The article talks about the difference in the way we listen today. No longer do we listen to cohesive albums but instead to songs shuffled on the ipod. There are “a lot of younger voters who could never be expected to listen to successive tracks, in the same order, over and over again.”

It also adds: “Random play may popularize your music in the aggregate, but it doesn’t foster the same kind of investment in the songs themselves.”

I had to laugh when you referred to the “dreaded unit.”

I’m going a short trip next week and will take my friend, Mr. Kindle, along for the ride. No pressure. I’ll report back on our friendship.

And thank you for commenting! Hope to hear more from you.

I still love looking at a particular ‘hard’copy or paperback book in my home when passing by it (knowing I have more to read before ever reading it again). And it’s one reason I might buy the more solid ‘copy’ of the words when I love the writing.

And don’t try to learn to love the Kindle for anything, not travel, not for waiting in lines.

The first thing that came to my mind was the Luv Guv of SC telling all who might still be listening that he’ll TRY to “fall back in love with my wife.”

Sure failure. Working against all our natural impulses and responses We can’t “try to learn to love” anything that’s just not natural to us, that doesn’t draw us. Maybe you will find it a useful companion when travelling , but I think that would be it. Don’t expect anything out of it. Just, when you are stuck with it, read it if you feel like reading. I think this is the best we can expect.

It’s my own thing that the externals don’t mean much to me except that I often love them too.

For me, they’re not from the author but from the people who package the author’s thoughts. Sometimes they do right by the author, with the packaging reflecting something of the core of what the author wants communicated. But, sometimes not.

For many, an e-reader will always feel sterile because of associations we have with the materials and because the holder is hard, almost metallic, or plastic , not bending. Not unlike the frame of a window. That’s how I view it, but others want to view the physical book itself as well.

I just finished reading a very short book on the dreaded ‘unit’ by someone writing about trying to kick an Internet habit. I loved it; it made me laugh a lot and also think a lot, because of what was said in it. The magic is usually in the words but the special qualities how they words are presented can definitely enhance them.

I wonder how a blind person feels when hearing a book. Would feeling or smelling the book be as helpful in appreciating what’s heard? Would they miss a lot? The presentation again can be important.

Those things don’t change the actual words or their meanings, but they do increase the overall experience for me. However, I will continue to watch and learn. I believe that there are better ways coming our direction. Thanks for letting me comment!

Yet it’s also true that so many of those factors (font, cover, paperback or hardback) are out of the author’s hands so in my mind are not intrinsically linked to the author’s vision.

As Andrys pointed out, words are words. So since I already have a Kindle, I’m going to try to take a “middle ground” approach–something that is extremely rare for me and that hardly ever works. Nevertheless, my first step is going to try to learn to love the Kindle for travel.

If I can master that, then I may try to move on to trying books out on the Kindle and then purchasing the ones I want to keep in their paper version.

As many of you know, my first experience of reading on the Kindle did not go well. But I’m not giving up yet.

Writing a story is an art form unto itself. From the choice of font type and size, format of the story (will it be a trade paperback, hardcover, etc.?), the way the words appear on the page. These are all factors that go into the experience of reading the story itself. e-Readers seem to homogenize that experience, making every book and story look exactly the same. So it comes down to what packaging one prefers.

As one who has been pondering a Kindle purchase recently, I believe I will stay with physical books for awhile longer, as it’s the TOTAL EXPERIENCE I’m seeking when I select a book to read. I don’t want to lose the tactile sensations in favor of more storage or convenience. Not yet, anyway.

Thanks for a great topic!