Kindle V Books. My verdict.

[hoopdriver]

You're very, very lucky if you've had only a couple of books where proofreading has been an issue. I have a couple hundred e-books and proofreading/typo issues have marred at least a third of them

 

[SpokeyDokey]

You're very, very lucky if you've had only a couple of books where proofreading has been an issue. I have a couple hundred e-books and proofreading/typo issues have marred at least a third of them

Had two that were really bad in places ie whole para's were rendered incomprehensible but other than that just the occasional glitch.

My wife has very few problems too and she gets through around 3 books week.

 

[Jefferson Meriwether]

I'd only ever get a Kindle if I was fortunate enough to be able to go on lots of holidays; I think taking a kindle on holiday is much more convenient than taking loads of books. As it is I'll be sticking to good old fashioned proper books.

 

[Piemaster]

I have a microSD card with several hundred books on it, more than the Kindle keyboard can handle at any one time. If I folded up one page of a book it would take up more space. Still buy ones from time to time though.
The amount on the Kindle at the moment will take me the rest of the year to read, and most of those were free downloads. Only ones I really need on paper are engineering drawings as I just can't get on with scrolling around electronic ones on any size of screen.

Importantly, how else would our resident CC authors get their work out to us forumites?

 

[Keith Oates]

I've had my Kindle for between 3 to 4 years and think it is the best buy I've made as far as reading is concerned. I also look at different Authors when they send you a recommended title that I would not look at in a bookshop. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[hoopdriver]

Had two that were really bad in places ie whole para's were rendered incomprehensible but other than that just the occasional glitch.

My wife has very few problems too and she gets through around 3 books week.

I am reading, right now, a book where a character Paul has his name appear as 'Paid', and 'call' is nearly always rendered 'cad' and so forth. The book is littered with these irritating and sloppy typos. I find this all the time. Perhaps as a writer and former sub-editor I am more sensitive to this. I can understand this sort of thing, to a degree, in those free editions of classics they offer, but all too often you find this sloppiness in books offered by big publishers at bookshop prices. Nobody seems to bother proofreading.these things, or if they do proofread they must be using dozy minimum wage amateurs.

 

[PaulB]

Another disadvantage of the Kindle for me is that although you can 'browse' to your heart's content, it removes the pleasure of browsing in reality. There's no pleasure in Kindle land-type browsing whereas going in to an actual bookshop and seeing what's available in the different book categories is much better; it's more sociable, gets you out of the house and lets you communicate with real people. If you're looking for a date and like books, buy a diary....I mean.... you'll be in an environment with similar-minded people so you've got a common interest right there.

 

[hoopdriver]

That is absolutely true.

I like bookshops. I just wish there were more of them - real bookshops, not soulless chains. I would frequent them if any were around. All the ones near here went out if business long ago. Much as I like books my custom alone will not support a bookshop.

 

[stephec]

The only thing that's stopping me uying a Kindle at the moment is being able to pick up a book and skim throught it before deciding if I want it or not.

At least that way I can look at any part I want rather than the preview that Amazon decide to show me.

 

[Longshot]

I love books - the real thing that is. I have hundreds of them and won't part with any.

Having said that, my Kindle was a revelation and now I use the Kindle app on my iPad instead. So much easier as I do most of my reading on trains.

 

[byegad]

I have paper books from publishers that don't exist any more: do you really want to lay money on the odds that Amazon will still exist - and will still support downloads to your Kindle device - in forty years? Eighty years?

I do buy some stuff as ebooks, but it doesn't feel like I own it in any meaningful sense when my continued ability to access it is dependent on the continued good grace of some for-profit commercial entity

Re Underlined.
At my age this is not a consideration!

 

[Dan B]

Re Underlined.
At my age this is not a consideration!

Fair enough, but you don't have kids? Grandkids? Nieces? Nephews? Friends with kids? I'd like my children to grow up thinking that reading is important (or at least that it's OK to believe it's important) , not that it's just another app they can install and then ignore in favour of Candy Farm Crushville

 

[Cycleops]

Fair enough, but you don't have kids? Grandkids? Nieces? Nephews? Friends with kids?

They'll only scribble all over them!

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Another disadvantage of the Kindle for me is that although you can 'browse' to your heart's content, it removes the pleasure of browsing in reality. There's no pleasure in Kindle land-type browsing whereas going in to an actual bookshop and seeing what's available in the different book categories is much better; it's more sociable, gets you out of the house and lets you communicate with real people. If you're looking for a date and like books, buy a diary....I mean.... you'll be in an environment with similar-minded people so you've got a common interest right there.

Gotta say that sounds a bit creepy to me.

 

[welsh dragon]

The only thing that's stopping me uying a Kindle at the moment is being able to pick up a book and skim throught it before deciding if I want it or not.

At least that way I can look at any part I want rather than the preview that Amazon decide to show me.

With a lot of books on kindle, you can read a short preview. This allows, you to decided if your going to like it or not.

sorry stephec., didn't read your last sentence.