Why I'll Never Buy a Kindle

The nearest decent book store is a 40 mile round trip from my house and that is largely urban suburban stop and go driving that consumes lots and lots of gas sitting at stoplights and is in a neighborhood that offers me very little else of interest. That's for someone who lives in a nearby suburb of a large American city. Imagine the reality for someone who lives in a distant exurb or remote small town.

My Kindle will last on standby for roughly 2 weeks on a single charge, carries the reading material of a good sized bookshelf, saves me money, is compact and travels well and has been far more rugged than any iPod I have ever owned.

I love books, read a lot and read a wide variety of material. I understand the tactile routine that many miss when reading on a Kindle, but it is not the reason we read. It's the content stupid and the Kindle does that amazingly well. I also have yet to see a printed book that can resize print on the fly and go from tiny print all the way up to large print with the push of a button.

My only wish for the Kindle is that Amazon would expand it's Kindle offerings more rapidly, but they offer an amazingly diverse catalog of material considering the number of titles offered.

As to it's environmental impact, the pluses offset the manufacturing footprint. The power it uses is minimal and will only amplify over time. The fuel and time it saves me is huge and a calculation you did not include on conventional books is the cost of warehousing (storing) books by a publisher, distributor, retailer or end user. That space is expensive and must be cleaned, climate controlled, secured, lighted, etc. The Kindle ecosystem is a small electronic file transmitted over the cell phone network of Sprint/Nextel in a few seconds.

I'll leave it at that, but suggest you reconsider your posit.

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The e-reader is the future, and to cling to the paper book is to cling to the past. I am almost at the end of my second year owning a Kindle. With the addition of an SD card, I have 336 books on it. There is nothing like being able to look up a word or explore an interesting topic at the touch of a button. There is no substitute for finishing a thriller at 3:00 AM and having the sequel downloaded and ready to read within 10 seconds. Someday soon most authors will publish their own e-books without intermediaries and e-readers will be ubiquitous. I can't wait!

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... about books is that they're static once they're printed, unlike Kindle, where Amazon can and has changed books after purchase.

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Your argument could be applied to the Web vs. physical newspapers and magazines. Without the former there would be no be such thing as AlterNet.

eBook readers offer convenience other commenters wrote about, but they also make possible, together with Internet, tiny samizdat operations.

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I make my life in an area of the world where Kindles and their books are not available.

I am an unabashed book addict. I feel bereft if I go out without my latest read, or finish it without a replacement being immediately at hand. I can therefore understand something of the allure of the Kindle and equivalent electronic appliances. However I too will never own one, even if Amazon makes them available in my country.

One of the major joys of great literature is giving or lending a best loved book to a dear friend, margin notes and all. I could not do this with a Kindle. To the best of my knowledge I can not connect the kindle to my computer to downlad the wealth of copyright-free classics available from Gutenberg and other organisations.

I have a large library of books in several languages. Nothing electronic could ever hope to replace them, although a swivel-touch-screen netbook is at the top of my wish list to enable both work and spare, emergency reading away from home.

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Gotta say I agree with the author here. You'll have to pry my actual physical books from my cold dead hands. I have entire bookshelves of books in my home, and to think of them removed and replaced with blank walls and a solitary kindle is awful. Looking at the books you've read is like tracing through your own history, why would I want to replace that with an electronic device?

I guess you could say the same of music and dvds - both of which I go only electronic nowdays - but I don't think it's the same. You don't need to sit and look at a cd to hear it, or a dvd to watch it. With a book, the physical medium is part of the experience.

I think ebooks will have their place though - textbooks, news papers etc specifically come to mind - but you'll never see me reading a favourite novel on one of these things.

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I could see using it for reference materials, where one might need to look something up and organize information.

It doesn't compare to the tactile heft of an actual book. I by most of my books online through Amazon Marketplace, which allows me to get most of them second-hand so I'm not actually killing additional trees.

Further, as the author pointed out, books are recyclable while the materials of the Kindle aren't. Likewise, Kindle will ultimately be rendered obsolete by later e-book readers and end up in landfills somewhere. Books will always be accessible through the Mark I Eyeball.

I love the internet. My work is as a Data Analyst so I understand the tremendous utility of computerized databases, but there are aspects of the book that e-book readers simply cannot match.

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A hacked PSP is a great e-book reader and has a plethora of other useful functions...
I don't even play games on the thing anymore.

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Hey, dumby, nobody gives a fuck.

