Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#21

Post by runjake » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 8:46 PM UTC

jaysonelliot wrote: post #17

Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall. If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it. But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books…

I'm sorry you're being downvoted. Thanks for this. As a person with books dating back to the 1800s, wise words to ponder.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#22

Post by vital101 » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 8:47 PM UTC

waffle_ss wrote: post #9

I got a Kindle about a month ago but have since returned it. It seems to be an excellent device for reading any book that should be read serially (e.g. novels), but any type of book that requires "random access" (e.g. reference/technical) doesn't work well due to the small screen, inability to jump to page X (which makes it difficult to use an index since you can't easily jump to it from anywhere), and poor search fu…

I have a Kindle, but any technical books I read are physical. It's much easier to thumb through information quickly with a physical book when you aren't quite sure what you're looking for.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#23

Post by johnnyn » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 8:47 PM UTC

jaysonelliot wrote: post #17

Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall. If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it. But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books…

IMO, the only way for physical books to exists alongside ebooks is by bundling the ebook with the physical book, similar to movies. It baffles me why publishers haven't already done this, but then again...publishers aren't the brightest people.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#24

Post by crander » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 8:52 PM UTC

hyperbovine wrote: post #13

FreeKill wrote: post #4

I completely agree with the OP, at first I thought I would miss having a physical book in my hands, but to be honest I don't really miss it at all. There are so many advantages to eBook reading such as light weight (compared to some hard covers), increased font size, etc. I now find myself thinking of buying a hardcover book as more of a painful inconvenience rather than a benefit.

Me three. Avoided buying a Kindle for years because I was unnerved by the idea of my book running out of batteries. In the three months since I acquired one my reading time has probably increased fivefold. The Kindle is a terrible device in so many ways--frumpy UI, 1980s-ish refresh rate, poor resolution compared to printed material--and yet still manages to be enjoyable to use. Makes me excited about the future of r…

I bought the first kindle and took it on a month long trip to Africa and re-read the Baroque Cycle on it. I jave a a few new Kindles since. I love most the platform aspect of Kindle and I rarely buy novels or computer tech books in any other form.

However I grew up traveling to Powells books and living with physical books. I find that a good physical book has something that the digital version lacks. The physical form is a symbol for my memories of a book. I can simply pick it up and thoughts, themes and so forth come back to me. A quick flip through pulls out my memories.

For deep study I still find that writing in ad underlining a book increases my understanding dramatically. For awhile I composed notes at the computer while I read but this was time consuming and akward.

Digital books are disruptive. As Carr once wrote though, the disruption doesn't mean something isn't lost... often much is. We need to find the right ways to bring as much as that along with us from the physical world into the digital as we can. Perhaps I am too old already, but I am sure I will be one of the last with physical books as well as a continual user of the digital.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#25

Post by crander » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 8:56 PM UTC

davidf18 wrote: post #8

Novels and light non-fiction is easy to read on the Kindle but for non-fiction with lots of ideas that are new I often have to buy the hard copy as well and underline and notate. Still I like the Kindle version because I travel a lot.

As a hybrid user who reads many books in both physical and digital forms, I have found that my preference for Kindle is directly related to how much I have traveled in the last month or two.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#26

Post by kghose » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 8:56 PM UTC

Kindle -> fiction/non-fiction text

Real books -> books needing many illustrations (e.g. art books)

But, I really appreciate the issue of "What do we put on the bookshelves?" my wife and I have bookshelves filling a wall where we have our combined libraries - and that is aesthetically very pleasing for us. What will our children do if they only have electronic format reading material?

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#27

Post by estevez » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 9:00 PM UTC

lpolovets wrote: post #19

estevez wrote: post #5

Did you notice the little girl reading the kindle on amazon? What I wonder about is what happens when you grow up with only limited exposure to codices. Is a book still a book?

To play devil's advocate, should the format matter? It seems like the content is the most important thing. People say, "don't just a book by its cover." Shouldn't that apply to a book's format as well?

My reaction to your question might be telling:

  1. I dimly remember that The Shallows had something thoughtful to say about the topic;
  2. I pull out my kindle and search the full text of 443 books for "carr kindle";
  3. I wait 3 seconds;
  4. I re-read Carr's take and mull it over.

Perhaps not fundamentally different from looking it up in the index, but it certainly feels so.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#28

Post by caela_ielle » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 9:02 PM UTC

I read very specific types of books on my Kindle.

Thick classics that are too big to carry around, New York Times bestseller page-turners, interesting books with an intriguing synopsis or something recommended by a friend. Things that I will read once, and maybe twice. Even though the ebook selection is still appalling with my local library, I've found it useful in this.

What I don't buy: textbooks, and the favorites I've probably read at least ten times. Those are the books I want to keep in physical form--eReaders don't flip well, and no amount of slick e-ink and shiny devices is going to have the same soothing effect on my nerves as my much-loved copy of The Hobbit.

Kindle, et al, at least for me, is dramatically streamlining the way I consume one type of book--the ones that before, I would go to the library, read, and return without a second thought. But not a whole lot else.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#29

Post by LordBodak » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 9:02 PM UTC

johnnyn wrote: post #23

jaysonelliot wrote: post #17

Anything that gets more people reading more books is a positive in my opinion, but I'm still disturbed by the idea that ebooks are acceptable alternatives to physical books overall. If the future is one of ebooks and real books coexisting, I'm all for it. But if the more likely scenario plays out, where publishers use the higher profit margins and control that come from cutting out the printers and stores, and books…

IMO, the only way for physical books to exists alongside ebooks is by bundling the ebook with the physical book, similar to movies. It baffles me why publishers haven't already done this, but then again...publishers aren't the brightest people.

This is the missing piece for me. I still want to own the physical book, but I would love the convenience of being able to load a bunch of books on my Kindle and take it on a trip or something.

Plus, think of the lock-in that the stores are missing out on. As a Kindle owner, if Amazon offered me bundles, I would probably never buy another book at Barnes & Noble.

Re: Amazon Has Drastically Changed the Way I Read

#30

Post by gdw2 » Fri, Dec 30, 2011, 9:07 PM UTC

davidf18 wrote: post #8

Novels and light non-fiction is easy to read on the Kindle but for non-fiction with lots of ideas that are new I often have to buy the hard copy as well and underline and notate. Still I like the Kindle version because I travel a lot.

I've been reading a non-fiction on my phone. I like how easy it is to highlight/annotate, though I haven't yet tried to go back and review my highlights...