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Electronic device for reading books?
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Okay this is all totally new to me. Our cell phone is still just the little fip phone – no fancy touch screen. lol
Now I hear of all the mamas using kindles or i-pads to read books and downloading books for free. I always thought I would never want them staring at a screen because not great for the eyes. Just do not want to lose the idea of paper and written words and snuggling with a book.
But some posts have me thinking. Less book shelf space but again you kind of forget what you have loaded in your 200 + books. Not as easy for the children just to scan a book. But cheaper maybe in free downloads if you can find them.
Also what is better the i-pad or the kindle? Is there others? Would you buy one for each child? Do you need extra prgrams to go with which is extra cost?
Are there some out there that still is not going to these and sticking to books?
We are sticking to books. I can see us perhaps using a kindle in a minor supplementary fashion some day, but IMO the books just aren’t cheap enough to give up the joy of holding one. If the books I wanted were $5, maybe, but so many of the ones I want are only $2 cheaper than the real version, which I can often get at the library or for less used, so I am sticking for the most part with books. No better value, IMO.
Thanks that is good to know. So what about books lists then to go with my MOH? So many you are getting are not out of print then?
Have you seen these books? Beacon Lights of History, John Lord. I think they are out of print? I have another question on the forum about the lists. Just trying to simplyfying.
I always thought I would never want them staring at a screen because not great for the eyes. Just do not want to lose the idea of paper and written words and snuggling with a book.
You might be surprised at how comfortable and book like many of these devices are. The Kindle and some other use a screen technology that reflects light like paper rather than being backlit like a computer screen.
But some posts have me thinking. Less book shelf space but again you kind of forget what you have loaded in your 200 + books. Not as easy for the children just to scan a book. But cheaper maybe in free downloads if you can find them.
They are a great way to take books that are already free online and get them into your hands more like a book instead of reading on the computer.
Also what is better the i-pad or the kindle?
Neither is better for everything. They are just different and each better at certain things. Did you see the other discussion on these devices that we had here recently? http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/i-pad-question
One of the main reasons I am interested in a kindle is purely for my reading pleasure. I am now so often at appointments and hospitals with my daughter, and I have lots of down time – Chloe takes a couple of school books to read while waiting, and I just get tired of lugging my books as well – a Kindle would be great for that. Plus when we are going somwhere in the car I love to read and it is one of the few chances I get – so that is another reason. I could also let the girls read something if they wanted to if we had one. As for school, I am sticking with real books, I would want the Kindle just for time away from the home, not in the house – I love paper and the feel of the book too much. It only came to mind because I have had to sit and sit at doctors offices lately so much and wish I could take things to read without lugging loads of stuff – Kindle fits in my bag – and solves problem – so yes at this point I have ordered the basic Kindle – not the iPad or more expensive Kindle, just the basic one. I use my touch to check email at the hospital and the laptop if we are traveling so could not justfiy the expense. I am looking forward to receiving it – and for the school I have some things planned to go on there, so I can read ahead and know what they are reading – especially Beacon Lights of History which were free downloads.
So after all that rambling – yes I am keeping to regular books and would have done if the girls were younger as well – I think we all prefer the real thing, just sometimes technology can be mighty useful. My daughters are in their teens and they love to read and love real books – so they have no interest in a Kindle, though if we are waiting somewhere they might borrow it. So don’t worry – books rule in my eyes. Linda
Beacon Lights of History can be downloaded to your computer for free through Amazon. Just download their Kindle for PC program and then their free books can be put on your PC for free and you can read them on there. Linda
I have an iPhone and a Kindle. No iPad, but I do a lot of reading outdoors, so I don’t think it would work well for me because of the screen.
For me, the Kindle hasn’t replaced my books, but it has definitely supplemented them. If it’s a classic book, you can almost always find it somewhere free for Kindle. If it’s a heavy book I don’t want to lug around, I get it for my Kindle. (I loved it for using while nursing, because it’s so easy to hold one-handed! I read all of “Vanity Fair” while my youngest was a newborn … no way could I have read such a long book in paper form while nursing!) If there’s something I want to read NOW that I can’t get at the library or don’t want to wait for Amazon to deliver, then I can get it for my Kindle.
Most of what I have on it is classics, with some more current novels. I normally like to have reference-type books in paper form, so I can more easily grab them and look up what I want. But I do adore my Kindle and can’t imagine being without it! (Oh, and it’s great for reading stuff you don’t want to be seen reading, like the “Twilight” books, lol!)
I have a Kindle. My daughter has one too. Hubby has an iPad.
