/bookworm, I know the value of being able to organize and stow away.
 
Last edited:

Legerdemain

Troubadour
Can you see your kindle completely replacing paper books in your life?

No, BD, I can't. I love paper books, with nice leather covers, and fine crisp pages with that new or old book smell, depending on the novel I'm reading... Plus, if it's an academic textbook, I love writing notes to pieces, making changes as appropriate, and adding sidenotes like: "This argument is unsubstantiated by the author."

To respond to your pros/cons list Behelit, I think the easy to read/new books cheap/saves a forest are the big ones for me. Some books I already have, but are in rough condition, I can just read on Kindle. Plus all the public domain goodness let's me read some classics for free (Verne is my hero once again!).

That said, for the cons, easier to break is always on my mind, and I would add that I don't like that buying new books will take revenue from authors (though I don't think it's as bad as mp3's are for musicians, in fact MUCH better deal, but still they lose something I'm sure). On the electronic end, I think it's up to the reader's smart use of the kindle. If you turn wireless connection off, it will run for something like 200 hours of reading on a single charge or more. My father has had one for a year now, and has charged it maybe three times (he's read over 300 books on it).

If you get one, you'll love it... but if you're like me, you'll probably not buy it, but instead wait till it's a gift. And then love it.
 

DavidP

Dreamer
I wont make my book available for electronic download - paper only for me!

It is my feeling that the files are child's play to crack, and before you know it, your tome is available for free on The Pirate Bay or some such site. That means zero revenue from those "copies".

I prefer reading a proper book in any event.
 

Kelise

Maester
I currently suffer from RSI and ross river, so I can't hold a book that's more than 400 pages long, so ebooks are a life saver. I read on my iPad. I also travel a lot, and in London I actually broke my suitcase while pulling it down some stairs, because it was just so heavy with books I had brought and bought. So again, I'll be living off ebooks while travelling.

Other than that, I prefer actual books. The smell, feel... and it just feels so much more real. I don't like paying so much for eBooks when there's not as much production cost, and it's not as if the author is getting a higher cut through it either. I much, much prefer actual books, but my current situation demands ebooks as well...
 
I haven't got one, but am very close to buying a Kindle, or an iPad if I want to splash out. I'm a sucker for technology so I think they're definitely worth having and like people have noted, it's environmentally beneficial and they're great for travelling. That being said, I couldn't imagine a world where books had been replaced by screens and electronic ink. I love the feel of books, the smell of the pages, even the weight for some reason. I say use an E-reader for journeys but reading in cafes, at home or at a park etc. should be left to the wonderful gifts of books.
 

Ravana

Istar
The good: much harder to crease the spine.

The bad: it's a real bitch once you do. ;)

I will always prefer paper, if for no other reason than because I find it easier on my eyes. Yes, I know screens are continuing to improve, but I can't see them ever reaching the point of equivalence. Also, I find it very easy to re-locate a particular point in a book based on its relative physical position, whereas with electronic text, one page is the same as another. (And don't tell me they're searchable–if I could remember what it said, I wouldn't need to find it again, now would I? Though, conversely, this would be a great help if, say, you're trying to find where a character the details about whom you've forgotten first appears.)

I do like the possibility of being able to cart about an entire library. That brings me back to "creasing the spine," though: I'm pretty sure that if my e-reader suffered catastrophic failure, or got stolen, and I lost that entire library–along with all the notes I'd taken, and whatever else I ended up putting on there–I would be unwilling to go to the trouble (and expense) of replacing it. The only way my paper library could be obliterated at a stroke would be by fire (something I have considerably greater control over than whether or not a given chip craps out), and I only lose paper books one at a time (ditto).

Which brings up a question: if for whatever reason your e-reader does stop working, do you have to buy any titles you want over again? (I'm assuming yes–the logistics of permanently tracking who bought what being more than I can see publishers putting themselves to the trouble of–but it's not something I've looked into. If so, I can see a bright future for someone in selling e-reader insurance: I know what my homeowner's policy will pay in the event of a fire.…)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Kelise

Maester
I do like the possibility of being able to cart about an entire library. That brings me back to "creasing the spine," though: I'm pretty sure that if my e-reader suffered catastrophic failure, or got stolen, and I lost that entire library—along with all the notes I'd taken, and whatever else I ended up putting on there—I would be unwilling to go to the trouble (and expense) of replacing it. The only way my paper library could be obliterated at a stroke would be by fire (something I have considerably greater control over than whether or not a given chip craps out), and I only lose paper books one at a time (ditto).

Which brings up a question: if for whatever reason your e-reader does stop working, do you have to buy any titles you want over again? (I'm assuming yes—the logistics of permanently tracking who bought what being more than I can see publishers putting themselves to the trouble of—but it's not something I've looked into. If so, I can see a bright future for someone in selling e-reader insurance: I know what my homeowner's policy will pay in the event of a fire.…)

Wouldn't it all be backed up? With mine (iPad, and I had a Sony eReader for a while...) you would download them to the computer and use a program to then put them on your reader. The backup even saves what page you're on.