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People feel the same way about LPs vs. CDs vs. MP3 players. And for now, these are all still around. Real books will be around for a very long time. But eventually, the younger readers will only know the newer technologies. That's progress I guess . . .

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...there are many books that only deserve a Kindle reading.

To me if a book is not good enough to be re-read, it may be Kindle material.

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I used to agree with you. And to some extent, I still do. The Kindle is not a bookshelf full of well-loved books. But it is significantly more portable and lightweight. And it does connect to your computer should you wish, and can handle Project Gutenberg (unlike the Sony E-reader). No, I can't make an indelible mark in the book. but I can hightlight favorite passages, or make notes in the book. I can get major newpapers downloaded onto it, for less than the cost of the regular paper, and that alone saves a lot of trees.

No, I can't lend books to others without handing over the whole device. But I'm not fond of lending books out unless I really trust a person anyhow. And yes, it's made of all sorts of exotic materials. But it's still cheaper to ship from wherever it gets made than a pile of books is to ship from Southeast Asia (where most book printing actually occurs).

Really, though, your argument seems to be against the Kindle vs used books. Which are an entirely different entity from new books. New books generate money for the writer and the publisher, are in better condition, and are more expensive. Used books all the money goes to the bookstore, they can be in all kinds of conditions, and are often (unless they are collector quality) very cheap. But actually getting all the books in a series can be dodgy. I would say the Kindle falls between these two types of book shopping, with the pro of still fitting in my bag, regardless of how many books it contains. Compared to new books, the Kindle wins. Compared to used...I don't know, I gave up shopping used, as I like it when my authors eat.

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their business practices. If your Kindle is lost or stolen Amazon will not help you locate it w/o a warrant from the police. They will not shut off service. They prefer to keep streaming content to a new registered user rather than help you recover your property.

Check it out here: www.nytimes.com/2009/09/07/technology/07kindle.html?

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i use my iPod Touch as an e-reader and it helps me address two problems I have reading as a senior with physical difficulties. First, the lighted screen makes the text much more vivid and easier for my weak eyes and I can size it according to adjust to changing conditions. Second, its small size make it possible for me to read one-handed, even when lying on my side, or in bed. No more sore thumbs from holding an oversized tome. I carry it in my pocket and any time I have the time I can take it out and read. And, of course, it is also handy as a PDA. So, yes, I love paper books for all the well known reasons but e-books have a definite advantage for my age and condition.

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If you seriously believe that Kindles will still be manufactured in ten years, you are delusional. In ten years (or much less) your DVD collection will be obsolete, your computer will be obsolete, your camcorder will be obsolete, your phone will be obsolete, and your Kindle will be obsolete. My book collection will, however, be right where it has been for over 20 years, and will remain (barring a house fire) for the rest of my life. Books are virtually timeless. Tech-Gadgets like the Kindle are merely fleeting gimmicks. Enjoy your Kindles while you can.

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maybe getting both for a few dollars more?
Buy a paper book and get the E book too?? Arent more choices better than limiting ourselves to which medium we use?? btw I have a Nook on order ;)

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Like the author of this article, I prefer real books. I enjoy visiting bookstores and libraries, and I take pride in the seven bookcases in my home, all overflowing with books.

That being said, however, I think the Kindle is a very useful device, though I don't yet own one. As commenters above have noted, Kindles are quite useful to those living in areas where access to a wide variety of book titles is limited and they're also great for travelers.

One especially good use for Kindles is for soldiers and sailors serving overseas who cannot bring lots of books with them on their deployments. A Kindle is the ideal solution here.

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Put it beside the ipods/iphone/iraqs on the stack of expensive adventures Americans have bought into in hopes of making their lives better.

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Try to check out a popular book from the NYC public library. I have numerous books on reserve. Books that I must wait for over a year or more to read.

I love libraries, but in the digital age they are passe.

Hopefully, the NYC library will go 100 percent digital soon.

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I see the advantages of both formats but the art of the printed materials is lost with Kindle.

I have many hardbound books in my collection including coffee table sized photo books and there is something so connective when you hold one of these books in your hand. Sometimes the feel of the paper, it's grade and weight makes it pleasant to simply turn a page. The cover texture... that traction you feel in your fingertips as you hold it gives a certain tactile response to the reading itself. Type font selection and design of the chapter heading pages are two other areas where Kindle falls flat for me.

