Bookworms find a new way
to love literature – e-readers

The book has endured in ink-on-paper form since before movable type delivered it to the masses, but for the first time in perhaps centuries, it has some serious competition.

Kindles and other electronic readers are winning the hearts of locals. Many found them under their Christmas trees this year. Sales of electronic reading devices have doubled in the last year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, sponsor of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month. It predicts sales will double again in 2010.

The devices are thinner than magazines and weigh less than a pound. They hold thousands of books, newspapers and magazines and run for a week before needing a battery boost. More than 400,000 books are available for downloading, many for less than $10.

George Dembry of Grosse Pointe Park downloads books to his Kindle when he travels to California or New York City. "For pure relaxation, I read mysteries," he said. "I get them for between $5 and $10. I devour a couple of these on a transcontinental flight."

Farms resident Lauren Chapman also uses her Kindle when traveling. She flies about four times a year. "(Kindles) come in different sizes, but that doesn’t matter to me because I can adjust the font size. I also use it for reading in bed because it’s so light."

Tom Wells of Grosse Pointe Farms agrees that the device is useful on airplanes, but he also uses his Kindle at home, even takes it with him when he has a doctor’s appointment. "It’s better than reading a two-year-old magazine," he said. "While the nurse was taking my blood pressure, she asked me about the Kindle. She said she’d rather hold an actual book. I like books too, but it took me about 10 minutes to get used to the Kindle."

Amazon’s Kindle was the first electronic reader, introduced in 2007. Soon after, the Sony Reader arrived, followed by Barnes & Noble’s Nook. Que, aimed at businessmen, will debut later this year. The Skiff reader is another choice, as is the eDGe, from a company called En Tourage. The eDGe is being pitched to students.

As frequently happens with new technology, prices are dropping. Wells got his Kindle two years ago, a birthday gift from his brother. He thinks it cost about $400 then. Chapman’s and Dembry’s Kindles cost $350. This week, a Kindle with a six-inch screen is available at Amazon.com for $259 and shipping is free.

Dembry has owned a Kindle for four months. The first book he downloaded? "Madame Bovary." His most recent download? A collection of Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. "Downloading takes about a minute," he said. "Some books are free. Others, classics for example, are $5 or $6. I’ve downloaded some poetry too. Wordsworth."

Dembry still goes to bookstores, but not as much as he used to. "There’s a bookstore for Kindle which gives summaries of the books and lets you download a chapter or two."

Chapman, who enjoys contemporary fiction, heard about "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein, at a party. She went home and downloaded it, one of about 15 electronic books she's purchased so far.

"I’ have a whole lot more to learn," Chapman said. "I’m not especially tech-savvy. There is a keyboard and you can adjust the size of the type. It monitors where you are in your book and you can underline passages. I love to read. Reading is like a vacation in your easy chair. Reading is cheap and it’s broadening."

Wells also uses the Kindle for books on tape. And when he’s out of town, he downloads individual issues of his favorite newspapers. When he’s home, the papers are delivered to his front door.

Wells reads fiction – crime, mystery, adventure, historical fiction and science fiction. When he got his Kindle, the first book he downloaded was "Hold Tight" by Harlan Coben.

The Kindle is leading the changing economics of the publishing industry, Wells said. "A new hardcover book (can be) $35 or $40, a fortune compared to a $9.99 download. They have the world by the tail. Textbooks are available cheaper and lighter. You can underline and make notations. I still go to bookstores and I still buy books. But on my Kindle, now, I have 32 books, about 12 audio books and individual issues of USA Today and Fortune magazine."

Some activities are better-suited to the old ways, though: "USA Today is delivered to our house, " Wells said. "I do the crossword puzzle and it’s not the same if it’s on a an electronic screen."

Photo of Kindle DX courtesy Amazon.com

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