[Web4lib] Amazon's Kindle e-book reader

[Kathryn Silberger]

Norma Jean wrote in response to the question, "Why [would anyone] want to
carry hundreds.. of books with them at a time" that she has 25 audio books
on her ipod.  I don't have quite as many, about a dozen, but I'm very glad
to have them when I travel.  My last flight was so hideous, I've been
driving long distances more that I used to, but in either situation, it is
great to have a selection of audio books.  The comment about the fellow
with lots of family photos and  videos on the ipod is interesting as well.
Our wallets may hold less, but we want something that can hold images and
words that define our sense of self.

In my laptop bag I have (1) cell phone and portable charger; (2) digital
camera; (3) tiny digital recorder plus 2 AAA batteries; and  (4) ipod.  I
have different chargers and docks for each at home. The docking stations
give me control over the devices, and I think that is a reason I put up
with the electronic clutter.   They all have overlapping functions, and yet
I use them all regularly.  The data they generate goes on to my computer
when I further manipulate it.

 A Kindle would be one more electronic gadget -  no docking station, but it
will need to be charged.  Ironically the lack of a docking station, while
creating less clutter,  is what gives Amazon, rather than the owner,
ultimate control over the device.  Someone made an interesting point about
privacy and control when they said that any personal content you want on
your Kindle has to be uploaded to Amazon's server.  The more I think about
it, that may be the biggest problem with the Kindle.  We live in an age  of
my-this and my-that; we expect to personalize and customize our electronic
spaces. Kindle seems to be bucking that trend.

Katy

Kathryn K. Silberger
Automation Resources Librarian
James A. Cannavino Library
Marist College
3399 North Road
Poughkeepsie, NY  12601
Kathryn.Silberger at marist.edu
(845) 575-3000 x.2419


                                                                           
             NORMA JEAN                                                    
             HEWLETT                                                       
             <hewlett at usfca.ed                                          To 
             u>                        Dan Lester <dan at riverofdata.com>    
             Sent by:                                                   cc 
             web4lib-bounces at w         Web4Lib <web4lib at webjunction.org>   
             ebjunction.org                                        Subject 
                                       Re: Re[2]: [Web4lib] Amazon's       
                                       Kindle e-book reader                
             11/26/2007 05:57                                              
             PM                                                            
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           
                                                                           





> My question is WHY anyone would want to carry hundreds or thousands
> of books with them at a time.  When I travel I always have a
> couple of
> books and several magazines (and more if a long trip), but I can't
see
> any reason to have a hundred books with me.

This is a little off topic, but I have about 25 audio books on my
ipod. Since it's a Nano with several gigs of storage, I could easily
have 100. I rarely listen to any of them, but it's nice to have them
in my purse if I get stuck in a waiting room. Much easier than
carrying even one book around in paper.

One of my acquaintances has an ipod that he uses to hold his family
photos and videos. He carries it everywhere and has been known to whip
it out and show total strangers the video of his daughter's birthday
party or photos from his son's school play.

Jean Hewlett


----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Lester <dan at riverofdata.com>
Date: Monday, November 26, 2007 2:28 pm
Subject: Re[2]: [Web4lib] Amazon's Kindle e-book reader
To: Tom Keays <tomkeays at gmail.com>
Cc: Web4Lib <web4lib at webjunction.org>

> Hello Tom,
>
> Monday, November 26, 2007, 2:17:18 PM, you wrote:
>
> > What makes e-book readers attractive (besides the pure geekiness of
> > them) is the fact that I can carry 200 books as easily as one,
Heck,
> > why stop there... with SD cards, I can carry thousands of e-
> books with
> > me. And I do.*
>
> My question is WHY anyone would want to carry hundreds or thousdands
> of books with them at a time.  When I travel I always have a
> couple of
> books and several magazines (and more if a long trip), but I can't
see
> any reason to have a hundred books with me.
>
> Any easy explanation, other than the possibility that you were doing
> dissertation research and all of the sources you needed were on your
> kindle? (as if!!)
>
> --
> Best regards,
> Dan                            mailto:dan at riverofdata.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>
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