eReaders
 

The Nook, Kindle, other off-brand ones, etc.

Do you have one?
Do you want one if you don't?
If you do have one, do you like it?
Any complaints if you have one?

I got a pandigital one, and it's cool and all, but it's laggy, and the battery isn't all that amazing. Sooooo, I traded it for a nook. I really love the thing, honestly. It's simple to use, and I do enjoy the eInk screen that it has as well, along with the little touch screen at the bottom. I find it really useful and great for reading large books without having to carry them around. Hell, I can get notes and such on it as well. >3<

I want one.. it'd be so nice to beable to read and stuff.. but the one I want doesn't have a blacklight.. ;-;

you can get a cheap eReader book light at target for I think it was like seven bucks. >3< It's not much of a big deal, really.

They seem to be all the rage, I think that I'll wait a little longer till they make a few more changes before I get one though. They just came out with the Color Nook, so I'm wondering when I'll get the chance to test one out. I wonder what features will become available over time though.

I'll probably be against e-readers for as long as people keep saying things like "They're going to wipe out the book industry" and "pretty soon they're going to shut down libraries."

So, as convenient as I think it would be, I'm really against people getting them because, with each e-reader sold, it makes morons think books are that much more obsolete.

I'd love to have an e-reader, however, I like a good old-fashioned book, too. Many of my favorite books I have and I like the looks of them lined up on a shelf, pretty colors and spines with individual lettering shown to the world. I love to hold them, too... In fact, even though I had the book "Peter Pan" on my computer, I deliberately bought the book in paper and ink because there is something magical about holding something like that in your hands. I've been reading since I was four years old... books are good friends of mine. The e-readers are just a different format for something I love so much. And some of them are even the weight of a traditional hardback anyway!

I really wish these things would vanish from existence. Technology just has to take over EVERYTHING!? First it was CDs killing records and MP3 players killing CDs, and then DVDs killing videos. Now this! I do not want books to die, I LOVE books and it's healthier. Screens can be irritating to the eyes. Yes it's easier than hauling around books in certain situations such as trips but that's the only good thing I can see coming from them.

I will never buy one of these things. I want them to DIE!

Isn't that a bit... I dunno... harsh, Red? I just got one for Christmas. I value the word both on the screen and on the paper. I have bought books after I've bought my e-reader. But think. If you buy every single book that is currently for free on an e-reader, you will spend thousands, if not millions, of dollars. I have so many classics I can sink my teeth into, now, that I couldn't have before due to the fact I didn't have the money for it.

As for screens being hard on the eyes, my Nook Color can reverse the color of the background so that it is white text on black. That is so easy on your eyes. Not to mention, I dimmed the brightness. I can read in a pitch black room and my eyes wouldn't hurt one bit.

Not to mention most ereaders that aren't on LCD screens (pandigital and nook colour) are on a screen that's... pretty much digital paper. Same colours and everything. No harder on the eyes than a regular book, and you still need a booklight for it. Being hard on the eyes is nothing.

Also, books needing to be lugged around/whatever, taking up space or anything can be a huge reason people don't buy them. Not to mention the pure COST. But the eReaders do make it a lot more available. Hell you can get books from the library (granted fairly limited) without even having to leave the house. It opens up reading to people who would never normally bother.

I wish I had a Kindle.
I use the app on my Mac though. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy books that way and they have a few free ones.

booo kindle. XD <3 My nook

Used book stores.

There is no "they're cheaper this way" when used book stores exist. I can buy paperback books at my local used bookstore, and 90% of the time they are under $5. This is opposed to the $10 or $20 for a digital copy of the same book, regardless of its age or popularity.

And while I don't mind CDs replacing records and DVDs replacing VHS, when things that do not exist in the physical world replace things that do, I have to take issue. The books you buy or the movies you buy or the albums you buy in e-form do not exist. You're paying for nothing. If the server that hosts them goes down, or the product that plays/displays them ceases to work, what you have is gone. I just don't buy things that I can't physically hold, touch, see. Rent them? Sure. Buy them? It'd be like buying air to me: pointless and ridiculous.

