Dockside Bookshop Closing Follows Industry Trend

Which is better?
Is Kindle only for downloading books/storage?
Can you use as a laptop with other data storage, pics, files, PFD's?
Can you connect a Ipad to a printer? I am hopelessly non tech inclined.
Thanks for advice.

I will preface this with the fact that I HATE Apple and their products but will try and answer balanced and fairly but not in orderD

The older kindles are pretty much just for reading. This changed when Amazon launched their Kindle Fire. The Kindle Fire is like a cross between the original kindles and a tablet. It runs on a modified version of the Android code. In addition to being able to read books you can also play movies, music, and games on it. There is a way that you can change the Kindle software that it ships with and turn the Kindle Fire into a tablet computer but the process isn't for the faint of heart.

You can hook a IPad to a printer wirelessly. Several printer companies have printers that have built in support for Apple products. HP has several of their newer model printers that support IDevices right out of the box.

The Kindle isn't meant to be a laptop/tablet computer. Even though the Kindle Fire has additional capabilities in the end it is still a E-Reader at it's heart.

Even though I started with a Kindle Fire ( actually my first Kindle was the original model that I got as a Xmas present) I moved to a tablet which I absolutely love. I again will say that I am biased against Apple so this is just my opinion. I got a Asus Nexus 7 from OfficeMax and have never looked back. I love the thing to death and it isn't a bank breaker cost wise (200-250 bucks). I got the Kindle app from Amazon and installed it on the tablet for my books but I can do just about everything on that that I could on a laptop. I have a app that can read MS Office files and also save files in a MS Office format. It doesn't weigh anything, the size is perfect for me, battery life is awesome. You can check it out here. I think that they are going to have a new model coming out soon ( or that's the rumor anyway ). You also can access the Google Play store that has books as well but also movies and music like the Apple store.

I would recommend against buying any specific reader. There are too many great small tablets that you can use the various apps with (Kindle, Nook, etc.).

I recently purchased a Nexus 7 android tablet and LOVE it. I also purchased a hard cover that is also a bluetooth keyboard. So it acts just like a small laptop. I have my Nook app on it and that is what I typically read (we share a Nook account with 4 people so there are plenty of books for me). I can also use other e-readers that are compatible with android.

I no longer have to travel with my phone, Nook & laptop. I just have my phone & Nexus. It is small enough to fit in a med size purse so it is always with me if I must wait in line (ie: BMV, IRB, Dr, etc.) .

Looks like STTanon & I were posting at the same time!

I also have gone "apple" free and love it. I was tired of having to buy all proprietary accessories. We now use all android and can use any printer, various chargers and not have to pay inflated prices when we need a new piece. I hear people talk about the iPad and ask them questions - it's funny how defensive they get when I ask how they do certain things that I thought were a pain. Some people have really drunk the Apple koolaide!

It could be done! I'm an entrepreneur, and I've been able to keep my company alive by combining the power of a website with personal get togethers, etc. In other words, a hybrid. Dockside Bookshop has a huge following on this island -- a community of book lovers -- there's got to be a way that we can help continue the tradition.

When I lived in South Beach, there was an independent bookstore which had been struggling from time to time, but when the big bookstores closed, more people flocked to the bookstore.

Here's a link so that you can see what I mean: http://www.booksandbooks.com/. The website could be revamped to allow customers to order books online -- including physical books. Those books could either then be delivered to the customer, or the customer could arrange for pickup. The inventory could be kept in a warehouse. As inventory gets low, future physical books could still be purchased, but it would convert over to an order system whereby the customer could still order physical books, but the inventory would come from a different source; Amazon, for example.

You'll see on the website that there's a calendar of events. A series of get togethers could be posted on the website's calendar, and those get togethers could be at a coffee shop, hosted at someone's home, be held in a public park or even on the beach. The get togethers could be multi-faceted; one geared towards children, another for families, another for women, a general get together. There would be no cost to host these events; the purpose would be to continue the bookstore community in a modified fashion. Perhaps there could even be a bookmobile where people could gather to purchase books.

