I’ve been talking to people about the Kindle a lot lately. Two of my friends got Kindles for Christmas, and I have to say, I started judging them immediately. These friends of mine are very smart, prolific book readers (and English majors), and I just felt that getting a Kindle was… I don’t know, really weird. Like a betrayal of the written word. Because isn’t part of enjoying a book all about seeing the cover art, and that new book smell, and the feel of the paper under your fingers? Or passing the book on to friends, complete with dog-eared pages and handwritten notes that only make sense to the original owner? Plus, how will I show off the pretentious books I’m reading if no one can see the covers (joking... mostly)? Thinking about it now, I guess this is how some people feel about the advance of the iPod and the death of vinyl.But the other day I actually got my first real-life look at the Kindle, and I’m almost ashamed to say that it just might be growing on me. Having seen (the very book-like, non-glare, magnetic ink) and felt (the surprisingly lightweight) Kindle, I’m running out of reasons not to like it. No, it’s not the same as a real book. And there are certain books that simply can’t be recreated in electronic form (anything with pictures, for example; children’s books, coffee table books… and I have a feeling that a book of poetry would not translate well on the Kindle). But the thought of having hundreds of books at my fingertips (without lugging around a truly enormous shopping bag) is incredibly appealing.
When I was packing for college for the first time, I remember being so relieved that I had gotten an iPod as a going away present. No need to haul a hundred plus CDs to my miniscule dorm room – everything was on my computer and in this tiny, magical little electronic gadget. It occurs to me now that this same principal could very well apply to books, couldn’t it? I mean, this blog is all about life in transit – moving from home to dorm room and back again countless times, visiting friends in other cities, vacationing abroad. And eventually (I assume/hope), I’ll be moving into my own apartment, at which point I will either be forced to drag hundreds of books across the country in a U-Haul, or… stick my lovely little Kindle in my purse. It’s awfully tempting, isn’t it?
Not to mention that fact that books are cheaper (or, quite often, free) on the Kindle. It’s like how buying a CD went from costing about $20 plus gas to only $9.99 on iTunes with the click of a button while sitting on my own couch. Or, if I don’t like the whole CD, I can buy a single great song for 99 cents (similarly, you can sample chapters of books on the Kindle before committing to buying them). As a chronic book-buyer (I’ve never been big on borrowing books from the library; I’m partial to owning my books and rereading them), the initial Kindle price tag would probably soon be balanced out by all the books I’d buy for half the regular price.
And as for betraying the written word (or rather, publishing houses), maybe that’s not such a bad thing. This list from Galleycat predicts that in ten years, 95% of all reading will be done on screens (?) and that most authors will be indie authors, which is maybe not a bad thing at all. I’ve been complaining for ages about how publishing houses are publishing crap, flash-in-the-pan chick lit and total junk like Twilight because they know it’ll sell – for the moment. They don’t care if it’s a good book as long as it’s sellable/trendy/appeals to the idiotic masses that
want nothing more than a beach read that they can leave at the airport, while some truly great authors never get published at all! Sorry, let me calm down for a moment. Anyway. Maybe taking some of the power away from those big publishing houses isn’t a bad idea, and maybe it would give some fantastic writers more of a chance. Newspapers are already floundering in the face of the internet and blogs (giving way to an abundance of new resources and opinions, some good, some bad); perhaps it really is just a matter of time before books go the same way. And maybe that’s okay.Maybe I want a Kindle.
What do you think?
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10 comments:
I am terrifed of the Kindle. Granted, my level of paranoia is clearly absurd. Regardless, the idea of relying on the internet and technology to house my books is terrifying. It's probably unrealistic to cite the difficulty of charging a Kindle in a post-apocalyptic state, but it is unfortunately less unrealistic to imagine the ease with which an entirely digitized library could be censored or monitored. I'll be less frightened of the Kindle when it has some serious competition from a non-Amazon affiliated company. I'll probably still never buy it though.
