# Kindle vs Paperback: Where's The Advantage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 22, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931 "2011-07-22T01:50:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/61 "2011-07-22T19:34:42Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Regardless of whether it can interfere with the operation of the plane or not, the attendants have always been very clear about turning off ALL electronic devices. On the last flight I was on, they wouldn’t even accept Airplane Mode for phones, the phones had to be powered off completely. Yep. I fly a lot for work, and the attendants now say: “Please turn off your cell phones and all other electronic devices, including e-readers.” ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/62 "2011-07-22T19:38:04Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > “It works for me, therefore it should work for everybody” is a hopeless argument. That’s the only one you’ve made so far. You’re standing in a corner staring at a wall and insisting that’s the only view of the room. That’s objectively wrong, not just subjectively wrong. If you could quote one place where I said that, you would have. I don’t have the energy to argue with someone who makes up things and attributes them to me. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/63 "2011-07-22T19:39:31Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > \*Less impulse buying You said a mouthful there, sister. I’ve bought more books in the last three years that I’ve owned my Kindle than the entire previous 10. It’s just too convenient to want a book and {poof} have it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/64 "2011-07-22T19:43:45Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > If you could quote one place where I said that, you would have. > > I don’t have the energy to argue with someone who makes up things and attributes them to me. Post #45, the last paragraph, reads (paraphrased) as such. [QUOTE=Shakester] All this makes me wonder if you’ve actually _tried_ a Kindle. _Not_ iPads and those sorts of things, not mini-computers with backlit screens, something with a proper e-ink screen. Have you actually _tried_ reading something on a Kindle, or are you basing your opinion on what you imagine them to be like? [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/65 "2011-07-22T19:46:38Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Could you quote where someone said that you were wrong for holding your opinions as your own? I apologise in advance if I missed them. I don’t think you’re stoopid for luvin’ your Kindle. > > The first “negative” comment that I noticed seemed to be yours, in post #32 (the “Luddite” comment). Sigh, I thought I was finished here… The Luddite comment was hyperbole. It was an exaggeration. As should have been apparent from the rest of the sentence. OK, my fault entirely for forgetting that the internet doesn’t really _do_ subtlety or banter. I was trying to parody the over-seriousness of others, I should really have been able to foresee that it would be taken Very Seriously. My fault, my mistake, and I apologise to anyone who felt that I called them a Luddite. ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/66 "2011-07-22T19:51:33Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Post #45, the last paragraph, reads (paraphrased) as such. It was a genuine question. The fault, and again I accept full responsibility for it, was that it was meant not so much for the person who provoked it but for people who were ranting earlier in the thread. If you’re interpreting that as meaning “It works for me, therefore it should work for everybody”, well, that’s _your_ mistake, not mine. And too bad. I’m done here, thanks to the friendly people who PMed me, tough luck to anyone who’s still offended, and good night to all. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/67 "2011-07-22T20:16:06Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > It was a genuine question. The fault, and again I accept full responsibility for it, was that it was meant not so much for the person who provoked it but for people who were ranting earlier in the thread. > > If you’re interpreting that as meaning “It works for me, therefore it should work for everybody”, well, that’s _your_ mistake, not mine. > > And too bad. I’m done here, thanks to the friendly people who PMed me, tough luck to anyone who’s still offended, and good night to all. Take care. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/68 "2011-07-22T20:18:30Z")
I like both traditional books, and the Kindle, for reasons that have been mentioned. But the bookshelves in my home, and there are many, are almost completely full. So I’m getting a lot of pressure from my wife not to buy any more books that are available for the Kindle, and are “Kindle-friendly”. (No color, few illustrations, etc.) She doesn’t like all the clutter. She wants me to get them on the Kindle so I can still read them but they don’t take up any more space in our house. She has a point: There must be 500 books or more in our house and 90% of them are mine. