Amazon’s Kindle ‘Most Unused’ Christmas Gift

[Kali Yuga]

Yeah, I don't buy it.

MyVoucherCodes apparently cranks out a ton of surveys, mostly as PR stunts and a way to boost themselves in search results: http://www.bitterwallet.com/everythi...-release/40878

[wizwor]

I think a lot of gifts go unused altogether. We're an affluent society and the quantity and cost of gifts has risen dramatically. At some point, people move from gifting needs and wants to gifting the thing the recipient does not yet have.

I figured the K79 would be a hit with my youngest. The kid always has a book in his hands. He wanted no part of it. Then I brought home a Fire. Still no interest. As I loaded apps and books on it, though, he started getting interested. Now they are inseparable. I'm not sure this would have happened if I hadn't acted as a catylist.

I had a similar experience when I dropped of tech at my mother's house. She has a computer that is only turned on when someone who uses one visits and a BR player with internet apps that probably has never been powered on.

So, for people dropping readers, tablets, computers, and other high tech gifts off, there should be no surprise that people who have not purchased these things for themselves do not embrace the gift.

[ATDrake]

I'm not particularly surprised. My own e-reader ownership is the direct result of a couple of regifts of the Kindle that was originally received as a gift by a relative who was given one and found they weren't interested in using it; rinse and repeat until it reached me, who has now spent enough on e-books to repurchase the Kindle at the original asking price roughly 3 times over, if we include shipping and taxes.

That said, I did take a very long time to buy more than a handful of e-books, in part due to the "mainstream bestseller/backlist" sticker shock mentioned above, and it was roughly half a year before I'd purchased even so much as a half-dozen. But then I discovered Fictionwise deep discount coupons and the sf/fantasy backlist they still have available via various re-publishers, as well as other sources for low-cost often-DRM-free backlist and promptly lost that particular inhibition.

I still think I read (and definitely pay for in $$$ terms, at least) far more paper books, though.

[Fringecup]

In my home, we have a Sony ereader, a Kobo ereader, and now I have a Motorola tablet, as well as 2 smart phones with lots of books loaded on them. We've found that the main reason to use the ereaders is to save space (we don't have much for paper books). It seems that the phones and tablet get the most use as they're always with us, so they get used for reading while we wait at doctors' offices, etc. I don't mind paying a hefty price for a just-out book if it's one I really want to read, but I DO tend to get a lot of free ebooks when they're available.

Using the ereaders, I've discovered whole new (to me) genres of fiction such as Steampunk, to which I'm really addicted now!

[HappyMartin]

A bit like gym subscriptions really. People have the best intentions but.......... I bet there are a bunch of people that claim to love reading but last read in college. They get a kindle and never get around to using it. Easier to veg in front of the TV

Originally Posted by HappyMartin

I bet there are a bunch of people that claim to love reading but last read in college.

Leaving college had the opposite effect on me. Reading is amazingly more enjoyable when you get to choose your own reading list, speed or plod along your own timeline, and get to dump the cures for insomnia. (Or at least get to choose cures for insomnia that will fill you with pleasant dreams; rather than nightmares of Clebsch–Gordan coefficients hunting you down, weight you down with unruly quantities of numbers, then gracelessly insert you into the matrix.)

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by Synamon

It's a bit intimidating starting from scratch with a device that has no books on it. I loaded a few classics and some of my favorites and set up a news fetch before I handed my husband his new Kindle. It's a shame Amazon doesn't send them out with a few freebies loaded on it, I think that would get people started off on the right foot.

Couldn't agree more. For non-techie types they are still intimidating. They need a friendly wizard for beginners.

Hi, I am your new Kindle. You will now learn how to use and abuse me. But first, I'd like to know what kind of books you like to read. In the list below select the kind of material you like. You see that weird little square at the bottom, you can press it in four directions (up, down, left and right) and when your selections is highlighted press in the middle, that will take you to the Kindle Store. Now go get your damn credit card!