The things I hate about it are:
1. The thought that you have to recharge a book. Half of my association with books is that you can bring them camping, on a cross country trip by bus, all day shopping using public transit, laying on my bed for 2 days straight going crazy with Harry Potter.
2. Scary to think about losing all of your books if your technology gets messed up. I've lost everything on my ipod twice.
Reasons why those things aren't really reasonable fears:
1. My roommate has a kindle and she reads every night and she hasn't charged her kindle in weeks. So... it's not like you have to charge every 6 hours on this thing.
2. I've always gotten my songs back. That's the only comfort in that department.
Other things I love:
-You can download PDFs from class on it too... that's probably pretty awesome.
-Biggest thing- I don't read NEARLY as much as you, and my books are EASILY the most annoying part of moving. Two full boxes... and these are the HEAVIEST boxes... that I literally CAN'T get into my apartment. I think the benefit is pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to ignore.
I just know I'd probably read Harry Potter twice a year if they were in a small, more reasonable size (in which people could not easily see what I'm reading-- opposite problem of you wanting people to see your pretentious books).
So, I thought of a less conspiracy theory reason for fearing the Kindle. Ahem. Although the cost per book is certainly lower, the initial cost of the Kindle is still quite an investment. One that many casual readers would be unwilling to make, and, furthermore, one that people who don’t have that sort of sum or ready computer/internet access can’t make (yes, these people do exist). So, if 95% of reading is to be done online in the next 10 years, what will these people do? If no one is reading books, the books that are published are going to get more expensive, libraries aren’t going to be able to provide all of their patrons with electronic devices, and, as usual, the low end of the socioeconomic stick gets the shaft. Sure, the internet has the potential to provide access to authors who haven’t been able to attract the attention of major publishing companies, but the internet is also not as accessible to everyone as our East coast metropolitan lifestyles might make us believe. I’d rather people read trashy romance novels they picked up from the grocery store than nothing at all. I shall maintain my original position with a slight addition- I’d like the Kindle to have more electronic competition, but I’d also like traditional publishing to remain a legitimate competitor as well.
Hahahaha, I LOVE your conspiracy theories, Erin. I personally don't think the book will be completely replaced (or, if it is, it will take a VERY long time to happen), but the cost of the Kindle/nook/Sony Reader/iPad/etc. will definitely go down a lot by then. You can buy some form of iPod for like $50 now, when the original iPod cost waaay more than that.
But I think you're right that some people just don't read enough to ever want an ereader, so... I don't know. I think it'll be a long, long, LONG time before there are no books left, if ever. It's like CDs (or even vinyl). You can still buy them, the market has just shrunk significantly.
I think you should do it. The world is moving toward a more technological age. Your singular boycott of the thing isn't going to stop it. Don't feel as though you are betraying anyone - because they know it is happening just as much as you do. I think about this sometimes as an artist and it scares me. But I think instead of being scared we should just adapt to it before it takes us by surprise. At the end of the day, the words on the screen will be the same as the ones on the page and that, I think, is what you truly care about.
If you'd like, I can make a small arsenal of Kindle covers that resemble the covers of the books you are reading. This way, you can still show your pretentious covers to the world.
A small arsenal of Kindle covers made by you would be THE MOST amazing thing ever. I am certain.
I love my books very much, and plan on continuing to expand my collection. But I also love my Kindle. There is room in my life for both.
Do it.
I think it depends on how you read. For me, it's important to be able to hold individual books and mark them up and physically flip around pages and (literally) toss them aside. [The Kite Runner and I weren't on speaking terms for a long while.] I need that interaction--it's the same thing that makes me print texts rather than read them on a computer screen, kinesthetic learner and such. So, at this juncture, the Kindle is not for me.
But if you're able to read and remember and interact with literature without having to hold it, then getting a Kindle makes sense.
I personally don't have a kindle, but my boyfriend's dad does and he seems to like it very much! I ran across your blog through a friend and think it is absolutely great! Awesome entries!
Alexis - I definitely understand the need to physically feel and mark up a book, and it is something I would miss with a Kindle, for sure.
Natalie Ann - Thanks, and welcome! :)
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