e-books

Kindle does solve the problem of storage. And keeping bedside light on to read,

At the price of the tactile experience of reading a book. And completely forgetting what it is I'm reading,

I like my Kindle.  Saves me carrying around bulky paperbacks and hardbacks.  Especially useful on holiday.  However, I much prefer hard copy when reading books with illustrations, maps etc.   Most of the time I find it impossible to read illustrations on the Kindle.

However,  I did prefer my old pre-paperwhite one, which I, alas, dropped - breaking the screen (sigh)

Dungassin posted:

...

However,  I did prefer my old pre-paperwhite one, which I, alas, dropped - breaking the screen (sigh)

When it happened to me, I ordered a new screen from China. Replacing it was easy after watching a youtube tutorial.

Mward2205 posted:

Dungassin posted:

...

However,  I did prefer my old pre-paperwhite one, which I, alas, dropped - breaking the screen (sigh)

When it happened to me, I ordered a new screen from China. Replacing it was easy after watching a youtube tutorial.

Thanks, that's very useful to know!

Having developed a fair whack of rheumatoid arthritis in my wrists and fingers, I find my Kindle an absolute blessing. Wrestling with a large hardback book is not something I want to do any more. Also, previously when we went on holiday we'd take one case full of books, now it's just a couple of Kindles. Wonderful device.

I haven't quite "got" the Kindle/Kobo thing. I don't consider it reading and seem to have even less retention.  I have just recently read a book via Amazon on my iMac an OK experience but lightest accidental touch of the touchpad and the page "turns".

Overall not as involving as a real book, but a lot more compact and great when travelling.

I did note that while Sally and I are going back and forth to the hospital we both carry paper books.

WE have both Kindles and iPads, and I know the pros and cons of reflections versus no reflection, colour versus mono.

However I think I would take the iPad rather than the Kindle when going on a trip, or reading at home.  I prefer the ability to get to the web, use various apps etc.

I store reference manuals on the iPad for information when travelling.

If the light is too strong and the reflections are too distracting then that is nature's way of telling me that there are better things to do in the good weather.

I like my Nook a lot, but I occasionally run into problems. As of page 42, I noticed that "The Paris Wife" was missing a couple of chunks of text. I got a library copy instead and started over. I put this information in an on-line review, but the Nook people buried it under 500 5-year-old reviews if they published it at all. 

I once had trouble getting a book to completely download. The Nook people claimed it was never paid for (then how did half of it get to my Nook?), and disappeared it before my eyes. This has made me leery of buying downloads generally. 

Stuff in the public domain gets OCRed, but is often not proofread. It's usually dirt cheap, but some of it is unreadable.

I do object to some kindle book prices. The author, publisher and retailer need a piece, I understand, but there are zero manufacturing, logistical, delivery and to all intents sales costs. So when download is close to real book price ( or sometimes more!) I get the feeling we're being ripped off. Again.

True, but don't forget that VAT is payable on e-books.

There's an awful lot of either free or very cheap books available for Kindle (other devices are available). We're members of Kindle Unlimited, just a small annual fee & thousands of books to download.

If this audiobook doesn't download properly I'll never hear the end of it.

Unlike others on this thread, I'm afraid that despite the fact that I have a computing background and have gleefully embraced the joy of local network and remote music streaming, I am a complete luddite when it comes to books and e-readers.

I purchased a Kobo a couple of years ago to experiment with e-books, and I have always had a Kindle reader on my iPad, but I just cannot make the switch from physical books to either of the e-readers. I intensely dislike reading books on the iPad and find that my eyes fatigue very quickly. The Kobo is better, but in the time I have had it I think I have only read a single book from end-to-end on it. My reading is still done more or less exclusively using the 'real thing' and I always have great difficulty accommodating the books I take on holiday in my luggage allowance.

I don't think I will ever grow to accept the e-reader as a replacement for physical books.   

Likewise I can't enjoy reading book on iPad or other bright screen device. Fine with kindle though.

I was always sceptical with reading on the iPad, but I find it a rewarding experience....

I too was totally against the idea of ebooks and was adamant I would not be converted but got a Kindle a couple of years back as a birthday gift (from someone who believed me stubborn and also to know what I would like better than myself) and I love it, instant books in seconds what sort of stubborn idiot wouldn't want one!

Our conversion to serious reading on the iPad was accelerated when the newspaper delivery service stopped so we took out the online subscription to the daily newspaper and get delivery regardless of where we are. IF in AZ or NM we can receive tomorrows newspaper at about 10pm local time.