Gutenberg vs. Bezos, Part II

Like Dorothy wearing her ruby slippers in Oz, I've had the power with me all along.  I ran into a friend who showed me how to use an e-reader app (Nook, Kindle, iBooks, etc.) on my iPad without the glowing white screen that I fear will cause my eyes to fail someday in my old age.

"You switch it so the background is black and the words are white," she said.  "It is great.  My Nook crashed so now I just use the Nook app on my iPad."  Brilliant.  I tried it with Pride and Prejudice, and it works.

So I don't need a Kindle since I already own an iPad.  The earth will thank me for not adding yet another digital device to my family's swelling arsenal.  Will I use this new found power for good, not evil?

Before I discuss that, I asked my friend how I could separate my Kindle books from my son's.  John registered the Boy's Kindle under my Amazon account. 

"So you don't want him perusing your copy of Fifty Shades of Orange?"

Exactly.  No.  Wait.  I was thinking more about Gone Girl, a psychological thriller.  (Am I the only middle age woman on the planet who hasn't read anything in Fifty Shades?)  She said to get him his own Amazon account so I can keep my reading private.

"You know it takes place in Seattle," she said.  Interesting.  I'd love for Mr. Orange to run into Bernadette.  That would be awesome.

Which begs another question: Is Fifty Shades success due to the e-reader?  Was this a book that people can discreetly download and read while reading the bus or in their living room and no one can see what it is?  I think so.  Like the internet exploded the porn industry, ditto to Fifty Shades and the Kindle.

Back to using my iPad e-reader for good and not evil.  I'll have to think of it in the same terms of my use of iTunes.  With iTunes, I am buying and enjoying music that I otherwise wouldn't have.  Even if it ends up being small change, it is money that the artist might not otherwise have gotten.  So I rationalize:  these are books that I otherwise might not get from the library or a bookstore.  I will still love the library and my neighborhood bookstores, and my bookshelves will thank me.

I just downloaded Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn from iBooks for $8.99.  It looks like Steven Jobs won this round.