E-tiquette

1) I LOVE my new Kindle
2) It brings up ethical questions

First, why I love my new Kindle. It is the closest digital thing to a book. What I mean by that is it is in black and white, you can read it in sun or shade - even with polarized sunglasses. You CAN'T get email or surf the web on it. When you are reading, it doesn't even have a clock in the corner. It just does two things really well: it replaces paper books and it acts as a ipod for your library. I know you can get books on ipads etc but I don't think I could handle all the distractions of being fully plugged in to the intertubes. When I want to sit with a book - I want to unplug and just read. The kindle let's you do that.

=aside= Just yesterday, I finished a book and loved it so much that I wanted to read the author's next book. So I went out and got it. And by "go out" I mean I didn't move from the lawn chair on my deck, I just pressed a button and $7 and 60 seconds later, I was reading the new book. THAT my friends, is awesome.=end aside=

Second, the ethics. The books on kindle are WAY cheaper than paper books - Much of the time a kindle book is half price or better - public domain books are free. And yet, I still like to walk the stacks at our local bookstores and just browse.

I am pretty sure Barnes and Noble doesn't want me walking through their store with my kindle queuing up books that catch my eye on my Amazon wish list. Although B&N has come out with their own e-reader so I guess this is a grey area. More black and white where independent book stores are concerned, I suppose

What if I am not "shopping" but just want to sit and read? We were out and about the other day and stopped into one of our favorite independent book stores.


We got some coffee and sat at a table. I wanted to whip out my kindle and read but since you can only purchase kindle books through amazon.com, isn't whipping out your kindle in a bookstore a little like eating your Burger King Whopper in a McDonald's?

Then again if I had a paper book purchased on amazon no one would be the wiser.

And what about reading a kindle book on your laptop or smart phone? Chances are, no one would notice - so perhaps it is the kindle device itself that may offend.

Amazon just reported that for the first time, kindle books outsold paper versions. E-books are going to put some bookstores out of business. When you consider the environment, this is probably a good thing but is carrying a kindle into an independent bookstore rude?

I talked this over with a fellow kindle owner and we decided that so long as you buy something (coffee etc) you have earned the right to read anything you like - sort of like buying a small coffee at a Starbucks so you can use their restroom.


But still, I am hesitant.

What do you think?