I’ve been wondering whether I should get a kindle for a while.
I love books. I love touching them, I love flickering through them. When I was growing up, I would spend hours in my grandparents attic, looking at the books that were stored there, hundreds of old, dusty books.
I think a house without books is a very sad place. When I go into a house, one of the first thing I notice is the books (if you invite me, make sure there are a few good books laying around). I like reading also.
I remember going into the flat of a member of the Lausanne Reformed Baptist church. There were books everywhere. every wall was covered in books, there were some on the floors and on most surfaces. I think the bathroom was the only place without any books. It was wonderful.
But books tend to take a lot of space, and I can’t get around getting rid of them. They are also very heavy when you move house. So, the question is: should I get an ebook reader (probably kindle)?
Do you own one? If yes, what do you think?
I wouldn’t like to say that books are on their way out. partly because my brother owns a 2nd hand book store in Edinburgh. That said, there can be no denying that the ebook is beoming more and more popular. Some of our friends bought us a kindle before our move to France. I must say I like it. It has saved me money on some books, I can refer easily to the french / english dictionary stored on it, it takes up a lot less space and is easily transported and also it is possible to read a sample of a book before purchasing.
On the down side, i also like to have a book in my hands and i prefer to study from books which are before me, flicking quickly back and forward to different parts. This is harder to do with teh Kindle. It also seems to be harder to lend books to friends once I have read them. no doubt there is a way to do this, i just haven’t worked it out yet.
My guess is that in 20 years time, the pastor’s study will have changed. there will still be books but I would say there will be fewer. No doubt the Kindle will have been revamped several times and people will be laughing at my old model and who knows what my computer will be like.
Thanks Andrew. I have no intention of getting rid of my books, or to stop buying books. Like you I much prefer studying from books. I do use a Bible software and find it helpful, but still use paper commentaries.
I was reading a positive comment on the kindle on the French Amazon website this morning. The only drawback for the commentator was the lending side. Apparently, you can lend a book, but only once, and for a limited period of 14 days. Also, you can’t give away a kindle ebook.
I don’t have a Kindle but I have lots of Kindle books which I read using the Kindle application on my mobile phone and on my PC. The Kindle is an excellent gadget with wonderful battery life and it makes reading easy, but it is another gadget to carry. Using the Kindle application on my mobile phone is great because I almost always have my phone with me. And yes, I do still like printed books more, but the Kindle fits lots of books in my pants pocket.
I suppose I can read the ebook and if I think it is worthwhile I can buy a hard copy to lend to people. Still wondering about the battery life of the phone. How do you go about to save battery life while reading?
What a coincidence. See this article by Kevin DeYoung, and the comments as well (including mine!)