As for eBooks, those would also be available for ordering online, but there are many of us, including me, who treasure my book collection, many of which are from Dockside Bookshop, so there should be a way to continue the tradition in a modified, hybrid fashion.

It CAN be done. We just need enough fellow book lovers to band together to take this concept to reality. I know how it could be done, but I couldn't do it alone; I would need some extra hands. As for cost, not much really. I work on my own website all the time, and I'm building some new ones for our new lines of business.

Anyway, please feel free to reply to this post or send me an email at cbekker@bccp-llc.com or you can call me at 818.826.1291. I'm on island all the time; the number is for our California office.

Carrie F. Bekker
Founder & CEO
Bekker International Group (B.I.G.) VI

i personally love books, i had tons and finally got rid of a bunch of them because i got tired of dusting them,. i did keep my favorites.
i now own a kindle keyboard, which i love. i love the fact i can read books for free-most are good a lot are great and some are not. the majority of the free ebooks i have read i would recommend to others as a good read.
right after i bought my kindle, the came out with the fire.
an apple ipad, you can have barnes and nobel ereader and the amazon ereader, so you are not limited in who you buy from.
do i love real books, you bet. i love everything about them. wish i still had every book i ever read. but i dont and cant.
when i am finished reading an ebook, i delete it from the device.
if our local library would be open on saturday, i would certainly be there all the time. i do buy real books at christmas when i get bn gift cards from family.

I used to buy paperbacks from the Animal Shelter Thrift Store here on STX - they might not have been new but they were new to me and only cost 50 cents per book for the most part. But I got a Nook as a gift and while it is more expensive to buy books now, it is more convenient also, plus the Nook has a backlight which is great for reading in bed when my wife is sleeping. She has an IPad and can read any books that I have purchased previously on it at the same time, so that is an advantage also. I like the Nook better for reading books than the IPad but the IPad is much more functional overall. I have never been a collector of books, once I have read a book I have no desire to read it again, except that it seems lately that I have reread several books because either I can't tell if they are just similar to another book I have read or I just don't remember all the details of the book from when I read it before. While some might view that as a negative effect of getting old, the positive side is that it broadens the spectrum of books I might want to read.

Well, it sounds like most members of this listerv prefers eBooks. I'm sure a large part of it has to do with that most people have e-readers, combined with the fact that we live in a very transient society where families don't want to schlep books especially if moving off-island -- even though those of us who are here for the long term would be pleased to buy vintage books. After all, books are heavy, and the airlines and shippers gauge cost by weight.

But what about the bigger picture? What about people like my husband and I who crave the smell, feel, and holding a book to read while hanging out on the veranda or on the beach? The experience between reading a "real" book and reading an e-version are not the same, nor should they or could ever be. Remember the old phone ads "it's the next best thing to being there"? It's the same thing. When I travel on business, I cannot schlep a lot of physical books to read because of the weight and airline restrictions. However, when I'm kicking back on my veranda in St Thomas in the evenings and the weekends, there is no substitute for a hard or soft cover book, the feel in your hand, and the smell of the paper, whether it's an old or new book.

I run a virtual business but with a keen focus on multimedia in-person relationships, which is a culmination of all ways to communicate, including meeting in person, by phone, fax, internet, social media. It's not a simple matter of saying only one method is effective. To the contrary, to keep ourselves rooted in the past, live in the present, and keep an eye on the future, not only for us but for our families, especially our children, nieces and nephews, we must evolve and pass on the legacy of "real" books, even if it's simply a complement to those we can read and download online.

Both physical books and cursive writing are becoming a lost art, and I feel that this is an unneccesary tragedy that further separates us from each other personally. Also, what will happen to our progeny if they are handfed e-versions of books? It's not the same. And in the VI especially, where trying to foster reading is a challenge in and of itself, especially in the public school system where the parents may not be able to afford kindles, ipads, nooks, etc., what happens to those children who have been raised not to read books or to write on paper? I shiver at the thought to these potential answers in a world that is fragile at best, not only on island but globally.