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/69 "2011-07-22T21:22:44Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I like both traditional books, and the Kindle, for reasons that have been mentioned. > > But the bookshelves in my home, and there are many, are almost completely full. So I’m getting a lot of pressure from my wife not to buy any more books that are available for the Kindle, and are “Kindle-friendly”. (No color, few illustrations, etc.) She doesn’t like all the clutter. She wants me to get them on the Kindle so I can still read them but they don’t take up any more space in our house. > > She has a point: There must be 500 books or more in our house and 90% of them are mine. That’s our house (add kids). Four people in the house, I should get 25% of the bookshelves. My son really doesn’t read much - at best he’d use 10% of the bookshelves - so I should really be getting 30%! But my husband and daughter - particularly my husband - take up more than their share of the space. To make things neat, we have to get rid of books. If I’m doing the getting rid of, its my books that I get rid of. The moment I free up some space, it goes to HIS books. Well, it seems that way anyway - it isn’t really true - but its true enough that the Kindle keeps me from having hard feelings. Another thing about the Kindle is that my way of getting rid of books is to “loan” them out and then never see them again. I tend to do this with books I really like because those are the books I want to share. I’ve bought at least five copies of To Kill a Mockingbird, at least six of Pride and Prejudice, four A Handmaids Tale, etc. With the Kindle, I’m not loaning out my books to free up space, so I have them a year or two later when I want to reread them. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/70 "2011-07-22T21:32:59Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > > [@Athena](#): > > > > Amazon ONCE deleted a book off people’s readers when it was discovered that it was sold in violation of the copyright. They also refunded their money. Not a bad deal, if you ask me. > > Yes, but the book was **1984**. > > That single act consumed more than _half_ of the entire world supply of irony in one fell swoop. And they’ve [done it more than once](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/17/confusion_over_amazon_censorship_policy/). Or rather, been caught at it; who knows if they’ve done it more often and not been caught. Or censored books and left you the censored version so you still see the title and think you have the original. I don’t trust them. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/71 "2011-07-22T21:47:35Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And they’ve [done it more than once](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/17/confusion_over_amazon_censorship_policy/). Or rather, been caught at it; who knows if they’ve done it more often and not been caught. Or censored books and left you the censored version so you still see the title and think you have the original. I don’t trust them. I don’t think that link says what you think it does. If I’m interpreting it correctly, it doesn’t have anything to do with Amazon deleting already-purchased material from anyone’s devices. Rather, it’s about them removing e-books for sale from their site, so that they’re no longer available for purchase. As I’ve said before when you’ve brought this up, I find it really, really hard to believe that they could delete or alter books on people’s devices **without anyone noticing**. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/72 "2011-07-22T22:37:13Z")
E-books have allowed my 89 year old Grandmother to start reading again. For years she was reading less and less because she just couldn’t hold a thick book for that long. This past Christmas my Mom got her a Kobo and she has read more books in the past 7 months than in the 3 years previous. They are light, easy to use and understand (at least the Kobo is, I have never used a Kindle), and she can make the print size as big as she needs. They opened up a world that she thought she had lost. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2011, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/73 "2011-07-22T22:55:05Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I like both traditional books, and the Kindle, for reasons that have been mentioned. > > But the bookshelves in my home, and there are many, are almost completely full. So I’m getting a lot of pressure from my wife not to buy any more books that are available for the Kindle, and are “Kindle-friendly”. (No color, few illustrations, etc.) She doesn’t like all the clutter. She wants me to get them on the Kindle so I can still read them but they don’t take up any more space in our house. > > She has a point: There must be 500 books or more in our house and 90% of them are mine. Pah, lightweight. I own somewhere on the close order of 4500 books. I live in a microscopically tiny house, 800 sq feet so 95% of my books are boxed and in the barn. We have the space for a bankers box worth of books, so periodically hubby packs up the ones we have, takes them out into the barn and randomly grabs another box for us to read until we get tired of them. Some paperbacks are falling apart, so I scan it in and toss the dead soldier. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/74 "2011-07-23T00:49:14Z")
