Wait, wait… Kindle has textbooks, too? Does it display charts, illustrations, etc. also? In other words, could I get my law school books on Kindle instead of lugging them around?
Honestly, I don’t know. I was thinking more of, like, literary analysis classes where you’ve got to read through a novel or three. Or any of the various lower-level courses that rely on published books that aren’t textbooks. My first level 100 Linguistics course relied on Stephen Pinker’s The Language Instinct, which was a pretty thick paperback. Throw in a couple more easy freshman classes like that, and your backpack’s bulging with paperbacks as well as textbooks. The Kindle would be a good space-saver in that case. Is that space worth $400? Maybe not, but it’s still a darn good selling point.
I would like to hear Alberto Manguel’s thought on this device.
There’s something very intimate about reading a book. I like the idea of holding something between my hands and, like Manguel, I experience that it’s a very neat thing to practically be part of a historical reading movement that have been enjoying litterature for the same way for many hundred years. Each person does it his or her own way.
I have my little reading habits. Each book get its own bookmark, for example. These things wouldn’t translate to a Kindle. But I can’t deny how convenient it would be to store twenty-something-books in the space of one.
Well, I broke mine. And I bought a second one. I suppose that is some sort of compliment. While getting books from Amazon is way cool (especially for me, I live overseas), the most useful thing was using it to “print out” documents I wanted to read, but did not want to waste ink or paper on.
The screen works perfectly in sunlight. Trust me, I know sunlight.
I stopped getting library books shortly thereafter. That was in my childhood. Now I only check out books from the library if I’m doing research on something. Never for recreational reading.