Monday, April 14, 2008

Do a lot of reading?

Have you heard of wireless reading devices? I did a little while ago but didn't think much of it. Why would people forgo books?



Amazon has their own wireless reading device, Kindle. It caught my attention after we recently ordered a new book to study at our homegroup meetings. The same book we're studying was available on Kindle books. And it was available for less as a Kindle book, much less actually. The book itself was $5 less but considering that we paid shipping on the book we would have saved $9.00 if we used Kindle. That grabbed my attention.

Considering that we average about 4-6 new books a month between Jake and I, I started to see the advantages of a wireless reading device. Besides the books costing less, saving shelf space, and the environmental factor - It's yours instantly. No more running to the bookstore to see if it's in stock or waiting for days for the UPS guy wondering "is today the day??"

So, what do you think? Have wireless reading devices gotten your attention? Do you think they would be a help or a hindrance in your busy life? I've already had about 6 ways it would be more convenient to have one run through my mind. Could you see yourself using one?

In case you're curious, this is the book we're studying in our homegroup (which is just another word for Bible study at someone's home :-D) :

3 comments:

David said...

You have to read a LOT to get your money's worth from Kindle. The initial cost is $400. Keep in mind that you OR Jake can read an eBook, but not both at the same time.

Books on demand will be cost-competitive with Kindle, but you'll get a real paper book that you can dog-ear, take notes in and not have to worry about dropping or environmental hazards like humidity or heat (you can't leave a Kindle in the car).

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2006/12/01/8395114/index.htm

I'm avoiding eReaders, but thehn again... I don't read often.

Jenna Wood said...

When Suze Orman was on the Oprah show and said that for X amount of hours you could download Suze's latest book, Woman and Money, for free, I quickly downloaded.


I read it in 3 days and loved it. I don't know anything about Kindle, but I would definately consider downloading a book again.

David said...

I would love a Kindle myself. I like looking up things as I'm reading, and it has access to a dictionary and Wikipedia. You can take notes, highlight, and clip key passages for later. You can also read the newspaper and subscribe to your online newsfeeds. The store is accessible free anywhere on the Sprint network (except Montana and Alaska for now) and they claim: Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.

Ultimately, I would love one if I could afford it (which I hear is a common complaint.) If I had one I would treat it much like my laptop. I wouldn't let my kids play with it, leave it unattended, or leave it in some extreme environment.

Let me know if you get one!