I found the responses to yesterday’s post quite interesting, and before we get to the open thread I wanted to clear up some common misunderstandings about the Sony Reader and the Kindle (Sony and Amazon marketing teams, I accept free e-readers and Kings tickets. Call me.).
Steve Fuller summarizes things best:
“1) The screen is not like reading a computer, it is like reading a piece of paper. You have to trust me on this one.
2) Whenever you buy something, Amazon backs it up on their site, so if you lose your Kindle (or it breaks), you still have all your books.
3) The battery lasts for a LONG time and only takes a couple hours to charge.
4) There are options to highlight, take notes, etc. for those who like to interactively read a book.”
I would add: it’s not like reading on a PDA, and you can customize the font size. If you don’t see well you can re-create the experience of reading a large print book. If you like your type tiny you can make it tiny. And if you like reading in the bathtub you can put it in a ziploc bag. Try doing THAT with a paperback.
I understand that people have perfectly valid and personal reasons for preferring paper books, whether it’s cost, DRM, or the smell of paper giving you a tingle, but just wanted to clear up some of those misunderstandings.
Transition.
Open thread!!!
I’m afraid I’m not going to be able to stop by very often, but thought you’d like to get to know each other a little better. So cozy up, make some room on the sofa, and see where the conversation goes.
Possible topics:
– When Are We?
– Who’s Jason going to choose?
– Read any good books lately?
– How about that weather, right?
Eva Ulian says
I asked someone who had mentioned a kindle what it was, as I live in Italy and we’re about 5 years behind- I had no idea. As she didn’t answer, probably thought I was taking her for a ride, I looked it up in Wikipedia where there actually was a picture. So you see Nathan, I’m glad you’ve brought up the subject. If ever these kindles come to Italy, and want to buy one, I shall be highly informed.
Dawn says
Good books? I’m reading Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger and I love it! It’s hilarious and clever and romantic and fun. I also read a series of online books called The Shadow of the Templar by M. Chandler. There are four books in the series and I can honestly say the last books I enjoyed this much were Harry Potter. I highly recommend them.
Sarah Jensen says
Okay, well that does put a different spin on things for me with ebooks. I might consider it now.
Wanda B. Ontheshelves says
Re: “And sure, the people who put horse shoes on horses lost their jobs when the car took over, but then they became, um, automotive specialists, which pays better, so it all works out.”
______________________
Well, actually, in the early auto factories (pre-UAW), turnover rate was 370%:
“In 1913, the rates of absenteeism and labor turnover, or quit rate, were staggering. Daily absenteeism averaged 10 percent per day, which meant that around 1,300-1,400 extra workers needed to be hired to keep the integrated production system in operation. With a yearly labor turnover rate of 370 percent, Ford managers had to hire 52,000 workers to maintain Highland Park ’s existing workforce.”
https://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/
Labor/L_Overview/L_Overview.htm
__________________
Which is why Ford introduced the $5/day. And then you had the Great Depression…
E-readers aren’t automobiles, but – it’s a bumpy ride whenever you transition from one technology to another (books are a technology in and of themselves of course).
I think there’s also a book out arguing that improvements in technology (that is, higher and higher ‘high tech’) permanently reduce the number of jobs available for us decidedly low-tech workers, i.e., humans rather than machines.
I’m not anti-technology at all – just pro things like, oh, “regulatory frameworks” and the like…for the human side of things…I can only quote one of my sister-in-laws, who when she was unemployed (briefly) said: “it’s like you’re not even a person.”
Scary times.
Lea Schizas - Author/Editor says
Watched the new Underworld and thought it was one of the best from the three.
Now, are you going to surprise one of us with a Kindle, Nathan? GRIN
We were disappointed and leary when 8Tracks were replaced by tapes and then CDs, when DVDs came on at a snail’s pace until more discovered the sharper picture.
Handheld devices will slowly replace print books in the maybe far future(and hopefully not near because I do love print books) to reserve our trees and protect our planet. Gloomy?
Hey, technology comes pretty fast and adapting is part of the game.
Jim Lamb says
I wonder if the scribes of the 12th or 13th century endured a similar argument. Scrolls and parchment vs. a bound book. Those bindings certainly were a bitch at first.
I love my Sony Reader, though I was slow to acclimate to its size. I am a hardcover addict and the reader is somewhat smaller. I live on a computer at work during the day and again nearly every night with my writing. The Sony reader is nothing like a computer screen of any type. It truly is an electronic book.