When I read a book like my Lord of the Rings Trilogy bound in read leather with full color first letters of each chapter and fold out maps, I feel connected to the author and to the marvelous artists who created such a piece of art, both in literature form and in aesthetic form as well.

To use an athletic metaphor, when it comes to these qualities Kindle can't even carry this book's jock.

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I'll admit, yes, the two mediums do compete, more than most of us would like, and that not every aspect of how this will shake out - using (more) one than the other - will be good, probably. I sympathise with you about what makes books so great, not just their immediacy and their embodied history, their tactility(?), but also they just seem to be more durable, they impart a sense of safety to those who have access or own them. In favor of electronic readers are the decreased cost of production and distribution of information, though who losses, and what do we loss (more and greater variety of writers, new writers) are very important matters that is yet to be worked out; I find that this might be worked out better than is the case with much of technology development/change historically. Perhaps I am mistaken to put it in the past form, as if there is going to be some sort of finality to it.
I sort books for one of the largest, greatest sorted used book/media sales in the country. I need no convincing about the value of books. But I also love to search for, find, and digest information on the web, from which book readers are just a short step; and even if something like Kindle doesn't allow me to pass what I read to others, or to make it more permanent (something which makes the web s valuable, and marks and important difference between it and books/Kindle)I can still appreciate being able to change font size and use the find feature. And I much prefer writing on a computer to most (lengthy) writing with paper and pencil, something which I did exclusively until I was into my mid-thirties (college in long-hand). Computers is the way to go to manage notes, redraft, index, write legibly.
But backup!!

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According to media theorist Neil Postman, author of 'Amusing Ourselves to Death', there are two kinds of media: those that (primarily) conquer space, and those that conquer time.

Media that conquer space, such as the telegraph, radio, telephone, television, etc. can span great distances, sending information around the globe in seconds. But they are necessarily limited in time: the transmission is finished once it is sent. To keep a radio, television, etc. transmission, one needs to transfer it to another medium. Modern methods of recording also conquer space very well: you can record an awful lot of information in a small container these days.

The other kind of media, those that conquer time, keep information stable for a relatively long duration. These media, however, are trapped in space, being confined to a particular object. To send this kind of information around the globe takes time, as the medium must be put on a truck, ship, etc. and physically transported. The obvious example of this kind of medium is a book. The book is stable over time, if it is kept in good condition, but its information is difficult to transmit, and the container that does so is relatively bulky.

The Kindle, like other devices that use digital technology, is a space-conquering medium, more than it is one that conquers time. The information can be sent around the globe in mere moments. It can store information over short periods of time (relative to a book), but that is not its primary purpose.

The Kindle is thus better at some aspects of information transmission than are books, and inferior in other respects. It saves space on bookshelves, and does not require multiple trips to the bookstore or library, but it is also a relatively unstable container for such information.

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Here's why I ain't gonna buy one!

http://tinyurl.com/ydegmoz

You know Amazon and Google, etc. will be feeding your reading choices straight to the NSA...

Happy Reading!

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The big selling points to me seem to be cheaper magazines.

Book wise, I read primarily science fiction. I am not sure that the library can meet my needs on that. Luckily I don't have to worry, as I live 4 blocks from the oldest independent science fiction bookstore in the US (2nd oldest worldwide) in Uncle Hugo's. I don't shop there are frequently as I used to because one of their clerks, an amazing man, Scott Ames died. I used to enjoy talking to him as much as browsing for books, plus he was great for recommendations.

I don't get this obsession with dog earring pages, writing comments in the margins, highlighting text and all that. I do get smell and heft though. I treat my books with more respect, including those I purchased used, which is a large part of my personal library.

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While I agree with most of the above posters, that you'd have to pry my bound book collection from my cold, dead hands... I am quite willing to make the move from paper (ie. DEAD trees) to e-literature. I've already done it with my newspaper subscription, my utility bills and insurance policies. Too many books are printed, only to end up in remainder bins and musty used book stores. Public libraries fully acknowledge the problems they have creating enough storage space for their collections, and forget the problems archival libraries have with atmospheric control/HVAC! Yes, a book is a lovely experience, but the author didn't intend for you to worship the actual BOOK itself - just the words and thoughts within...

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The author and those who have commented have forgotten a relatively large group of people for whom the kindle is a godsend: those whose hands are disabled and those whose eyes no longer allow them to read regular or even large print publications. Many of us cannot easily hold a book (even a paperback one)open. Many of us need very large fonts to read. With a kindle, one can subscribe to a newspaper and read it for the first time in a long time. The smell of a book or its history doesn't mean much to us, now that we can read! And at a discount in many cases. There are even free books that can be downloaded. Get over yourself.

