How often do you see Kindles in public?

[curstpriest]

Let's be serious. How often do you see people reading at all in public. Now of all people who read, how many do you thing use an e-reader.

Very small percentage of the population here.

I have however, seen several people with e-readers in the library and on benches at my university (if that counts as public)

[desertblues]

Originally Posted by curstpriest

Let's be serious. How often do you see people reading at all in public. Now of all people who read, how many do you thing use an e-reader.

Very small percentage of the population here.

I have however, seen several people with e-readers in the library and on benches at my university (if that counts as public)

Reading yes, ereading no.
I was in Paris for a week, rode the subway, walked for several hours; beautiful weather, and I saw a lot of people reading: free newspapers, cheap pocketbooks, even one hard-backcover book, occasionaly someone twiddling away on their iPad, but not one single ereader....let alone a Kindle.

But in the municipal archives of our town, where I work, I'm considered the weird one = always carrying some books and the last few years always an digital reader; iLiad, iPad and now a Kindle. And they're all avid readers over there. I just don't get it. And when they say: reading like that is not like reading a real book. It makes me a bit sad.

Edit: Sad for them, as they're missing out a great way to transport and read a lot of books.

[Pomtroll]

The only place I have seen any e-reader is at B&N & that was a nook. I have yet to see a Kindle anywhere. And no one has asked me how I like either my nook or my Kindle. I wish they would because I think e-readers are great.

[cjottawa]

Domestic spousal iPad and Sony reader aside, I've seen one e-reader I can remember: a Kobo reader, on a local bus.

I vaguely recall seeing e-readers while waiting at airport terminals.

I suspect MODE of transportation has a large correlation.

I don't read on my local bus as the trip is 10 minutes between home and work.

My former commuter bus trip was >45 minutes during which I read a lot.

[Bill Lumburgh]

My wife has been asked several times about her white Kindle. Most people assume it's a smaller version of the iPad. The fact that the iPad isn't even white doesn't seem to matter. I guess Apple owns white now or something.

I've had several people ask me about my Kindle because they noticed a custom screensaver (pictures look surprisingly good on the K3's display, as long as they're not too dark and have been properly converted).

As for seeing Kindles in public, never outside of coffee shops or airports. I've seen a few people with Nooks at B&N but never any other eBook reader.

[monkeyluis]

Every once in a while I'll see one. When I was on my cruise I saw a couple of people with them.

I sat at B&N reading my K3 on sunday and never saw anyone else with any type of ereader. Am I a heathen? LOL... I like that B&N sorry. If amazon and a B&M store I'd be in there 24/7.

[cvkemp]

I was in B&N weekend before last with my kindle and found a book I wanted and surfed the kindle store and found the ebook and ordered it. So do not feel bad.

[KarenH]

I've only seen one ebook reader in the wild other than mine and my mom's. It was a Kindle that I saw a month or two ago at the lab in the clinic where my parents' doctors practice. I didn't get close enough to see which model it was.

On the flip side though, we've had home health care providers visiting my dad for the last few weeks, and several of them have been very interested in my K3. I even passed the MobileRead address on to one of them.

[sportourer1]

Sadly I think hype is the magic word and i genuinely believe that the eReader is perhaps a digital platform too far

[neokindle]

I have seen 5 kindles in the "wild" one a few months back

When i was considering getting one i realised the 2 guys that sit behind me at work have got one , there are others considering it, i work in IT so thats no surprise.

I was called flashy by a mate for pulling it out on the train, but how would you feel if you pulled out an ipad on the train ?

I was told it would be obsolete tech soon and not to buy a k3, but i don't care i read lots of pdfs and it is great , best £149 i have spent for a long time

[emalvick]

Originally Posted by curstpriest

Let's be serious. How often do you see people reading at all in public. Now of all people who read, how many do you thing use an e-reader.

Very small percentage of the population here.

I have however, seen several people with e-readers in the library and on benches at my university (if that counts as public)

That's strange... I'm from the Sacramento area and travel through the Bay Area and Southern California quite a bit for my job, and I see a lot of people reading books and ereaders, especially when I fly....

In the past couple of years, I saw a lot of Kindles and Sony readers (when I could actually see what people were using). However, more recently (past 6 months), I am seeing IPads a lot more. In flying, especially to Southern California, it seems people are a bit in a show-off type mode. People I used to see with Kindles are now showing off their IPads. These people are also playing more games as far as I can tell.

I still see a lot of people reading good old fashion DTB when I fly as well, and they always snicker when people like me are told to turn their Kindles off. It's all good as I don't really like to read during take offs and landings anyway.

[menevets]

I was in B&N weekend before last with my kindle and found a book I wanted and surfed the kindle store and found the ebook and ordered it. So do not feel bad.

I'm sure before the Kindle was created, many people browsed at B&N and then bought new/used on Amazon. I know I did. :-)

iPads on public transportation - people really stick out because it's hard to one hand it while standing. And I can easily see someone dropping it due to an abrupt stop. I'd rather use it sitting down. Using the iPod Touch/iPhone is much easier since you have a hand free and can quickly pocket it.

[Barty]

In SoCal, have yet to see any ereader in public except when passing a mirror (oh hi there)

[TomF]

Originally Posted by Barty

In SoCal, have yet to see any ereader in public except when passing a mirror (oh hi there)

[captcrouton]

I saw my first ipad "in the wild" this week. You definitely can't one-hand it for very long. But the person who was using it was playing games on it. I asked questions about it, the game was really cool. But that's all he uses it for. He didn't come across as an e-reader kind of person. I asked him about it, but like I said, it's a game machine.