Would You Use a Kindle?!

My boyfriend uses his loads. However he does a) travel a lot, and b) always reads several books at once

He also says because of the size and lightness it's easier and more comfortable to read in bed with a kindle.

Before he got one I'd have thought looking at a screen would be horrible, but there's no backlight so it's fine!

I know several people at my work have Kindles and they love them.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Kindle!

I have fibromyalgia and sometimes it hurts to hold a book up for long periods of time to read and my eyes can get tired easily too.

The kindle is light and I can keep changing the font size to keep my eyes happy.

In 2010 I read 1 book. I got it for xmas and I've read 7 so far.

Beyond the fibro though, the kindle can be read with one hand, so I can lay on my side and read. I have a cover with a light, so I don't need the light on at night and can just turn the kindle off and go to sleep. The light doesn't need a battery, as long as the kindle is on, the light has power.

It fits better in my purse than a 500 page book when heading to an appointment, and it's lighter of course.

I could go on an on!

A friend of mine -- an avid book reader -- got a kindle for Christmas and absolutely loves it. She's not very techy, but she figured the whole thing out right away.

I'm still not sure, although Katrina brings up a lot of excellent points. I'm such a big fan of the library; I check out most books that I read, rather than buying them. Add to that not much time to read (sadly) just at this point in my life. But I agree; if I were still traveling tons for work, I think it would be a great investment. Then again, I might just start downloading books to my iPhone. Haven't started needing reading glasses yet so that would be a viable option.

Oh, and by the way - Welcome, Luke!

A kindle or similar is about 100GBP here, so I guess about $100 over there. You can buy a lot of paperbacks for that amount.

So far I've downloaded 50 books or so and spent maybe $5. Kindle has so many free books or discounted books it's like a library. Plus you can share purchased books for 2 weeks with a friends kindle for free.

Yes you can, but do you have the space to store them?

Hubby and I ran out years ago and kept giving away books we spent good money on.

The kindle has tons of space, and if you run out, you delete from the Kindle, but always have it stored on amazon and can get it back.

Hell no to a Kindle. Especially a Kindle. A nook- maybe if I had to, but Amazon is EVIL especially when it comes to how they treats authors and publishers so they can go suck it.

Seriously. I hate them. HATE.

And that people think they shouldn't have to pay much for ebooks makes me angry also. Seriously, the cost of printing is only $1.50-$3.00 for a book, but they think they should pay less than half the price because it is electronic. Makes me think people are dumb and want the industry to die

Yeah...death to ebooks in my opinion

lol caitie, I knew you wouldn't like my answer.

It's not that I don't mind paying for a book or even full price for an ebook, I just haven't had to yet with amazon or the other ebook downloand services.

I have a gift card from my mom I still haven't used, I just haven't needed to yet.

Yes the e-reader is hurting the industry, but the publishing industry needs to fight back and make it work for them just as happened with mp3's. I know you and I will disagree on this to the end, but ereaders are here to stay, so things need to adjust accordingly. If that means amazon doesn't give away so many free books, so be it, I'll still keep using it.

I don't think people get them for the cheapness of the book, but rather the convience of the reader and the space issue of so many books. If amzaon, barnes and noble, etc make the ebooks free, then people will take advantage of it.

I would never use one. I love to read... but part of that experience (for me, at least) is actually HOLDING the book in my hands. Holding an e-reader just doesn't have the same vibe to me. I can understand the convenience and space saving issues (I have one room in my house with nothing but floor to wall bookcases, and they are all full - I have a LOT of books,) but I just wouldn't want to give up the experience. Plus, reading a book on a screen would irritate me after a little while. I work on a computer all day; the last thing I want to do for my "down time" is stare at another screen!

I get the holding the book thing, to some it's not the same, but the kindle isn't a computer screen, it's an ink screen which means it looks just like you are reading off of a white sheet of paper. There's no back light to it, otherwise I'd agree with you on that one.

Thanks for the heads up Katrina, I didn't realize that. I still wouldn't want to use one, though!

Ill just throw this in here... an iPad can be all of those things. You can download a Kindle app, and a Nook app I believe and have the best of both worlds. And Apple has its own book store as well. And it will do a lot more. With the new iPad 2 coming out... Apple dropped the price of the first one by 100 bucks, which is kinda huge.

When we went to Disney last time, my Mom uses a Kindle, and she forgot it back at the room. She didnt want to ride some rides, so I told her she can use my iPad. I turned the Kindle app on... logged into her name, and downloaded her books, and she started reading from where she was at on her Kindle.

I know the iPad costs more... but you can do a lot more with it as well.

I just hope everyone enjoys your KIndles and shit until there aren't any books left that are good and they are all the unedited self-pub crap. Becuase that is what happen.

YEs publishers can adjust, but when you have Amazon taking off "Buy Now' buttons because a publisher won't discount the eBooks because then they can't pay the author or their people fairly, it is not something to adapt or adjust to.

When people say "I won't buy any if they aren't under $10" it isn't something to adapt to. People don't make a lot of money off of publishing a book. There are a TON of people involved that need to get paid. Way more than a song.

Yes, the ipad can read the other apps, so can my droid and my blackberry did, but they don't have the ink screen, they are backlit and not as nice to read, but the portablilty from one device to another is nice.

Sorry caitie, didn't mean to upset you. I know this is super close to home for you. I'm just saying I think it's amazon giving it away too easily, not that publishers don't deserve their money. Ereader users in general will pay what's necessary if it's asked for, it's just not being forced. I haven't run into anyone saying they won't buy unless it's under $10. The ereader was bought for convienince, not to save money on books, you can buy alot of books before you buy an ereader. At least everyone I know that has them, kindle or otherwise, have said that. I don't think books will go away though, some people want the print. Plus, there's some books I want to mark up, and even though there's a highlight function, it's just not the same. You can't put sticky notes sticking out of a reading device.

As far as Kindle vs. iPad I can see the use of both. If I could only have one I'd probably have the iPad, but I bet I'd do more reading on the Kindle if I had both.

I actually have both the Kindle (ok well that is Daves) and the iPad..I have used the Kindle app on my iPad a lot. Dave LOVES his Kindle. He actually hasn't spent any money on his books either because he loves reading the classics and they are all free. I still love holding a book..and the smell of a fresh paperpack..ah there is nothing like it! But the Kindle is great for Dave because he is always on the move and putting books down and loosing his place (or loosing the book). He hasn't lost the Kindle yet thank goodness!

Agreed with Bella. Seem to be doing that a lot... lol

I have a lot of books on my ipad for Kindle AND for Apples own iBooks. iBooks reads PDF's as well, and I have found free pdf books that way too. And yeah... all the classics I love are free as well. I dont read as much as I like to, but as much as I love books in hardback... its real nice to have everything in one place on my iPad.

Love my Kindle! Got it for Christmas and it is a pleasure to use. I also thought I would dislike it since I would not have the "book" but I really don't miss that at all.