<p>My 23 yr. old S1 is a voracious reader of non-fiction books. When my sister was showing off her Kindle to him last Christmas, he was not the least bit interested. He’s another one who likes to “turn the pages”.<br>
S2 used an e-book for one of his college classes last year and didn’t like it either.</p>
<p>I tried a Kindle on the laptop. Its free. If I liked the Kindle reading then i would buy the separate one. The laptop kindle has some advantages. I am in Grad school so I did read a few textbooks and one was a very wordy scholarly text book. You gain and loose. I gained the benefit of enlarging type and summarizing notes with highlighter on screen. I would never do that to a textbook. Also the kindle can search for a topic. On the down side. There is something to turning pages and reading a section of a page and being able to remember if it was on the left hand or right hand side and where to relocate it. In the physical sense all pagination is lost in the kindle on laptop. That was a draw back in citing and referencing. So that’s my two cents. And after this free trial on the lap top I am not purchasing the standalone Kindle.</p>
<p>I have a son who reads a lot. But I am not sure if he would like a kindle. But sure would love a iPad.</p>
<p>IPad’s are cool, but not as good for extended reading. The thing that makes the Kindle so easy to read on for extended periods is the lack of backlighting. I just can’t read backlit pages for very long. Maybe 10-15 pages max at a sitting. With a Kindle its not really any different physically on your eyes than reading print on paper – except you can adjust the font size to suit you.</p>
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<p>I think there is a difference between e-books and an e-reader. I never thought I would like the Kindle because I was always someone who needed a physical book. Now, I realize that because I love to read, the Kindle is actually perfect. It still has the book-like quality (similar size, e-Ink, etc.) without taking up the space of the dozens of books I have on it – perfect for a reader in a dorm with minimal storage room. An e-book on a laptop is not at all the same as an e-book on a reader like the Kindle. </p>
<p>I could never read on an iPad. It’s very cumbersome, and the backlighting strains my eyes after minutes (reading on my laptop is not fun either).</p>
<p>As a senior in HS, I (as would most of my peers) would not want a Kindle. There simply isn’t enough time to read leisurely between APs + Sports + ECs + Homework + etc.</p>
<p>As for textbooks on a Kindle, I would hate that as I’m a person who likes to jot down notes in margins + highlight + overall interact with the book.</p>
<p>I am not fully convinced on ebooks/ereaders for text books or quoting academic sources, due to pagination issues on Kindle.</p>
<p>I have one. Love it. </p>
<p>Son just received one as a gift. He is a devoted book reader. Wasn’t sure what he would think, but he says it’s “freaking awesome”. It’s not going to replace the hundreds of books he owns, but so far he is a fan.</p>