Now, I do recognize that Nooks and Kindles are convenient, but I would only get one if publishers started packaging digital copies of books with real copies of books, so you get the ability to carry your entire collection on the e-Reader and you get the actual, physical book that makes buying it, well, not pointless.

Um an e-reader itself costs like hundreds of dollars as opposed to a paperback novel with no complimentary item needed for under ten dollars. Textbooks for school do cost a fortune yes but I am pretty sure the e-reader matches very closely with the $140 I paid for the two math books(EACH) for math classes the past few years(and got $15 back for, $15! damn school system). Last semester however and this my books were surprisingly cheaper for used copies of one text book. This semester my Japanese II text book was an astonishing $17.21 as opposed to those $140 math books(although they were new, one of which I had to wait on a new shipment for).

Sure an e-book itself may cost like a buck, but hello, you need the hundred whatever dollar device to read it on! So I don't understand the comparison and how people can say e-books are cheaper. You don't need a fortune to read a book on something. It's just a book.

The thought of sitting somewhere with a screen on a rectangle with you reading just seems to me, well it just doesn't look good. Don't get me wrong, I have read stuff off a screen before, and it doesn't bother me greatly but I don't want it be the ONLY means of reading someday. Sorry it's not appealing to me.

It's just sad to me that no one can just enjoy things in simple forms anymore. Technology is taking over everything.

Ultimately, though, Rum, twenty-five ten dollar books equals the price of a single e-reader. Spend enough money to obtain 100 books in paperback totaling each at 10 dollars on an e-reader and downloads, depending on how you do it (like I did) I have (as I said) thousands of books for the same cost.

I understand some books are better as actual paper and ink. You don't have to explain that one to me at all. You can do things with an actual book that you can't do with an e-reader. I do recognize that. And sometimes it's more satisfying to turn the page than flick a finger.

I'm very old school. I've been reading since I was four (granted, not the big or intense books that I read now) and my favorite thing is a book. An e-reader will not completely eliminate books from the world, but you can get some books for free instead of paying five dollars or so for that Dracula novel you'd had your eyes on. Or that Little Women book. Peter Pan? Free on an e-reader if you know where to go.

There are advantages and disadvantages. If you only look at the disadvantages, you're missing out on a lot of the interesting things.

I don't cause it's cheaper to get the book from the library or in a bookstore than to buy one for the kindle

I don't care if other people prefer eReaders, that's their business. But I will always prefer paper books. I like the look and feel a lot better, but my biggest concern with the eReaders is that if the thing breaks or you can't charge it or whatever, every book on there will be inaccessible. Sure, maybe you'll have an account or something where it's all saved on, but until you can get it fixed or replaced, you're without a lot. With a physical book, if I ruin it, that's the only thing to suffer, and I can get it replaced for for fifteen bucks TOPS at Half Price Books. Plus, you will never have to get a book updated in five years because the cover is outdated or it's no longer compatible with your current eyeballs.

It's only inevitable if people have that mindset. It's people with this idea that everything should be digital and invisible that are ruining it. I'm perfectly fine with copies of books being available digitally, but this either/or thought process has to stop or we'll be left with absolutely nothing.

Digital data doesn't survive. IN a hundred years, nothing that exists now will still exist. Yeah, you won't either, but what about the legacy of your generation for the future? There will be no documentation, no artifacts, nothing. If people continue thinking that the absence of actual, physical properties is an "inevitable" end, then this part of history will not exist for posterity in the future.

The problem is, people just don't think about the future. They don't think about what will happen when this technology becomes obsolete, and you find yourself without software updates or support and the proud owner of what is essentially a useless slab of plastic and silicon.

Yeah, make digital copies of books - but just because one exists, why do the real books have to cease to exist? It's not logical to replace something with nothing.

I love my nook, don't get me wrong, but I still can't help but find myself wandering over to the book section at any store, either. ~shrug~ My only issue is lack of space, really.