We all need to retire the old quill at some point.
MzMannerz says
Since this is open mic day, and The Washington Post is my newspaper, I am subject veering to note that the Post has decided to stop publishing its standalone book section.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/28/AR2009012802208.html?sub=AR
🙁
Verification word, so appropriate: axing
Melissa says
Furious D wrote:
“Call me a Luddite, but I like having a book that won’t break when I drop it, and won’t be lost if the store I bought it from goes belly up.”
Now I haven’t swung over to the Kindle side yet, but “real” books aren’t exactly impervious.
I’ve lost textbooks I couldn’t afford to move. I’ve lost books to dogs and children. I’ve lost books when I wrecked the car I was moving in — lost everything in it (but was fortunate to have only minor injuries myself). I’ve lost books to weather damage in a storage unit. I’ve lost books to flood here in the Pacific NW. I’ve had to sell books because I didn’t have space for them in my new digs. I’ve lost books that were loaned out and never returned. I’ve lost books that fell apart from overuse!
The idea that the Kindle books are in a format that could someday become obselete does bother me… but I’m not going to pretend that just because I have a “real” book I won’t have to replace it in the future for some reason.
Amber Lynn Argyle says
Don’t forget–libraries are free, and they have a lot bigger book budget. Plus, I don’t have to store them. 😉
Shannon says
Brian-
I liked “When we we.” Much better. Being a potty training mom it spoke volumes to me! Haha
Eileen Wiedbrauk says
Jason will totally choose A) the southern widow or B) the bubbly brunette who looks exactly like Dianna.
Fitz#11 says
I hear you.
pimping e-readers ain’t easy.
Nathan Bransford says
Fitz#1-
Mo e-ink mo problems.
Dara says
Ok, so am I like the only one who never heard of the movie Slumdog Millionaire until it was nominated for best picture?? 😛
Seriously, I still have no clue what it’s about–I’ve never seen any previews for it.
Most of the movies this year that have been nominated I never heard of before.
Maybe I spend too much time reading and in my own little world 😛 That and paying over $10 per person to go to a movie is ridiculous, so I don’t go to the theaters often unless it’s a movie that really intrigues me.
Stace says
I don’t live in America so I don’t think I’m able to easily buy a Kindle but apparently the Nintendo DS makes a pretty good ebook reader if you just download some software.
Haven’t tried it myself yet, but if you happen to have one of those lying around, and you like reading ebooks, I’d give that a shot.
Meg says
Weather – it’s finally warming up here again after the little bit of an ice storm we got. (I’m in Texas, I grew up in New England. So while it was very bad weather for the area, it was a tiny storm for me.)
Kindle – my sister has one. I almost stole it. I don’t think I’ll be willing to shell out the cash for one any time soon. If I ever do buy one, I can tell you I’ll still buy books. I still buy CDs even though I have an iPod and buy things off iTunes. It’s nice to have the actual thing.
Marilyn Peake says
Has anyone here seen the Andromeda series? I love how the characters read their books on floppy e-reader type devices on the starship.
Hope Clark says
A Kindle is VERY tempting, but for the same cost, I got a Dell Inspiron 910, about 6×9 inches in size. Just as portable, reacts faster and holds as many or more books. AND I can use it to access the web and write on it while traveling. Had to go with the practical since couldn’t have both.
Hope Clark
FundsforWriters.com
Marilyn Peake says
Dara,
Here’s a website with music, videos, and lots of information about Slumdog Millionaire.
Anonymous says
Actually I have a Kindle that I love. I commute into NYC daily and I travel with my Kindle. I think it is an amazing creation!!
sarahjane says
If you liked Jellicoe Road, try Melina Marchetta’s other books, particularly Looking for Alibrandi and Saving Francesca.
I was puzzled by the wonder if Australian standards for writing might be different, like um we’re OK with prologues but it isn’t so elsewhere? I woulda thought we all like good writing, however, wherever, rather than sticking to DaRules, whatever they is.
Slumdog Millionaire: terrific film. The main character is on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire, and is getting every question right. Suspicion arises, as he is a chai wallah (tea boy) and from the slums (slumdog). The flashbacks to his childhood and youth, as he answers each question, reveal why he knows the answers he does. Is that how a film should be structured? Dunno. But it works.
