The Question of E-Readers...

[Lizzie]

May 29, 2011 18:29:24 GMT -5 Tori said:

I completely agree Lizzie-who-will-be-an-admin-eventually-as-soon-as-Olive-gets-online!
I like the feel of books, as ridiculous as it sounds....
But if I ever start to do a lot of traveling, I will definitely consider an e-reader!

One of my best friends is in England right now and, as she's the sort that would die without her favorite books close at hand, her iPad is her favorite possession!

Still waiting patiently for that...
And I agree, if I traveled more I would definitely invest in an e-reader I think, just because they are so much more convenient. Like an ipod as opposed to CDs, basically.

[xxxsylviaplathxxx]

Only when an e-reader can recreate the crackle of opening a new book will it be superior to print.

I hardly write in my textbooks (mainly out of fear that it will ruin the book), and e-textbooks don't weight as much as the 500-pound paper alternative; plus, the environmental impact is significantly less than the latter's.

I don't like the e-readers with the glaring backlights (i.e.: the iPad). The Kindle can download newspapers and highlight/annotate passages, and the excellent Gutenberg project is already changing the e-reader universe. I haven't bought one, but I might.

[itsliese]

My dad got one for his birthday a couple of weeks ago & he loves it - he's one of those people who loves to read but has no time to, and it's a bit tricky to carry a stack of books to work each day! E-Readers are a wonderful convenience, but it's so much nicer curling up in bed with a book than a screen.

[Gina]

I'm not really one for E-Readers. I love the feel of an actual book. I have the iBooks app on my iPod Touch, and I only use it for Powerpoints from my English class and an E-Book version of Spoon River Anthology, because I like being able to whip out some kick-butt epitaphs whenever I feel like it.

[atimethief]

I don't necessarily hate them since I have never tried one, but from my perspective I rather have a beat up, well-worn book in my shelve than having hundreds of books in an e-reader.

Plus, I'm the type who throws books across the room when angry, I don't know how well that would work with an e-reader...

[tastyink]

Well, I personally like books because I enjoy having a bookshelf where I can display all of them. The thing with e-readers is that I like to pick up a book when I'm tired of staring at my computer screen. I could see myself buying and e-reader if they were less expensive, but I'd probably only use it for books I only plan to read once.

I agree with some other people too, I could never use an e-reader as a textbook. That would basically be my worst nightmare! I like to spread everything out when I'm studying and the screen would be way too small for my bad eyes

[Dobby]

I'm generally against the idea of e-Readers. The only reason I could see them being useful would be if I were going on a lengthy trip and needed to take multiple books - it would be easier to carry an e-Reader than to lug around several books in my bag. I like to be able to hold the book in my hands. I like to be able to mark specific pages, or to flip back to previous passages in the books. I like the feel of the pages and the smell of the books. I like to be able to write stuff in the margins. I even sort of enjoy it when my favorite books fall apart because of how much I read them. In my opinion, e-Readers take away the intimacy of books.

[sophi]

I got a Kindle for Christmas this past year and honestly, I don't know how I lived without it before. I still love real books, and I will never get rid of my physical library, but I am AMAZED by how incredibly convenient the Kindle is. Being able to shove a tiny screen into my bag and just go and not have to deal with the heft (I once carried a copy of Jonathan Norrel & Mr Strange with me to school every day for a month until I finished it, and I have no idea how I didn't break my back), being able to lie down on my side with the screen in front of me and not having to deal with pages flopping around, being able to start a new book immediately after finishing the last one without even having to sit up... I could go on and on about this thing.

Right now, the only thing I've discovered that I don't really like so far is that books with footnotes are kind of annoying to read (you have to click each footnote like you would a link and it takes you to a different page, and then you have to go back to get to your original page - I wish they would streamline this). I don't think I would use mine for school reading, because it's too hard to flip back and forth between different sections, but I'm not in school currently, so that's not really a problem for me.

[Katherine]

My dad, brother, and I got my mum a e-reader for her birthday, she hasn't used it much yet, but that's just because the books she wants from the library to put on it aren't in yet.

I'm torn about them, they seem like a good idea, but I get most of my books from the library and I like being able to actually browse through actual copies of the book at the library.

On the e-textbook subject, I hate e-textbooks. One of my two math textbooks is online this year (we have a copy of the book at school, and an e-copy for home, because the school can't afford to buy a book for everyone, so it's a one set per classroom kind of deal), and every time I want to do an assignment I have to print out the pages. My room is absolutely COVERED with pages I've printed out, they're absolutely everywhere. And that's all because I like to do my math homework without my laptop to distract me. Thank god I have an actual copy of my other math text.

So, I wouldn't like an e-reader for any of my math textbooks, but I could see it working for something like history.

