Kindle or Real Book

I asked for a Kindle for Christmas and 6 weeks later
I hate the damned thing. Its awkward to hold, its not
the same as reading a book, and makes me want to
throw it in the river. I gave it to my idiot son in law,
he loves all the techie crap. Books have personality,
they have something a piece of plastic will never have.

My wife has a Kindle Fire and it's everything she hoped it would be. She enjoys keeping up with friends, reading and playing games as well as accessing the internet.

Now, if I could just get her to fix that leaky faucet...

I got the Kindle App for Mac and iPhone - both are free.

I purchased one ebook, Annie Duke's Decide to Play Great Poker.

It's a great book, but I'm very much on the fence about whether I should have gotten the printed book instead.

Maybe it's because I haven't really looked at all the features of the Kindle App, but I'm not a huge fan. I'm not saying it's a bad thing either. I'm just very undecided.

On the other hand, the ebook did not include any shipping costs, was delivered in about a minute, and most important, was considerably cheaper than the printed version. If you know me at all, you know how cheap I am, so you know why I'm leaning towards Kindle....

I like reading on the Kindle and find it much more convenient to hold than a book, light enough to read with one hand without the pages flipping around. I read several books on a borrowed Kindle and was going to buy one but am pissed at the price of the books. I can usually buy a book cheaper than an e-book since some retailer always seems to have 30% off. This just doesn't seem right given the savings the publisher has with the e-book.

I agree with kenarmin. I love the Kindle and find it much more comfortable to read than a book. I can easily read while standing on the bus during my commute or in bed without tiring my arms. I have the case with built in light that runs from the Kindle battery. I love that I can carry dozens of books. The battery lasts for weeks. If I read books on my smartphone the battery drains in just a few hours. The biggest drawback is the price of books. The publishers are so greedy they often charge much more for Kindle editions than the paperback. I just buy books that are on sale or catch up on classics that are free or cheap.

I also found a web site, eReaderIQ, that will track Kindle books for sales. You enter your email address and the amazon codes for books of interest. When the price drops they will send an email.

I've read much more since purchasing a Nook than I did before. It's a great compromise (for me) between a simple e-reader and fully powered iPad (or clone).

Kindle Fire isn't serving Canada yet, so I went with Barnes and Noble's offering. Very pleased with it. I understand the preference for books, but practically, this works for me.

I prefer an ereader to a paperback book. I prefer a hardcover to an ereader assuming carrying the book with me isn't an issue. For example, if I'm going to Vegas, I'm traveling as light as possible. A kindle fits in my pocket and I don't need to bring a bag. A hardcover book though I'd either have to bring a bag or just carry it in my hand. That said, I'm not one to buy many hard cover books and I can't remember the last time I've gone to a library.

One nice thing about ereaders for me is that I like the black background with white text. It is just much easier to read for me. The second biggest bonus is it keeps track of the page I'm on far better than me bending the corner of the page.

I started this thread and now have a different attitude.
I now love Kindle. I use it with my Android tablet and
read on it every night.

Amazon offers an incredible number of free Kindle
books. For instance, there's a bunch of early short
story 'books' by Ray Bradbury and Philip K Dick that
I just downloaded for free. It's like a treasure trove
that has no bottom. God bless Amazon.

Quote: EvenBob

I asked for a Kindle for Christmas and 6 weeks later
I hate the damned thing. Its awkward to hold, its not
the same as reading a book, and makes me want to
throw it in the river. I gave it to my idiot son in law,
he loves all the techie crap. Books have personality,
they have something a piece of plastic will never have.

After 100 years any book is worth more than you paid for it too.

I don't have a Kindle, so whether or not I prefer Kindle to a real book really depends on what the book is.

I would have voted I'm blocking this thread.

Who knew it would take a 60+ person a while to love an electronic device. I chastised my brother for getting my mother (65) a tablet last Christmas based on future usage concerns. I was completely wrong.

Quote: tringlomane

Who knew it would take a 60+ person a while to love an electronic device. I chastised my brother for getting my mother (65) a tablet last Christmas based on future usage concerns. I was completely wrong.

I've been using computers since the 80's and been on the
net since 92. I was one of the first 10,000 sellers on Ebay.
My Amazon account is so old my password has four letters.
I didn't like the Kindle because it was crap. The Android
I have is twice what that shitty Kindle was.

I love Kindle. It beats the hell out of packing around a stack of books. I read Kindle on my android while playing boring video keno progressives.

I love my Nook. I have kept the original Nook for over 3 years now, because I have a lot of eyestrain issues with computer screens and backlit readers, and the original nook is like an etch-a-sketch; dark gray on white background with no backlight. Adjustable font size works on most books, though some of the early compendiums don't format well away from their native fonts and sizes. I have well over 1000 books in the palm of my hand and haven't begun to use up the memory. Love it.

That said, I still have over 2000 cherished books in my library I can't seem to let go of, though I donated 5000 books last year to start a town library. And there's no substitute for holding a book in your hand, paging back and forth at will to check something that ties in 20 pages later with something else. So I guess change takes time.