We all love what we have. The iPad has lots more bells and whistles (read distractions).
Reading a Kindle is much like a book, visually. The screen does not tire the eyes any more than a book.
If we lived in USA with libraries, thrift stores, garage sales, etc. we probably wouldn’t have Kindles. But they suite our lifestyle.
I love my Kindle. I can get huge amounts of the school books we are using for free for the Kindle. I am using MEP for our math, and now can put the teacher lesson plan on the Kindle instead of printing it out, and it works great – I expect over time to save a lot of the cost of the Kindle just on the printing costs of that! (over a few years of course) I can carry all my scriptures and church books to church in my light little book. We have the cover with the light, and I can read in the dark – without disturbing the baby sleeping beside me…
There are cool experimental features – it will play MP3’s (limited control), Audible Books, or have it read a book too me (on some books – not all?) I also, with the 3G, have experimental access to the internet that is working great – without having a data subscription fee or anything.
The screen IS like reading a paper book. No eyestrain.
I’m sure I would love an iPad too – but it costs more, is backlit (so harder on the eyes), and bigger to carry around. That said, it does more.
I am very interested in the Nook by Barnes and Noble, as far as I have heard the Kindle will only hold books you purchase from amazon…..the nook will read any pdf book you download. If you haven’t visited project Gutenberg or is it project Guetenberg (hundreds, maybe thousands of free downloadable living books who’s copyrights have expired) They have almost every book for a CM education.
I will still purchase books from estate sales, becasue there is something to be said for holding a book, but I plan to ask for a Nook for Christmas
One thing that kept me from looking into an electronic reader before was the thought of reading everything on a screen, I very much dislike reading on the computer screen and most often times will print things to read them. But….I have been enlightened. The electronic readers use what they call “Liquid paper” it looks nothing like a computer screen, it is not back-lit, so it really does look like paper. Just thought I’d chime in and give my 2 cents from a person who was VERY MUCH AGAINST ELECTRIC READERS until I let the lady at Barnes and Noble show me how they work and look. (I have viewed a Kindle as well, but I’m just not as impressed)
hope this helps!
P.S. Bookworm ~ many & most library systems have downloadable e-book options now, so you can get the new releaases through the library that way…..without having to be on a waiting list! And, you can find many many free downloadable e-books at
Here is the link (I should have posted this in my last post)
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
P.S. as for the problem keeping track of what you have loaded, keep a pocket address book/phone book and list them alphabetically in pencil as you load them, erase them if you unload them. Simple library tool
(can’t remember who was wondering about keeping up with that information) Have a great day all
I have downloaded loads of free books onto my Kindle from Project Guthenberg and other sources of free books, so the Kindle does that as well – it is a great asset as most classic books are free or at very low cost.
Well, I asked at my library, and they laughed. So. I don’t know about “most” libraries having this, especially in fly-over country. 🙂 They even said they had no idea HOW one could do that. So.
A lot of the books that are free, especially the ones I want to read, I already have. The stuff that I get at places like paperbackswap or on inter-lbrary loan are all quite expensive in Kindle versions. I just don’t think the books are cheap enough. Maybe if they come down in price. But I think charging $2 less for an electronic file as opposed to a beautiful, weighty, smelling-like-ink book is just a rip-off.
Michelle, I think in many ways you are correct – I love the Kindle but mostly for the convenience of reading on the road or at appointments, I am not at all certain I would use it much for school – having said that the one time I would do it, is if we are reading a classic book and I don’t want to purchase a copy for me to read along, I can read the free version on the kindle – I have found that the versions I have bought are the same as those available on Kindle so it has not been a problem yet. I also like the fact that as my house is now overflowing with books and shelving, I want something for my personal reading that takes up little to no space. I was reading the Kindle the other day at an appontment, and it was great – at home though I am likely to pick up the actual book and read it. The price difference on a Kindle book or a real book is so minimal it is not worth it if you have to buy a lot of books, and I do love my physical library. On the other hand if all my books had been on a Kindle when Hurricane Katrina came along, I would still have them all – instead of that, I lost all of them in the flooding and that was awful! So there are benefits and downsides. Books are beautiful though and I don’t think we are in danger of losing them to technology just yet.
Our library has downloadable books – but unfortunately they won’t work on my Kindle. There is a digital protection system, which (I understand) makes the book so you can’t read it after the “checkout” time. You need a specific program on your computer. (I think either Adobe Digital Editions (or something like that?) or Mobipocket Reader – depending on which version of the book you check out.)
That was one thing I was disappointed about with the Kindle.
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