What price ebooks?

[karen_w_newton]

I got a Kindle 1 (the original Kindle) early in November of 2008. Since then I have read approximately 50 books and dozens of short stories on it or its successor, my Kindle 2. I have not read any print books and very few magazines since I got a Kindle. I just don't want to go back to carrying around a chunk of paper, remembering where I put the

Comments

[mikandra]

The more I think about it, the more I become convinced that I won't be paying full price for ebooks until something major changes. Whatever that major thing would be, I have no idea, but I feel very resistant to the idea of downloading digital copies of books by my favourite authors, and the only personal benefit I can see of ebooks is that I could try lots of authors for a cheaper price.

I can see how ebooks are going to be important for people who travel a lot (but, honestly, who needs to carry that much literature when they travel) and for magazines and newspapers (which you end up chucking out) and maybe for romance and similar, but most people I speak to, including my teenage daughters, like having a physical book in their hands. The book is part of the experience, and I'm prepared to pay for that. I've recently been buying hardcovers.

I will probably end up buying an ereader (not a Kindle), but I'll use it for look-see books and for reading friends' manuscripts. The books I buy will have to be significantly cheaper than their paper cousins. A difference of $2 would not be enough to entice me to buy an ebook. Another concern might be that I run out of space to keep books, but for that, again, the book I'm considering buying will have to be one I'd not buy normally.

I would, though, get magazine subscriptions electronically.

[karen_w_newton]

I do have an Asimov's subscription, and it works well on the Kindle. Of course, it's unusual for magazines today in that it has no color, except on the cover, and it's mostly fiction to is translates to e-ink pretty well.

I have a friend who uses the Kindle app on her iPod Touch to get the free sample chunk. Then if she likes the book, she will buy a print copy.