[copyrite]

My Kindle has turned me back into the reading addict of my youth. Shocked the family when I was reading a paperback the other day.turns out a free book I bought on Amazon had a follow up that was only available in paperback so I bought it off half.com.

[mgmueller]

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

A friend's daughter (23 yrs old) was given a KF for Christmas by her boyfriend. I was shocked yesterday when she messaged me on facebook for help registering it! She had not used it at all since she got it.

Strange because she is unemployed and home all day with nothing to do. And, she reads all the time! I just don't get it.

A friend of mine -officially he still was studying after more than 10 years in the University! and definitely had lots of spare time- for years opted against eBooks/eBook readers:
"I want to have my collection of books in the shelf".
"My brother and my mother read all my books when I'm finished. I still want to lend those books to numerous people".
"I prefer the touch and feel of paper books".
"I don't want to bother with battery and lighting conditions".

But about 3 months ago, he bought his first Kindle and he loves it.
His main argument:
He spends about € 1.000 per year on paper books. So the ROI of his Kindle is some 20 eBooks. Everything after those initial 20 eBooks saves tons of money.
His simple calculation: eBooks you can download for free.
Personally, I don't like this approach, I buy all my books the regular way.

But I guess, "free" eBooks is the main argument for lots of people.

And if that's the case, it only makes sense for somewhat experienced users of the "darknet".
My mother for example wouldn't know where to search for "pirated" eBooks. So, in her mind, eBooks would be even more expensive than paper books (considering the hardware costs plus the problem that you can't resell your eBooks) and more complicated.

[Kevin2960]

Obviously Insanity in the family But seriously I could never leave a " Gadget " UNTOUCHED

I would at least have to find out what it could do ... But hey I'm a man ... Prewired to play with TOYS

Originally Posted by wvcherrybomb

A friend's daughter (23 yrs old) was given a KF for Christmas by her boyfriend. I was shocked yesterday when she messaged me on facebook for help registering it! She had not used it at all since she got it.

Strange because she is unemployed and home all day with nothing to do. And, she reads all the time! I just don't get it.

[wvcherrybomb]

Originally Posted by Kevin2960

Obviously Insanity in the family But seriously I could never leave a " Gadget " UNTOUCHED

I would at least have to find out what it could do ... But hey I'm a man ... Prewired to play with TOYS

I'm a woman and could not leave it untouched either! This girl is not the techie type at all, but still I can't imagine owning a KF for a month and not touching it.

I got her registered and added six books to her Kindle (from 900 miles away). Hopefully, she will get comfortable with it while reading these. She is an avid reader so my goal is to teach her how to find and load her own books, especially freebies.

My daughter's sister-in-law also got a KF for Christmas that is still unused. I don't know if she will ever use hers.

[azazel1024]

Yeah, my wife falls in to the obstinate, stuck in the 20th century crowd. I keep trying to convince her to borrow my nook ST to try reading a book on, and I cajoled her in to reading one book on her ipad2. She refuses to read books through any electronic medium though. She likes her dead trees.

I can't convince her otherwise. Despite the plethora of free books we have in epub format. The access to the numerous classics that are free, and that a number of books she reads are actually cheaper in ebook format than in dead tree (not a lot of used books of the type she reads, or else they tend to be more expensive). Also there isn't the issue of the kids (2 and 4 and one a few weeks from being born) stealing her bookmark anymore if she used an ereader, and it is significantly smaller than a lot of the books she likes to read.

