Kindle me hoop
Posted on | October 7, 2009 | 59 Comments
I love technology, so I do.
From ZX Spectrums (and Spec heads go here and thank me in about three weeks when you’ve surfaced again) to iPods and phones that can do cool stuff like play Scrabble, access the internet and even make phone calls, I am a fan. I’ve often thought about visiting Japan just to get stuff nobody here has yet but I figure we’ll get it sooner or later and I can save myself the flight and the landing a Jumbo between two skyscrapers and what have you.
But one thing I can never see myself buying is a Kindle. It’s an electronic book thingymagic on which you can have hundreds, perhaps even thousands of books, which you can purchase online.
Now, here’s the thing. Depending on my mood I might want to listen to a certain type of music. Something with a happening beat, for example, or, on a day when I’m chillin’ in my crib some good old fashioned Gangsta Rap. That is the beauty of an iPod. Hundreds of songs and albums at your fingertips for your aural pleasure.
And the smallening of music has allowed the success of the iPod. Portable vinyl was never really an option, cassettes were but they were hissy and wobbly. CD Walkmen should have been called Skipmen. So making music more portable was important.
However, I only ever read one book at a time. I don’t read a couple of chapters of one book then put it down and read a couple from another. I also love the bookliness of books. Cover, paper, folded corners, the smell of a new book, the smelly, yellow-pages of an old second hand book. And books, unlike music, are already portable. It’s not as if they’re akward to carry around.
They fit into practically every kind of satchel, hold-all, backpack, briefcase or over-the-shoulder record style bag. Depending on your coat a paperback may even fit snugly into your inside pocket. You take it out, you read it, and when you have to do something else you put it away. No unsightly bulges, no sir.
So why would anyone want to give up all that is good about a book to carry around a Kindle. Is it to show off how many books you’ve got? I really, seriously, truly don’t get it. Maybe the instant availability of a title is a plus, that’s about the only one I can think of. And even that’s not that much of a plus when you can go into a book shop, give them a bit of money and walk out with what you want.
And maybe it’s just me but the minute you digitise things you open up a whole new area, one which the publishing world has had little experience in dealing with – piracy. You really can’t pirate a book, unless you want to go around with 350 photocopies from Reads of Nassau Street.
I bet within a year there’ll be cracked Kindles and downloading of books like there is of music. Then how great will the Kindle be?
Authors need not worry though. I’ll still buy the old-fashioned paper version.
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59 Responses to “Kindle me hoop”
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October 7th, 2009 @ 10:13 am
Of course you’re not in the least bit concerned about your own loss of revenue are you?
October 7th, 2009 @ 10:13 am
What revenue?
October 7th, 2009 @ 10:21 am
i would imagine he’s referring to your books.
I agree, i don’t think i could read books online either. Although i don’t mind reading news articles.
Reading books online would be like work.
Besides a nice bookshelf, full of interesting reads is always a nice find at a friends house.
October 7th, 2009 @ 10:22 am
I’d tend to agree and prefer if books stayed as books, but there are definitely advantages to producing them in a digitised format.
-No more massive back-breaking schoolbags for the kiddies.
-The ability to resize or change fonts to suit your eyesight.
-Massive reference libraries at your fingertips.
-Moving pictures.
-Never losing your page again.
-Ability to read in the dark.
I’m still not buying one though.
October 7th, 2009 @ 10:22 am
i would imagine he’s referring to your books.
I know. Which is why I said ‘What revenue?”
October 7th, 2009 @ 10:23 am
I don’t think the electronic book will take off, much like yourself Twenty I enjoy reading a good book and all that goes with it.
The i-pod has taken off because it fixed a lot of the problems that existed with walkmans, discmans etc.. It’s also quite adaptable in that you can sit there an listen or can go for a run and still listen to the music.
To me it seems that google and others have it in their head that this whole online book thing will take off, generate revenue and that they’re ahead of the game, which I doubt is the case.
October 7th, 2009 @ 10:25 am
I just gave almost all my books to Oxfam last weekend.
I live in a 2 bed apt. with just me and the missus but now there’s a child and 2 parents-in-law (from abroad) on the way next month and shelf space is at a premium.
I have considered that maybe down the line I’ll get one of those electronic dealies. Or else I’ll just get one book at a time, read it, pass it on.
I don’t think they’re ready yet, though. Feckall titles available and same price or dearer than a real book.
But, down the line, I’ll have no problem switching to electronic if it makes sense.
October 7th, 2009 @ 10:48 am
Mixed thoughts on this. Electronic format could make publishing cheaper and easier, returning more income to the writer as physical production / distribution and other costs are done away with. Publishers will attempt to divert the money into marketing spend but the possibility is that established authors might decide to self-publish from their own websites.
I have over 1,000 books, and there is an electronic book reader in the house (not mine). The benefit of it at the moment, I think, is for folks who take five or six big books away for their holliers abroad and the baggage allowance just doesn’t cut it.
