SHARE THIS SHOW:

RELATED CONVERSATIONS:

RECENTLY ON TOL:

TOL Our Town

TAGS:

When you first broadcast this topic, I commented about how the Kindle has given me the ability to read for pleasure again after aging eyesight had left me unable to read print books for nearly six years.

A month and a half later, I'm still in love with the device, gobbling up e-books at the pace of one or two a week. And considering selling or donating the thousands of print books that sit unread on shelves in my home. I admit that feels a little weird; I have always considered my library part of who I am and how I live. But I don't like to think of them gathering dust when someone else might be able to read them.

It's not an either-or world. Print books will survive as long as there are people who want to read them - and are able to. But e-book technology is a blessing to those of us who can't make out print type, who love to read when we travel, and - if the textbook publishers get on board - for students who are killing their backs toting around all those heavy backpacks.

kightp — Fri July 3rd 9:16a.m.

I guess I only have one position on the whole ebook reader thing, and that is;

When Amazon (or any other vendor) tells me that I can purchase the hardware and the ebooks, and then do whatever I want with them, such as let my friends borrow the books, move them from one reader to another as I upgrade, and as many times as I want, and see any file format that I want, then I will think that the industry is working to benefit readers.

If the system is locked down, proprietary, and if the terms of OWNERSHIP are unclear, or is crippled by DRM this is not a solution to, or an improvement over, books that I can actually buy and own.

KC

Carbonfish — Fri July 3rd 9:22a.m.

How long is battery life?

Can I take it upcountry (out of cell range)?

epcraig — Fri July 3rd 9:30a.m.

The only time you actually need to be connected to the Kindle wireless network is when you want to purchase and download a new book (or use the rudimentary Web browser). Leaving it turned off the rest of the time extends the battery life to around two weeks, even with frequent use, and it takes less than an hour to recharge.

kightp — Fri July 3rd 9:36a.m.

I agree with most of the varied issues of all recent commenter's about this new medium. It is similar in many ways to the overall electronic computer discussions that came up long ago about people reading online vs. real books for years or the New York Times online vs. I like to hold the entire page or section outside without the distraction of a confined computer screen in small format. I actually do both as many will.

I have not held a Kindle Book in my hands yet but cannot help to agree with some that it may not be as natural or that the full impact of reading pixilated light compared to the natural reflected light from a printed page may have on the eyes over long periods of use. Perhaps we will find it has other advantages in time.

My one thought today is a similar one to the old days of computer crash, batteries gone dead, the technology is great when it works but if it fails? What happens when a Kindle Book is dropped onto concrete pavement not once but many times? Is it invulnerable? What if you just paid for many borrowed data sets and you drop it on a holiday far away on a dessert isle or in the water? Does it lose all your books and info? Does it ever break at the most inopportune time? where a conventional book merely scuffs the cover.

Maybe one last thought: Can I open the cover and sign it or have the author autograph it and make hand written notes throughout the book?

Mark Seibold, Artist-Astronomy Teacher

markartist — Fri July 3rd 9:37a.m.

One issue with electronic media that you have not yet addressed: permanence. I still own and read books that I bought as a child over 40 years ago, but I can no longer read the email I received in the late1980s and early 1990s: I saved it on disks, but I no longer have a computer that can read such disks. Even if I did, it is likely that the media have degraded. CDs are only expected to last 15-20 years, file formats change every few years ... but books last 100s of years. Imagine how many great works of literature and philosophy would have been lost had they been available only electronically!

KarenInPortland — Fri July 3rd 9:37a.m.

As a graphic designer who has spent years laying out copy for reading I must respectfully disagree with your guest.  I think books have BECOME more "layed out" (color, pictures, sidebars, etc.) in an effort to entrain more readers--much like the direction of these electronic reading devices.

As a teacher in the community college level, I must say that my students are very into the tech angle, and if they could they would. When Apple began to make the iphone cheaper (even though the calling plan was expensive) they began to buy.  I think if the "book" they used was able to give them multiple levels of knowledge about the subject thats a plus, and I'd encourage it.

Thanks

jules — Fri July 3rd 9:49a.m.

What will this do to the used book market, affordable books for those who can't afford this new format?

laurier — Fri July 3rd 9:59a.m.

We are often sentimental when a new technology threatens a current one, when we feel that we will likely change the way we do or interact with something that is an important part of our lives (yes, LPs were great, so was the portability of cassettes, then CDs...but I LOVE my ipod - 100s of 'records' at my fingertips wherever I go - living with compromise in sound quality).

I do not have a Kindle and I regularly buy paper books. However, my guess is that the DRM will be worked out, the graphics and interactivity will be Greatly enhanced (search graphic, text, hyperlinks, instant access to bibliography references, etc), prices will come down, ALL books will eventually be available in this format, etc., public libraries will have terminals instead of shelves, Amazon's Kindle will be only one of many options or even obsolete, ... for better or for worse. I think it will be both, but I'm not scared of the future.

fuzzy — Fri July 3rd 10:01a.m.

Hello:

  I think you went in the wrong direction in getting participents for the 'New Books' show...  Instead of asking the old fogies (with a vested financial interest) you should be asking the next generation about this.  (I am 75, but I have a 20 year old son- so I think I have some idea of what is happening.)  He spends a lot of time on his laptop.  Besides reading for school, he watches Anime and Dojins (I think these are the downloadable versions of the comics (Manga?).  These are provided by various fan clubs.

  I just added 2 titles to my church groups reading list by providing titles for Google search for the downloads: "Flatland" (in html format) and "The Cold Equations" in pdf format -to be read by Adobe.  Admitedly, these are short stories (> 10 pages each) and were written a very long time ago.

  I hope that a lot of the distribution will be along the ideas of the Free Software foundation.  In reguard to Text books, authors and editors should probably be rewarded by the Educational Institutions - with the costs folded into Tuition charges. 

   Bob Pearson

pearson r — Fri July 3rd 10:56a.m.

As a librarian, I was thrilled to hear one of your speakers articulate so well the problem of the Kindle for public libraries.  His is a voice crying in the wilderness.  Multnomah County libraries are extremely heavily used, by lots of people who choose not to buy books, because they don't want to or can't. Amazon has made it clear thus far that they are not interested in making deals with public libraries.

Making reading a completely commercialized and monopolized activity, as Amazon is trying to do, is anathema to the whole idea of public libraries.  And it is certainly not that libraries are clinging to paper - the conversation about the end of the book has been going on for decades, certainly since I was in library school in the late 70's.  Libraries want to bring books to everyone in whatever form they exist ( see http://multcolib.org/ref/ebooks.html, for example).  Amazon doesn't want that - they want to make money and to do that, they think they have to be a dog in the manger.  It doesn't matter how fabulous the Kindle is if it isn't available to any but the rich.

janers — Fri July 3rd 11:04a.m.

As a lover of printed books for many years, I will not quit purchasing them in that form. I appreciate the illustrations and the ease of just picking up a book to read and share with family.

Having said that, I can see uses for digital books also. I commuted by MAX and bus for a number of years and used a PDA and Microsoft Reader formatted books for some time. It was really easy to use that format. it was open for all as a free download from Microsoft and there was and is still a lot of free content. I especially enjoyed the old classics that were being digitized by Project Gutenburg. Some of the content was in Microsoft Reader format and others that was in Text format could easily be converted. The content in Microsoft Reader format could be bookmarked, hilighted and easily referenced. The reader text is easy to use either on a laptop or a PDA with windows Mobile operating system and can be resized to large, easy to read font.

jwhaide — Fri July 3rd 10:08p.m.

Comments are now closed.