To e-Read or Not To e-Read

Is That Your Question?

Back in the day the biggest book purchasing question was whether to buy the hardback, or wait for the paperback to come out months later. (Library readers are another post: and YES, I have 3 library cards: one for NYC, one for Chicago, and one for SoFlo).

Now the stakes have been raised: should you buy an e-reader, and if so, which e-reader. I have long been a fan of e-books: I installed eReader on my Palm Pilot years ago, so reading in this format has long been convenient and practical for me. Volumes have been written comparing the Kindle to the Sony Reader to the Barnes & Noble Nook. And no question: reading an e-book is not the same  romantic, magical experience as picking up a much loved, much read favorite novel and reading it again for the 10th time.

An e-reader is not for you if

• you tend to drop your books in the bathtub, and microwave them dry. Yes, Jeff Bezos gave an interview explaining that he wraps his Kindle in a ziplock to read in the bathtub; that’s a visual I can do without. Personally, I’ve never dropped mine in water.
• you want to share your books with 52 of your BFFs. Our Queen Mum received the Kindle last year for Christmas, and she promptly returned it: she likes to share all her books. (FYI: we got her a snow-blower instead.)
• you read mainly gossip and sports and fashion and lifestyle magazines (at least not yet: the industry hopes to get more magazines in e-format soon)
• you constantly lose your books in cabs, hotel rooms or at the beach. These babies are expensive to replace!

But if you’re thinking about it and need that final push to purchase an e-reader, read on!

Moi is an avid reader since childhood, and was an early adopter: I got the Kindle last year for Christmas. In fact, I purchased one for my daughter, and a 2nd for me, wrapped both, and gave mine to TBG to present to me Christmas morning. I’d had it in my gift drawer for nearly 2 months, I barely held out until Christmas day. And as I jetted down to SoFlo after Christmas I was happily reading  James Patterson and having the USAToday wired to me every morning.

Contrary to some in the publishing industry’s initial fears, my reading has actually increased because I don’t have to go to a bookstore to get the latest. I read about it in the NYTimes Book Section or the USAToday Books or Oprah’s Book Club or O Mag Book Reading Room, and moments later its in my Kindle and now, easily accessible through my beloved Kindle iPhone app (OK, sometimes the book is in my Kindle Wish List, but not for long, I’m an avid book buyer.) And I still go to bookstores frequently: I’m addicted to both Borders and Barnes & Noble: I firmly believe in giving books as gifts, as many of my nieces and nephews know 1st hand; I love coffee table books and cookbooks, which are not the targets of the e-book market (at least not yet!) and I just like bookstores: they make Moi happy!

Note: the Kindle for iPhone or iTouch app is free! You still have to buy the books from Amazon, but you do not need to purchase the Kindle. I find it very easy and convenient to read on my iPhone, and I have both the Kindle and BN iPhone apps, and will download the Kindle app for Blackberrys to TBG’s Blackberry when it finally becomes available. Not everyone likes reading on such a small screen, but I can easily adjust the font size, and its very convenient to be able to read when I’m on the bus, the subway, in line at Starbucks, waiting for a movie to begin, or wherever I find myself with a few moments to spare. And I can add books I’ve purchased to TBG’s phone: book sharing!

Do I like my Kindle? Mais oui, j’adore Moi Kindle! And because I was an early adopter, I’m continuously asked by friends, family, and strangers next to me on the bus or in the airport if I’m happy I bought it early, or if I’d rather have one of the newer e-book models, like Sony or the forthcoming Nook. Amazon, rejoice! I love the Kindle.

Yes there are a few e-reader problems

• I was an early adopter, and therefore just after I purchased version 1, the original Kindle, Amazon stopped production and issued Kindle 2. Yes K2 has a few bells and whistles which are OK, but not dealbreakers. The real problem is that its virtually impossible to buy accessories for Kindle 1. I just tried to buy a new Kindle cover, and while they’re plentiful for K2, they’re no longer manufactured for Kindle 1. Thankfully I scored one on e-Bay, but Amazon, you’re letting us down! (The Kindle 1 did come with a cover, the Kindle 2 does not. However, that K1 cover is useless: the book just falls out or it accidentally changes pages. Its safer not to use the cover that came with Kindle 1.)
• Amazon does not allow sharing of books among Kindle owners unless you share the same Amazon account. Which means, if you and your spouse share the same billing and purchasing account, you can download the same books to each of your Kindles or iPhones. But unless you want to share your Amazon billing account with your BFFs, you won’t be able to share Kindle books. I think this is a big negative for the Kindle: I still purchase hard copy books that I want to pass on and share, and my friends still do the same. Right now I have  a James Patterson, a Lee Child and several paperbacks on my bookshelf because they were passed to me, or that I purchased because I want to share.
• Magazine coverage is minimal. Omaha bff J planned to surprise her husband with a Kindle this Christmas and called her BFF shopping and Kindle expert, Moi, to consult. We agreed the Kindle, and any other of the current e-readers out there, will be wasted on him: there’s simply not enough magazines available in e-format to make it worthwhile if you’re a magazine reader, but not a book reader.
• Better and more publicized access for free e-books. Yes, free e-books exist for all formats, I have them for both my Kindle and my BN iPhone and eReader apps. (Why does Moi have 3 e-reader apps on her iPhone? I’m not sure, but I do seem to use them all…like I said, I like to read.) But their seems to be a free e-book format war. Come on, free is free, we’re not buying the e-reader that has access to the most free books. Otherwise we’d just use our library cards.
• The FAA and the airlines don’t understand e-readers. As a frequent flyer, one of my fave advantages of the Kindle is I only have to carry my Kindle, not the dozen books I used to haul along on my travels. But the FAA and airlines think that Kindles or iPhones being read at take-off or landing will cause unknown mechanical miscommunications: Amazon, work it out! ps: I’m not opposed to flying safely, but when I’m sitting on the runway on hold and all electronics have to be shut off, come on! (It’s much better than it used to be: when I first got my Kindle, TSA considered it a computer and I had to unpack it and send it separately through the screener. We early adopters helped you lag-behinds in ways you can’t imagine!) Now I keep a magazine in my carry-on for emergency reading.
• why can’t I download Amazon books when I’m traveling outside the US? I know the Kindle v1 is not the international version, but shouldn’t I be able to grab someone’s laptop and download a book in English? Anyone, is there a workaround for this yet?

So which e-reader would Moi recommend? In fact, all of them! Each one has their plusses and minuses. I’d like to share more e-books with a Nook, but I trust Amazon’s products and their warranty. I’d like to subscribe to more e-mags but I’d also like to read the USAToday in color, and WiFi would be convenient. Of course I’d like longer battery life. And if any fashion or food magazines get a good e-reader format, I may be in the market again!

But for now I’m just happy I’ve been able to enjoy my e-reader for the past year. Thanks TBG for remembering to give it to me last year. Maybe Santa will leave one for you this year. Or maybe the Blackberry Kindle app will finally be released.