October 7th, 2009 @ 11:02 am
speaking of publishers/authors etc. Was anybody else a bit sickened by Colm Toibin giving a written reference for a fellow author who was up in court charged with indecent assault on a 15 year old boy. The Author got a 2 year suspended sentence.
It smacks of the ‘artists united’ style defence of Roman Polanski
October 7th, 2009 @ 11:05 am
I can’t imagine authors have much to worry about with piracy. Sure haven’t common-as-much libraries been all over the place for donkeys’? Plus the whole culture of buying a second-hand in Oxham for 50p hasn’t really bothered the literary world.
I think most authors are resigned to the fact there’s fuck all money in it. It’s only twats like pop stars who think they’re entitled to godlike lifestyles for churning out “Art”.
October 7th, 2009 @ 11:06 am
I just said Oxham.
God, I miss pork.
October 7th, 2009 @ 11:09 am
fully agree. what if you forget to charge your book before you leave the house? nightmare. i cant see me re-reading many of my books but i still like to have them, like dvds its somethgin that defines you a little bit.
October 7th, 2009 @ 11:20 am
Have you become a Muslim Sweary?
October 7th, 2009 @ 11:38 am
Have you become a Muslim Sweary?
Miss Piggy ran off with Morgor.
Twenrty – you have sorted O’Donoghue – how about Bill Gates next ?
October 7th, 2009 @ 11:41 am
books you buy and download on your kindle won’t necessarily stay downloaded either. amazon recently remotely deleted copies of books from customers kindles. ironically, was copies of 1984 and animal farm they deleted. big brother is alive and well
October 7th, 2009 @ 11:56 am
…and just think about the next time some fascists or religious extremists come to power. They won’t be able to make a nice big bonfire out of Kindles, will they? Poor dears.
“the smelly, yellow-pages of an old second hand book.”
Ah yes, the damp musty stench of a used tome. Disgusting but somehow comforting at the same time, kind of like a warm toilet seat.
October 7th, 2009 @ 11:59 am
“They won’t be able to make a nice big bonfire out of Kindles, will they?”
of course they will. all you need is the right type of … kindling
October 7th, 2009 @ 12:07 pm
books you buy and download on your kindle won’t necessarily stay downloaded either. amazon recently remotely deleted copies of books from customers kindles. ironically, was copies of 1984 and animal farm they deleted. big brother is alive and well
They can remotely delete stuff? Fuck that.
Lung – heh
October 7th, 2009 @ 12:08 pm
How in the name of the mother of God and her seven dwarves did I not see that coming, porrige?
Gettin’ old.
October 7th, 2009 @ 12:11 pm
Fahrenheit 451, Julie Christie. Nice!
Just out of my pit, smoking breakfast fag, tipped ash into breakfast coffee – need to wake up properly.
October 7th, 2009 @ 12:18 pm
There are still territorial rights issues… so perhaps if you download something in territory X where a publisher has cleared the ‘book’, and then travel to territory Y where a different publisher has the rights and has not cleared it, your ‘book’ might be automatically deleted when your piece of kit is ‘updated’.
October 7th, 2009 @ 12:20 pm
Important question. Will you only be able to download shit books from airport bookshops?
October 7th, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
..bit like that line you often see on real books ‘not for sale or re-sale in the USA’. Or like the odd occasion Sky blocks a film being broadcast on Channel 4 in Ireland, because RTE or TV3 have Irish broadcast rights.
October 7th, 2009 @ 12:24 pm
Fuck you, Twenty! What did you have to go and give that Spectrum link for?
October 7th, 2009 @ 12:25 pm
Haha, I knew someone would get sucked in.
Will you only be able to download shit books from airport bookshops?
Hey, this is a small change in the world of publishing, not a revolution.
October 7th, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
I’m sure publishers will use the advent of electronic books to line their pockets at the expense of authors just as the record industry did with the advent of digital media.
Of course they ultimately shot themselves in the foot there but hey, who knew?
Why is going to a library and taking out a book, CD, or DVD for nothing not considered piracy, by the way? Are Eircom going to barricade my local library next, the cunts?
October 7th, 2009 @ 1:08 pm
It’s a possible solution for getting out-of-print books. Maybe not much of a problem in the literary world per se but definitely a problem in academia.
And definitely a solution for nomads.
October 7th, 2009 @ 1:17 pm
Libraries do pay some form of royalty, a bit like the IMRO set up as I understand it.. But then its as I understand it..
October 7th, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
I think libraries in the UK do. Not here though. I think.
October 7th, 2009 @ 1:44 pm
Not to be confused with Dr. Richard Kimble…
http://preview.tinyurl.com/DrKimble
October 7th, 2009 @ 1:49 pm
It’s a possible solution for getting out-of-print books.
Hadn’t thought of that.
October 7th, 2009 @ 1:50 pm
heh, HM.
I bet the one armed man would dig the Kindle though. No page turning.
October 7th, 2009 @ 1:53 pm
I prefer books as they are, paperback / hardback. There is something calming and comforting about a well thumbed paperback. I have thousands of books, even yours Twenty, they are on shelves, on the floor & in boxes in the attic. I hate giving any away and am a complete hoarder when it comes to books, particularly if I’ve actually enjoyed them. My wife has hundreds also but she passes on a lot to her friends.
