Monday 25 June 2012

Me and My Kindle

My new kindle arrived the other day.

I haven’t had a kindle before. I have a kindle app on my ipad, and when I got it I downloaded a couple of books – loads of those wonderful old Victorian novels are available for free – but I never got round to actually reading anything on it (too many other potential uses).

So I linked up my shiny new kindle to my Amazon account and was pleasantly surprised to find all my earlier downloads were there for me. I also downloaded a couple of other books. After meeting Babs Morton at the Brympton Festival I’d been meaning to read her novel, Mrs Jones. So I downloaded that one first. And then I saw that MG Harris’s The Descendant, was available for free download – so on that one went as well.

Am I looking forward to reading these on my kindle? You bet!

Do I think the advent of the e-book means the death of print? No, of course not. Print will always have a place.

And will having a kindle change my reading habits? Not at all. The books I read will be the same – it’s only the format that’s different.

So tell me – what do you think of your kindle? How has it affected you as a reader?

10 comments:

  1. I love my Kindle - and I've read a lot more since I got it, mostly because it's just so easy to click and buy the next in a series.
    I wish it was in colour though, because I love just how COLOURFUL books are, the covers anyway, some of the artwork is STUNNING. That's one pleasure you can still get on the iPad, a lovely, enticing bookshelf - the spreadsheet-like list the Kindle offers can't really top that.
    Sadly, I do think Print will die out in time though. My children would rather read on the Kindle or iPad, and only want paper books because they can't take the e-readers into school.

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  2. I don't own one, but have a few of the keyboard style ones in my library (they already look archaic). Some of the kids love them, some of them question why we have them in the first place, but I would say it's an alternative, and any alternative to get kids reading is welcome.

    Personally, I feel it would benefit me most as something to take travelling with me. I love the feel of a book in my hands, using a bookmark to physcially see how far I've got...but I'm a dinosaur obviously.

    I hope printed books won't die out or I could be out of a job! I'd like to think there's enough dinosaurs like me who much prefer paper books, thus keeping them alive.

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  3. I love my Kindle. I still read print books as well but these days I find I only buy print books if 1) it's a particularly beautiful and special book; 2) illustrations or photography are important components (though if I get an iPad, that won't be an issue); or 3) it's not available in Kindle format.

    As I'll be living in a motorhome for a year, the Kindle is a lifesaver. I simply won't have room in the motorhome for more than one shelf-full of books, and those will all be books of maps, walks, botany, wildlife, trees etc. So my Kindle will be my portable library and it still astounds me that I'll be able to carry up to around 30,000 books with me on something little bigger and thicker than an envelope.

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  4. How does it compare with Kindle for iPad? Is it worth buying a Kindle if you already own an iPad (as you have both I'm assuming you think it is).
    —Will'm

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  5. I LOVE my kindle. Love it to pieces. It fits in my bag (unlike some books) and it's easy to handle and easy to read. Love it.

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  6. I love my Kindle. I am not convinced it will completely wipe out print books, though. I read a comment recently which said Kindles are to print books what elevators are to stairs. Both seem to survive.

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  7. I love my Kindle! I've read more since I got it and I've picked up some absolute bargains too - Sarah Crossan's The Weight of Water was 99p a few weeks ago.

    I still buy paperbacks and I hope I always have that option, but I'm a full convert to the e-reader.

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  8. Well it certainly looks like everyone who owns one LOVES it! And I think I'm rapidly being converted.

    Will I have both but always end up using the ipad for other things. With the kindle I just read :-)

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  9. I love mine except one tiny detail, sometimes it is less expensive to buy the book in print than the e-version. It makes no sense!

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  10. I mix and match and, once I'm into a book, just don't notice whether it's paper or screen-based technology I'm using.

    It's hard to beat the immediacy of being able to buy a book on Amazon and start reading it in a couple of minutes, though ...

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Please share you thoughts, I'd love to hear from you....