Just a couple of days ago, I read a blog post titled “Twelve Reasons Why I Don’t Use An E-Reader” and it reminded me of how I felt before I got my e-reader.
I did not want to pay cover price for a new or recent release and not have a physical copy of it. I wouldn’t be able to lend it out. I didn’t want to read on anything like a computer screen because computer monitors make my eyes hurt and water which causes me to not be able to read for very long. I also didn’t want to read on a “cold” piece of electronic hardware. And I didn’t want to pay the high price of the fragile hardware.
Then, for Christmas two years ago, I was visiting my son and he asked if, while he was at work, I could go to his apartment to wait for a couple of packages that were arriving vía Fed-Ex and would require a signature. I agreed to do it. When the packages arrived, one was definitely from Amazon.com and the size of a small-ish hardback book. I signed for it. Then I thought about it and wondered if perhaps it might be a Kindle, which my son had mentioned months before that I might want to get one day because of my love for reading. I felt really bad because I don’t ever tell my kids that what they got for me was not what I wanted. I don’t even tell them if it doesn’t fit. I just smile, and thank them and deal with it. I also knew that a Kindle was, at that time, $260. That was a lot of money for any of my kids, or even for all three of them together, to spend on me and I was sure it was not something I would use. I thought I was going to have to smile and accept it and then let it sit without using it. I almost cried. I was really upset and the next day was Christmas so I didn’t have a lot of time to adjust to the situation or to figure out a way to solve the problem.
On Christmas morning, the package indeed turned out to be a Kindle from all three of my kids. My son sat with me and explained how it worked and how simple it would be for me to order a book straight from the device. He also explained that all Kindle books were priced at no more than $9.99 (this was true at that time but the “Big 6” publishers have changed that even though Amazon.com fought for the consumer) with many being a lot less as the price went down once the book was no longer a new release or a bestseller. He also showed me how the capacity of the Kindle was about 1500 books (at least of the Kindle 2 which is what that model was) My son set up the device for me with my email address and my Amazon.com account information. The kids had also gotten me a $30 gift certificate to use on Kindle books. He showed me how to search the Kindle Store directly from my Kindle device. He also showed me how the Kindle does not have a back-lit screen which means that it does not cause eyestrain. We bought my first Kindle book at that time (Edward Kennedy’s True Compass: A Memoir).
I felt a little bit better after he went through it with me and I felt better about the price of the books. Before getting my Kindle I only bought used new releases and those were always at least $6 for a used physical copy. I would not have to have more and more bookshelves to fit my new books. I started to get used to the idea but thought I would only use it for special books, not for every day reading. That night I started reading my book on my Kindle and lo and behold I read for about three hours straight without eye strain. Reading in bed, holding the Kindle in one hand was so easy and so comfortable. The e-ink display was wonderful for my weak eyes. I will still a little iffy about the whole thing but I breathed easier after that first Kindle reading session.
Now, a little more than two years later, I carry my Kindle with me wherever I go. I have a special cover that I made for it and it travels safely in my purse wherever I go. I have over 800 titles on it. I get most of them for free or with gift cards that I earn from taking surveys online or using swagbucks.com. In the past two years I have spent less than $100 on these 800+ books. And the bonus is that my mother and my sisters, all avid readers, each have their own Kindle which we registered to my account so we all have access to the same books. That’s better than lending them the physical copy. If we want, the four of us can read the same title at the same time!
There are so many reasons for loving my Kindle. I can’t name them all here. However, not a day goes by without using my Kindle! And because it does not cause eyes strain, I can read it for hours and hours, unlike a physical book which I can read only for a half hour at a time due to the eye strain. Oh and one of the best things…you can change the size of the font very easily which means that I can read a book with the font size set at the third from the largest size which is comfortable for me and my sister reads it at one size smaller than I do and my mom at the largest size (which is two sizes larger than I need). Talk about a fit for everyone!
So this is my answer to the post I read the other day. I’m sure there are lots more reasons why I cannot let go of my Kindle but these are the ones that readily come to mind as I take a few minutes to write this between chapters of Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Marriage Plot, which is the title I am currently reading. I cannot imagine not having my Kindle!
Since I have started into some web content writing projects for extra money, I lost my book reading time. But, I still try to read a book or two a month at least and I have my magazines which are perfect to read before bed. I’ve decided that 2012 is the year I get my hands on an e-reader. So many of my friends have, and love, their Kindles and I just finished formatting a book for my dad to submit so I am sure I will get one soon. THANKS for writing up a review that hits on many of the positives that I know I would love as well.
