Shannon Stacey


Luddite offspring

My sons have proven to be quite resistant to digital reading. During the school year, I don’t give it a lot of thought. The Tall Kid, especially, needs to be able to transport the book he’s reading back and forth to school in his backpack. Since his backpack weighs about thirty pounds and strains at the seams, I don’t want my Kindle in there.

But I thought maybe I’d hooked the Short Kid. He’s been devouring the Artemis Fowl series and he finished the third book after school on Friday. He was antsy to read the next and the library was closed, so voila! Mom made The Opal Deception magically appear in the Kindle app on the iPad.

And he was happily reading. Even when we went out for dinner.

On Monday he talked to his teacher and explained the lack of proper page numbers for his reading log (although I guess the iThings Kindle app update that just released has page numbers) and they came up with a way for him to track how much he’d read. All systems go.

Guess which book he brought home from the school library yesterday? He was relieved that now he could read it “properly”. And I can’t pass on the Kindle book I paid for and he read half of to anybody else’s kid.

I give up.

8 comments to “Luddite offspring”

  1. Charlene Teglia
    Comment
    1
      · February 17th, 2011 at 10:17 am · Link

    Huh. My kids, on the other hand, want to steal the iPad and Kindle app, so they can always have whatever book they want instantly and download another when they finish so they never run out of books!



  2. Jean
    Comment
    2
      · February 17th, 2011 at 10:24 am · Link

    Yes, page numbers are now appearing on the Kindle app.



  3. Jaci Burton
    Comment
    3
      · February 17th, 2011 at 12:16 pm · Link

    Heh.

    College girl leaped into the digital age as soon as we bought her an iTouch. She reads everything digitally now. Of course it helps that I buy all her books. One touch Kindle app and all. But she digs it in a major way.

    #2 son, his girlfriend and both her teenagers all have Kindles. They are totally immersed in digital reading. Yay!

    #1 son lives for print. Recoils at the thought of reading digitally. He loves paper. Hell, I’d buy him a Kindle if he’d read digital books. But no, he wants nothing to do with it. Hmmm, maybe I should buy granddaughter a digital reader. She’s 7…she could handle it.

    I even got Biker Dude to read digitally–FINALLY–on his iPad. Never thought I’d see the day.

    But #1 son just won’t do it. I still have hopes for him and keep telling him that someday he’ll make the conversion. He’s stubborn, though. *sigh*

    Don’t give up hope. They’ll get there.



  4. Liza
    Comment
    4
      · February 17th, 2011 at 7:14 pm · Link

    My oldest niece has my old Sony reader and loves it! I got my kindle in Oct and love it. I do like they are updating to show actual page numbers(not on mine yet). Middle niece isn’t a fan of digital books yet, but youngest(7) wants a kindle just like me.



  5. Danielle
    Comment
    5
      · February 18th, 2011 at 10:13 am · Link

    I cannot read books “properly” anymore. Holding the book open and turning the pages and having to find something to save the page I am on is just too much work anymore.

    I have my kindle, my iPod touch, my computer, and we are breaking down and buying an iPad. I even have all of my text books digitally. SO MUCH EASIER.

    I went from reading 14 books a year (if I could get to the book store that often) to reading 250 books a year. Could not be happier :)



  6. Shannon
    Comment
    6
      · February 18th, 2011 at 11:01 am · Link

    I haven’t read a book “properly” in over two years. LOVE my gadgets!

    And my husband, who was never much of a reader, devours books on the nook. He went from reading a few books a year to a few a month.

    The only time I really, really wish my kids would go digital is during the camping season (which is April to October), when we’re lugging bags of books back and forth for them every other weekend. They each take their iPod Touches anyway. Would be so nice if all those books lived there.



  7. Natalie J. Damschroder
    Comment
    7
      · February 22nd, 2011 at 7:31 am · Link

    My kids both have Kindles and read about half on there and half in print. Number One (who’s 15) has to have keepers in print, even if she also has them in e-book. Number Two (11) saw another student at school with a Kindle (first time either kid has ever seen that) so now she’s bringing hers–and FINALLY using some of the Amazon $ she got for Christmas. She’s been reading her backlog of print books.



  8. Shannon
    Comment
    8
      · February 22nd, 2011 at 9:31 am · Link

    School’s a big reason I haven’t pushed the digital too hard. I can’t imagine them taking Kindles or their iPods into their backpacks. And I don’t trust OPKs.







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