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Personally I love real paper books and will probably never give them up. I also think that they are going to stick around, if for no other reason than that people, over time, will not want to bother upgrading, switching electronic formats, etc., but also because there is something comforting about them. People like me won't ever switch. Personally, I really can't from a screen for too long because it bothers my increasingly myopic eyes. New and used bookstores are havens for me, places where I can wander around, read back covers and find things that I never would have sought out, as well as enjoy the prime people watching and spontaneous conversations with other book lovers.
That said, the point of a book is reading- being consumed by a story, fascinated by the details of a biography or scientific endeavor to the point that you stay up too late so you can get through one more chapter. Whether you're scrolling or turning a page shouldn't matter as long as you're reading. Even if electronic readers take the place of books, I'll still enjoy a rainy Sunday with a glass of wine or tea, snuggled up in bed getting lost in a good story. The medium isn't the message here, and the point is still the draw of a good book.

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These new-fangled “Motion Pictures” are vastly inferior to the experience of seeing a live actor performing the works of The Bard or Moliere.

But a lot of audience members, myself included, enjoy the smell and palpable history of live performance in a theatre or public square. There is something comforting about the shared experience of seeing a performer many others have seen, and will see in the future.

Just sayin.

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I love books - old, new, used, well-read books. I also love my Kindle. I have over 400 hardcover and paperbacks books. Over the years I have given away or donated over 1,000 books to charity or friends. I currently have nearly 200 books on my Kindle. My real books are in storage except for a few I need for my current dissertation work and research on a book I am writing. I miss those books because they are like old friends, but I am also very grateful for my Kindle. I keep not only books for my research on it, but also books that I like to re-read on occasion. Because I am currently living in a 25 year old RV since we lost our rental housing when my husband lost his job over a year ago, I do not have a great deal of space for my books, so the Kindle is a great thing for me.

Both real books and the Kindle have there place, just as stereos and MP3 players have their place. This was brought home to me recently when a person in my husband's fine arts class noted that they had been unaware that instruments could create layered sounds when played in an orchestra. It dawned on me that because of this person's age, they might not ever have had the pleasure of hearing a symphony orchestra play live, only MOOG synthesized music on a disc. The differences are real, just as a real book gives a different sense than does an electronic one.

Our society needs to learn how to blend both the electronic with the physical technologies. If we do not, then we will ultimately lose on both counts. Electronic books will never replace real books for most people, but unless we expose the future generations to the real books, we and they will lose something. Something intangible, but real. Just ask anyone who lost themselves with "Robinson Crusoe" or "The Three Musketeers" or "Huckleberry Finn" or even something like the works of Vonnegut or Mailer, on a rainy day sitting watching the water trickle down the window pane, while drinking a warm drink and snuggled under a soft wool blanket.

Until someone has experienced the feel of the book or the thrill of the words as their imaginations are fired up, then even reading an electronic book will not do the same thing, even if the words are the same. I miss my books, but I also love my Kindle. I love my Kindle, because I understand that missing my books does not mean I have to miss what they hold. There is a difference, but one that takes time to appreciate.

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I wish I had $ for a Kindle. My allergies would thank me for it.

Sure, I like holding a book in my hand as much as the author. But I can do without the disintegrating paperback cover in my highly acidic perpetual hand-sweat (why I only buy hardcover, when I can scrounge cash to buy in the first place). I can do without the "musty" smell and "tropical funk" lifting from the pages to make my days and nights miserable with allergic reactions.

Ah, New Yorkers... always ready to demonstrate how the world ends at their bridges, tunnels and ferrys. My memories of New York are: dirty, gray, dingy, cold, outrageously expensive, violent, harsh, dank, allergy ridden, disgusting, and abusive. Yay, NYC.

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Yes, and I love the smell of a wood fire on a crisp fall afternoon but if we all had wood stoves, there would be massive deforestation and major air pollution.

I rather like the idea of the Kindle. To be able to carry around a library on something so portable. You see, I love reading but I tend to end up with a pile of books which, every once in a while, I need to get rid of for space concerns. It would be nice to keep the really good ones around without the clutter.

Sure there's something to be said about the experience of a book store or a library, but paper publishing just isn't sustainable and creates a lot of pollution. Yes, waste is created by electronics too, but it's one device in place of many books.

