Tell me about E-Readers...(Kim_M)

I think the nook has a backlight...but you can turn it off, so it's an option if you want to read in low light etc? Or that's what I've heard. The website for Nook is blabbing about the battery life now so perhaps they've made some adjustments in that regard. The touch screen alone would require more umph from a battery I should think since it has to be ON at all times to gather intel from your fingerstrokes?

Liesje

I just want something that reads books

That is a Kindle. To a "T". nothing fancy, nothing sexy. It just reads books. It replaces nothing else, not your clock...your computer...your tv....your phone...your camera...etc. JUST a book. It is the original. I have a gen 1 and I CRINGE when I think what it cost...you folks getting them now are LUCKY...they are dirt cheap now.

Might just stick with audio, I dunno.  I use a $10 mp3 player smaller than a roll of pennies and one AAA lasts me about 2 weeks.  Plus I like that with audio I can do stuff like fold clothes, bake....stuff with your hands.  Also I can't read in the car, makes me motion sick.  And I sometimes get attached to the "voices" reading the books...

Liesje

Also I can't read in the car, makes me motion sick

Lily too! :) Kindle can read to you (and play mp3's too)...but only certain titles...but I haven't come across one yet that won't. It's a pleasant voice too, not computery. But I know some of the audios are almost like stage productions. And you can just rent those vs having to BUY the book on a Kindle. Makes a difference. I don't think audio is really in danger from Kindles readtome feature yet. Too much red tape and there's a lot to be said for the "theatrical" side of that experience.

My favorite audios are the ones where you get a really good narrator that does the whole book, I don't like when it's like an old radio show where there's a different person for each character.  I listened to the last Harry Potter audio before the Pt. II movie came out and it was fantastic.  I enjoyed it better than reading the book originally and better than the films and will eventually go back and re-listen to the entire series.  I also like hearing the author narrate.  Frank McCourt read Angela's Ashes and Philip Pullman did parts of the His Dark Materials series (that was one of the annoying ones where each character had a voice but Pullman did all the narration, should have done the whole thing).  There's a few series I read/listen to that have the same person narrating; the voice becomes a part of the series as much as the character.  I've always loved being read to.  As a kid I listened to Stockard Channing read the Beverly Cleary books until I basically had them memorized.

I was forced away from paperback when our Barnes and Noble moved and discontinued the used books tables.  I used to get bags of paperbacks for $1-$5 each.  Sorry not paying $15 for a new paperback that is just rec reading (most of my reading/listening).  Good books my mom will buy and I can borrow.

Anywho...

Don't tell DH paperbacks are going out of style... he just finished a basement reno which included 8" x 6" built in book shelves for my crazy collection :)  I enjoy reading books multiple times, too!

I can see libraries getting more on board and the lending features being better.... but right now the library has to buy a new ebook every 26 lends or something... to simulate a book "wearing out" which is hooey.  If I could "rent" books easily, and cheaply, without having to GO anywhere?  I'm all for that!

NicoleS

If I could "rent" books easily, and cheaply, without having to GO anywhere

yes this has me salivating. I am kinda ticked off at the red tape but I do understand. It's a business and there are probably...jobs at stake as well. But all progress comes with a price and if they played their cards right they could in theory make just as much money renting as selling.

I think the death of the big book store would be great for books...and hopefully ereaders can accomplish this. They've already taken one down. I think that people will ALWAYS love books, real paper books on some level and that love may shrink some, BUT it will shrink down to a way that is beneficial to the mom n pop or speciality/niche bookstore which is REALLY what drew me into loving books in the first place.

I want my kids to feel like they've discovered something when they head into a bookstore, and be content with that they find, not dash in  pick a popular mass marketed author grab a book off a stack of HUNDREDS and walk back to pay passing racks of candy, toys, dvd's, cd's, stuffed animals, and a coffee shop!

That's not a bookstore to me, a bookstore is intimate and for those that have a LOVE...not just wanting a quick fix of their author. But that is the old curmudgeon talking I know LOL. The kids will go back to libraries more I think, or niche stores like comic shops or etc for their fix once the big old hulking behemoths close down.

Wow, I'm amazed at the feedback I am getting here!

Honestly, I hadn't heard of a Nook. LOL. It's a Kindle I am likely going to get, *if* I get one.

There are some books that will be bought in paper version, always.  My dog literature is one.  I love my library that I have developed, refer to it often, and would not change it for the world. There's nothing like being able to easily leaf through pages and highlight/mark important pages. 

I too tend to be a cheapy, in the sense that I could read pretty much anything I want at a library, and then I can even give it back when I'm done (so not unwanted collecting of books, and no throwing out - all the same issues Gina mentioned, I've complained about too!). But there's something interesting about storing "books" on one device, and the compact size that it has - would make it so easy for travel for me. The other thing that I like, or have heard, is that Kindles allow you to read PDF files as well.  I love reading new studies that are published through academia, and would enjoy it MUCH more on something like a Kindle than sitting at a computer desk.

Lots to think about for sure.

NicoleS

Don't tell DH paperbacks are going out of style... he just finished a basement reno which included 8" x 6" built in book shelves for my crazy collection :) 

and it looks fantastic!!

I'm one of the old school types that really likes to have the actual book in hand. I can see that changing if/when the e-readers get really cheap. For now, I buy all my books thru half.com and I've gotten brand new, best sellers for $2-$3 and maybe the same for shipping. I don't have space for books to accumulate, so I donate them on a regular basis. I like knowing that someone else can enjoy it.

