Censorship! Restriction of intellectual freedom! Capitalist economic fascism!!

Yeah, I heard that the lending was time sensitive. After so much time (I forget how much - plenty) the reader deletes the text. They did it for lending libraries, I think.

Two new e-readers are coming out, both through Barnes and Noble. I believe at least one of them allows lending the text, as opposed to the device, to others.

I can loan a book but I can't loan the same book on kindle?

I just learned that there are copyright issues over loaning them to friends.

mnm.. em hadn't thought of that Rob! bit chilly, must get the fire goin!

Hmmm don't stand for President, they'll be used against you!

Now, I've tried it, not madly enamoured with the e book Rob, but like you say, it's a plan B.

Now letters, love them! my best pal from school still writes long lovely letters as do I, to her. The chronology of our lives are in those pages and I have every one of them. I even know by an almost indecipherable change in the writing on the envelope how she is, before I open it.

Hmmm I guess there is a place for both.

When I came over to China I brought with me a pack of CD books in fear that I wouldn't be able to get books in English. I can so I haven't read any of the CD's but it's nice knowing the set's there, and that online and ebooks are there.

I know some people who didn't think they would ever send and receive emails - thought they'd stick with letters, but now are very techie.

A real letter is still a great buzz though and I can't take my laptop to bed with me and lay on my side to read - and that's where I do most of my reading.

I have very successfully used online books with reluctant readers and got them hooked on reading, so they can't be all bad.

Yep, I agree Anna, but I'm trying to shake off my luddite tendancies, still use a fountain pen for letters!

Joanie wrote: "Just downloaded a free version of House of Mirth in about five seconds, Technology is utterly amazing....miss the feel and smell of the tangible form but I'll give it a whirl."

I love House of Mirth! But I have to say, I'm down on e-books. I watched someone with their Kindle on the plane this weekend and kept thinking how much nicer my *real* book was.

Had fun last time so back again for more actually.

House of Mirth? Oh. Have fun with that one...

Just downloaded a free version of House of Mirth in about five seconds, Technology is utterly amazing....miss the feel and smell of the tangible form but I'll give it a whirl.

I can't read books on a screen. I just can't. I know a lot of my friends get e-books and PDF versions of various publications, but I can't do it. I can handle forum browsing and short articles. I could probably do an e-zine. But novels? Textbooks? Anything longer than a few pages? No way. I need a hard copy. I need the book in my hands.

I whole-heartedly agree with what some of the others have said; it's not just about reading the words; it's about all the sensations that go along with it. I can't settle into a book if I can't feel the texture of the pages and smell the paper. Scrolling is not the same as turning pages.
For me, it is especially important that I have plays, poetry, and textbooks as hard copies. I generally like to get these second hand and see what other people have written in the margins of the pages. What were their thoughts on this line or that rhyme? Did they find the pathetic irony as effective as I did? Were they inspired to jot down a little verse as they read?
I know some people are dead-set against writing in, or otherwise defacing, books. I don't believe in mutilating them or marking them up too much. But I do think that a few thoughtful notes here and there can add something to a volume. I feel like I'd be missing out on something special if I purchased electronic versions of these treasures and lost all the lovely notes and thoughts in the margins.

The "Indies" fight back!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vPT5dhR0...

Yes, most of the classics, being copyright-free, are for free via e-. This means no money need be spent on the little things (like, say, prologues, preludes, and nocturnes).

To make my life difficult? And actually, this is free e-version I've been reading. Perhaps when things are free they get less attention paid to details like transcribing the entire text?

Why do they monkey around like that?

It's a jungle out there.

Well now that we know they're sold by Big Brother in the Amazon, who knows...?

I just had another disturbing e-book experience. I've been surreptitiously reading an e-version of Middlemarch at work and discovered it does not include the Prelude. I wonder how many e-text leave out preludes, prologues etc?

Not a GM part, that's for sure!

No!! I must run out and invest my liquidated GM funds. What'll 35 cents get me?

But it'll keep Excuses R Us in business, Anna! (I bought stock. Have you?)

Newengland wrote: "Pretty much sums up my take on it, Bri. Were I still in college, I would LOVE e-texts on my Kindle, but I hear the nefarious college textbook publishers are charging almost as much for their e-tex..."