Nathan, here’s a question from Australasia about something that bugs me like crazy: why is it that the work of so many American authors is unavailable on downloadable audio outside North America? I subbed to Audible.com, and find over and over that the book I’d love to buy (thus giving the author and publisher money) is ‘not available in my geographic area’. Surely it’s in the interests of authors and publishers to make works available? These are existing audiobooks, but their sale is limited. Older titles (eg. Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried) and newer (eg. Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife). Downloadable audio avoids often-pricey postage on CDs, and zips straight into my iPod for happy listening. But a lot of US authors are missing out on my money, as for some reason their contracts restrict sales in this area. Audible.com has no answer for me but ‘it’s a contract situation’. I’d really appreciate a literary agent explanation.
I won’t mention ereaders as I commented on the previous post. Thanks.
Newbee says
Open thread huh?…Nice. I’m guessing that most people here are writers who are putting together projects and or books. But, I wonder what other talents you have or would like to broaden yourself into? Nathan this question is for you as well…
Anonymous says
1. Built-in obsolescence. The tech companies have a horrible track record, when it comes to this. While it’s just real kind of them to back up my purchases for me, I’m envisioning it as another doohicky I’ve got to replace every couple of years, and that impacts the cost-benefit analysis.
2. What if it happens to break after I’m dead and rotting? Will the company really replace all those books for my heirs and assigns? Because I do happen to consider libraries (whether just a handful of paperbacks or an oak-panelled room of first additions) to be a part of familial wealth. What mom, and dad, and grandma and all the ancestors read matters. Will the kindle company promptly mail them to my local library? Will they “loan” that book on dental hygiene for dummies to my friend Wanda?”
3. I also think they’re marketing it to the wrong end of the equation. The people who benefit the most from it are the publishers, and the authors, who would increase profit margins significantly. (What percentage of the cost of a book is actually the paper it’s written on?) They also maintain far more control over the electronic format than they would over paper (through nasty, proprietary software, and other forms of debauchery.)
So… if I were going to start an e-reader revolution, here’s how I’d do it.
1.) I would stop telling people this is good for them. It’s not.
2.) I would pare the whole damn thing down to black and white print and nothing else. The production costs on the thing have to be pretty low, and they could certainly be pushed lower.
3.) I would hand it out as a lagniappe to high-volume readers. Yeah. Absolutely free. Mail in your box-tops sort of thing. This would benefit all of the publishers, but specifically text-book publishers, whose goods are sold and re-sold.
4.) Sell deluxe editions of the thing to the luxury tech crowd, if I must. Bells and whistles sold separately.
The business model should more closely resemble that of printers, i.e. the company makes the money off the ink cartridges (or the e-books) not off the machine, itself.
Anonymous says
One thing that bothers me about Kindles etc – we will lose that moment of connection we have with people when we see them reading a book that we ourselves have loved or are reading. I’ve had a million conversations about great books, characters, stories etc off the back of spying someone reading a familiar tome. Also there is a real joy to handing someone a physical paper book and saying, “you should read this”. The recipient sees the length of the book, can read the back, can sample the pages, and can take it home and read it on the toilet with no fear. If books go purely electronic, we’ll lose something intrinsic and wonderful about having physical novels – the chance to connect with another human being just by catching a glimpse of what they’re reading. After all, the back of a Kindle always looks like the back of a Kindle, right?
Bonnie says
Good book I just finished: Ahab’s Wife, by Sara Jeter Naslund. Excellent, excellent book. Naslund’s prose flows like poetry and her insight into the characters is amazing. Lots of wonderful historical detail. Not what I would call realistic, but then for all its realism Moby-Dick isn’t realistic, either. So I guess that fits.
Wanda B. Ontheshelves says
When Are We
Going to look back to the period of time we are now looking ahead to, without looking forward to it at all, and speaking of general circumstances rather than personal circumstances, which may be quite wonderful?
What’s on the other side of these events variously described as “meltdown” “implosion” and “collapse?” Can’t we just go there…today. Right now. I’m ready. Let’s go!
The other day my dad bought an enormous birthday cake for my mother – absurdly so – there just weren’t that many people to eat that much cake. Pink icing, pink and orange sugar flowers – wow, my mom is still alive! It’s hard to believe! I’d like to bronze that cake and keep it forever! It wasn’t a birthday cake, it was a still-alive cake!
And it seems like only when you are very young and healthy you take and give the advice of: Live each day like it’s your last. Then when you get to the age (or circumstance) when your last day is a real possibility on any given day, the catchphrase is: Live like you’re going to live forever. Plan and anticipate the future as much as you can, because that keeps pulling you into the future, it keep you alive.
