So here's my dilemma. I received a Kindle for Christmas from my husband, totally unprompted. The reason I didn't ask for one? Not sure if I've warmed up to the whole e-reader, kindle, non-book thing.
I love books.
I've tried reading on my iPod Touch and the feeling just isn't the same. I don't get as invested in a book, I forget what I've read, I lose my place. I don't get "lost" in a story in the same way as when I have a book in hand.
Hmmm....
I was thinking that I would return the Kindle for a netbook. If I could have something that could fit easily into my totebag to use as a laptop, then I could turn waiting around time into writing time. I have a laptop already, but it's so big and cumbersome.
But I don't want to miss out on the whole world of downloadable books either. Isn't there something that combines both? This was my question.
Then I got an answer. Sort of.
The iSlate or Apple's new tablet computer. There are just rumors of it kicking around on the internet right now. I've heard rumblings that the announcement is going to be made at the end of January. But no one knows what it's going to be like, how much it's going to cost, if it's going to be a cross between a netbook and an e-reader. It's been confirmed that Steve Jobs is "happy" with the new product and that they've rented out a place on January 26th to make some big announcement.
Will it be way expensive? Will it run on MacOSX? Will it have a hard drive? Will it make good on it's promises to be the next *big* thing to hit the marketplace, the way that the iPod changed the face of MP3 players?
Here's a link that I came across that shows the new way that Sports Illustrated is going to be read, and the general consensus is that it is being displayed on Apple's new iSlate. If this is what's coming, then I'm totally on board. I'll be returning my Kindle and putting the money towards the iSlate or iTablet or whatever it's going to be called. Or not. If it's close to $1000 (insiders are saying it could be 600 or 800 or 1000 dollars), then I might not be able to jump on the Apple bandwagon right away. Remember the whole iPhone price drop from 600 to 300 within months?
Anyway, here's the link. I'd love to hear everyone's opinion. Keep the Kindle? Or wait and invest in Apple's new gadget to end all gadgets. I'm in no way a techy person, so I have no idea.
Thoughts?
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5 comments:
My issue with ebooking is that you lose the serendipity involved in browsing a bricks-and-mortar bookstore. You get served titles on the basis of your known preference. Sometimes though we stumble across stuff outside of what we think is the scope of our interests. That's how the breadth of our interests grow.
It's kind of like research-by-Google. You get served stuff based on a narrow set of search criteria. Though researching at a library could be just as targetted, your chance of stumbling across other material that you didn't think could be helpful (but turn out to be nonetheless) is a bit higher.
Go with the netbook. I wrote my last two novels on a netbook -- took it with me on "vacation" etc.
Can't recommend it more highly. And if you want to read ebooks, too, you can download Stanza or another reader, or even Kindle for PC, put your screen in portrait mode and read, read, read...
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
Trade it in.
http://jamesmayhew-dustyoldbooks.blogspot.com/
Thanks for all the comments, everyone!
Rob, I really appreciate your input, cause I'm a big fan of your writing.
I'd love it if the new apple tablet was a cross between a netbook and an iPod (which is what people are saying right now). I'm also an Apple nerd, so that factors into my decision making. PLUS, I'm thinking that the apple falling off a branch on the Google home page on my birthday is a sign that I should get the Apple iSlate or whatever it's called.
And, thanks, Anonymous, I'll try to keep my content creative and original. Thanks for stopping by!
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