So, I’ve been enjoying the hell out of the mock furor over Sherman Alexie’s anti-Kindle comments and interview of a couple days ago, mainly because everybody’s so bent out of shape (check the comments). I’ve got no bones to pick with the Kindle, but it has absolutely nothing to do with my reading experience, nor that of anyone I know, and I don’t foresee a time when that’s gonna change.
I consume somewhere between 75-100 books a year. Some of those are audio books I borrow from the library and put on a $20 Wal Mart .mp3 player that I listen to in the car and on walks, but most are of the paper variety. Almost all of those are also borrowed from the library. Those that aren’t borrowed are either ordered online for a buck or two, purchased from a used bookstore, or passed along to me by friends. Occasionally, I’ll read a free ebook if it’s impossible to find a hard copy, but only if I have to.
Most of the non-fiction I read is in the interest of whatever nonsense obsession I’m currently on. It usually necessitates me tracking down obscure books that I would never pay more than a dollar or two for. With fiction, I keep a running list of shit that I want to check out and there are always free or cheap copies of something on that list out there — the stuff that isn’t, I can wait for, with rare exceptions. I’ve got nothing against new hardcover books, I just can’t afford them — at least not in the quantity at which I consume books. Also, I’m usually reading three to four books at any one time, and often cross-referencing between them. In other words, nothing I read, absolutely nothing, would a Kindle be able to provide that would be even remotely worth the cost.
Then there’s the physical quality of printed books, which I would never give up. And, again, I don’t mean the aesthetics. I mean the sturdiness and the readiness. I’m hard on books. I throw ‘em in the back seat of my car, litter ‘em with post-it notes, set coffee cups on ‘em, toss across rooms, stuff ‘em in bookbags and pockets so I can always have one handy, and sling ‘em around bars, hiking trails, firing ranges, city busses, and etc. I have two small children, a full time job, and a writing hobby which eats up almost all my set free time, so most of my reading’s done on the fly: at lunch at work, while the kids are watching a show or playing in the bath or at a park, in post office lines, during insomnia attacks in the middle of the night, and the like. There’s no way in hell I’m gonna fiddle with buttons, worry about batteries, or deal with glitches and crashes. If someone were to give me a Kindle for free, I wouldn’t use it except at home on the couch or for a little light reading before bed — the kind of shit I almost never do. Otherwise, it’d be useless.
Is it possible that someday Amazon will come out with a totally non-proprietary, absolutely indestructible, instantly ready Kindle, with an infinite battery life, at a price point of almost nothing, on which I could borrow library books, which was universally available so I could easily share with friends, with the option to buy/sell used books, and which was clonable so I could have several books going at one time? Sure, anything’s possible, though I sure as hell doubt I’ll see it in my lifetime. But even if that were the case, it would only make the thing the equivalent of the printed word. There still would be no advantage to me.
So, is the Kindle elitist as Sherman Alexie called it? Absolutely. It’s a yuppie toy, just like iPods and %99 of the other electronic shit that’s out there. That’s not a moral indictment, it’s just a fact. I will always scrounge up enough money for a computer, ‘cause it’s worth it to me. I will sometimes scrounge up enough money for an electronic toy for my kids, ‘cause I like ‘em. I will never scrounge up hundreds of dollars for something inferior to what I’m already getting for next to nothing. The thing looks like it’d probably be good for people who have money to burn, and read one bestseller at a time, always in a comfy environment during a set reading duration.
In other words, people who have nothing to do with the way I read. Or, for that matter, live. God bless ‘em, I’m glad they enjoy the thing, but I have no interest.
Update: This picture of Amazon’s Jeff Bezos with a Kindle pretty much sums it all up, doesn’t it?
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My thoughts of Kindle pretty much parallel everything stated here, but I have been technophobic since I was child, mostly regarding my music and movies collection: I was the last of my friends to ever buy a cd player and own cd’s (1996), and I was certainly the last of my friends to own a dvd player (2002). Movies are definitely not as important to me as music…and books. I love my books like I love my music; they are on equal plains, and I’ve always thought of myself as a bit of a romantic when it comes to actually owning the tangible product of a book or cd; hence, my reluctance to accept digital media. But, after many years of naysaying, I now own an iPod, and I L-O-V-E it. Not only can I find more of the older underground music I really enjoy in digital form than I ever could in vinyl, cassette or cd form, but I have a sense of security (false or not) that all of my beloved music is in one, easy to carry device that I can pocket in a quick minute. Through my iPod experience I have realized one important fact: I am not a romantic at all. I could give two shits about owning the hard copy of an album. It’s all just unneede clutter to me, and what I really want is just the music. That being said, and considering that my affection for books and music are similar, I cannot help to wonder; what if the Kindle market also grew to the point where one could find almost any book desired in digital form, to also be stored and carried in one easy device? Like hard-copy music, I have boxes full of books that are taking up space, but all I really cherish are the words themselves. The downside being that I do like to mark up my books in pen, and this would not be possible, at least traditionally speaking, with Kindle. I’m just saying that, for me personally (like anyone gives a shit), I can see the possibilities that lie within Kindle’s future, which might fit into my life. This comment was way longer than I intended it to be.