I find that bookstores will list many rarer titles on their websites for order, but when you go into the store, you can't find them. This is because floor space costs money, so only the books that appeal to the lowest common denominator get shelf space. Just look at how big the teen drama / vampire section has grown in the last year at your local store.

The company I work for generates massive amounts of paper. Carrying around a laptop isn't really practical as a means of saving paper when you need to convey information. A Kindle like device would be a godsend to reducing paper use.

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Love REAL books? Fine, so do I.
Like the economy and space-saving qualities of the Kindle or similar device? Me too.
I happen to have and like BOTH. No compromises needed, as they both have their places.
The real books I have include more than a hundred volumes of leather bound, gold edged and decorated classical literary treasures such as the Iliad, The Republic, the Federalist Papers, the Constitution, the works of Shakespeare, etc., etc., and are absolutely GORGEOUS to look at, and the focal point of my living room. They're also constructed of acid-free paper and will last for several generations. The Kindle has no such artful appearance, but is a cheap way of buying current best-sellers at a third of the price of a new hard-bound book. Amazon will also archive any books you request them to.
This way of reading is in its infancy, and is yet to fulfill its many promises. Consider one, for instance. Instead of lugging twenty or more puunds of textbooks around, how about a five or six ounce device less than an inch thick, and about the size of a paperback? Pretty good for students of all ages, huh?

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But I hate cutting down trees to make books.
Odd that all it would take to save thousands(millions?) of trees is to legalize hemp. Boy do we live in a stupid country.

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I agree that making this into an either/or argument is silly, as there are desireable aspects to paper books as well as to the ease of electronic storage, and of course a combination of both will be around for sometime. However, as the value of books to book lovers is obvious, it would be useful to point out the flaws/dangers of the rush to embrace any one electronic format that is pushed down the consumers throats.

I remember the early days of PDAs where trying to take advantage of using that storage to have reading material of internet content and computer files was always a major clusterf*ck. Why couldn't somebody make an intuitive interface where you could easily convert anything and download to the device anything you could open upon your PC? No, it was always some other app or web service after another wanting more money from you to do what should be ridiculously simple from a tech standpoint. I haven't messed with that stuff in years and am unfamiliar with the Kindle, but I am also far from a luddite. And I suspect whether or not the interface is intuitive and well thought out, its main goal is most likely to protect our out-dated copyright laws and protect corporate (middleman) profit as well as some crumbs for the actual writers and artists.

It would be wise to remember that while there are great advantages to the ease of mass storage and potential for bettering access to information and knowledge, the ultimate goal of the people making these products is not a noble pursuit. They are just trying to make sure all the money gets funneled to those with most of it already anyway. Some have pointed out that books could be lent to a friend but not one on your Kindle. More importantly though, if you invested a lot of money in books and then were down on your luck, you could have a garage sale or sell on eBay or Amazon and recoup some of your money. Or donate to less fortunate people. The Amazon's etc. have already co-opted those channels by taking big cuts of the "online garage sales", but now here's a chance to take it all. I could go on, but the point is the technology is ultimately useful, it's the implementation with/without concern for the rights of the user that will determine if it's good or bad for society.

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Hmmmmm....should I buy a Kindle, or feed my family for the next two weeks? The Kindle is an elitist tool- far out of reach for the average person on a budget. The library and used books make more sense to me..plus I can give a book to a friend when I am done.

The true cost of manufacturing a Kindle does not take into account the mining operations (like coltan) and the cost to people living around those mines. Plus they emit RF, which will probably be found to cause brain tumors.

Books should be made with hemp paper, making them far more green than a Kindle could ever be.

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I think digital books are great but why do we need a new device. What is wrong with downloading books to a notepad computer.

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A KINDLE!

Oh and to make it super special convince people that this stripped lapto with a purposefully crippled system is the latest in "special purpose" gadget.

Talk loud and fast about how special it is so that potential victims er I mean buyers won't notice how entirely contrived Kindle is.

I have to credit to the Amazon marketing team for being able to convince so many that they need to get this to read books.

It's NOT about paper vs. digital.

It's about value.

It's about dumbing down current technology offerings, purposely stripping capability to create a basic gadget and selling it at a premium price!

It's contrived, because all it can do can be done by a variety of current gadgets into something that can do the same thing as well and often better.

If you have an IPhone you have a reader.

Any super cheap netbook is a potential dedicated reader.

For those with more tech know how an old PSP is a dedicated reader.