Well, the (work)day begins. I’m sorta pretending it isn’t, but that’s the truth of the matter.
Ita says
What have I read recently… “Mine All Mine” by Adam Davies. Kind of urban fantasy meets humorous mystery. Compassionate, frightening, compelling and fun. It was so good I stayed up ’til two am to finish it, even though I’m sick, and meant to go to sleep at eleven, and knew the baby would wake me before eight. I just couldn’t stop reading…
The reason I bought “Mine All Mine”? I read a suggestion recently (here?) that aspiring authors should support their colleagues by buying a debut book occasionally. (Ok this wasn’t actually Davies’ first book but it’s the principle of the thing.)
Since it’s open thread day I have a couple of questions for anyone out there who’s listening.
1) I live in Ireland. Do you know of any good Irish or UK literary blogs?
2) Further to supporting my fellow wordsmiths, I’d love to buy a book each month from a totally unheard-of debut author who might struggle to sell a thousand copies. However, I’m having trouble sourcing very new authors who aren’t on a big publisher’s publicity A-list.
If the book is all over the review sections it doesn’t need my help, so it’s not what I’m looking for. Is anyone aware of listing sites or promo sites for this info? I’m particularly interested in new authors from Ireland and the UK.
Finally, I have something to confess: I have never seen Lost.
Stacey says
Sadly I missed this conversation yesterday, so I doubt many people will read what I have to say, but I think they are all very valid points that I hope SOMEONE notices!
Well my friend’s boss got them all Kindles for Christmas and here are the complaints:
1) He thinks e-books are too expensive and only downloads free books that are public domain.
2) The screen is easier to read than a computer screen, but it leaves a ghost line of the text and starts to look dirty along the text lines.
3) Sometimes it does not save his highlighting correctly (he was an English Lit Major in college, and so is very interractive with his books…in fact I have a hard time letting him borrow my stuff because it comes back with erased pencil marks)
4) The design is hard to hold it without accidentally hitting the turn page button.
5) the screen is too small and you have to “turn” the page too often
6) It takes some time to load the next page because of the screen technology.
All of those in my mind are a good reasons why I don’t ever need one. If I traveled for my job a lot it might be worth it so I don’t have to carry so many books around with me, but I don’t. I’m a house mom, so give me the real thing!
EnviroReader says
I would LOVE to have an e-reader, but it’s too expensive.
That being said, if you want to save trees, don’t buy anything made of wood without knowing where that wood came from. A lot of wood is illegally harvested in ways that really eff up the environment, and the cutting of trees in places like Brazil is a huge contributor to global warming. So buy carefully from producers who use only sustainable wood, or better yet, buy used or antique furniture.
Anonymous says
I have 3 extreme readers in my house, and when we are done with a book we pass it on to my sister and her kids and my mom. Can you do that with an e-book? It would mean having to buy three of those things just for my house. Can you access the books you purchase from other machines? And can they be read outside in the sunlight? I cannot see my computer screen outside, and that is under my covered porch.
wickerman says
I think the whole e-book bit is less likely to be the future than many people would like to think. Sure book freaks will love them and salivate at the idea of 200 of books all contained in this neat little device where they can call it up and re-read it at their leisure.
But what about MOST people. A third of people say they never or rarely read books. Ok, they weren’t buying physical books to begin with. But what about the ‘average’ reader who might buy a handful of books a year – let’s say 5-8. Let’s also assume they are buying paperback.
If the e-book were even half the price of a paper back they might save an average of 4 dollars per book. At a $300 price tag, you kindle is going to pay you back at roughly 80 books. If you read 6.5 books per year (that’s like having 1.5 kids for those keeping score) that means the kindle pays for itself in about 12+ years. Not a great return for someone who reads a few books a year.
People want to call it the ipod of the book word. It isn’t. People put 400 songs on their ipod, hit shuffle, and make their own concert out of it. It’s part of the draw of a mobile music device. Are you going to hit shuffle on a n e-reader and read random pages from 20 books? I hope not. In fact, how nay times do you re-read a book? Probably not too often and since you have an e-copy, how are you going to give it to your mom or sell it at a yard sale. You aren’t. You are going to pay for it once and never use it again (mostly).
Mp3 players were popular because folks took their cd collection and transferred it to a portable format. Where is the equivalence with a book? Easy to travel with you say? I don;t know about you, but when I am on a roll I rarely read more than a book or 2 per week. I would like to say I read more, but I like to work and sleep too. So how long a trip are you going on that you have to thank your lucky stars for an e-reader so you can bring all 78 books you were going to read while you were gone?
