Book Lovers Beware
Did you get a Kindle for Christmas?
I didn’t, which is cool since I didn’t ask for one and I don’t think it’d work over here anyways. If you somehow haven’t heard about the biggest adult-sized present this year, I say it’s probably the Amazon Kindle, a revolutionary book-like device (or the Wii, but that was so big last year so doesn’t count).
If you haven’t heard yet, a Kindle is a “digital content reader” or real fancy electronic book thingy. It can hold hundreds of books, access magazines and websites, and weighs very little. If one had a Kindle at the breakfast table, for instance, one could read the NY Times, see recently updated blogs, access wikipedia, and read any book sold by Amazon.
I can hear Granny now: revolutionary? That’s a big claim and it’s not really what the word means.
Perhaps, but…. Ok, I’ll liken this Kindle to the iphone for a minute. The iphone is less revolutionary because of what it is itself–a pretty sweet phone plus a whole lot more–but because of what it will do to the market. Now that consumers have phones that so easily do so much, with screens so large and no numbers taking up 50% of the interface, with accurate touch-sensitive screens, the phone design market will experience a revolution.
Now will the Kindle make a similar splash? I’m both skeptical, and really want one.
Folks have decried the death of the book for years. Palm pilots were supposed to do it, then laptops with good screens, and then mobile phones with large screens. But the old fashioned paper book is still going strong (they’ve had a record year in Britain). But the Kindle may finally crack the code.
Why? Because the kindle gets it. It has all the functionality I’d hope for in a book-like device. For instance: (1) the Kindle display reads like a book rather than a computer monitor, (2) with Kindle, you can buy anything Amazon sells instantly and usually for a discount, (3) Kindle weighs little and looks cool (ok, not really cool, but cool), (4) free wireless access to wikipedia (need I say more?)
Over the past few months, I’ve really missed my book shelves. Just thinking about the possibility of taking all those books with me in a smaller-then-laptop device gets me, well, as excited as a very non-excitable guy can get. All those books in a device the size and weight of a New Yorker–amazing!
I heard a fascinating interview a few weeks ago on the BBC (can’t find link, sorry) about a guy who’s just written a book predicting the death of books. I only heard half the interview, but he did present an interesting argument. Old fashioned paper books will always be with us, but they will improve in their look, feel, binding, etc. Paper books, to compete with e-books, will become even nicer told hold in your hand, to gift, to put on the coffee table. E-books, then, will become the quicker, easier, mainstream version.
Let’s face it: he’s probably at least partly right. Sure, the revolution may not happen as a direct result of Kindle, but it will happen. Consider what record players looked like even 30 years ago, and look at an iPod today and consider its functionality. E-books will, eventually, gain a functionality that surpass what we can even imagine. Come across a cool concept while reading–search for similar ones with the same device. Don’t know what that word means–double click and see the definition. That chapter remind you of a movie you’d like to see–order it wirelessly to the same device. That meal sound tasty–have it delivered to your door.
Only time will tell whether the Kindle is sputters like attempts before, or whether it sparks a revolution. The cost for Kindle–$400–is probably a bit high for any really fast-paced change. Just think, however, when they are affordable to all. If everyone had a Kindle, think how many book downloads Amazon would register per day. Until then, I’ll imagine my bookshelf in Decatur, continue my google.com/books searches for sermon quotes, and hope for a bookstore gift certificate.
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One of the things I love about having an iPod is that my whole CD library is stored in a small, portable device.
I can certainly see a similar potential benefit in the Kindle. For example, I travel as part of my job, and it would be great to carry my whole library in my suitcase! As I was writing in my hotel room, I could access any book I wanted to refer to.
But I wouldn’t want to pay a second time for books I already own! I would want to be able to scan them myself and upload them to my Kindle.
Also: I gather that the Kindle doesn’t have a search function. That would be another huge advantage over the printed text. When you’re a writer, who quotes texts on a regular basis, there’s tremendous convenience in being able to find the specific phrase you’re looking for by searching electronically.
Until the Kindle incorporates those two features, it would be of limited interest to me.
The thing is, I would love it and would use it, but there is nothing, I repeat, nothing like the smell and feel of an old ratty copy of your favorite novel that you’ve curled up with a million times.
I would guess book lovers of any generation can attest to that.
I definitely agree with you, Stephen. Searchability is a needed feature, as it someway to incorporate books one already owns.
Just as some textbooks only allow online searches and extra access to those who own the books, I would hope Amazon will eventually incorporate Kindle credit to those who buy “real” books on Amazon but own a Kindle.
Surely, the Kindle creators are already working to add these features?
I am completely against the Kindle. It just seems wrong to me.
This is from the Kindle website:
Search
Kindle makes it easy to search across your library. To use the Search feature, simply type in a word or phrase you’re looking for, and Kindle will find every instance across your Kindle library. Looking for an article you read a couple of days ago about hybrid cars but can’t remember where? Simply type in hybrid and Kindle will search your library for each reference, making it easy to jump directly to what you’re looking for. You can extend your search to the Kindle Store to find related titles you may be interested in. Explore even further by searching Wikipedia.
So it does have a search function
And my book, Master of the Jinn: A Sufi Novel, is one of the books that is “Kindled” 
One of the guys I work with has his entire CD collection (100′s of CDs) transferred to MP3 format and he raves about it.
I love reading my books on my IPaq although a larger screen would be nice.
Charly
http://theentertainmentgiveaway.com/siteoffers/newoffer1.html or my blog http://theentertainmentgiveaway.com/blog
I’m with those who see this as a useful thing if not necessarily a senses-cuddling one. As one of those writers who loves the feel and smell of a book in print, I accept the fact that someday my words will probably only be binary ones and zeroes, but I love the sight and feel of them, ink on paper. Still, if this gets–or keeps–people reading, I’m be on board with it.
Greg
is it really easier to read than a computer screen, because the computer screen gives me headaches after awhile – somehow being able to read a book helps me feel like I’m getting away from the computer for awhile, which I appreciate. Though not having to move with 30 boxes of books would certainly make our moving process much easier.
Well Adam you have seen that I have a Kindle and let me say that it is pretty amazing. It does have a search function as well as the ability to take clippings from e-books and to place notes and highlights in the book. Also the built in dictionary is a great function if you are reading and need to look up one of those antiquated words.
The best thing about the Kindle is that it is like reading a book, at least in my opinion. The screen is very easy on the eyes. I have had mine for about 24 hours now and I have already read the latest issue of Time (no pictures though which kind of stinks) and a 200 something page novel. The first couple of minutes reading I knew that I was reading off of a device but I eventually was sucked in and only cared about the story.
Finally, I also love the feel/smell/look of a good book and the Kindle is not going to change that. There are still certain books that I will buy in physical form (especially since all books are not e-books yet) but I also consume books at an alarming rate. The kindle allows me to save money and space (as well as trees) on those stupid pulp novels that I read just to pass the time.
All in all Kindle is a pretty neat device, and one that can only get better since it is only the first generation. The price will also probably go down as time passes (let us not forget the price of the original iPod) and I think that this is a device that can really catch on.