[Dodger Thirteen]

e-Readers hurt my soul. Just the idea of reading a book on a screen, rather than on the printed page, hurts me.

I've tried reading on e-readers, I truly have...but they are just too difficult to use, in my eyes. A nook has that blasted freezing feature where whenever you try to turn the page, it blanks out and starts up again. I hate that. It's disorienting and I lose my sense of flow.

With physical books, I like being able to see how far I have to the next chapter or to the end of the section.

However. All that being said, I admit that if you have a load of books to read for a class and it's cheaper to use an e-reader, do it. If not...well...buy the bloody books!

[Mobile]

Let me start by saying that I am not an English major. That being said, I hope my opinion is no longer rendered invalid.
In the ancient past, very few tools were available for the written word. People would etch symbols onto stone, and that would be a book to them. Stories would be passed down orally, and not via a cover-worn book. Books will eventually, inevitably, be a thing of the past. It's almost horrific. The debate on whether or not Kindles or Nooks are acceptable forms of reading stories should be rendered moot simply because it's a fallible fact. Of course it should be accepted. In fact, they should be embraced. Granted, they are expensive and aren't readily available for everyone. However, one day, the last physical book will be printed, and technology will have taken over the written word.
Worry not, for it won't be anytime soon. It will be centuries before the Kindles and Nooks of the world have taken over.
Technology will win, though. It is what it is.

[cyanea]

I too am one of those romantics who love the way a spine cracks when you open a book for the first time, or that smell of a book that's old...

...but I love my Nook to death. I didn't have to cart a crate of books to and from school with me this year. I didn't have to bring a suitcase of books with me when I went on vacation a few weeks ago. I can read in any position imaginable without discomfort. I saved at least a hundred bucks this past year on textbooks. I can read the massive hardcover new releases of the fantasy books I have a weakness for and not have to deal with a heavy and massively unwieldy hardcovers (hate 'em, love paperbacks). I would read a paperback if I had the luxury, but my Nook has made my reading life infinitely more comfortable and accessible and I love it.

[invision]

I adore my Kindle 3. If I could, I'd purchase every book I've bought on both the Kindle and as a hard copy, but I'll never have that kind of money. I find that a physical copy gives the book a little more personality, but a Kindle copy is the same as far as the reading experience, and way more portable. So.

I love how inexpensive books are in e-reading format (at least, on Amazon's Kindle Store), in comparison to how they are in bookstores. The Kindle pays for itself if you buy a lot of books. I received mine for Christmas of '10, and I didn't buy a lot of books before then, but now that I own one, it feels like I have to buy more books to make use of the gift. ._.

I love how pre-1926 (or something) books are free, thanks to Project Gutenberg. I've never read many classics, but I plan to spend the summer working on that (YES. FREE STUFF.), if only because there are huge gaps in my literary education.

I adore how portable my Kindle is. It fits in my hoodie pockets (...most of the time), I can just slip it in my backpack to take it to school, and, if all else fails, it's not like it's that hard to just carry it everywhere.

It's great for road trips and vacations, because now I'm not stuck bringing like 30+ books with me (...not kidding), or having a few dozen mailed to the location we're vacationing to. And if I finish one book, there's always another to read. It's great!

I can see why others would dislike e-readers, just because a book is, a lot of the time, preferable, but just because of all of these things, I adore my Kindle.

I'm going to buy the next one if/when it comes out, if it stays at $139 (if, of course, it's a large improvement). I'd get the new Nook that was just announced, but I feel kind of locked in to Amazon's ebook ecosystem at this point. Dx.

James

[Eternal Lobster]

I used to be completely anti-e-reader and would have epic fights over them with an engineering friend. However, my library just bought two Nooks to circulate and I ended up liking them! They take some getting used to, but I found myself carrying it around the house, reading. I always argued that you couldn't curl up with an e-reader in bed, but you can! They are A LOT easier to prop up against a glass while eating at a table. I still prefer books over e-readers, though.

I wouldn't use it for textbooks, though. The girl who sat next to me in Shakespeare last semester put all the required plays on her Nook. She couldn't find the act or scenes that the prof referred during the majority of class and had to depend on me. If the software was updated or changed so that there wasn't such a long delay between flipping pages, then I could see them being used in place of textbooks. I am interested in seeing where they will go in the future!

[afontofnothing]

In my opinion, there is nothing better than reading the physical book. I just love the feel of it in my hands, as silly as that sounds. But some of my favorite books are huge and a pain to carry around all the time. So I suppose I'm for e-readers, but only because they're really convenient (nothing beats the actual books).

EDIT: I think my feelings on e-readers are summed up in this quote from John Green (though I may have messed up the wording of it): "It's not how people read that matters, it's that they ARE reading."