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I've reached a point now, where a lot of my mindset on digital versions of books is shifting.
Let me explain.
Year's ago, when I first got my Kindle, as an early adopter, I made the assumption that I would enjoy using the device. But with just the one in the house, it seemed unlikely that my wife would ever bother to read on my Kindle. Granted, I keep it with me nearly all the time, which would make it just that much harder for her to read anything on it, but still, if I'd have thought she'd use it I would have gladly left it home for her to use. It just didn't seem at the time likely, and she didn't seem all that interested. After all, we've got a house full of books, so despite the fact that she reads about three times or more the speed that I do, there are often more things for her to go and read.
Once I had the Kindle that left me with a bit of a dilemma however. What format to buy books. My wife and I overlap in our reading preferences. We're not identical, by any stretch, but if you made a Venn diagram, you'd see two circles that much more than 50% overlap. And I'd even go so far as to say the interior lines of the circles, have become fuzzy lines such that we each have expanded our original circle of reading. Something like this:
What that meant for me was, any book I knew my wife would read, or even just thought she might read, I had to buy physical copies. Not really a problem as that first year, though books came out for the Kindle, things in those early days were spotty. You might get some new books, and not others. Understandable as all the publishing houses took some time to get on board with the new system. But as things got better, the decision got a bit harder. The only thing that helped me decide in some cases, was my feeling that once I started buying a series in one format of book, I wanted to keep buying it in that format. Of course I've since had that philosophy bite me in the ass in a few ways.
Flash forward a bit. My wife, picks up Anna Karenina, and after reading it sends her wrist into spasms of pain. Big, substantial books of the type that my wife often enjoys to read become more painful. This is probably at least in part due to having children, and all the picking up and holding of small children that such entails. Painful wrists meant that big books stopped being the joy to read. Later my wife observed that while feeding the younger son, that ever time she turned a page, it would distract him. Enter husband's solution. New Kindle for the wife.
At first, she wasn't certain about it, but she decided to give it a shot. Since January, she's read more than half a dozen books on the Kindle, and often, it's easier for her to read this way now. I'm not sure it's accurate to say she prefers it, but certainly it works just fine for her. So I'm now in a very different space when it comes to considering in what format to purchase a new book. Should I buy a book digitally because I am more likely to share the book with my wife? Do I buy a physical copy because I want it on my shelf? What if I want to get a signed edition? I've never really been one to ooh and aah over "autographs" in my life. But the more I've been a part of the community these days, the more friends I have made among writers (both in person, and online), the more I find myself enjoying getting someone to sign a copy of their book for me. It feels like I'm joining in with their celebration of a successful launch of their book. That makes it worth it to me to get a signature, which of course means I want to have physical books....
Ah, the twisted trail of logic leaves me baffled.
I think I get further complications as my boys get older, and I hold out hope that they might also enjoy the same types of books that we do I have to wonder, will our digital libraries still be available? The short answer is: yes, they should be, because even if the Kindle device itself goes away, the physical files will probably lounge around in my hardware for years to come. If my still functional, and occasionally booted up Commodore Amiga is any signal, I don't let old technology go until I have little choice. But of course, the realistic question is, will it be convenient? I know Amazon is hoping the answer to that question is yes. I do too, I mean at this point I've got some vested interest in it. But if not, well, there are some books I'll probably buy in physical copies, you know, just in case....
Let me explain.
Year's ago, when I first got my Kindle, as an early adopter, I made the assumption that I would enjoy using the device. But with just the one in the house, it seemed unlikely that my wife would ever bother to read on my Kindle. Granted, I keep it with me nearly all the time, which would make it just that much harder for her to read anything on it, but still, if I'd have thought she'd use it I would have gladly left it home for her to use. It just didn't seem at the time likely, and she didn't seem all that interested. After all, we've got a house full of books, so despite the fact that she reads about three times or more the speed that I do, there are often more things for her to go and read.
Once I had the Kindle that left me with a bit of a dilemma however. What format to buy books. My wife and I overlap in our reading preferences. We're not identical, by any stretch, but if you made a Venn diagram, you'd see two circles that much more than 50% overlap. And I'd even go so far as to say the interior lines of the circles, have become fuzzy lines such that we each have expanded our original circle of reading. Something like this:
What that meant for me was, any book I knew my wife would read, or even just thought she might read, I had to buy physical copies. Not really a problem as that first year, though books came out for the Kindle, things in those early days were spotty. You might get some new books, and not others. Understandable as all the publishing houses took some time to get on board with the new system. But as things got better, the decision got a bit harder. The only thing that helped me decide in some cases, was my feeling that once I started buying a series in one format of book, I wanted to keep buying it in that format. Of course I've since had that philosophy bite me in the ass in a few ways.
Flash forward a bit. My wife, picks up Anna Karenina, and after reading it sends her wrist into spasms of pain. Big, substantial books of the type that my wife often enjoys to read become more painful. This is probably at least in part due to having children, and all the picking up and holding of small children that such entails. Painful wrists meant that big books stopped being the joy to read. Later my wife observed that while feeding the younger son, that ever time she turned a page, it would distract him. Enter husband's solution. New Kindle for the wife.
At first, she wasn't certain about it, but she decided to give it a shot. Since January, she's read more than half a dozen books on the Kindle, and often, it's easier for her to read this way now. I'm not sure it's accurate to say she prefers it, but certainly it works just fine for her. So I'm now in a very different space when it comes to considering in what format to purchase a new book. Should I buy a book digitally because I am more likely to share the book with my wife? Do I buy a physical copy because I want it on my shelf? What if I want to get a signed edition? I've never really been one to ooh and aah over "autographs" in my life. But the more I've been a part of the community these days, the more friends I have made among writers (both in person, and online), the more I find myself enjoying getting someone to sign a copy of their book for me. It feels like I'm joining in with their celebration of a successful launch of their book. That makes it worth it to me to get a signature, which of course means I want to have physical books....
Ah, the twisted trail of logic leaves me baffled.
I think I get further complications as my boys get older, and I hold out hope that they might also enjoy the same types of books that we do I have to wonder, will our digital libraries still be available? The short answer is: yes, they should be, because even if the Kindle device itself goes away, the physical files will probably lounge around in my hardware for years to come. If my still functional, and occasionally booted up Commodore Amiga is any signal, I don't let old technology go until I have little choice. But of course, the realistic question is, will it be convenient? I know Amazon is hoping the answer to that question is yes. I do too, I mean at this point I've got some vested interest in it. But if not, well, there are some books I'll probably buy in physical copies, you know, just in case....
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