This is true. It costs almost as much as an actual text to get a code for an online version, and you don't even get to keep your access to the book once the class ends. There are some companies that are experimenting with downloadable, kindle-esque books that students will collect on flash drives from bookstore kiosks. A recipe for "I couldn't do the reading. My book wasn't working" if you ask me.

Pretty much sums up my take on it, Bri. Were I still in college, I would LOVE e-texts on my Kindle, but I hear the nefarious college textbook publishers are charging almost as much for their e-texts as they are the actual overpriced tomes in the co-op. They'll get their just desserts some day.

Part of the excitement of reading is the smell of walking into a bookstore or library. The smell of new books mixed with coffee is heavenly. Also, try running your finger along the edge of an e-book for the satisfactory knowledge of how much you've committed to your book. Can't do it.
However, I like the fact that, with e-books, you can have a lot in a small space, because I'm running out of shelf space as it is.

Nope

There, then. That proves my point about what a book (and an illustrator) should be.

Can e-books match THAT?

I was nutz about NCW when I was a kid. I'd read any book that was illustrated by him.

I always thought books should be the classics illustrated by NC Wyeth (Andrew's dad). You know, books like Men of Iron and Treasure Island -- all unabridged but beautifully illustrated by a talented painter.

Newengland wrote: "Hey, the lost (Richard) is found.

Like the idea of a windshield or window being another monitor, Anna. Quite poetic."

Thanks. I always get the feeling of watching a movie when the red line comes above ground at Charles MGH.

Richard- I love that red leather edition of The Lord of Rings. My mother had it when I was young and I always thought that was what books should be!

Hey, the lost (Richard) is found.

Like the idea of a windshield or window being another monitor, Anna. Quite poetic.

My main objection to e-books used to be that they lacked the "flop factor"--I don't have a laptop, and I can't very well flop on the couch with my desktop's monitor.

I guess the Kindle is "floppable" but I think I'd feel the same way as Anna if I tried it. For me, part of the experience of reading the book is the book, whether it's the pulp science-fiction paperback I bought used at Brattle bookstore in downtown Boston or the magnificent red leather bound Lord of the Rings trilogy I took out of the library and enjoyed during a rainy week at a summer cottage.

You said it! Couldn't agree more.

I recently read a few pages on someone else's Kindle and I did not enjoy the experience. I like the feel, smell, sound, taste (?) of books too much to be satisfied by a screen. Dont we look at enough screens during the day? Computer screen, television screen, cell phone screen, movie screen. Even the windshield or train window are a kind of screen. I want my books to be screenless.

Do not fold, kindle or mutilate.

Yes, that's where we're headed. TV is already utilizing the banner ad to run across the bottom of the screen during your favorite show. It's designed to combat the DVR, wherein folks tape a show and then fast-forward through commercials.

Still haven't used my Kindle. Seems most books I want are not new, and the new ones serve as the bulk of the Kindling, so to type...

Is this where we are headed???
I'm already bombarded with advertising.....everywhere! Books should remain sacred!
http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/07/...

My daughter gets one for graduation this week.

I'll let y'all know what she thinks. She's alwsys right. Just ask her.

Hi Susanne,

I'm a new Kindle owner (I got mine for free in exchange for reading and rating 40 entrants in amazon's new novelist contest a few months back), but have yet to use it. I'm not sure how I'll like reading on a screen. Sure, I read here, but I mean reading A LOT on a screen.

It also looks like an easy way to spend money at amazon. Credit card, and seconds later, book. Only what if you lose it off your Kindle, or if your Kindle breaks? Unlike with the real deal, you're up a creek without a paddle.

So... I'm hoping to make my first "purchase" this summer. I downloaded a freebie (a lot of classics are free), but that was just to prove I could do it. I can do it!

-- The Reluctant Technophobe

Thought this article to be very interesting as technology pushes us forward every day...
Any comments?
Any other Kindle owners?...I do really enjoy mine, esp. when I travel as it holds approx 1,500 books, mags, blogs, podcasts, etc!...but I also haven't let it take the place of a good book I want to hold in my hands!
I still enjoy radio, usually more than T.V., which people thought might replace the radio when it first came out.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...