To Book or E-Book?
If I had a Kindle (not yet!), I imagine I'd run up against the constant dilemma when I wanted to buy a new book: book or e-book (or both)? I love my physical books, for their evocative physical elements, their permanence, their browsability in ways that are unique to physical books, but I'm sure I'd love elements about e-books too: their portability, their searchability, their cost. But that's all speculative for me now. On the debut day of Kindle DX, it seems appropriate to have run across (via Fallows) one experienced dual reader (David Wolf at Silicon Hutong) who has thought through the decision process (complicated by his long-term residence in Beijing) enough to have constructed a flow chart:
I liked the flow chart, but even more I like the quote he found in Nassim Taleb's The Black Swan that just might help me in my ongoing negotiations with my wife to turn our house into a private library that, as a secondary benefit, also includes bedrooms and a kitchen:
Any Kindle (or other e-book) readers out there who want to share their own book/e-book decision tree? --Tom
Impartial Observer on May 06, 2009 at 05:36 PM
For a novel, it's simple. I always get it in a format I can read on the Kindle, if available. If there's no such edition, I will choose a different book to read. The Kindle provides such a far superior reading experience to a print book that it is not worth the trouble to buy anything printed. I might make an exception if there's a book I really, really, really want to read, but so far, since I got my Kindle 2 when it first came out, I haven't.
Nonfiction and reference books are different, because I use a different strategy for reading them. Typically, I'll make several passes through the book, first flipping the pages rapidly to get the lay of the land, then more focused readings where I might skim fast over some chapters and study others intently. For such books there is no substitute for a hard copy.
Rose C. on May 07, 2009 at 09:24 AM
I have a pretty simple decision tree too -- I basically only buy books for my Kindle. I just don't have the space in my apartment to accumulate a large collection of physical books (I still have bookshelves of books at my parents' house that I have yet to ship across the country). Also, I'm not a sentimental person, so I don't have an emotional connection to physical books.
And just a note: I don't read books exclusively on my Kindle -- I often borrow books from friends.
Roslyn Hurt-Steverson on May 07, 2009 at 06:34 PM
Too bad this wasn't around two weeks ago when I bought my Kindle2. Now I am incredibly distressed about the Kindle DX being released because I would have saved up another $150 and bought that one instead of the K2.
I'm a little upset with Amazon right now. They've been pushing the "Kindle2 for Mother's Day" campaign for a week now. I bought one before the rush, elated about my decision. Now...I can't afford to buy a KDX.
What a total bummer!! I may go back to being on the Best Sellers waiting list at my local library. At least that is free!!!
Western Reader on August 01, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Tom, your graphic is well done and it has been helpful to me in making the Kindle vs. hard copy decisions. So far, however, it's been all Kindle. This may change; I'm reading Dan Silva's "Gabriel Allon" series on the Kindle, and my DH would love to read the series as well, but he fully realizes there's no way he's going to pry my Kindle out of my hands unless I'm dead. Hmmm...there's a birthday gift idea for me to give him!