Do your kids read ebooks? -

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J.S.Egan Reading

08 Jul 2012, 07:12 PM | Post: #11

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

The Kindle / e-reader itself is certainly a very transitory (??? right word???) product - no one will have a 'reader' in 10 years time, they will just have their phone; especially if that is what the kidz (I believe that is the modern spelling) are doing now - they will just carry on - the only reason most people don't read on their phone is habit, and because we still think of phones psychologically as being Nokia 3110s!

Besides, sooner or later someone is going to find a way to increase the size on the image we see, without increasing the size of the phone, and then you really won't need any other 'personal' device.

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frogplate Reading The Luck of Han’anga - Thomas Watson

08 Jul 2012, 08:01 PM | Post: #12

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

(08 Jul 2012 07:12 PM)J.S.Egan Wrote: The Kindle / e-reader itself is certainly a very transitory (??? right word???) product - no one will have a 'reader' in 10 years time, they will just have their phone; especially if that is what the kidz (I believe that is the modern spelling) are doing now - they will just carry on - the only reason most people don't read on their phone is habit, and because we still think of phones psychologically as being Nokia 3110s!

Besides, sooner or later someone is going to find a way to increase the size on the image we see, without increasing the size of the phone, and then you really won't need any other 'personal' device.

I use both an Android phone and a Kindle for reading and they are very different use cases. For most books the size of the screen doesn't really matter - the phone's 3.7" screen means that I need to flip pages more often than the 6" Kindle but given a good book the UI becomes transparent and isn't noticed on either device.

The big difference is the visibility of the screen in brightly lit conditions. I can't comfortably read the phone in bright sunlight for extended periods - the screen is too reflective and the text too washed out. In contrast the e-ink reader excels in those conditions.

There is also the question of battery life. I spend 5 hours a day commuting and use the phone continuously both ways (taking a lunchtime walk into account adds up to 4 hours reading, 2 hours podcasts). I end up having to charge it mid-day in order for it to keep going until I reach home. I can't take the Kindle to work, but it would take four hours reading a day in its stride, whilst the phone struggles.

I know my usage isn't exactly typical but it does highlight the fact that the smartphone is very much a Jack of all trades and there is still some way to go in display technology and power management before it is likely to kill off dedicated e-readers.

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Jonathan

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J.S.Egan Reading

09 Jul 2012, 05:20 AM | Post: #13

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

Jonathan: Absolutely! I have exactly the same problem at the moment. I read on an iPhone 4, so the quality is excellent as long as you stay out of the sun. But on long journeys I have to carefully ration my usage, and if I'm on the train, even one with charger points, I always check that it is actually working before I start reading.

So yes, there is some way to go, but look how far phones have come in the past 10 years - these problems will be solved - the iPhone 10 is gonna be awesome!

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jennyp19

09 Jul 2012, 11:31 AM | Post: #14

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

My oldest grandaughter is almost 15 - I don't think she's read a "proper" book since she was about 6 or 7 - she would read comics, but just wouldn't read books. When I suggested that she downloaded the kindle app onto her laptop, she would not entertain the idea BUT at the weekend when she came to stay, I said to her I reckon there is a book on my kindle that you would like, she actually sat down & looked - couldn't get a word out of her until she had read it all the way through.
Breakthrough. She is now saying that she would like a kindle. I have a tablet that I don't use at the moment, so downloaded the kindle app on to that, put some books on it that I thought she might read + a German grammar book. When I rang her up the next day, she was using the German grammar book, & had started reading a novel. Still spending a lot of her time with her blackberry phone, & facebook but hey, you can't win them all.
On the other hand my 7 year old grandaughter loves to read books, & sat down & read a couple of short stories while she was here.
Still can't get 7 year old grandson to have a go though - I will have to try different subject matter for him.

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skate Reading Pompomberry House by Rosen Trevithick

10 Jul 2012, 12:26 AM | Post: #15

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

My nine-year-old has a Kindle and loves it, though she still likes to buy and borrow real books as well. A few of her classmates also have them, or they have iPads and read from them, but it's still not a big thing here in Australia.

Kate

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ElaineG Reading Standers by Dale Brumfield

10 Jul 2012, 07:16 AM | Post: #16

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

I am seriously tempted to get a kindle for my boys. One is 13 and the other is 11 and they are typical facebook generation kids. The 13 year old is reading through the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy books but has been reading them for two years now and even though I always have had a book on the go, the influence doesn't seem to rub off on them. Having said that, I didn't read for pleasure until I was about 15 or 16, I am just wondering if it is a boy thing though. The 11 year old isn't really interested yet, he devoured the Horrid Henry books but that is about it, and neither of them got into Harry Potter at all. They had a topic on "spies" at school recently and this coincided with me picking up a Charlie Higson book - Double or Die, about the young James Bond, but even this hasn't tempted him yet. Will keep trying though.

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Simon Cheshire

11 Jul 2012, 11:27 AM | Post: #17

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

Many thanks, everyone, some very interesting info there!

My website is at www.simoncheshire.co.uk
My blog on literary history is at bookhistorystudies.blogspot.co.uk
My How To Write A Book blog is at howtowriteandpublish.blogspot.co.uk

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lyndawrites Reading The Midnight Man by Paul Doherty

11 Jul 2012, 01:29 PM | Post: #18

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

For those of you with children who do read ebooks, may I point you to the site I set up to promote/showcase them: Kindle for Kids
http://www.kindle-for-kids.com

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jonfree Reading Frederick Forsyth- Afghan

13 Jul 2012, 10:06 AM | Post: #19

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

(08 Jul 2012 10:38 AM)Simon Cheshire Wrote: I'm a children's writer (www.simoncheshire.co.uk) and I'm trying to research the impact ebooks are having on the children's book market. There doesn't seem to be a clear picture yet - some say kids are taking to e-reading with enthusiasm, others that kids are barely aware of ebooks yet.

What's your experience? Do your kids read ebooks? If so, on what sort of device (a phone or iPod, I'm guessing)? Do they prefer to e-read or will they be sticking with dead trees?

I visit a lot of schools up and down the country, and I often ask children about their reading. I've been struck by how very few of them - so far - are the slightest bit interested in the whole e-reading revolution! This seems so strange when adult e-reading has turned the entire industry on its head!

Thoughts, anyone?

Inclined to agree with many of your respondents. In these difficult financial times however not many parents can really afford to buy a Kindle for their children and unless the parents themselves have a Kindle it is unlikely that the children will become interested. Frankly when my three sons were young it was as much as my wife and I could do was to get them interested in reading. It was only when I began to make up adventure stories for them that gradually with their interest titillated they began to read more-mind you back then there was very little for boys to get their teeth into. I own a Kindle and as time allows search through what interests me and occasionally download a book but I still prefer an actual book in my hands-maybe that's my age showing!

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nicola.palmer Reading 'Endal' - Allen & Sandra Parton

14 Jul 2012, 07:49 PM | Post: #20

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RE: Do your kids read ebooks?

Hi Simon! As a fellow children's writer, I'm also finding that many young readers prefer 'real books.' One grandparent got in touch with me and I was grateful for her feedback. She downloaded Book 1 onto her kindle for her grandaughter, who said she would like to read it. It remained there for weeks, untouched. When the paperback was purchased, she started reading it the same day and finished the book in two days. The explanation from the 11 year old was 'I don't like the feel of the kindle. I like the feel and smell of books and I like to admire them on my shelf.'
I'm afraid I couldn't argue with that!

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