Kindle drawbacks?

I have the new updated Kobo Mini. Brilliant.

I cancelled Saga because it was samey as quoted. I ticked the box to have a monthly email and fund the content had most of the main features of the magazine.

I can report that my Kindle is still going strong, in daily use for two and a half years so far. There has been only one system update in that time, downloaded and installed like any other software update.

I love book shops too - especially second hand book shops which are fast becoming a dying breed. Love libraries too. I can loose myself for hours browsing the shelves. Nearly as bad as Gransnet.

Dumpling - agree with you on all points, especially Kindles being yet another thing to have to keep secure, along with mobile phones.

I love the atmosphere in bookshops and being able to potter round all the sections, looking at the displays, admiring the cover designs, flicking through a book at random, etc. Isn't going into a bookshop (maybe sitting down for a while to "dip into" a book) a shared communal experience, like going to the cinema? Many of the chain bookshops invite authors in who do story reading sessions for children at the weekend.

I would imagine the increasing popularity of Kindles will inevitably result in a drastic reduction in new and second hand bookshops. What will the future for libraries - another communal experience - be? Are we all going to end up spending most of our time at home, dependent on our access to the outside world via one screen or another?

There have also been several articles that question the durability of Kindles - people saying that they "freeze" or need to be replaced fairly regularly. And aren't we being "hooked into" yet another (relatively expensive) item that we will be encouraged to regularly "update" as more and more functions are added? What will happen to old, out-of-date or broken Kindles - can they be re-cycled?

Having said all that, I have to acknowledge that for people with poor eyesight, the facility to enlarge the font and create more contrast must be very useful.

I got a Kobo a while ago and recently replaced it with a Kobo Glo so I can read it in bed with the light off. The old one went to my son. I've downloaded a lot of books from a free site that I wouldn't have been able to afford or wouldn't have bothered to look at. The battery last for ages and I bought a very cheap cover in Sainsbury's. The worst thing is that I have had to give up my habit of reading the end before I'm halfway through the book.
When it comes to my favourite authors or illustrated books I stick to proper books on paper, but I don't have quite as many of them piled up now.

Well, you can share Kindle books with people who also have kindles - my daughter and I do it all the time.

Mine fits my capacious travelling handbag perfectly, and I'm sure that it could be safely tucked away on a beach (though I don't know much about beaches..)

And, as I have mentioned before, I don't have to carry my body weight in books when we are travelling!

Still have loads of books in the house, but I am much more ruthless with them now.

My friend found the disadvantages of a Kindle when she brought it on holiday with us.

1. Couldn't just bung it in a side pocket when our flight was called - too nickable.

2. Nervous of using it on the sandy beach

3. Couldn't take it to the beach if we all wanted to swim together

4. Couldn't pass book on to me when she'd finished reading it

5. Screen failed half way through the holiday so I lent her one of my books.

Also with a real book you can lend, swop, give to charity or just leave in a bus shelter for a stranger to read.

Had to laugh!Had forgotten that once upon a time you were wotsamashedupjingl j08

I have a Kindle and a Sony eReader. The Kindle is great for bargain Amazon books, and the eReader for free library books. To add to the range of what I can get, I have both Kindle and Library apps on my iPad. If I'd known in advance, I wouldn't have needed either eReader, just my iPad.

I also read hardback and paperbacks, but you can't beat a Kindle when reading in bed - lightweight, doesn't lose its page, and you can stay tucked up and comfortable whilst changing pages with one click of the thumb.

Now, I think that's the draw-back with Kindle. You can't pass them on to charity shops. They will lose out if Kindle and the like really take off.

I'm struggling a bit with current paperback, trying to keep the pages turned back (quite a thick one).

I also prefer books, but there`s still the what to do with them afterwards problem. I have about 200 sitting in the garage, every now and then I take some to the charity shop, but can`t carry many, I must get the little man with the trailer from BHF to pick a load up, when he`s available.

Call me old fashioned but I prefer books!

Set about the Chinese Kindle factories with large hammers?

I asked myself "What will become of all those lovely books" But then, when Caxton came with the books all the scribes said, "What will become of the lovely illuminated parchments? Progress I spose.

The only drawback I can find with my Kindle is my Amazon account is costing me a fortune

You will?

Got a Kindle for my birthday and love it. Great for travelling. Still like 'real' books from time to time though. Doesn't need charging too frequently. Haven't found a downside yet.

Give me a book anytime. Will never bother with a Kindle again or any kind of e-reader.

Why not knit a nice cover for the kindle? Cost next to nothing!!

Nelliemoser, I bought a cover for my Kindle, very cheap and slightly padded which softens the impact if I drop it, though I don't think I ever have. Don't be seduced into buying one of the covers that costs almost as much as the Kindle itself - they won't give it any better protection.

@Nelliemoser - re dropping Kindle : I have had many a bedtime book slip out of my hands, but not, so far, the Kindle - it is extremely light, unlike, say a 600-odd page Victorian novel in hardback. But it may still contain that same novel, of course.

And find TC to run it...

<qoute>Incidentally it's nice to see The Oldie back on the forum scene..

I just hope it won't all suddenly disappear in a hissy fit lke the old one did!</quote>

And make them change the name from 'New Oldie' to 'Mature Cheese'!

Perhaps one of these newe ones. kindle fire

I might drop a few hints for Christmas! You can watch films as well on them. And loads of other stuff. Bit like a small i-pad I think. And cheaper.