Hell most Palms and digital assts. could and would be great personal readers if only the publishing industry would sell their product in the appropriate file format - it's that simple, but so hard for the creatively stunted America of today.

Ah but people who think the ereader is essential are the type who cannot be so disciplined.

Give them a usable keyboard, and laptop that comes loaded with features, slow processor be damned, and they'll "used it" to do more than read books.

So the solution, make them pay more for a stripped down netbook/laptop without a laptop and severely limit its function to do anything but display pages in a book and people will buy and buy and buy!

NOTHING demonstrates the total stupidity of the saying "You get what you pay for" by fools who think "price indicates quality."

This makes about as much sense as buying a flat screen TV stripping it of its TV tuning components and using it as a digital picture frame at double the original price!

The really sad thing about this is it demonstrates in full just how pathetically ignorant we Americans are today.

I'm not sure such a product would have made it in times gone by, when people were more savvy to marketing tricks designed to glamorize value-subtracted products as superior to truly superior products.

Today though Americans truly are mystified about what a computer is and what it can do, and thus completely oblivious to how even the most NON tech savvy person can tweak a few things and do so without understanding anything to create something able to do a completely different function and solve another problem without spending a penny more.

So they have absolutely no ability "imagine" other uses for one beyond what they are told it is for - so a niche for Kindles exists.

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I also have a home library for keeping and lending, and I often go to the public library.

I need a law library, and go there sometimes, but I'm more likely to use one of the legal search engines I pay for to do my research.

I also listen to books on my IPod as well as on my IPhone, and have an app for my IPhone which lets me download books from my Kindle to read if I want to.

Is there something wrong with using all the resources available to us?

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For me kindle has a good thing to help people reading the news and book easily in one samll media. It is a part of high technology right now that amazon created.
Kindle is a small reader media that you can put on your leather briefcases or your organizer purse. It is easy to bring to work or anywhere else.

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But I really don't care about the "journey" a book has taken to get to where it is. Rarely do I complain about articles on this site, but really? Kindles are evil now?

I love mine - as I love all of my hardcovers and paperbacks on the 2 tower bookshelves in my living room. I love saving paper and having my library with me wherever I go. Only if a book is not available in Kindle format now will I buy a physical copy. It is, without a doubt, the best purchase I have made in the last few years. Not being much of a TV watcher or game player or what have you, books are my escape and have been since I learned to read at age 4.

To me, the book itself is just a shell, a vessel if you will, to the story within. Perhaps I am in the minority here, I don't know, but imagining who has read a book before me, and what they chose to write in the margins - or where they marked their place while they had to eat dinner or go to the bathroom - are not remotely part of the reading experience. I want to get lost in the story within the pages, not the everyday minutiae of another person who happened to read the same book.

This article just struck me as rather strange and pointless.

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I work for -- and am published by -- Mexico's only English-language book publisher (Editorial Mazatlan). My publisher also runs a second hand bookshop here in Mazatlan and a good part of income depends on people still wanting paper books, but there is no reason NOT to use "Kindle."

I'm not immune to the romance of used books, nor to the aethetic appeal of them, but living in a country where paper is very expensive (not a lot of trees or water in this country) and publishing in a minority language, much of what we publish would be unavailable to readers without "Kindle".

It's wonderful that Benjamin Dangle lives someplace with a good, tax-payer supported public library. Even in a relatively wealthy community (and one overstuffed with retired gringos) like Mazatlan, the taxpayers are not going to spring for new books in a foreign language. Most of the local English language library's stock is our overstock, as a matter of fact, and it's hit or miss whether the collection is at all worthwhile.

We can distribute locally, and nationally (and even in the United States and Canada) without much problem, but one of my books has a readership in Israel and another is requested by readers throughout Latin America and Europe. Without "Kindle" and the like, we would have no way of meeting these readers' needs.

Kindle is far from perfect. First off, it requires publishers to have a U.S. address. Because we were able to set up a U.S. "subsidiary" at least --er-- "on paper", we are in discussions now with a small Brazilian publisher, who faces the same problems distributing Portuguese language books outside his own country (and even within it). It looks like our company will also be publishing in Portuguese in the near future, although it means a heck of a lot of HTML code writing.

Kindle still has problems supporting languages other than English, having problems with the few accent marks in Spanish... let alone the twenty or so in Portuguese. Still, this allows a publisher for whom a few hundred sales is a major book to distribute his authors' works.

