While hard copy books will still be great permanent reference sources, the plethora of fast-moving printed journals seem ripe for electronic disruption. I wouldn't be surprised to find that most journals as we know them eventually go the way of the dinosaur. As proof comes this from the ACC:
The Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) will be available on the Amazon Kindle e-book reading device starting this March. JACC is the first cardiovascular journal on the Kindle platform and the second medical journal after the New England Journal of Medicine. Visit the Kindle store on amazon.com beginning on March 12 to order and learn more. Also, bring Kindle to ACC.10 in Atlanta to download the meeting abstracts and final program.Welcome to the 21st Century!
-Wes
I love reading books on my iPhone. Haven't bought a Kindle yet. But I miss being able to give or loan a book or journal to someone when I finish it. Even though I may have purchased the book in electronic form, I know of no way to send it from my phone/Kindle to your wife's or my niece's or my colleague. Today a gave a surgery colleague the hardback book on Halsted (Genius on the Edge). I can't do that with e-books. I think that is a shame.
ReplyDeleteThere's talk of putting textbooks on Kindle, which would save students alot of money.
ReplyDeleteI bought the first generation Kindle shortly after it came out. I love it, as I travel alot and don't have to haul all those books around or have a storage problem afterward. Also, I can be impulsive, like instantly ordering a sequel after finishing a book late at night. However, like Rlbates, I miss being able to share a book with friends. All that said, if I were to buy a reader now, I'd get a Sony Reader instead. It can load Kindle books and others, while Kindle readers only load Kindle books. Of note, there is an app for iPhone such that you can read your Kindle books on it.
Marco