Kindle sparks reading interest
Amazon's Kindle.
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Reyn Nagamine
April 16, 2009
Filed under Features
Having to carry lots of large and heavy books each time you travel can be very troublesome. The books occupy a vast amount of space and together they weigh a ton. However, ‘Iolani Lower School counselor Ms. Shirley Mayeda never has this problem. All she carries is her Kindle.
“It’s such a convenient way to read,” Ms. Mayeda emailed. “You then wouldn’t have to carry around those huge books.”
As the Kindle and other electronic reading devices continue to develop, sales in many of the local bookstores will eventually start to decline. More and more people will begin to buy and download their desired books online.
“I think e-books in general will definitely impact the business of local traditional booksellers, but really only when it comes to publications that are mostly text based,” Mr. Dan Shust, Director of Emerging Media at Resource Interactive, wrote in an email.
Mrs. Gayle Geiger, an ‘Iolani School parent, is a big fan of the Sony eReader, which is similar to the Kindle. She had bought one for her own use and another one for her husband. They have been using the eReader for one or two years and have been taking it with them when they travel.
“It’s really great because it’s portable,” Ms. Geiger said. “It’s very fast.”
Like Ms. Mayeda, Mr. Shust is also another Kindle user. He is a frequent reader and reads many books. As the Director of Emerging Media at Resource Interactive, Mr. Shust mentioned that his job requires him to travel on a regular basis. To keep up with his reading, he says he takes the Kindle with him as he travels.
“I could never carry all those books with me in a traditional paper form,” Mr. Shust emailed.
Mrs. Sue Manaskie, an educator, bought the Kindle 2, a newer version of the Amazon device. She predicts a new way for students to carry their textbooks in the future.
“I could see potential in using the Kindle to download textbooks. Can you imagine this one small device holding all of your textbooks?” Mrs. Manaskie wrote in an email.
Because of devices like the Kindle and the eReader, transporting books is now easier. Multiple books can be downloaded and stored in only one device. More people will begin to discover the convenience of the device. Eventually, rather than dragging themselves into a local bookstore to buy their books, many will simply just buy it online through either the Kindle or the eReader.
The need for heavy textbooks will soon be obsolete, and students won’t have to lug around those large hardcover textbooks. Devices like the Kindle and eReader will take reading to another level.
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It would be great if students could ditch those massive wheelie backpacks filled with textbooks.
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It would be great to be free of our textbooks, but…
You know when you use the eHistory book? It’s a lot harder to find a fact you want, because all the pages look the same. You can’t just go back to the page that had the picture of the zeppelin on it, you have to remember if it came before or after the section about the rise of Japanese imperialism.
There’s also something immensely satisfying about looking at a stack of 20 books and knowing you read them all in a week >_>
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Kindle also has great features for students to improve their vocabulary more effectively. Just place the cursor next to a word and a dictionary entry on the word appears on the screen. One can also take notes on the screen right then and there. There’s so much one can do with Kindle. And it saves paper and trees. Also, books cost much less via Kindle, e.g. a new hardcover that might cost $26 dollars is usually just $9.99 on Kindle.
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The Kindle also saves a lot of space at home. I read about 10-15 books a month. Imagine how much space the books would take after a year? Finding a book on the Kindle is easier than looking through piles and shelves of books.
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1) You can’t/shouldn’t read a Kindle in the bath.
2) You can’t loan a Kindle to a friend.
3) Amazon can’t steal your copy of 1984 from you without your knowledge.
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