Yeah, paper books are great for the publishers who are working with mass sales. But I'm surprised that Benjamin Dangle -- who has written perceptively and movingly about those of us in Latin America who seek to present alternatives to corporate control over our media and public discourse, is resorting to romanticism in his attack on our chance to break that hegemonic control of our "marketplace of ideas."

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Kindle for me is helping me to read more accurately.
Women's Handbags

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From Wendell Berry's "Why I am Not Going to Buy a Computer." His tests for tools and technology:
1. The new tool should be cheaper than the one it replaces.
2. It should be at least as small in scale as the one it replaces.
3. It should do work that is clearly and demonstrably better than the one it replaces.
4. It should use less energy than the one it replaces.
5. If possible, it should use some form of solar energy, such as that of the body.
6. It should be repairable by a person of ordinary intelligence, provided that he or she has the necessary tools.
7. It should be purchasable and repairable as near to home as possible.
8. It should come from a small, privately owned shop or store that will take it back for maintenance and repair.
9. It should not replace or disrupt anything good that already exists, and this includes family and community relationships.
– Wendell Berry

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It is not cheap as Sony's ,that book reader. Blu-Ray Video Converter

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Oh, here's the thing. If any of these companies were really trying to give me a book, as most of us know books, only in electronic form, I think I'd be all over that.

The problem is, they're not doing that... or just doing that. They're trying to change the very nature of what a book is, in the process of going electronic. And generally, that means, they're grabbing for power. In a closed system, power doesn't just appear, it has to be transferred from one thing to another. In this case, we loose, Amazon or B&N gains.

Let's explore a real book. I can buy this book at Amazon, B&N, Borders, or (yikes) even the local independent book store. I can shop around for the best price, or choose to buy from the company that gives me the best book-buying experience. I can buy it used at a yard sale or flea market, or I can borrow it from a friend or library. I can write on its pages, or tear out the epilogue. I can buy a paperback, put it in my back pocket, sit or even all on it, and it remains intact (me, well, we'll just have to take than one case by case).

So, e-Books... nice idea. I can put a whole bookshelf in my pocket. No need to drive to the local bookstore, or the mall, or wait two days for a rush delivery from Amazon or some other etailer. The books themselves doesn't wear out (the device might, but in theory, your next device will access that same library... more on that in a bit).

But here's what I'm giving up. No more loans (the one-time-per-book option with B&N's Nook is not an answer). No more comparison shopping... I have to buy the Amazon version if I have a Kindle. No moving.. once my library is on a Kindle, I better always have one, or I loose it.. no reading those books on a Nook or one of the Sony players, for example (some of the others are a bit less draconic on this... Sony and Nook and others support the open ePub format plus the Adobe DRM, though apparently, B&N's books come with a different DRM that only plays on their player). Can't sell the book, can't donate it to the local charity or even given it away (and I'm not talking about copying it... I want my eBook to work exactly like a real book... no digital copies, I'm fine with that). Most don't allow me to add notes that stick with the book... maybe on the device itself. Kindles are very restrictive of letting me add other documents, and have no way to expand... one reason to have one of these would be to keep 10GB of technical documents right there always at my fingertips. No go on Kindle, anyway.

But I think the big win for eBook readers would be in periodicals. Stuff I don't intend to keep at all. Neither print nor online is working out great for most newspapers. I never subscribed, in part due to their constant failure at delivery, in part due to print news being such a materials waste. But give me auto-delivered newpapers on a nice screen, that I'd go for. Magazines, too... particularly if I can "clip" the articles and just keep those around I'd like to re-read. But that's going to demand e-paper in color.

And these are going to need standards. I already get a bunch of trade rags in PDF, some use other PC-based proprietary readers, but I'm not going to read a magazine at my PC anymore than I'm going to watch TV. Others may feel differently... which means they have even less of a need for an eBook reader, since all of this stuff already works on my PC.

I have a taste of this already, though, with an eBook reader on my smartphone. At 850x480 on a 3" screen, it's better than I would have thought -- I could read books this way, if not magazines. So the full eBook readers show more promise. They just need to get back to offering actual books, not this new proprietary thing they're selling instead. Once that happens, then at least it's a real choice.

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I love my books! The feel, the smell, the history. I may at some point choose a Kindle, but the main reason that's not likely is the lighted screen. They hurt my eyes! There comes a point in the day when my eyes just can't take anymore of the computer screen...some days, that's as soon as I sit down to work. However, I can easily read my paper books. The library is wonderful, and I don't purchase books unless I simply love them so much I need a copy to pick up at my whim.