I also like that I can read it on my computer, my nook, or my iPphone. So even if my nook /does/ break, until I can get it fixed, I /do/ have alternative methods of getting access to my books. Not to mention the pure convenience of being able to get library books. Er... some library books. I do hope they'll add more eBooks to the stocks soon. =P

I agree with johnny, it shouldn't be an "either/or" thing. Both physical copies and digital copies have pros and cons, and which is the better lies solely on personal preference.

I never said that the actual books had to cease to exist. I've never been one to preach about what someone else should do. In my opinion and for myself, I happen to like the e-reader better for my own reasons. As for tangible books lasting, that's just not reality. Do you think time and weather or natural disasters or even man with vengeance doesn't destroy these things? Nothing material lasts just like nothing electronic lasts and you know, it really doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of things.

I think e-readers are pretty nice. I dont have one but I have an iPad which is similar when it comes to the ibooks store.

If I'm going to drop money on an ereader, I would probably end up buying an iPad for multitasking.

~cough~ nookcolor ~coughcoughcough~

yeah i like the traditional books better than ereaders so i probably wont ever buy one

eReaders are lame, is about Ipads baby! <3

iPad = eReader in a sense.
It has book apps on it... =/

I got and kindle 3g/wifi and I love it. I got it because my professor wanted us to read Frankenstein on the computer and that was going to hurt very badly. So after many years of " I'm not going to get one of those stupid things" I finally got one and so glad I did. I still love traditional books more but I rarely can get to brick and mortar bookstore to get more books. This way it's a lot more convenient to get new books and and to actually transport the darn things. And it doesn't hurt my eyes after an 1/2hour (been good up to 12 hours straight =D) and has great battery life. The only problem i realy have with it is the tha keyboard is clunky and that it lacks.

Noook >_>
Anyway, I had a pandigital one at first and ended up sending it back and getting a nook. I much prefer my nook cause of the screen. The battery life as well. Some books I still have to get in paper but mostly it's just so much more convenient to have the book in such a small object.

I have a Sony eReader though I haven't used it extensively yet. There isn't a backlight, I have a case for it that includes a booklight which is apparently highly recommended by other people who have them. It was a Christmas gift last years. I do like the screen so far. I wear glasses (near sighted) and the computer and I do not get along when it comes to online reading. I haven't noticed any eye issues with the reader so far but I'll need to give if a thorough go before makeing any definite judgement calls.

I have been enjoying the cheaper books though. For the most part I find they really are only a couple dollars off the bookstore price and a bookstore sale can still be cheaper, but some of the harder to find classes like the Knut Hamsen collection I picked up are much cheaper than in book form. The collection I bought was $4, while the one book I saw in the store was around $14. I find I use the reader to explore new authors and if I like them, I look more into getting actual books. It's also handy for classics that I likely wont reference enough to really want on my shelf.

I don't have one, and I'm kind of reluctant to get one. I like my books in tangible form. I do, however, want to read some titles that are exclusively for e-readers.

Me too. But mine was a Christmas gift so I've been playing around with it and I have to admit it is handy since I don't have much space for books right now. I still mostly buy paperback books but I do peruse the reader store for freebies from new authors or cheap sales to expand my interests. I prefer it to buying a book I don't really know if I'd be interested in.

I love my kindle. It has made it so i can read my favorite books that I have no room to store at college since I am moving every year or so.... I hate not having space. I love rereading books.

eReaders.. it seems like sucha silly concept to me. I almost feel like I'm cheating, you know? I know a few people that have one, and they almost have all said the same thing: Stick with buying the books. Although I do see the benefits of having one.. [I.E I'd never have to replace books that have shelf wear, which bugs the crap out of me] I wouldn't want to spend that kind of money on one.

For me I got one for christmas, i wouldn't have bought it myself.

Baha. Everyone knows not to get me one. I'd probably rage. Hard.

My grandparents got it for me... I can't really be upset with them. But it is nice for when I'm off at college and can't actually have books....

See, I can totally imagine how that would be useful.

But no matter what situation I'm in, I make sure to have room for mah bookies. <333