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I used to be one of the people who said I’d never get an ereader, but I caved. I have a Kindle and while I still read more books in print, the Kindle does have its advantages. Instant access to books through one click purchasing, emailing documents to my Kindle so reading is easier on my eyes, easy to curl up under a blanket and turn pages with a click of a button, which doesn’t require taking cold hands out from under the blanket, etc. Will I ever stop reading print books? No. I love them. But my Kindle is nice, too.
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Oh my! I could not agree with you more. The difference with me was I began lusting after Kindle the minute it came out. With a $25 coupon and credit card rebate of $25 I got the high end one with cell for the price of the plain one. There is not a day I don’t read on it and it goes with me anytime I will have to wait anywhere. My only problem is controlling myself. I have always read about five books at a time and it is easy to start more than that on a Kindle.
My daughter has a KIndle too and we lend books. I also use the text to speech when I read so long in bed my eyes start to flag. LOL I know I’m not normal.
This does not mean a rejection of “real” books as some think. Matter of fact I used a gift intended for Kindle to buy a hard copy of Steve Martin’s latest book. Why? Because I have all his others and it didn’t seem right not to have that one in my books shelf. I also bought a hard copy of Writers Digest Market for 2012. Reference books work better in hard copy I think.
But for out and out reading for pleasure or even learning I don’t know how I lived without my Kindle. One more reason to love Jeff Bezos. 🙂
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I did try the kindle and it wasn’t for me. Being able to lend out a virtual copy to friends/family would be nice! I think the book vs. the e-book is going to be a subject of debate for quite awhile. I included a link to your post in my original post. I love a good debate! 🙂
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I think physical books will be around for a while but not much longer. Schools are beginning to adopt e-books and do away with the physical ones and ecologists have come out in support of e-readers because they save so many trees. But just on the basis of schools adopting them alone, I think that will be the determining factor. Look at what happened with computers. Once schools started using them and relying on them, parents got them for their kids and before long just about every home had ONE. Nowadays, it is rare to find the home where there is only one computer. I think that now that high schools and middle schools are adopting e-books (colleges already did several years ago), those kids will grow to become e-book users and that will be the beginning of the end of physical books. With the price becoming so affordable (a Kindle is now $79) it will not be long before most homes have at least one e-reader. My prediction is that within the current generation of school aged kids, there will be very few physical books left.
Not saying that is good or bad. Just making an observation.
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Just one question: Does shopping for a book on an e-reader feel as wonderful as spending time in an independent bookstore?
Other than that, I think I’d enjoy an e-reader very much from what I’ve seen and heard about them. The only reason I don’t have one already is because I have a large stack of to-be-read books sitting on the bookshelf and I’ve told myself no more books (and no e-reader) until I get through all of those.
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Robin, I used to love bookstores. Now, with failing health, I don’t set foot in them. I cannot reach above my eye level or below my knee to look at books or reach for them. I also can’t stand or sit for more than ten minutes so it’s difficult for me to navigate the bookstore and shelves; and I find that “the help” is so unhelpful that I just don’t go to bookstores anymore. I live a shortish distance from Powell’s City of Books and in the three and a half years I have lived here, I’ve only been there three times and I sat on one of the very few benches waiting while my companions shopped.
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I love my kindle! I’ve only had it for about a month and a half – and its been awesome 🙂 I still love regular books, and there are some books that I will continue to buy in paper versions so that I can more easily loan them to people, but the majority of my books I’ll buy on my kindle. I’ve already gotten two for completely free (one that was on a special 48 hr deal and one by Dickens) and the others I haven’t spent more than $4 on. I also have gift cards stored up (I use Swagbucks too!) and I’m going to reward myself for hitting writing goals by buying books for my kindle 😀
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Great, Ruthie! I get amazon credits from swagbucks about two to three times a month so that’s ten to fifteen dollars in free books for my Kindle! I love it. If and when I need them, I will get reference books in physical form but I don’t think I will get others in physical form. I just can’t read them. I need them Kindle to be able read because of my failing eyesight.
You do know about Calibre for converting ebooks, right?
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I’ve never heard of Calibre. But I do use swagbucks and get all my books from amazon 🙂
I’d be interested to know how you enjoy your futuristic/alternate universe books if you end up reading!
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