E-readers and such

[Matthias720]

I bought a Nook Color two days ago, and so far,  I'm loving it.
In fact, I'm posting from it right now!

Do any of you have an e-reader of some kind, and how do you like it?

[Redwall Musician]

Are e-readers like Kindles and such? I'm not up to date with all this fancy wording.

[Matthias720]

Yup, that's what they are.

[Redwall Musician]

I DON"T LIKE KINDLE!!!!
Maybe I'm a bit hasty, but I don't like them yet. Maybe later on when I'm older and e-readers are older too.

My brother thinks I need a Kindle. He says he needs to buy me one for my birthday and get some Redwall books on it.
"Get me a Kindle and you will have to learn to sleep with one eye open," I told him.

[Nightfire]

I don't really like Kindle that much. I think it's cool that you can bring your whole library with you without too much baggage, but I prefer to hold a real book made form paper in my hands. Other than that, I think Kindle is really cool. I don't own one, though.

[Lutra]

For some people I'm sure e-readers are a godsend...travelers particularly.  If you're always at home, and there are books on the shelf, why buy a kindle or other e-reader for $150 plus digital copies of the books?  Seems silly when you can get books for a quarter at yard sales and still read the same thing.

My mom loves her kindle, but I'm in no hurry to get one.  Just another screen to look at.  I look at a computer screen enough hours of my waking life...I don't really need another to strain my eyesight.   You don't have to worry about that backlight phenomena with a paper book.

[Lily]

I'm here to defend my kindle! While I agree that nothing beats reading a real book made out of real paper, the kindle really is convenient.

Like Lutra mentioned, they're great while travelling. I've spent a lot of time on trains and planes since I got my kindle, and it's been great to not have to worry about lugging my reading material around with me in my already too-heavy luggage.

They're also useful for those of us who live in foreign countries. It takes me an hour by car and train to get to the closest book store that sells English books, and even then the selection is very small. I also don't have the option of buying books cheaply because yard sales don't exist here and they wouldn't have English books anyway. I could order online but then I'd have to wait for them to get here (gasp!) plus pay for shipping. Also, I'm probably going to go home one day, and I wouldn't want to leave all my books behind. My books are my friends.

With the kindle, I can just download whatever books I feel like. Also, books in the public domain are free. I happen to enjoy classics, so I didn't have to pay for the majority of my book collection on my kindle. You can also put your own e-books on the kindle, so you're not limited to the amazon.com store.

As for the backlight phenomena, you don't have to worry about that with a kindle either. The kindle, like the Nook and Sony Reader, uses E Ink technology, so it's easy on the eyes. It really does look like the page of a book. That is, if you can ignore the surrounding buttons and plastic. You can also make the text bigger and smaller.

I'm sorry if this reads like some sort of advertisement, but it's all true! I agree that if you're living at home and you have your bookshelf right there to choose books from then you probably don't need an e-book reader, but for situations like mine it's perfect.

[DanielofRedwall]

I much prefer real books, but I have the iBook store on my iPod. It doesn't have much good books on it, though, and I rarely use it.

[rakkety tam]

i like them my bro has 1 and i like them cause i rip the page somtimes but i still love the feel of real paper

[Lily]

I much prefer real books, but I have the iBook store on my iPod. It doesn't have much good books on it, though, and I rarely use it.

I also have several eBook readers on my iPod, but the tiny backlit screen isn't that great to read off. I read a whole lot of Jane Austen and other classics on there, though!

[Redwall Musician]

I much prefer real books, but I have the iBook store on my iPod. It doesn't have much good books on it, though, and I rarely use it.

I also have several eBook readers on my iPod, but the tiny backlit screen isn't that great to read off. I read a whole lot of Jane Austen and other classics on there, though!

Yeah, Lily. Every guy wants to read Jane Austen's books, LOL! I can't even read those books, due to the fact that I'm picky as far as books go. I've seen some of the movies. I liked the Emma movie, never read the book though. That's the only one I actually finished watching.

I guess your right Lily, as far as traveling goes. But me, I've never really traveled, so, yeah.

[Folgrimeo]

My dad has an Amazon Kindle and I've briefly played around with one. It's not something I'd ever use as I rarely read, but dad's big into old sci-fi books. Seems like a convenient way to read, has a very long battery life. The screen surprisingly is not really an eyestrain at all. First time I saw the screen I thought it was a paper backdrop, there's no worry about thinking it's like a monitor. The downside is there's a ghosting effect when it switches to a new page, maybe like half a second. Doesn't feel that snappy, but you're not playing games on it so that's not a problem. And if you download a book, it downloads pretty quickly and barely makes a dent in your internet usage (it is mostly text after all). That does mean you have to be logged into your Amazon account and have your credit card info in there, but at least you're able to download new books right from the Kindle. Just make sure to keep note of how many you download!

The actual reading of a book is decent, can change the text size and make bookmarks and all, but I'm concerned about a few things. First is I think books are tied to the device, so if your Kindle's destroyed or lost, you'd have to buy your books all over again. Tying books to an account would make more sense especially given how small the downloads are. There were also publicized cases that Amazon can remove a book from a person's Kindle remotely (I guess that'd make sense if a book was fradulent, but it does open any legitimate book to the same risk). And I've heard that some books may not have illustrations. Haven't downloaded a Redwall book on a Kindle, but if there weren't chapter images, that'd take some of the fun out of it.

In short, I prefer physical books.

[Taggerung_of_Redwall]

So I held a Kindle yesterday that was shipped in, and which we'll be giving to my uncle next month when I'm in GA.
While I love the idea of a compact, thin, light weight device that can essentially store a library in it that's great for long terms away from standard books, I'm not going to an e-reader yet.
I would prefer a unrestricted, physical, easier to find paperback than an e-book. I love the smell of a good paper book, one (like ACE books) that emit a sense of adventure in them.
Beyond that, you can't drop several scores of paperbacks and break them and make them useless. You can with a Kindle, though Amazon backs up your purchases. Of course, you have to get a new Kindle. And if you move around your e-books enough, they'll be restricted away from you. And you can't give or loan an e-book. And someone is much more likely to steal one if its lying around, but not a paperback. Arguably more like a rent or lease than buying an e-book. And I'd avoid DRM.
And while e-books won't go out of print, they can be removed or modified once you download them, by either the provider, writer, or other involved right-owning party. I'd prefer than, to just keep my books physical. And while I won't go to a Kindle, playing around with this one will be fun.

One thing I don't get is people compare them to books. They're not books in the sense of a paperback. I don't hold one like a book, feel one like a book, or turn a page like a book, or think of it as a book. It has books, and is more a library than a book. I love the smell of a new burning piece of technology. Though when reading a tale, I'd rather have paper than metallic substances.

On the subject of illustrations, yeah, that would (for me, at least) take out some of the appeal of Redwall. I always loved unique illustrations for each chapter.

[Tungro]

I have the original B&N Nook reader. I use it every once and a while but I usually prefer solid books

[Jarky Thistlebrush]

I actually read the whole flippin' Redwall series on one, donchaknow.