Kindle vs. Paper Books

I was just wondering if you guys would rather have a Kindle or a normal paper book.

Personally, I'd never be able to have a Kindle. I understand that they're really practical, especially for traveling, and I do travel a lot, in fact. Admittedly, it would be loads easier to have it all stored in a digital space instead of lugging 5 hardcover books, but I live in the paranoid belief that the world is being taken over by electronics. Also, the feel of paper books is a lot more comfortable between my fingertips than a flat, glassy surface. I like my paperbacks. And who cares if they're old and ruined? It means I've read them too many times.

But, that's just me. I can see the practicality, and I get why it's been such a big hit. On my last airplane flight, I walked to the bathroom and saw four Kindles on the way XD You can even download books in Cyrillic, Greek and Japanese , which I'm actually pretty impressed by. But, still, I prefer paper. Besides, 'It was a cold, rainy day so I curled up with a Kindle' sounds so wrong to me xD

Same! I understand why people like Kindles, but for me, I need to have the book in the flesh (or should that be 'the paper'???) to really appreciate it. Books hold memories. Computers don't.

Oh, no, I'm not a fan either. I mean, it's amazing technology (And I adore technology...), and if it were anything else I would say go for it, but a book is a book. I think that should be left intact. It's just the feel of paper under your fingertips, the smell of a new story, and the pride when you look at your crowded bookshelf and you can honestly say that you have read each one of those books sitting there.

But on the other hand, like I already said, Serbian bookstores and libraries are sooooo poor. There are so many great books that no one bothers to translate here, or they translate the first in a series, and then forget the rest. That's why I have to read some of my books online. Kindle would be good there.

And I'm surprised there's Cyrillic, Greek and Japanese, it's actually been a while since I read something in Cyrillic, or even my own language XD

For me, it's the complete opposite. In my local Dubrovnik bookstore (Algoritam), this is how it always goes. They never have the first book. They always have book 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, even 8, but never the first one XD It drives me crazy. And they're not even the translated verions; they're the original English ones.

I actually like reading originals. Translations aren't always correct, and this way I can work on my English

\I prefer paper books but I'd probably buy a kindle because they're practical and the books are cheaper My books all get ruined...

Do they have Arabic ones? If I had a Kindle (which I probably won't in a long time), I'd buy a baby book and try to read it. I want to know if I can read a book in a language other than English. (I am absolutely awful at Arabic - when ever I try to speak Arabic, three things could happen:
1. They reply in English (Hello? I can't speak a foreign language decently... allow me to practise!)
2. They ask where I'm from (I don't even look like I'm Egyptian)
3. They laugh because the 'form of the verb I used means I'm a girl'.)

Will paper books ever run out? Hm... I wonder.

For your Arabic Kindle question, I found this...I don't understand any of it though, maybe you will XD I'm bad with technology :/ http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_the_Amazon_Kindle_support_Arabic

Hahahahah, I know the feeling about the girl from of a verb. See, Croatian's not my mother tongue, so in some instances I do get the grammar wrong. Not using verbs, but using either pronouns or numbers, I tend to mix up the girl and boy form. They worst part is, I did that while talking about a good male friend of mine who's actually quite feminine, so it came out as an insult.

I hope paper books never run out. Or that they do run out in a far, far future, when I'm not around anymore.

I didn't understand much either XD

Oops! XD Did he know that Croatian's not your first language?
I got away with living in Dubai without being brilliant at Arabic because everyone except the people on TV spoke English...

Paper books will run out when the Amazon and the African rainforests disappear. I wouldn't be surprised if our paper is Brazilian (or from Scandinavia).

LadyCobweb wrote:See, Croatian's not my mother tongue

You mean it's not your native language???????????
I know what you mean, our languages can get really tricky. I swear, I speak English better than my native language. Actually, sometimes I have to ask someone: "Hey, how's this said in Serbian???" XD

Can you upload a PDF file to a Kindle from your computer?

Thalia wrote:

LadyCobweb wrote:See, Croatian's not my mother tongue

You mean it's not your native language???????????
I know what you mean, our languages can get really tricky. I swear, I speak English better than my native language. Actually, sometimes I have to ask someone: "Hey, how's this said in Serbian???" XD

Can you upload a PDF file to a Kindle from your computer?

Oh. My. God. You should see Arabic Grammar. NOBODY (well lots of people actually but they've studied it hard) understands it... or the logic in it. "Feminine number with masculine object unless the number is one or two which means it is therefore agreeing".

English isn't my native language but it's my first language. I'm always asking how to say stuff too!

I think you can upload a PDF file to a Kindle... I'm not sure though.

Mac;

Yeah, he was fine with it. Just laughed it off, in fact. It's happened more than once, but never in such embarrassing circumstances XD

Uuuh, that's a thought. Scandinavian paper XD Completely random, but I wonder what papyrus is like?

Lizzie;

Nope. I lived in San Francisco until I was eight, and then moved to Dubrovnik. My mother spoke Croatian with me, but everyone else spoke English with me, and even my mom sometimes lapsed into English. When I first moved to Dubrovnik, I knew it fairly well, but was in no way fluent. I spent the entire 4th grade seeing a tutor, and by 5th grade could get along fine with everyone else. Now I'm completely fluent, but still make those little grammar mistakes sometimes. It's a little embarrassing actually.