I think people like Nathan because of the nature of his work might be a bit biased (no offense!) about the real usefulness of this. The casual reader frankly doesn’t need it.
Nathan Bransford says
wickerman-
I don’t think physical books are going to appear. However, the next fives years is going to see an explosion of devices. They’re going to be cheaper, they’re going to be multifunctional, they’re going to be ubiquitous.
People are sentimental about paper books. I get that. But sentimentality has a way of going out the window when a superior product comes along. Most people have thrown out their beloved record collections, their beloved cassette collections and now their beloved CD collections.
E-books are simply a superior product to books. Right now the cost of e-readers is prohibitive to a lot of people, there are DRM issues and others, but down the line paper books won’t be able to beat the portability, convenience, and price of e-books. Will people still pay more to read paper books out of nostalgia? I kind of doubt it.
It may take a device that people already own rather than a dedicated e-reader to really spark the change, and again, I’m not saying books are going to entirely disappear. But change is coming.
Anonymous says
wickerman–
That was an extremely helpful post. I love the point you raised with it not at all being like an ipod for the simple fact that you can listen to a favorite (three minute) song every day and not get sick of it. Comparably, even my five all time favorite novels I only re-read maybe once couple of YEARS. So, I personally, would have no need to carry them with me.
If I had a spare 300 bucks, would it be cool to own a Kindle? Sure, but I couldn’t afford the book I wanted last week for 25 so I don’t think it’s going to be happening anytime soon. I’d rather buy a better printer or other “writerly” things that might help advance my career.
Perhaps, as Nathan said, when the prices get lower.
wickerman says
I can agree with the idea that is something that was part i-pod(ish) part e-book reader came along that was convenient, portable and cheap(er) that more people might flock to it. I also agree that once $$ become the issue people are not going to cling to their paperback just because they are ‘old-school’.
I DO think however that people are going to wait for something much more innovative than we now have before they switch en mass. Perhaps 5 years is the time table.
If so, archive this thread and be sure to make fun of me in 2014!!!
🙂
Mira says
WandaBOntheShelves,
I didn’t mean to be insensitive when I made a flippant comment about the number of people who may lose jobs if we switch from paper to e-books.
It was meant to be a sort of satiric nod of acknowledgement that technicological changes impact and can make entire professions obsolete.
At least it would be if I knew what a satiric nod of acknowlegement was. 🙂
On the other hand, e-books are great, great, great news for authors. I believe they will change the power balance of the entire industry.
People could potentially self-publish e-books much more easily, and market them themselves. It will be very interesting to keep an eye on the battle over software rights.
The role of the publisher and the agent could change dramatically.
It should be very interesting. I’m looking forward to it.
Anne says
This conversation reminds me of when VHS tapes first came out on the market and the prices were exorbitant.
BTW if I’m the last post I win the free Kindle, right?
Ink says
Does this whole conversation not make anyone else think about Fahrenheit 451? I mean, come on, a Kindle… kindling? All those poor and glorious paper books! So sad…
Of course, if everyone goes Kindle tomorrow, the 50,000 books in my shop will suddenly all become collector’s items. I’ll be rich! Every cloud has a…
My best, as always,
Bryan Russell
Ink says
And sorry, Anne, no Kindle for you. 🙂
Carolyn says
@StephanDuncan: I use Stanza on my iPhone and quite like it. I’ve read several books on it. What stops me from loading even more books onto is is the price of the books. Prices for new books are criminal.
Cindy Jacks says
As an e-book author, I just wanted to drop by and thank Nathan for yesterday’s discussion. There’s hope for the e-book overlords after all, LOL! Viva la Kindle!
Mark C says
Nathan: how is biz for you personally? You know: are you guys buying as many books? Are you seeing more or less good projects?
Harris says
Forgot already if I wrote, but I am hoping for Jillian on The Bachelor, though I fear she may be too quirky.
btw – Is it me, or are the women kinda “eh” this season?
I’m REALLY curious what ahppens when Deeanna reappears.
harris
Jolie says
“And if you like reading in the bathtub you can put it in a ziploc bag.”
OH MY GOD I WANT A KINDLE SO BAD. ;_;
For the Bachelor, I’m currently betting on Melissa. Hey, I was right Deanna and Jesse, and about Matt and Shane, though I didn’t make those predictions until later in their respective seasons. Too early to tell for Jason!