This kimble thing will prob be a Godsend for those who don’t have a lot of space for storing books. Any poor bastard who bought a coffin (Apartment)from that Cunt Liam Carroll for example.
I’ll stick to the old paperback for the moment anyway.
October 7th, 2009 @ 1:55 pm
Thanks HM, I never knew who Kimble was, apart from these two;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fmbc101YEA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5DbpViL2QI
October 7th, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
Ive lived in a hotel for the last 2 years … and im getting concerned about what im gonna do with me books all pilled up …
I says to one lad while out drinking in singapore ..what will I do with them ?
after a sup from his pint …looking straight ahead he says “burn em ..burn em all ..have a good old fashioned book burning”
I says to him .great idea can i borrow your fucking ss outfit so ….
anyways i havent bought one yet but defintley for people who travel a lot this the only way
to read
October 7th, 2009 @ 2:01 pm
This kimble thing will prob be a Godsend for those who don’t have a lot of space for storing books. Any poor bastard who bought a coffin (Apartment)from that Cunt Liam Carroll for example.
It’ll certainly help pass the time as they die from consumption in the soon-to-be slums they live in
October 7th, 2009 @ 2:16 pm
I like having books. The old cracked spine, the cover artwork, the publishing details that tells you the font and size, the little scribbled notes, the cough marks your siblings left from colds past.
October 7th, 2009 @ 2:17 pm
“as they die from consumption in the soon-to-be slums they live in”
Ze Plow and ze Starz (2015)
Joxerovich: Ah, zat is ze quvestion, zat’s ze quvestion – vat is ze starz?
October 7th, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
Ve used to haff zem in my cantrey
October 7th, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
I’m feasting on a Toblerone.
October 7th, 2009 @ 2:31 pm
Have you become a Muslim Sweary?
Not during Ramadan. Sure I’d starve!
October 7th, 2009 @ 2:45 pm
Maggot. I have three bags of Fun Size Tesco Mars rip offs at home.
October 7th, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
The Holy Trinity – Kit Kat Chunky, Twix and Toblerone.
October 7th, 2009 @ 3:04 pm
I like the comparison of the kindle and the iPod, it’s a really good comparison, I know loads of sheeple who swore blind they’d never have an mp3 player of any sort about 10 years ago cause it can’t compare to the experience of vinyl, yadda yadda, everyone one of them now has one, hypocrites the lot of them.
Plus the Kindle sold more units in it’s first 3 months on sale than the iPod did, so I hope the naysayers are ready to eat there words.
October 7th, 2009 @ 3:31 pm
Well the high volume of sales means people are hungry read. That’s a good thing. Unless it’s an Amanda Brunker book with is only good for kindling.
October 7th, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
I wouldn’t trust a bloogdy Kindle. I bet the battery runs out just as the story is getting to the climax.
October 7th, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
Kindle sounds Nazi to me, like those horribly Aryan adverts for that shit overpriced chocolate.
October 7th, 2009 @ 4:40 pm
The kindle will definitely succeed once they get the form factor and the price right. I have loads of books I like reading, but they are too big and awkward for bed, plane, travel etc. We might only read one book of fiction at a time but it’s not unusual (for me anyway) to have a load of non-fiction books on the go.
October 7th, 2009 @ 5:44 pm
Is there a Kindle for Porn ?
October 7th, 2009 @ 5:46 pm
Hitler and the Nazis kindled a lot of books!
October 7th, 2009 @ 5:51 pm
I have to admit, I read books like I listen to music – can depend on the mood I’m in, I might want to go from one to the other. That said, short stories are my thing, so perhaps that’s why.
On the other hand, I love the physical object of a book. So, here’s an example of someone who’ll get suckered into buying one of them yokes, as well as books (although, someone told me the Sony is much better than the Kindle.)
October 7th, 2009 @ 5:52 pm
Kindle Surprise..
October 7th, 2009 @ 6:47 pm
True Blood is on tonight – Yayyyyyy!
October 7th, 2009 @ 6:50 pm
They could update that old tv advert:
Little boy: “I want chocolate and a toy and a high tech book reading device”.
Tranquilised mother: “I know just the thing”.
There could also be an ‘after the watershed’ version where mum adds: “you ugly, demanding, obnoxious and more than likely a future fascist little cunt”).
Sorted.
October 8th, 2009 @ 6:09 am
Kindle me
arse
October 8th, 2009 @ 11:22 am
Mr. M tried to convince me to get one.
No fucking way.
I pulled a couple books from the shelf to show him where an author had signed, what someone had written when they gave it to me as a gift, or notes I had made in the margins.
You can’t retain that level of personal significance with a machine.
October 8th, 2009 @ 12:24 pm
(
October 10th, 2009 @ 10:47 pm
Electronic books are a godsend for reading in bed!
October 14th, 2009 @ 1:39 pm
“Electronic books are a godsend for reading in bed!”
And that, was that…