Let's talk about Kindles

With the release of the Kindle Fire (and the consequential lowering of the regular Kindle price to $79), ereaders are more affordable than ever.

I'm sure some of you have noticed, but I am a Kindle owner. It was a recent switch, a few weeks before school started. Now before I had tried this out, I had much of the same knee-jerk reaction against them as I'm sure many of you do.

It doesn't feel like a book.
It's just not the same.
Books just have that certain feel.
Ew.

Meet my friends, Pro and Con.
NY Daily News

But let's break this down and get some sweet sweet pros and cons action going on here.

The Pros

I'm going to be honest, ereaders are pretty freaking sweet. Let's look...for example, the Kindle can hold 1,400 books. 1400. That's a lot of freaking books to be lugging around....in a thing that weighs less than a pound. The pearl ink base they use for the letters is amazing, and will read essentially like paper (ie, no eye strain from backlighting, very little to no glare). You can adjust the size of the font if you feel the letters are too small. Did I mention that it holds 1400 books? I still can't get over that.

It has a wireless feature (or 3G, if you buy that model) that can allow you to email books to your Kindle. As far as battery life, as long as you keep the wi-fi off, it will last for around 2 months (no exaggeration there. I literally have to charge this once every 2-3 months).

I'd also like to say if you're a disreputable sort, the kind that likes to sail the salty seas and eat a lot of citrus to avoid scurvy, there are a lot of really easy ways to get free ebooks. Not that you should. But I'm just saying. It's pretty sweet. This includes several textbooks. Or so I hear.

The Cons

As silly as it sounds, there is a different feel when reading a nice new thick book. I get that. You could say that there's a different feel of owning a vinyl or a CD versus a digital mp3 album. I also miss being able to simply flip pages idly, or jump back several chapters to check up on an event that is mentioned later. You can do that kind of thing with the Kindle, but it take longer than I feel is worth it. A digital reproduction of the cover isn't the same as getting the real book cover either, with its shiny embossed lettering.

Final Thoughts

Saying books are superior to the Kindle is a lot like saying CD/players are better than mp3/iPods. Except for some odd nostalgia, it isn't really. I really see books going the way of the CD, still available and bought by people who appreciate them, but the mass majority of the population switching to digitized books. We're not quite there yet (part of the problem is a LOT of backlash from the publishing industry....not unlike what we felt when mp3s were first introduced).

My advice? Keep an open mind. Try one out. Let's be honest, $79 is a ridiculously good price (and I expect it will drop for Christmas). It's only a little bit more expensive than a brand new Xbox game. If piracy leaves a sour taste in your mouth, there ARE a lot of free ebook downloads available via Amazon (although don't expect to find your favorite bestsellers on the list).