I would like to go on the record as saying that I hated the idea of reading a book on anything other than paper and I was sure that this new e-reading was a quickly passing fad.Techno freaks could keep these little gidgety gadgety things to themselves. I wanted nothing to do with the Kindle, the Nook, the iPad, the iPod or any of that other newfangled stuff that my husband drooled over when we went shopping. I should warn you that when trying to stubbornly stick to my principles I am know to use outdated language.
When my husband bought his Nook almost a year ago, I flatly refused to use it. Then he did some digging into that list of books that I've always wanted but could never find and he discovered that one of them was available but ONLY as an e-book. I held my nose, tried not to touch the screen too much but finally gave in and read the book. I won't say that I was sold on the idea, we'll just say that I softened a little.
The fact that I am now looking into releasing my own novels in digital form tells you how quickly I progressed into the category of believers after that point. I've heard so many predictions made about how this will effect us readers and writers. It will be the end of books and authors! It will conquer the big bad publishing companies and put the power back into the author's hands (although I can't recall a time when it ever was in the author's hands). I have subscribed to none of the beliefs or theories because the fact is, I don't know.
What I can tell you is that today Amazon.com put out a little business release stating what their sales have been so far this year and for the first time EVER they sold more e-books than they did paperback books. It was only recently, in July, that their e-book sales exceeded their hardback books, they are now selling three times as many e-books as hardbacks. To make thing clear these are sales, they excluded the number of free book downloads.
Has the world shattered? No. Do I think that people are burning books in the streets and worshiping technology. Well, not out of my window at least. But I will admit that my eyebrows are raised and I am curious to see where this takes us.
You can find out more about it on MSNBC.com by clicking here.
I LOVE my Kindle. It is a joy to read, especially since I can adjust the font size for my sad, little old lady eyes. It's great not having piles and piles of books everywhere. It's just a great piece of technology.
ReplyDeletePenelope-I can't avoid the stacks of books that cover ever shelf and table in my house. The joy of opening a book, especially old books, will never let me go. However, I do love how much lighter and easier to carry around my husband's nook is when compared to the weight of the Harry Potter books that I've been re-reading with my mom!
ReplyDelete"Over my dead body" comes to mind when I think about a Kindle, Nook, etc. I'm old and proud to read books the old fashioned way. However, I've said this about computers, CD players, DVRs and host of other gadgets. Still, I don't have a GPS and I've seen more stuff being lost than I ever would have if I had not been lost. Some of it was pretty scary, too.
ReplyDeleteSteve-Kris and I are King at getting lost, even though out here, we had to get a GPS we still turn it off most of the time. We know that adventure happens when you get lost and just have fun! Some of my favorite cemeteries were found that way.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree absolutely nothing can replace the feel of a book in my hands. Turning each page is climbing to the top of another hill and you can't wait to see what's on the other side. But I never thought I'd get so addicted to audio books either. I would probably already have an eReader if it weren't for the 100 books waiting for me in my "to-be-read" cupboard. You really can't argue with the convenience of them. Especially when travelling
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