Continuing with a topic I wrote about this past November, I still would like a Kindle, but here are three reasons it’s fine by me that the v2 isn’t yet available, forcing me into a decision:
- Used book prices via Amazon often are way below Kindle’s prices
For the last three books I added to my wishlist (books for the next class I’m going to take),
- “Dakota: A Spiritual Geography” (Kathleen Norris)
- “The City of Joy” (Dominique Lapierre)
- “Exploring Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical Reader” (Baker Academic)
Best used prices for them? $2.78, $0.01, and $5.00, respectively. (plus shipping).
Given that the last book is $30 new, I’d guess that a Kindle version of the book would be above $20, more than the used prices for all three books including shipping.
Used books have (nearly) become a commodity market.
- Book availability for the things I buy is still poor
None of the three above books are available on Kindle.
In fact, I’d guess that only 15% of the books on my wishlist are available for Amazon. And that’s a generous estimate.
If I read popular books, stuff in the New York Times Top 100 list, or from the larger publishers, that number would be higher. But at this point in my life, I don’t.
- I still love the smell of an old book
Last month I spent time reading this book:
It was a bit dry to read, but for something that was published in 1922, that’s understandable. Other than the intricately detailed scholarship in the book, the best thing about reading it was the smell. Old books just smell right.
In the end
I’m a child of a technological era, and I think there’s a lot of value in an electronic reader like the Kindle. But it’s not a slam-dunk victory for Kindle yet. And perhaps it never will be.
pat loughery 
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