Hahahah, I know the feeling. Sometimes when I'm having a conversation or argument, I come up with the perfect thing to say - in English XD By the time I work out how to translate, the guy/girl I'm talking with is sorta staring at me oddly.

LadyCobweb wrote:Nope. I lived in San Francisco until I was eight, and then moved to Dubrovnik. My mother spoke Croatian with me, but everyone else spoke English with me, and even my mom sometimes lapsed into English. When I first moved to Dubrovnik, I knew it fairly well, but was in no way fluent. I spent the entire 4th grade seeing a tutor, and by 5th grade could get along fine with everyone else. Now I'm completely fluent, but still make those little grammar mistakes sometimes. It's a little embarrassing actually.

Well, that's what I said. Croatian isn't your native language.

I meant nope, as in 'No, it's not my native language'. Sorry if I didn't make it clear.

http://voxy.com/blog/2011/03/hardest-languages-infographic/

Arabic wins.

Haha, I see Српски's medium XD

Papyrus is thicker and a little rougher than paper. On the papyrus I have you can see the lines of the reed.

Thalia wrote:Haha, I see Српски's medium XD

I'm assuming that's Cryllic Serbian for Serbian... Do you write mostly in Cryllic or Latin alphabets (when writing Serbian)?



So Arabic tops the list? Luuuuurvely. Very interesting - no wonder I couldn't get the grammar...

Yeah....

Are you seriously discussing papyrus XD? Come on, I'm pretty sure paperbacks will stick around for some time

Well if it wasn't for papyrus, I wonder who'd've invented paper...

Um DEFINITLEY books. I couldn't stand looking at a screen all day.

Mac wrote:\I prefer paper books but I'd probably buy a kindle because they're practical and the books are cheaper My books all get ruined...

Do they have Arabic ones? If I had a Kindle (which I probably won't in a long time), I'd buy a baby book and try to read it. I want to know if I can read a book in a language other than English. (I am absolutely awful at Arabic - when ever I try to speak Arabic, three things could happen:
1. They reply in English (Hello? I can't speak a foreign language decently... allow me to practise!)
2. They ask where I'm from (I don't even look like I'm Egyptian)
3. They laugh because the 'form of the verb I used means I'm a girl'.)

Will paper books ever run out? Hm... I wonder.

Same here Mac, same here.

Well, Kindle no. I don't really see the point. eBooks yes. Why buy an ereader when your computer probably does the exact same thing? Okay, its portable, but what trip takes longer than me to read a book? Sure, on vacation, (longer than a day) then a Kindle would be nice.
eBooks read mainly because easily available. and here in Egypt, literature sucks. Seriously, they're all self-help , Karma, religious, translated Harry Potter (note the only normal book), translated and English Shakespeare and classics, and a bunch of magazines. Although, my school library had some decent books, like Cirque du Freak by Darren Shan. So, if I had a choice, I read a paper book, but when I start reading , I forget whether its a book or an eBook, well until my eyes start to hurt, in that case I forgot to blink.
Oh and Hailey, I pretty much stare at the screen all day writing, well before I switched to paper, so not much of a difference.

LadyCobweb wrote:For me, it's the complete opposite. In my local Dubrovnik bookstore (Algoritam), this is how it always goes. They never have the first book. They always have book 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, even 8, but never the first one XD It drives me crazy. And they're not even the translated verions; they're the original English ones.

Exactly. That's when ebooks come in handy. But I generally prefer paper books.


As for original vs. translation, I always go for original.

Thalia wrote:I swear, I speak English better than my native language. Actually, sometimes I have to ask someone: "Hey, how's this said in Serbian???" XD

Same here.

Maris wrote:

Thalia wrote:I swear, I speak English better than my native language. Actually, sometimes I have to ask someone: "Hey, how's this said in Serbian???" XD

Same here.

And here.

Joce wrote:

Maris wrote:

Thalia wrote:I swear, I speak English better than my native language. Actually, sometimes I have to ask someone: "Hey, how's this said in Serbian???" XD

Same here.

And here.

I used to be able to speak brilliant standard Arabic when I lived in Dubai but since I was born here, my first language was English. Which meant I forgot it all and learnt our whole dialect by listening to my mum's phone conversations.

Mac wrote:

Joce wrote:

Maris wrote:

Thalia wrote:I swear, I speak English better than my native language. Actually, sometimes I have to ask someone: "Hey, how's this said in Serbian???" XD

Same here.

And here.

I used to be able to speak brilliant standard Arabic when I lived in Dubai but since I was born here, my first language was English. Which meant I forgot it all and learnt our whole dialect by listening to my mum's phone conversations.

Same here, again.

Can I change my vote.... I said I liked actual books better but I lied.

I just got a built in Kindle with my HP Touchpad and I LOVE ITTTTTTT. The downside is if I read too long my contacts start to hurt.

I don't know if you can change the vote. Eh, try poking around.

I totally understand what you mean about contacts though. Every time I go to the movies, they start hurting halfway through. What's your prescription? I'm blind. -5