I’ve been thinking for some time about buying a Kindle. My bookshelves, like those of other posters above, are jam packed with books. I’d probably still buy a lot of non-fiction books in ‘proper’ format but I also read a lot of crime (fiction and non-fiction) which I’d have no interest in re-reading, so a Kindle version would be ideal. However, many of the authors I like don’t seem to have books out in Kindle. Do the Kindle versions come out later or are they generally released at the same time as a paperback? I haven’t scoured Amazon yet for the titles I’m interested in but I have browsed a few and none seem to be available on Kindle. So, at this point, I’ll probably continue to buy from Book Depository, while free shipping still exists. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/75 "2011-07-23T01:36:44Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I like both traditional books, and the Kindle, for reasons that have been mentioned. > > But the bookshelves in my home, and there are many, are almost completely full. So I’m getting a lot of pressure from my wife not to buy any more books that are available for the Kindle, and are “Kindle-friendly”. (No color, few illustrations, etc.) She doesn’t like all the clutter. She wants me to get them on the Kindle so I can still read them but they don’t take up any more space in our house. > > She has a point: There must be 500 books or more in our house and 90% of them are mine. Last time I counted, I had upwards of 500 books on various shelves in my bedroom which I haven’t read yet. And those are just the ones I’ve either unpacked or bought since I moved here three years ago. I know there are several boxes of unread books mixed in with the boxes of books I _have_ read which are currently taking up space in my spare bedroom. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/76 "2011-07-23T02:18:50Z")
People might want to check out the [How many books do you own?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=556415) thread. Dopers are readers. And they love books. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/77 "2011-07-23T02:56:27Z")
Is this the moment to tout my designs for built-in bookcases, and the benefits of vast quantities of shelved books as home insulation? ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/78 "2011-07-23T03:06:54Z")
I have nothing particular against Kindle. It sounds like a great space-saver. My only beef is that it seems like a ripoff to pay full price, or anywhere close to full price, for ebooks. And my inner cheapskate will not allow me to be ripped off like that. Particularly when I can’t lend my electronic book to a friend, or swap it, or sell it when I am through. If the prices come down _significantly_ on ebooks, then I would be all over that. But until then, I’ll stick with old-fashioned paper. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/79 "2011-07-23T03:51:42Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > I have nothing particular against Kindle. It sounds like a great space-saver. My only beef is that it seems like a ripoff to pay full price, or anywhere close to full price, for ebooks. And my inner cheapskate will not allow me to be ripped off like that. Particularly when I can’t lend my electronic book to a friend, or swap it, or sell it when I am through. > > If the prices come down _significantly_ on ebooks, then I would be all over that. But until then, I’ll stick with old-fashioned paper. I totally agree with you. Completely. That said I currently have 171 books on my kindle and exactly 6 of them were purchases on Amazon, of those six only 3 were full price, the others cost less than the paperback. The rest are all free, or very cheap, and legal and all books that I really want to read. I’m not saying give up paper books. I have entire walls lined floor to ceiling with book shelves and boxes full of the overflow, and thats just the stuff I was unwilling to part with when I moved across the country six months ago and gave 2/3 of my books away. I like real physical books too. But if price is the only stumbling block for you, look around a bit. It isn’t that hard to find ebooks that aren’t a total rip off. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2011, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931/80 "2011-07-23T05:19:57Z")
I have no problem at all with paying the same price for an electronic version of a book as I do for a paper version of the book. First, my willingness to pay $18 for a trade paperback for a book had absolutely nothing to do with how much it cost to print the book and ship it to a bookstore and everything to do with how much I wanted to read the words inside the book. My favorite book in the world I wouldn’t be willing to pay for if it cost $500 and that was because the cost of paper had skyrocketed and it cost $499 to print. On the other hand, most books are overpriced at Free. So if I’m willing to pay $18 how much it cost to produce the specific copy I’ll be reading is irrelevant to me. Similarly, I don’t stand in the grocery store saying “this pint of ice cream costs $5 but it probably only cost them $0.25 to make it so I refuse.” I just say “am I willing to pay $5 for the pleasure I’ll get from the ice cream.” Sure, there are some features I lose when not buying a paper book, but there are other features I gain by buying an electronic book and I’m satisfied with what I get in return for my money regardless of whether the $7.99 I paid is $0.05 profit or $7.92 profit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-vs-paperback-wheres-the-advantage/589931.md?page=5)