Do You Own/Regularly Use an E-Reader?

I don't, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested.

Wait, let me re-write that. Too many negatives.

I don't, but I'm interested in them. (That's better)

So I want to know if you use an e-reader to digest your crime fiction. My main means of doing so is still paper and the local Half Price Books. If you're not like me, which e-reader keeps your room glowing at night?

~~Please note, this is an anti-iPad thread. Meaning, don't argue the merits of the iPad. That deserves its own thread. Besides, I've already decided it's a clunker. And it's my thread. So there.~~

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Benjamin Sobieck on April 14, 2010 at 5:33am

And I don't fault anyone who does. It's just not for me.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Christopherson on April 14, 2010 at 2:48pm

Tablets are for consuming media; laptops, for producing it, it seems to me.

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Permalink Reply by I. J. Parker on April 14, 2010 at 8:08am

Well, if we're totally honest about this thing, most genre writing isn't anything you want to hold on to. It's quickly read and as quickly discarded. If you buy a book, you tend to sell it to a used book store, or trade it, or donate it. I have a very different attitude towards books that I want to keep. I'll always buy those in print versions and keep them in the library. From that point of view, electronic consumption may be just the thing for mysteries.

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Permalink Reply by Pepper Smith on April 14, 2010 at 12:51pm

I don't own an e-reader, but I have both the Barnes & Noble and Kindle reader software on my computer, and a bunch of ebooks waiting to be read.

My new book is out in Kindle format as well as five others. Nice to know there are a variety of choices out there.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Christopherson on April 14, 2010 at 2:52pm

I've got an Amazon Kindle on loan and am reading Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. It's easier on my eyes than a computer screen because it's not backlit. (But some people aren't bothered by backlit screens.) I like it. Damn convenient to take with you. Never have to be bored waiting at the pharmacy or in the doctor's office, or standing in line, etc. Never have to run out of reading material on a trip. Will buy an ereader of some sort for myself shortly, probably the Kindle.

Some industry insiders are now suggesting ebooks will be 20% of the market by the end of 2012 and others 50% in five years. (It was probably 1% a year ago and is now 2-3%.) I'm hoping they're right given I sell ebooks now.

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Permalink Reply by Dana King on April 15, 2010 at 4:19am

Nope. Don't have one, don't want one. Got nothing against those who do, I'm just not interested right now.

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Permalink Reply by Lindy Cameron on April 15, 2010 at 12:27pm

hmm
I'm a genre writer, a genre reader, a genre fan. I hang on to all my books - and they're mostly genre fiction - unless they were't worth finishing. I rarely discard, sell, trade or donate it. Most of my fellow crime buffs, sf and fantasy fans are the same - unashamed genre bookaholics. This not to say I won't get areound to e-reader or ease on holidays or for out of print books.

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Permalink Reply by Eric Christopherson on April 15, 2010 at 6:36pm

Here's a graphic display of just how fast the ebook market is growing:

http://idpf.org/doc_library/industrystats.htm

The CEO of Simon & Schuster recently predicted ebook sales would be 20-25% of all sales within two years. A hundred years ago there were a lot of people who thought they'd never give up their horses.