(wow, I actually sound like I care about this …)
Other shows I’m truly glad to see back on the air: Lost and The L Word. I miss Weeds. And Grey’s Anatomy is outdoing itself on WTF-ness, but I have way too big a crush on Sandra Oh to stop watching now.
Miss Viola Bookworm says
I would love for some teachers to get on here and comment about the Kindle.
Just this morning, as I sat in a classroom and read The Napping House by Audrey Wood to a room full of second graders, I thought, “there is no way this experience can be replaced with a Kindle or some better form of technology.”
I think Nathan has a good point that people have embraced other forms of technology in the past. Yes, it’s true that we once listened to music on 8 tracks, then cassette tapes, then CDs, and now an entire generation is listening to music only via iPods. However, listening to music is listening to music. It isn’t visual, and reading is a visual thing.
Yes, we have an entire generation of kids who are used to technology, but when it comes to their instruction in schools, when it comes down to it, teachers are using books, and not just at the elementary level where they use picture books. Then use them at the middle and high school levels and teach kids to highlight and use post-its to mark passages and take notes. Yes, you can apparently do this with a Kindle, but still, as a classroom teacher, it isn’t the same, and in this economy, it isn’t feasible for schools to purchase Kindles for entire classrooms any time soon.
It’s just a thought that nobody on here as addressed, and frankly, I find it surprising. I do think that Kindles will become more popular, and I think many of us will be using both books and other forms of technology to read, but the bottom line is, children are taught to read, research, and study with books. I don’t see them going out of the classroom, so I think that influence is going to remain and impact kids more than we are acknowledging it will.
Marilyn Peake says
Miss Viola Bookworm,
I know teenagers who absolutely love the Kindle. They grew up with technology, love computers and game systems, read lots of books and took to the Kindle immediately. Not only do they buy books for the Kindle, they’ve also purchased magazine subscriptions that download into their Kindle.
Wanda B. Ontheshelves says
Hi Mira,
Re: “I didn’t mean to be insensitive…”
I know you weren’t…being a Michigander, I’m just hypersensitive – I don’t even want to read the hometown paper online because who KNOWS what dreadful news there will be!
Also…the whole subject of auto industry, i.e., “gathering the ashes of the fossil fuel era” is in my novel, so my brain just circles back to that incredible astounding 370% turnover rate at Ford back in the early 1900s.
Back to my own silly “production typing” job (medical transcription) – everything old is new again I guess.
Wanda
Mira says
Ink –
This is just me, but I would think that there is always going to be a place for a ‘bookstore.’ I LOVE going to bookstores, browsing, sitting and reading, drinking tea. You can’t replace that with on-line downloading.
But you might keep an eye on the trends, and ways that a brick and mortar places can incorporate e-books, etc.
Miss Viola Bookworm says
Marilyn,
You must have misunderstood my post, or maybe I just wasn’t clear. I am an English teacher, and I have no problem with the Kindle. I might even be so inclined to purchase one at some point, and I’m sure many of my colleagues will as well.
A kindle makes sense to me for personal use. In a classroom, it could work as well, but I certainly don’t think it will replace books in a classroom for too many reasons to list here.
Really, I was trying to make the point that books aren’t going to become obsolete simply because there is a new piece of technology around that can be quite convenient. It’s an issue that keeps popping up, and I simply was trying to make the point that children are taught to read with books, and in the classroom, books are what is used. Technology is certainly prevalent in classrooms, and I would never discourage the use of it now and never have in my twelve years of teaching. I was just trying to bring up this point because it is never mentioned, and certainly for adults, again, a Kindle makes sense for personal use. I was merely making the point that I don’t think there is going to be a generation of readers who only grow up with a technological device for reading because in a classroom, books will always accompany any technology that is used.
Mira says
Wanda –
Actually, I think I was being a bit insensitive, but I didn’t mean to be. So, sorry.
Sounds like an interesting novel that you’re writing. That was a dynamic time in our history. Good luck with writing!
Nathan Bransford says
miss viola-
You sure e-readers wouldn’t have a place in schools? Maybe not the current generation of devices, but when you consider the amount of money that schools spend on textbooks, reading books, lockers, etc., I wonder if the economics might actually be better for e-readers.
I’m not an educator, but if I were a teacher I would love love love that e-readers would allow me to have access to an unlimited range of books rather than working with whatever books the school has already purchased. And if I were a student I would sure love not having to lug around textbooks.
Seems like there’s a world of possibility here too.