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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to tell him it's a crap present?

34 replies

lal123 · 22/09/2010 19:37

DBIL is into his gadgets - always has the latest phone/pc etc etc. MIL is a technophobe, hates the computer, can't work her telly if it's turned off wrong. MIL LOVES reading.

DBIL has told us that they have ordered a Kindle for her for Christmas. Nice thought - but MIL won't be able to work it, will be terrified of "doing something to it". He's suggested we get her amazon vouchers so she can download some books.

Now - apart from the fact that we will spend all of January at MILs trying to show her how to work the thing, she will not get her usual supply of books for Christmas Sad. AIBU to think that not just is this a crap present for her, but it will actually take away one thing that she DOES love? I think DP should say something. He says to just get her the vouchers.

WWYD? and AIBU?

OP posts:
TaudrieTattoo · 22/09/2010 19:39

I've got one of them, and it really is a doddle. Really.

But if you think she really will hate it, of course you must tell him.

Or let him buy it and, erm, borrow it. For ages.

werewolf · 22/09/2010 19:44

Buy her books that aren't available in Kindle format? Wink

ConnorTraceptive · 22/09/2010 19:49

Tell him it's crap and buy her books anyway.

JaneS · 22/09/2010 20:01

Tell him it's crap. People who love books usually love the whole sensory experience - brand new hardback, crisp pages, cover art, that nice feeling of how far you've got being measured by the thickness of pages to the right - you can't get that off a kindle.

Sorry, but I am right with your MIL on this.

BelligerentGhoul · 22/09/2010 20:03

The Dragon says true! If she loves books, a Kindle will be as bad as opening a new iron on Christmas day. Or an electric carving knife.

Tell him it's crap and buy her real books.

thisisyesterday · 22/09/2010 20:05

i LOVE books. but i'd also like a kindle

it's his money and his gift, let him give it to her,
she might just like it... you never know

sterrryerryoh · 22/09/2010 20:05

I absolutely love gadgets and am an IT nerd, but I love books more. It?s a crap present for a book lover - books all the way. Books rule!

Spinkle · 22/09/2010 20:05

I was dreading my MIL getting a laptop (she can't even work a phone) to surf the interweb. I moaned about probably having to keeping going over there to sort it out for her.

But no.

Showed her once - she wrote it all down and has been all brave and copes brilliantly.

So you never know....

laweaselmys · 22/09/2010 20:08

If she struggles with the computer getting her a kindle seems mad.

Tell him it's crap. When he inevitably doesn't listen buy her books anyway!

Original poster
lal123 · 22/09/2010 20:12

thanks - we'll be getting her her usual books then (though might get her some vouchers and just quietly sneak her a book or two to tide her over til she works out how to use it!) It's up to him how he spends his money.

OP posts:
MaryBS · 22/09/2010 20:13

I'm a book lover and I'd love a kindle - can I have it please? :o

Mind you, I also like gadgets and am quite techie.

Bathsheba · 22/09/2010 20:35

I love books and I love gadgets...I think I probably would like a Kindle but I also like the fact that I can go onto Amazon and buy 2nd hand books, often for 1p (+p&p which is a standard £2.75 or something) - I have avoided e-book readers up until now because I simply don't think I'll get the kindle version for the same type of price...

perfumedlife · 22/09/2010 20:40

I hate when people give you gifts according to their own tastes. I think it's a rubbish gift, she sounds like my mil and would hate a kindle.

Curling up in bed with a pot of tea and a good Kindle Confused

Nothing in the world like a bedside table groaning under the weight of crisp new books. Heaven.

Unless, if she travels a lot she mught love the weight aspect?

perfumedlife · 22/09/2010 20:40

sorry, might Blush

VoldemortsNipple · 22/09/2010 20:41

It depends where she reads. If she only reads in the house sitting in a chair, then she probably wont get much out of it.

I love reading. I got a kindle last christmas. The reason I wanted one is because I take my books everywhere with me, so carrying big books around can be a pain. I also prefare reading my kindle in bed because it is more comfortable.

They are quiet easy to use. One of the features my mum liked when she borrowed mine for her holidays, was that she could change the font size. This meant she didnt need to worry about carrying her reading glasses around with her.

Maybe you could suggest to your BIL that he sets it up for her before christmas and adds a couple of books on to start her off.

FakePlasticTrees · 22/09/2010 20:47

Get her something she'll love, tell BIL you think it's a bad pressie, but his call. Maybe get her vouchers and quietly tell her you can help her use them to buy real books if she's rather.

could you get her something else all together for Christmas? something not book related so you're not making a preference either way?

SecretNutellaFix · 22/09/2010 20:51

Tell him that if he wants a Kindle he can buy one and not foist one on his mother in the hope that she will "pass it on" as she can't get on with it.

He's being a selfish tit.

lucky1979 · 22/09/2010 22:41

I love books, and I LOVE my Kindle. Seriously, it's wondeful. I had the Sony eReader beforehand but that was let down by it's dreadful software.

My Mum is a technology disaster. She looks at technology and it breaks. However, I have strongly recommended that she gets one as I think it would be brilliant for her. She struggles with print size on some books and this would solve that. She struggles with gigantic hardback books as well, and likes to take books on holiday with her and this makes that a doddle.

I would recommend very much that he gets her the 3G one, so that it doesn't need to go anywhere near a computer, the store is REALLY easy to navigate and use direct from the Kindle. Once you get into getting it active on a wireless network and syncing and so on it might be more trouble than it's worth, andthe 3G one avoids all that. But don't dismiss this as being about him, I would have suggested that my moter get one if I wasn't fairly confident that I wouldn't be having to tech support every five minutes, they really are very very simple devices to use, and potentially very rewarding.

But there is no reason for you to get her vouchers, get her whatever you want.

lucky1979 · 22/09/2010 22:46

Also, anecdotally, I've just come home from a week in hospital and was using my Kindle there, one of the older nurses was asking about it and I was demonstrating it for her, and she was telling me that she doesn't own a computer, hates that kind of technology but she was so keen on the idea of the kindle (I was showing her the store and we were searching out her favourite authors to demonstrate how many books were available) she was going to get her daughter to get her one for Xmas. She was rhapsodising about how easy it would be to read on the bus.

Did I mention the Kindle is wonderful? ;)

Now, if he was getting her an iPad, I would definitely smell a rat.

BrightLightBrightLight · 22/09/2010 22:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cookinmama · 22/09/2010 23:12

I have just recently got one for my 83 year old technophobic grandmother and although I do have to download the books for her she can use it (only one day of phonecalls!!) You could get her a holder for her christmas which makes it feel more booky.

gtamom · 23/09/2010 08:44

Hmm. I'd stick with the books until she gets the hang of the Kindle. I myself wouldn't completely replace book buying with one anyways. I like books. :)

Chil1234 · 23/09/2010 09:05

You don't buy a techno-phobe something technical as a present. My parents were given an electronic photo-frame and that freaks them out ("all that electricity!!"). I happen to love books and also love my Kindle as a way of transporting my holiday reading materials without recourse to a fork-lift truck. But if MIL is uncomfortable with a TV set, she'd hate it.

chaosisawayoflife · 23/09/2010 09:24

Can anyone tell me roughly how much it is to download books to a kindle. I'm mn-ing on my phone, otherwise I'd look myself.

TotorosOcarina · 23/09/2010 09:28

I love reading and I would HATE one of those.

Its exciting getting a new book and putting it on the shelf with the others.

Boooo the kindle!

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