Honestly, I just cringe at the thought of owning one more piece of technology. We each have android phones, we each have a laptop, plus I have a netbook and we have an office set up with a desktop computer and all that goes with it. I just don't want to add anything else

cakana

all my books thru half.com and I've gotten brand new, best sellers for $2-$3 and maybe the same for shipping.

and this is exactly what they are worth as soon as you are done reading them LOL! Popular fiction is just not a genre that holds value. The shipping and carboard box and the book itself are just all so wasteful considering how little actual use they are and how they will at the end of the day, end up back in a landfill.

I seldom worry over green issues but this one just seems so easily solveable to me. MILLIONS of copies of these books are printed off, and then 6 months later HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS are left in the remainder piles for a few dollars apiece. They would stop doing this if the big stores would go away and if more people used the digital copies of said books. It'd be worth it to me to pay a bit more to know that those umpteen copies I personally did not buy...are not rotting someplace or gathering dust on a shelf for $3.

Then you factor in the textbook racket? What THOSE cost students and how much "use" they are after the year they're assigned or used? The book business needs a HUGE overhaul. There is entirely too much waste going on. At least I am pretty sure textbook rental is happening/about to happen. That is something students out there should be rejoicing in. The textbook thing has turned my stomach for many many years. Out and out thievery...that.

As I always say when someone is resistant to ebooks as a concept..."I am sure there were folks just like you when we stopped reading via scroll and went to a rectangular shaped page turning book, saying "I hate these new blockythings! nothing can replace the feel of a scroll unfurling and running down my chest, into my lap, and out the door into the next room!". But we managed that transition okay."

:)

Kim_MacMillan

There are some books that will be bought in paper version, always.  My dog literature is one.  I love my library that I have developed, refer to it often, and would not change it for the world. There's nothing like being able to easily leaf through pages and highlight/mark important pages. 

I'm the same with dog books and other non fiction books.  I'll always buy this type book in the print version over the e versions.  I often go back and read a section again or refer to a footnote or reference and that's so much easier with a real book. 

I tend to hoard books because I do love to reread many of them but we are out of space for books unless Nicole wants to rent me some space and serve as my lending library. lol  Please no fines for overdue books.  I'm like Julie and on the library's blacklist so it's borrow or buy for me unless I change my identity.

My mom - who is completely technologically challenged - has a Kindle  My dad bought it for her for x-mas a few years ago.  At first she thought she was going to HATE it because she loved reading actual books.  Her issue is they go out to Palm Springs for 3 months and she would literally bring boxes of books to read.

Flash forward to now, she is in love with it.  She still reads some "real" books, but loves her Kindle. 

Personally, I only get to read books for enjoyment when I am on vacation so the cost wouldn't be worth it to me.  And then, I borrow books from the library.  We are huge library people.  The ones in Metro Detroit are all linked so you literally have access to 100's of libraries for materials.  All you have to do is order it online and they deliver it right to your local library.  They have e-books and self contained MP3 books too.  I have never not been able to find something - new or old - in our library cooperative.  I think most larger cities have this since it was this way when we lived in Milwaukee too.

Due to my commute I listen to books on CD.  I couldn't imagine paying $40 for a book on CD when I go through it in a week.  I start to get nervous when I don't have one listen to.  LOL  The biggest pain is that you sometimes have to get on a wait list, which can last for months, so patience is necessary for new books on CD.  But I would think with e-books, etc, it would be an immediate download.

rwbeagles

I think that people will ALWAYS love books, real paper books on some level and that love may shrink some, BUT it will shrink down to a way that is beneficial to the mom n pop or speciality/niche bookstore . . . . a bookstore is intimate and for those that have a LOVE...not just wanting a quick fix of their author. But that is the old curmudgeon talking I know LOL.

If I traveled a lot or had a lifestyle where reading on-the-go would be handy, then an e-reader makes all the sense in the world. I borrowed my friend's Kindle when we were on an airplane together once, and to read two entire newspapers without ink getting on my hands or fussing with the huge pages in my seat was really great.  But, 99% of my reading is done at home (my books are stacked up near my night stand!).

As others said, I'm frugal and enjoy my used bookstore arrangements (buy current titles quite cheap, return them for more credit).  Also, I like to have hard copies for a mini-reference-library at home for some things (we've got loads of dog care books, cookbooks, gardening books).   So, I've resisted e-readers all this time . . . but if I ever join the 21st century, I'd get the most basic Kindle they offer (again, I'm cheap)!  My friend's was simple to use and easy on my old, tired eyes.

mrstjohnson

But I would think with e-books, etc, it would be an immediate download.

Right now it's still a wait since they only have so many copies.  And not everything is available currently. 

Jackie, you are more than welcome to come "shop" my home library but it's probably far cheaper to just buy everything you want at full price than the plane ticket  

Textbook swap/lend is a racket still... the cost to "rent" a book is not that far below the retail cost.  I do (did) better buying and then selling again, than renting. Textbooks are ridiculous in cost.... and come out with new versions nearly constantly.  Terrible. 

Even those book swaps where people just mail each other books free but for the price of shipping and you get credits for sending out books to use to get new ones, isn't working long-term since the price of shipping is so darn high!  Darn USPS.  And media mail is slower than snails.