Monday, October 27, 2008

Electronic book readers

I am not shilling for Oprah and/or whomever makes Kindle!







Sometime Sunday I was reading a blog, or newspaper account of perfect products. The author mentioned Topsiders and 501 Levis amongst others.

My list would include Ticonderoga #2 pencils, Gillette Good News Razors and books. Not every book naturally, but the concept of books. They arouse almost all the senses. They are portable, feel good in the hand, some are physically beautiful. They are a joy to own and hold.

Lately, Oprah has endorsed a product called Kindle. Its a portable, electronic book reader approximately the size of a legal pad. The deal is you spend $300 for the reader, and you can wirelessly download virtually any book from Amazon, etc. for under $10. Allegedly, the Kindle holds several hundred books at once and has available memory cards for more storage.

Mrs T has made several stabs at tempting me to try one on. She has also sung this song to virtually every family member who would listen, to little or no avail. I gag at the thought, except...

There may be one application where this makes sense. Girl College Students

According to the Kindle web site, text books are down loadable too. While my knowledge isn't current, I remember college textbooks to be backbreakingly expensive, and rarely read. Downloading texts at 10 bucks just might make this practical. Boys would either lose it, or never use it, and they rarely buy the books anyway.

What do you think? Is it time to begin Christmas shopping?

Sony also has a similar product for $300 on sale at Target this week which includes 101 downloads, and the Oprah web site has a $50 off coupon code for a Kindle good for the next week or so.

For more info on Kindle:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FI73MA/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2192951021&ref=pd_sl_20wgx685w_e

Sony: http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentDisplayView?cmsId=content/reader/index_reader&hideHeaderFooter=false&storeId=10151&catalogId=10551&XID=O:sony%20book%20reader:dg_read_gglsrch#/home/

4 comments:

ms. mindless said...

ticonderoga pencils really are the best. as a teacher, i find myslef using pencil far more often than the average adult and i always buy them, although they seem to walk away with my students far more frequently than the staples brand pencils...

Katy McIntyre said...

I'm with you. As you suggested, the reader makes a lot of sense for text books but other than that it does not seem worth it. It seems like you could go to the library and get a book for $0 as opposed to the $310. For the record, I'm not a fan of audio books either.... puts me right to sleep.

Mrs. Blandings said...

They simply cannot replicate the feel of a book in your hand. And while it is my medium, I really don't care to read things on a screen; it doesn't set quite the same way.

ms. mindless said...

if i had limitless funds, i would continue to buy real books, because nothing can beat the feeling of holding an old friend and falling into the pages. BUT, i would still buy a kindle for travel, because it would be so convenient. i hate having to make decisions about which books to take for a trip because i am a very fast reader and need many books for any week long trip. i like to carry-on only and its a great way to pare down. i would only use the kindle for travel situations and read the real thing at home. if i had money to throw around:)