The popularity of the Amazon Kindle baffles me. According to this report, Amazon has run out of Kindles and has started a waiting list. I never caught on to the books-on-tape thing, much less electronic books. I know people that travel a lot, spend a lot of time in the car, and like to listen to books on CD. There could be something to be said for an author reading his own work; that might interest me, but I'd really rather have the book.
I'm a child of the purple mimeograph generation; I get high on the smell of ink. I love the crisp pages of new books. I love to look at books stacked on my bedside table waiting for me. I like seeing them on my shelves and I like picking them back up and referring to them for one reason or another. I like the physical weight of a good hardback or the sturdiness of an over sized paperback novel.
I don't really think that the Kindle, or even books you download to your iPod will replace the actual printed word; I simply would never read a book that way. One of my favorite blogs, People Reading, caught up with a Kindle reader in September; it seems that this woman is sold on the electronic word. Not me. Give me paper and ink any day.
Item NOT on my Christmas list: The Kindle.
OMG - this is on my "to blog about" list! I do not get the Kindle thing. There is no greater feeling than a stack of new books and I take great pride in storing and displaying them! That's half the fun of reading for me. I hate even going to Amazon and seeing the ads for it!!
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