Kindles have their place, and it's wonderful that many will use them. But please, keep my books in print too...even if it's fewer that actually get printed.

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Living in the Sierras of California in a remote area the UPS man comes once a week with new books I have ordered from Amazon.com and there is something so wonderful about holding a book in my hands, turning the pages, and enjoying all the tactile elements of a book. But then I am a major league bibliophile.

Most of the multi thousands and of books in out home library are non fiction and are books we read over and over again, year after year. And when we need to refer to one of the books for reference for a project, article we are writing or a speech we will be giving, the book is there.

Guess if someone reads popular fiction or romance novels a Kindle would work. But I have yet to find a professional or scholar who owns much less uses a Kindle. Bear in mind we buy and read at least three new non fiction books per week. Often we buy ten or more books per week, every month.

And because we buy so many books on Amazon the shipping is free, which means we save BIG money because we dont have to drive to Sacramento or San Francisco.

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For those without libraries and a desire to read classics and books that are no longer patent protected... you can go to http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page and download pdf files to your desktop and read them there..

Project Gutenberg is the place where you can download over 30,000 free ebooks to read on your PC, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone or other device.

so even if you can't read most of the best sellers you can go read Dickens, Poe and so many other writers... there are also other locations for free books in French and other languages by now too.

You can also contribute by typing in a book which is not patent protected if you have one which is not on the list.

Go check it out and enjoy!

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is why i will be waiting for something better to come along...

failing grade from this consumer

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I love(d) my kindle. The instant joy, the portability, the convenience. Sundays I sat with my NYTimes Book Review, and instead of forgetting the titles, I could instantly buy them ($10) and keep them until I had time to read them. Heaven. Rather than have my newspapers pile up for recycling, or stop the subscriptions and help to kill the newspaper industry, I got them on my kindle for a lot less $$. As others have said, used books and libraries are fine, but what about the writers? Anyway, one night, my kindle slipped out of my hand, fell less than 3 feet to the floor, and no longer works. For now, Amazon charges nearly as much to refurbish it as a new one. I'm frustrated and pissed. All the books are gone--unless I feel like reading on my laptop which I don't! Some enterprising soul out there could make a nice living fixing Kindles. Anyone? anyone? Meanwhile, that new Barnes and Noble ebook looks even better, and you can lend books from it!

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why would I need a freaking Kindle?

I can read electronic documents anytime.

BUT LET'S NOT FORGET:

its PAPER & STONE that survives purges of knowledge & time...

electronics are susceptible to an electronic wipe or simply **DE-AUTHORIZING THE OWNERS' AVAILABILITY TO VIEW**

don't leave it past Republicans & book burners to decide to **shut off the owner's rights to VIEW MATERIAL ON THEIR OWN HARD DRIVES**

judas priest, they monitor what you take out of library's for chrissakes.

imagine what they could do if you gave them the ability to simply switch off the existence of a piece of writing.

at least they HAD TO FIND THE BOOK they wanted to burn!


perspective, people.


Perspective.

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What the hell is this? Don't like a Kindle? Then don't buy one--don't bore us with why. I LIKE the saving of trees and the fact you can carry dozens, even hundreds of titles with you (and switch back and forth--I often read more than one book at the same time). I'm sure my Kindle will never smell of tobacco or have creased pages (although you CAN leave notes), but it sure is handy. I would suggest that while Johann Gutenberg did mankind a major service, the technology of books exists only because there was nothing better. Do a thought experiment: if, by some odd conflation of events, electronics would have been developed before printing, would books EVER have developed? I doubt it.

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Blu ray ripper *Blu Ray Ripper for Mac

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There are a few reasons to buy a Kindle.

First of all, even when I see your point about paper books taking a life of their own and participating in the building of their own history (pretty much as any living being does), some things are also changing regarding how we relate to electronics. Electronic devices such as the Kindle are not as extraordinary and aseptic as they once were. You do carry them with you to significant places you later remember, scratch them, even write or paint on them ( why not ?). As long as we change our relationship towards them, they'll start to become living entities of their own, and they'll even become entitled to their own smell and wrinkles.

Then, there's also the matter of convenience. You just can't take with you hundreds of books, particularly when you don't know beforehand which ones you'll want or need to read.

Finally, we need to find a way not to continue destroying our forests without it translating into the end of XXI century's civilization and culture. Readers appear as a good option to me.

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