Community Chat

[beckyb1012]

[depglass]

I have a friend with three Kindles.  She loads books for me to read occasionally.  One of them I hate, its a first generation and the pages are a pain to get turned.  I actually bought a Kindle a year ago and haven't even bothered to set it up.  I just plain like books.  I go to one book club and my thought is either buy a hard copy cheap on Amazon or get it at the library.  My mind never turns to "set up the %^&&* Kindle you spent good money on, dummy."

[NickNack]

I love my Kindle Paperwhite, and that's what I use to read most of my books.  Some books don't work well on a Kindle, though, IMO.  Books with many pictures aren't the same on the Kindle, also books that you need to refer to frequently aren't easy to use on a Kindle.  I also wouldn't enjoy using cookbooks that way.

[gonnab]

I don't think books will ever be obsolete.  I'm an avid reader and when  Kindle was first introduced, I just had to have one.  However, the novelty quickly wore off and now I'm happily using the good old library, bookstores,  and hard copy books!

[ChynnaBlue]

Ever is a very long time, so I won't even begin to guess about that. 

But it sounds like you haven't been reading the news - the numbers for paper books started going back up in 2014 and that trend continued in 2015. Ebook sales have been declining and audio book sales have gone way up thanks to apps like Audible and more famous actors reading the books now.

I don't think it's based as much on age as preference, affordability, and access. I'm 47 and vastly prefer digital books (both ebooks and audio books) over paper. A lot of younger readers have paper books because they don't have their own ereaders and paper books are easier to get. The cost of ebooks has also risen by quite a bit in the last few years. It used to be cheaper to get an ebook than a paperback and now the ebook often costs more. A used book or library book is a better value than an ebook for people watching their pennies or with limited high-speed wifi access.

I do about half my book reading in ebooks and half in audio books. I reserve paper for hardcover books I have signed by the author or cook books. Even  when I get a paper book signed by an author, it immediately goes in my collection and I buy a second digital copy to consume. I do most of my reading away from home - waiting rooms, lunch at work, dinner while I wait for rush hour traffic to clear, etc. Digital books are much easier to carry with me wherever I go and if I finish my book while I'm out, I have a new book ready to go and don't have to carry two books with me. I used tp carry 3 paperbacks with me on every vacation and now I carry one Kindle.  And I can take notes on my books in either the Kindle or the Audible app, so I no longer have to carry a notebook or have sticky notes all over my books. I pull my notes up for book club right there in the Kindle or Audible app and I'm good to go.

One exception - I did keep a paper "family tree" of the Buendía family inside my Kindle cover the second time I read One Hundred Years of Solitude in order to keep all of the José Arcadios straight in my head. I read the paperback twenty years ago and didn't think about that until I finished it and vowed that if I ever read it again, I would keep a family tree inside the front cover.

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[jaxs mom]

The only books I buy in print now days are some cookbooks ( I have many cookbooks that are ebooks), art books, graphic novels and research books that I can't get on ebook. About 90% of the books I buy now days are ebooks. 

[ALRATIBA]

I doubt they'll become obsolete.  I have two Kindles and I still buy a lot of "real" books.   Just got one from Amazon today ... and downloaded two Kindle books yesterday.

For me - the subject matter determines whether I a get a book or Kindle download.  

[Its Me LuLuBelle2]

Something I did forget to mention.  My grandson has always been a reader, my granddaughter not so much.  They are now 8 and 10.  When they were 5 and 7 I bought them each a Kindle for Valentine's day.  My grandson is now a bigger reader than ever, and my granddaughter now loves reading.  I don't care what form anyone reads in - holding a book or using an e-reader - reading is such a joy, a means of escape, a way to learn, on and on - I'm just happy when I see anyone reading - especially kids.

[jaxs mom]

@ChynnaBlue Yes, I also have my favorite books in both print and ebook. 

I don't love a book less, in my heart, just because I read it in ebook form. What makes a book is the story or the information it contains, not the method you read it. 

The thing I love about ebooks is that I can take my whole collection with me all the time. I can easily search for what I'm looking for. Make highlights and notes without defacing the print copy and best of all change the size of the print or the contrast. I can also read an ebook in any light, including pitch dark now that they are backlit and I control with a fingtip how bright the light is. 

[RainCityWoman]

No, I think books will always be around. I have tried to read books on my IPad. I hate it. I prefer holding a book, plus I love the looks of books on shelves. I like to touch them, review them, dust them, etc. Besides, when civilization as we know it is reduced to all but rubble and the electronics grid no longer remains, you can still dig a book out of the ashes and start over, presuming you are a survivor.