For our fellow neighbors and friends who move off island, why not donate those books to the library or to Dockside Bookshop? Personally, I have a huge library of Caribbean literature which is to find these days. Let's pass on the tradition, history, and culture of the Virgin Islands, just like it used to be before books could even be printed and all history was strictly person-to-person storytelling to pass on cultural traditions, history, etc.

I really think all of us should take a longer view of the ramifications of losing our own and only bookshop and confer as to how we can continue the importance and tradition of sharing information we have amassed both while reading books and sharing our thoughts with others.

If we raise our children devoid of "real" books, how will our little loved ones learn how to read? By Kindle, Nook, or iPad? Certainly not in the islands. Both public and private resources cannot sustain the investment of both hardware and software to sustain such a reading program..

I can tell you, from personal experience and as an entrepreneur, that books saved me. I dropped out of college at 16 and got married to get away from my 70s dysfunctional family. However, I was always a voracious reader since the age of four, and I craved books like they were candy. I grew up with books, and they enriched my internal psyche, helped me cope through my parents' nasty divorce, and enable me to go to college after getting my GED after I turned 18.

Suffice it to say that, not having a "real" bookstore in some form or fashion -- not even a presence of one, even a hybrid of a virtual store, combined with personal events and interaction between islanders of all ages -- not only will have a long-term adverse impact on our beloved islands, but will ultimately result in an illiterate population among families who cannot afford to give their children private education who may very well not to learn how to read at all. How can you learn to read if there are no books to read?

I'm totally crushed by this news. If you feel the same way, please reply to my post so that collectively we can find a solution to keep reading open to us and to our children -- especially taking into consideration the tradition of Dockside Bookshop of first and foremost showcasing the literature of The Caribbean Writer and other very fine local and regional publications which cast an inner perspective and insight as to the wonderful universe of the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean as a whole.

I'd just like to pipe in that my library is not nearly as impressive as it was. I am moving soon, so I donated over half of it. I simply can't keep moving these books around (many read multiple times).

I certainly can appreciate your sentiments and circumstances, but for those of us who plan to be here until we die and for those of us who were born or migrated here, what happens to the prospects of our children if books no longer exist?

Ray Bradbury's book "Fahrenheit 451" comes to mind, Does this mean future generations won't have the opportunity to learn to read or write, and that the only thing they get is an iPad, Kindle, Nook and then "you're on your own" and tell them that it's incumbent on them to figure it out? Unless your child is in an expensive private school, chances are your child will never be taught how to read or write, much less have an electronic device to access the internet. Does this mean that we're training our next generation to believe everything they see or hear online and not have the aptitude to make their own decisions based on their own intellect rather than whatever the lamestream media spouts out and simply assume that "if the media tells us so, then it must be true"? Haven't we already been there when we were young?

I think many of the personal comments, although insightful, are missing the bigger picture of how this island will become without access to a local bookstore and our like-minded fellow booklovers who are here for the long term.

Books aren't going away. People will continue to write to express themselves, but the delivery of the writing continues to evolve. I'm glad there's an alternative to the clutter of paper magazines and books which eventually become trash.

Electronic media gives everyone the opportunity to express themselves and share their thoughts and stories to the world without the expense and limitations of traditional publishers.

Parents who value education will make sure their child has access to a computer and the Internet. Community computer centers should soon be commonplace. It is now cheaper to access many published works now so reading is now less expensive than its ever been.

BTW, there is/was another bookstore at Crown Bay. The Owl and the Seahorse, I think. There is also at least one religious bookstore, too, so St Thomas isn't losing its only bookstore.

Thanks for all your input on the different types of readers/Ipads.
Gives me a much better idea of what to purchae for my needs.

STT may not be losing its only bookstore but it's losing it's best.