Interesting sideline on baloney sandwiches and pudding. Mmm, pudding.
It boils down to an old book being a thing you can hold in your hand (or in 20 large packing cases, around your place), show and loan to friends, dry out on a windowsill after a bad day of motor cycling (guilty, guilty, guilty) or be buried with, whilst the Kindle experience is...fleeting. McLuhanite. Moderan.
Better than nothing, which is what The Young were fixin to read. Bluebloods didn't like paperbacks: can you absorb Wisdom without the smell of hide glue and leather? I've learned to read poetry on a flickering screen, but am willing to admit it's had an effect on my mood.
Did you finally find "Elegy for the Macon"? On research, I believe he was thinking of the Shenandoah.
My two gripe about them is the cost: You can buy a netbook now for what it costs. And the fact that the actual formats supported by the device is extremely limited. and I do think it's a fantastic concept, and I may get one once the price comes down a bit more.
As for the Kindle, I don't really have an opinion, same way I don't much have an opinion of a new Jag: can't afford either one, not missing them, they look nifty.
I just can't make myself buy a Kindle. I've had ebooks on a Palm Pilot before and it taught me an important lesson... it's not just the words I love, I truly love the books. I love the smell of them, the feel of the pages... everything about them! I love that the books are my friends. The little things that happen to them along the way... the occaisional stain on a page, the bonding that doesn't hold like it should on a REALLY cheap paperback, the cover that gets the tiniest tear in a corner when I take it out of my purse at a bad angle... those things are like the wrinkles and scars that make an old friend beautiful when they've been your friend for so long.
I even have trouble reading books on my laptop. Blog posts and articles (even long articles) I can handle, but when I settle down to read a book I need it to be printed on paper.
Alan's right-- there's lots of sources for fodder.
My one experience with the Kindle was in a graduate Statistics class, where a PhD student in theology (divinity? Hell, I don't remember. But she was sweet, and clearly enjoyed fudge) carried one in her rolling backpack. She had twenty-something required texts in it, and said that, with her load, she could't possibly carry all of those tests with her at all times. Very handy for the student.
I'm thinking that it would be invaluable as the house reference manual, too, for things not findable on the InterWeb, per se.
It was a hella lot more handy than a notebook computer. Books do not need keyboards. And when texts cost $140, this was actually MORE usable in the bathtub.
That said, are they not weatherproof? If not, why not? My Nextel is. My 13 year-old Garmin 12 GPS is.
Comment moderation is enabled. Your comment will not be visible until approved. Arguing or use of insulting or derogatory language will result in your comment going unpublished: no name-calling. Comments I deem excessively partisan will not be published.
The article is wrapped around a huge misconception.
ReplyDelete"You can download only from Amazon's store"
That is just not true.
You don't have to get books from Amazon.
There are many sources on the Internet for free books and they are easily converted to any of several formats viewable on the Kindle.
Knew they'd get that Bradbury lick in.
ReplyDeleteNext you'll be walking everywhere.
You can read it in the tub, you just have to double plastic bag it. I love my 1st gen Kindle.
ReplyDeleteInteresting sideline on baloney sandwiches and pudding. Mmm, pudding.
ReplyDeleteIt boils down to an old book being a thing you can hold in your hand (or in 20 large packing cases, around your place), show and loan to friends, dry out on a windowsill after a bad day of motor cycling (guilty, guilty, guilty) or be buried with, whilst the Kindle experience is...fleeting. McLuhanite. Moderan.
Better than nothing, which is what The Young were fixin to read. Bluebloods didn't like paperbacks: can you absorb Wisdom without the smell of hide glue and leather? I've learned to read poetry on a flickering screen, but am willing to admit it's had an effect on my mood.
Did you finally find "Elegy for the Macon"? On research, I believe he was thinking of the Shenandoah.
My two gripe about them is the cost: You can buy a netbook now for what it costs. And the fact that the actual formats supported by the device is extremely limited. and I do think it's a fantastic concept, and I may get one once the price comes down a bit more.
ReplyDeleteXKCD had an amusing take on the Kindle..
I did find Elegy -- a kind man e-mailed it to me!
ReplyDeleteAs for the Kindle, I don't really have an opinion, same way I don't much have an opinion of a new Jag: can't afford either one, not missing them, they look nifty.
I just can't make myself buy a Kindle. I've had ebooks on a Palm Pilot before and it taught me an important lesson... it's not just the words I love, I truly love the books. I love the smell of them, the feel of the pages... everything about them! I love that the books are my friends. The little things that happen to them along the way... the occaisional stain on a page, the bonding that doesn't hold like it should on a REALLY cheap paperback, the cover that gets the tiniest tear in a corner when I take it out of my purse at a bad angle... those things are like the wrinkles and scars that make an old friend beautiful when they've been your friend for so long.
ReplyDeleteI even have trouble reading books on my laptop. Blog posts and articles (even long articles) I can handle, but when I settle down to read a book I need it to be printed on paper.
Alan's right-- there's lots of sources for fodder.
ReplyDeleteMy one experience with the Kindle was in a graduate Statistics class, where a PhD student in theology (divinity? Hell, I don't remember. But she was sweet, and clearly enjoyed fudge) carried one in her rolling backpack. She had twenty-something required texts in it, and said that, with her load, she could't possibly carry all of those tests with her at all times. Very handy for the student.
I'm thinking that it would be invaluable as the house reference manual, too, for things not findable on the InterWeb, per se.
It was a hella lot more handy than a notebook computer. Books do not need keyboards. And when texts cost $140, this was actually MORE usable in the bathtub.
That said, are they not weatherproof? If not, why not? My Nextel is. My 13 year-old Garmin 12 GPS is.