Books available from the Amazon Kindle library are often cheaper than traditional books, and E-book sales surpassed traditional book sales for the first time in December of 2009. Amazon has also started publishing Kindle singles, which are short stories that would usually be rejected by book and magazine publishers because of their non-traditional length. There are also millions of free books available for download, such as those books published before 1923 with expired copyrights. Kindle even offers E-book check-outs from 11,000 local libraries and textbooks for buy or rent.
The Kindle has added features that enhance the overall reading experience, such as text-to-speech capabilities which will read the text aloud or optional professional readings that can be downloaded. This feature can be extremely helpful for weaker readers or those with poor reading comprehension skills. In Maryanne Wolf's Proust and the Squid, the author states, "...in the first three grades a child 'learns to read,' and in the next grades the child 'reads to learn.'" (Wolf, 135) The use of Kindles in school settings as a replacement for traditional textbooks is becoming more commonplace, and these features can be extremely helpful in developing comprehensive reading skills in children. Amazon Kindle will define difficult words on the screen allowing the reader to better understand their book quickly and efficiently. Kindle's E-books also include background information on key characters and events in the book that are downloaded automatically to the device, negating the need for an internet access and eliminating search time.
This is a great technology that is useful for people of all ages, occupations, and interests!
It seems as we move towards a more digital age, the Kindle signifies a transition away from books. In terms of its features, and convenience, it is great and offers a whole new experience with reading. However, I fear that it will hamper the true reading experience with the lack of physical page to flip to. I find it hard reading online textbooks and articles compared to their physical equivalent, reading at a slow pace as well as having trouble refering back to a page that I want to go back to.
ReplyDeleteFor sentimental reasons, I too prefer a hard copy. Especially when it comes to my favorite books, I like to read them until they fall apart. Dog-earing, underlining, etc, while possible on a Kindle, are somehow less satisfying than making a physical, noticeable difference in a book. I also like to share books with friends. If a book is really good and deserves to be passed on, it can go from person to person indefinitely.
ReplyDeleteMost Kindle books (besides the classics) cost a little more than the used paper copies on Amazon, but it really makes up for it when you account for shipping cost and the fact that you can have the digital copy instantly, without waiting for a book to be mailed or having to go to a book store.
I just found this and thought it was relevant to the topic of digitalizing books. It's the end of an era in research: the Encyclopedia Britannica has announced the release of their final hard-copy volume.
ReplyDeleteFollow this link for more information in a fun video format. =)
http://youtu.be/54rUEhMhfn8