But, she likes her dead trees. Don't get me wrong, I love my dead trees too, but an ereader is just soooo much more portable, nice to have many books on it, so when I finish one I can dive right in to a new one without having to look over my bookshelves (which can be a problem if I am work at the time that I finish a book, without having planned ahead and brought the new one with me as well) and is soooo easy to just put down, attend to the kids or whatever else is interupting my reading and pick right back up, where as a book (especially since I don't use bookmarks) I have to flip back to my page and find my place on the page and start reading again. The roughly 150 odd books I had for free already (most above the board) as well as all of the free classics and that most of the books that come out new by the authors I like do tend to be a bit cheaper than the hardcover books (~$10 versus $13-16 through Amazon new) clinches it for me (still annoys me that ebook prices are relatively high, especially considering publisher costs, doubly especially for older books that are priced the same as the new paperback versions).

[azazel1024]

Hmmm a thought I just had, my wife just got an iphone in part so that when the latest (and last) baby is born, if she is stuck in the nursery for an hour or some in the middle of the night nursing, she isn't stuck with nothing to do. Maybe I'll try to convince her to do a little reading on her iphone (admittedly the WORST ebook reading platform/format because of the small screen). Maybe if she can get in to that a little, I might be able to woo her over to a kindle or nook st.

My final "reason" for the ebook. My wife and I live in a ~1960sq-ft townhouse (including basement and unfinished storage/utility room) with shortly to be 3 kids. We are here for at least another 2-4 years most likely before we can sell it and buy a larger single family home (hopefully out towards the country more). Previously I had around 300 books taking up precious shelf and closet space. I've gotten that down to around 25 books that I just can't bear to part with (like leather bound with gold filigree Lord of the Rings trilogy "tome", US, UK and French editions of Harry Potter and a couple of other special books). My wife still has roughly 80-100 books on various shelves that it would be real nice to be able to get rid of as we already have electronic copies of roughly half of them and some of the others we could get electronic versions if she got rid of the hardcopy.

In some future ideal house I would have a room all to myself (read, I'd delude myself in to thinking it was my room) that would be combination office and honest to goodness library with at least one wall to wall built in bookshelf (I am a pretty good cabinet maker, carpenter and general handyman/jack-of-all trades) for books galore. Even with an ereader I like collecting rare/special books...and that would give me a great opportunity to collect and display them (and I'd probably even read most of them, at least the once, even if I read Treasure Island on my nook ST normally, and not some 19th century edition I manage to find in this future scenario).

Until then though, space is precious.

[janicew]

Working in technology, I encounter a lot of people who want to try an iPad, Android tablet, e-reader, whatever. The biggest thing I tell each and every one of them is that if you aren't willing to spend a bit of time either on your own or with someone to work with the device and discover how it works best for you, then you won't use it effectively (or at all) and don't bother buying it. It takes time to learn something new - tech or otherwise. You could give me a crochet kit for Christmas and it'd go unused because I don't want to spend the time to learn. Same principle. I don't know why people understand they have to practice a non-tech skill to learn something new, but expect tech just to be magical and require no learning on their part.

If people got these things as gifts and the person had no interest, they aren't going to spend the time to get themselves up and running.

I bought my mom a Kindle4NT for Christmas even though she hadn't specifically asked. She had shown some interest in my Kindle, and I knew that I could help her get books loaded and learn how to find books she likes fairly easily. Why? Because she's comfortable with the computer, (pretty good for a 65 year old actually), and she is willing to spend time to learn. I knew that she'd enjoy the portability of the device for reading anywhere, and as she ages and needs larger print, the Kindle can accommodate. If she gets used to it now, she'll read on it when she needs large print later. (At least that's my thinking and she agrees.) So far she loves it.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by mgmueller

And if that's the case, it only makes sense for somewhat experienced users of the "darknet".
My mother for example wouldn't know where to search for "pirated" eBooks. So, in her mind, eBooks would be even more expensive than paper books (considering the hardware costs plus the problem that you can't resell your eBooks) and more complicated.

And for people wealthy enough to read a book and then throw it away, which is effectively what happens with ebooks the buyer isn't going to re-read.

I really wonder how many of the DRM advocates buy their paper books, read them, and throw them in a paper shredder once they're sure they'll never re-read that book.