So... I don't think failure or it being stolen would hurt your electronic library at all :)
 

Ravana

Istar
Long as you remember to keep your backups, I suppose. Wasn't sure how that worked… why I asked. ;)

Even so–a couple hundred downloads and this could easily become the most valuable single item in your house. Probably be a good idea to keep an independent (off-site) record of what you've downloaded… in case some event causes you to lose both it and the computer you've used to download.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I know this is an old thread, but I am getting a Kindle next week some time and I wanted to know what are some must-haves for it. Fantasy or anything else. It's my first major "new fangled device" (I'm not into iPods, iPads, or iPids) so I may need some help navigating it and finding good stuff. Any help appreciated!
 

Black Dragon

Staff
Administrator
Hey Phil,

Let us know how you like the Kindle. I've been considering getting one, and would appreciate your thoughts on it.
 

M.A.N.

Scribe
As a bookstore owner and one that sell ereaders and e-books as well, I see and hear these arguments every day: "Nah, there's nothing like "real" books" and the very, very common: "But I love the smell of books".
All very emotional arguments that are not that important in the end.
Very few people, if any, buy a book because of the smell. It's something you get and not necessarily a good thing. Old and used books might smell more but that might be mould and fungus. Not something you would want to bring into a home if you didn't have to.
Another argument, "I like to read the 'old-fashioned' way" is referring to turning paper pages. But that's the new way. 500 years or so ago we read the "old-fashioned" way - on scrolls. One long continous piece of text. The way we actually read on computers these days.
But now that we get e-readers that can do anything if we let them, someone thought that it would be best to read on them as we read on paperbooks! To mimic the books. Which is actually interrupting the reading ever so slightly every time you "turn" a page.
That might be why you don't see that behaviour on webpages.

But most importantly: most people that comment - often negatively - on e-readers and e-books, usually haven't tried them for real.
We've had many, many people checking them out in the store, with frowns on their faces, and after just a few minutes they're actually going "Hey, this is actually pretty good!"

There's a theory saying that our community is going from owning things to renting them. You see this behaviour already when it comes to movies and music.
Maybe we'll see that as well with literature. Maybe owning books won't be important. Just getting your hands on the text within them.
Maybe we won't refer to them as books either.

Who knows?

But times are changing. I for one can definitely feel it. It's affecting my profession and not for the better.
But it can mean very interesting and promising things for writers.
And that is really cool.

Take care,
Magnus
 
Last edited:

Woodroam

Dreamer
Love my Kindle. 270 novels - all free classic novels from Project Guterberg. My current reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky, The Republic by Plato, and Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons.

They say the kindle will hold 3000 books -- I'm sure that number will increase in the years ahead.

I'm looking forward to the day when school children will be handed their lifelong library in first-grade, every text book and novel that they'll need through school and college in one 8-ounce bright screened box. I hope that one of my novels is included.
 

Kelise

Maester
Just like to sy that my iPad was a savior on my trip to the UK. I forgot to get my iPhone unlocked before I left (the most n00b thing I've ever done in my whole geeky life) but my iPad was (as it was bought from the Apple store) so it kept me in touch with everyone :)

Loaded with seven movies, 14 episodes of TV, well over 100 books (and then all my games and apps, etc) and it was just 45% full. I wasn't bored for a moment and it came in handy more than one for checking bookings, maps and so on as well.

As I said in my earlier post - I broke my suitcase once from travelling with too many books. This time I took just one (for reading when all electronics must be turned off in the plane) and my suitcase remained light :) The iPad is so light I could hardly feel it in my bag, too.

I still adore actual books, but for travelling... I adore my iPad. It's also very handy when I decided I simply couldn't wait for my paperbook copy of Tales for Canterbury (a fundraising anthology for the crisis in New Zealand: Tales for Canterbury | Survival | Hope | Future) and so I simply bought the ePub version also. Volia! You should check out the contributors. It's totally worth two copies ;D
 
Last edited:

kennyc

Inkling
I've been tracking the ebook technology for well over 20 years now. The e-ink screens make it really come true. I own both a Sony 505 reader and a Kindle2 (also a Xoom Tablet) and DroidX phone. I have Kindle, Nook, Aldiko and other ebook apps on all of them. I love the freedom of having 100's or at least 10's of books available and the ability to pick the one that meets my reading needs of the moment. My only issue is that many books are not yet available in ebook form and some I prefer in paper (mostly non-fiction).

It's a brave new world the the publishing business is in transition. Many doors are opening for writers if you take care in your approach.
 

kennyc

Inkling
...

Which brings up a question: if for whatever reason your e-reader does stop working, do you have to buy any titles you want over again? (I'm assuming yes–the logistics of permanently tracking who bought what being more than I can see publishers putting themselves to the trouble of–but it's not something I've looked into. If so, I can see a bright future for someone in selling e-reader insurance: I know what my homeowner's policy will pay in the event of a fire.…)

Yes and No. The real problem is DRM (digital rights management) which makes it hard to back up ebooks that have it because they in most cases are keyed to a particular reader. With Amazon you can have up to 5 ebook readers (kindles or kindle4PC or Android etc). Similar with the Sony and B&N Nook. I have some very definitive and personal opinions on DRM which I won't get into at the moment. There have been situations where particular publishers have gone out of business and yes...if your ereader breaks then you have to repurchase your books. (unless you've stripped drm and backed them up yourself).

When Sony moved from their proprietary format to EPUB (the emerging standard) they allowed you to re-download the new versions.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top