To Kindle or not to Kindle

That's the question that I'm poising to you today.

I'm still not 100% comfortable with e-readers.  I'm trying, because e-books just seem to be more environmentally sound than paper books.  I say "seem" because not everyone is convinced that e-books are any greener than regular books.  That's a subject for some far more intelligent than I.

But just as my instincts shout that they "seem" to be greener, those same instincts also shout that e-books should be cheaper.  A whole lot cheaper.  And that just isn't true at all.

I've been tearing through the Jack Reacher books from Lee Child recently.  The first few I purchased from the Kindle Store on Amazon for $9.99 apiece.  Like I said, I'm still not 100% comfortable with e-readers.  We own a Kindle, an iPad and I have a Kindle application on my laptop.  The Kindle itself is the only one I kinda like, but even that doesn't feel as good as a real book in my hands.

So the next volume I went on Amazon to purchase, I wound up in their Books section rather than the Kindle department.  And you know what I found?  They were selling paperback versions of the same books for $9.99.  The SAME PRICE as the Kindle edition!!!  And I'm an Amazon Prime member, so I don't pay anything for 2-day shipping. So it really is the same price.

That makes absolutely zero sense to me.  To repeat, it should be cheaper.  A whole lot cheaper.  I don't get it. Do any of you?  Are any of you as pissed as I am about this pricing structure?  It really is infuriating.

And before any of you suggest it, I know...I could borrow the book for free from my local library.  Yes, that is the best solution of them all.  I get it.

But in the specific question of buying books new or buying the Kindle edition, where do you stand?

Reading Books in the Digital Age

So Gia is a gal who loves her gadgets. Loves her Mac, her iPhone (on her second one), her GPS, her XM Radio, etc... And now she has a new obsession with Amazon's Kindle, a electronic book reading device.  And a little bit more.

She really, really wants a Kindle.  And she reads a lot.  A LOT!  So it wouldn't be a waste of money in that regard.

But here's the thing. I'd buy her one, but I'm pretty convinced that the technology on the latest Kindle is gonna be obsolete sooner rather than later.  I'm not even convinced that it is the best e-reader on the market right now.  Sony has one.  Barnes & Noble's is releasing one with color next week.  And Fujitsu just released a beta-version of their tablet which is retailing in Japan for around a grand.  And all of those have limited or full touch-screen capabilities.  Something the Kindle doesn't have.

Then there is the 700-pound gorilla in the room.  Steve Jobs.  He has hinted at an Apple tablet which could be an e-reader in the past.  And he has deflected.  Saying that Americans don't read books anymore so it would be a waste of time.  A technique he is famous for while working on exactly that kind of technology.

Here is what I want in an e-reader, were I to want an e-reader (I don't):

• A screen around the size of a paperback.
• I want the frame to be not much bigger than the screen, so...
  
• Touch-screen capabilities would be a must.
• Wi-fi access with a simple web-browser.
• No eye-glare, so I could use it in the sunlight.
• A back-light (or side-light) option so I could read it at night without a lamp.
  
• The ability to make notes and bookmark pages.
• Maybe the ability to send content to another e-reader if I want.
  

So what to do?  Buy the current Kindle and hope it has more than 6 months of usefulness before something better (way better) comes out?  How about those other e-readers currently on the market?  Do those offer a viable alternative?  Or should we just wait for the Apple "Kindle Killer" e-reader sometime in the near or not-so-near future?

I'm asking you people because you are much more tech-savvy than I.  Or at least that's how you come across on your blogs.  You wouldn't be lying to me now, would you?  Fuckers!

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Note: Remember to play the Bug-Eyed Trivia Challenge every day. Me?  I like books.  Real fucking books.