Seattlest: Seattlest Roundtable: The Amazon eBook Reader

paigecm

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:35:38 -0800

I much prefer printed books to electronic ones, but I would be tempted by this if I thought that the books I want would be available on it -- i.e., a lot of the scholarly texts that I need for my dissertation.

Katelyn

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 15:22:48 -0800

This Kindle thing is not nearly romantic enough for me. Plus, my books also serve as interior decorating! No way will a Kindle look as good on my shelves.

James Callan

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:54:57 -0800

It kind of looks like a Merlin. And veggie hits the nail on the head, for me -- I'm a big reader, but not a book collector. I own books, but I don't buy many compared to the number I read, and I distill my collection regularly. I don't think this is going to (dum dum dah!) replace books, but I'll be shocked if some device like this isn't how most people will be reading in The Future (TM).

Michael van Baker

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:04:54 -0800

Is it just me, or does it look kind of cheap and ugly? And still cost $400.

veggie

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:44:49 -0800

For both music and reading it seems like the question is whether you want to acquire and own something or experience something. Some people collect LPs for the cover art or maybe because they think they sound better, but they're really into acquiring stuff. Same with books. Some like to fill up shelves, others want to obsorb the ideas and move on.

bigyaz

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:40:54 -0800

I find the negativity ironic, given that everyone has been predicting the death of newspapers for years now. Why? Because you can read them online, on a screen full of pixels. So what is so different about this device, on which in addition to books you can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc. As one who works in front of a computer 9-10 hours a day I don't think I'd go for this machine. But then, I still read two newspapers a day -- on dead trees.

Tom

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 12:42:15 -0800

far better uses for a 30-hour battery life…am I right ladies? ...not just for the ladies. Does it have a USB port for, um, devices?