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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not lend my Kindle to somebody for the weekend?

139 replies

badtasteflump · 12/04/2012 13:32

Saw a friend of a friend at lunchtime today when I was out getting a sandwich - we work in the same building. We drank our coffee together and got talking about books we've read lately. I told her she should read something I've just finished on my Kindle because I really enjoyed it.

Her: 'I haven't got a Kindle though, could I borrow yours and give it back when I've read it?'

Me (shocked!): 'Um sorry, no, I use it all the time'.

Her: 'But I'm a really fast reader - I could read it over the weekend and give it back Monday.'

Me: (feeling really uncomfortable now): 'Sorry, no, honestly, I don't even let the DC use it, I'm so attached to it

Her: Oh. Okay then (huffily). Well I'm off anyway. .

WTF? I love my Kindle. It has a cover for its cover and everything. So she can fuck right off.

Just wanted to rant.

OP posts:
Noqontrol · 12/04/2012 14:43

God no, I wouldnt lend anyone my kindle, I am very attached to it and use it all the time. I don't think any of my friends would dare to ask though Grin

Original poster
badtasteflump · 12/04/2012 14:46

Thank you! And she really thought I didn't need my Kindle this weekend Grin

Can't believe I just saw a 'users guide to the rabbit' Shock

What's to not know?

OP posts:
Original poster
badtasteflump · 12/04/2012 14:46

Not the furry kind btw Smile

OP posts:
NoraHelmer · 12/04/2012 14:48

I've always got a bit twitchy about lending books to people let alone my kindle :).

In the past I have loaned books to family and never got them back despite saying I wanted them back :(, including one my MIL destroyed because she disapproved of the title and cover (Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time :o).

When I first got my kindle I said DH could borrow it whenever I wasn't using it and he downloaded a book onto it that he wanted to read. I'm dreading the day he says he wants to read it, but at least I know he will look after it.

diddl · 12/04/2012 14:53

I offered my husband my Kindle recently when he was going away.

He had the good sense to say "thanks, but no thanks"Grin

wakeupandsmellthecoffee · 12/04/2012 14:53

I kiss mine goodnight .(I kid you not)

NatashaBee · 12/04/2012 14:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

EightiesChick · 12/04/2012 14:57

YADBNU!

For anyone who's mentioned the worth of the books on your kindle, iin case you don't know - if it gets lost or broken you are able to get them back on a replacement device. My DH had his bag nicked while travelling to a work meeting, which had the Kindle in it, and he was able to claim on work insurance to replace it. As soon as we knew it was stolen we deactivated that device and just added the new one onto the account when we got it - all books magically there Smile

ProfCox I have also had friends fiddling with the Kindle and inadvertently buying stuff, although at least in my case it was only a 14-day trial to a newspaper. Does make you think that no-one else should even be allowed to touch them

EightiesChick · 12/04/2012 14:58

NatashaBee I read about the lending system recently and was VERY excited but I don't think it's up and running yet in the UK.

siilk · 12/04/2012 14:59

Ha ha ha! Yanbu at all! My kindle is mine!

DontHaveAtv · 12/04/2012 15:06

No one touches my Kindle ever. I love it. I bore people for hours on how brillint my Kindle is.

Quenelle · 12/04/2012 15:08

YADNBU It's like someone asking to borrow ALL YOUR BOOKS. What are you supposed to read in the meantime?

I've read about the lending thing, you can lend books for two weeks can't you?

SweetTheSting · 12/04/2012 15:10

No, you can't lend Kindle books in the UK (yet? ever?), something to do with digital rights.

OP, YANBU. Not only is it lending your whole book collection, it's also lending some expensive kit (say, an iPhone) PLUS your credit card and PIN (because of 1-click purchasing). And this is to a friend-of-a-friend? HAHAHAHA, as if!

CalamityKate · 12/04/2012 15:12

YANBU. Even though I haven't got a kindle.

Are they really all that? Do you really get the WHOLE book on them or are they a bit abridged?

SweetTheSting · 12/04/2012 15:14

You get the whole book.

oldraver · 12/04/2012 15:15

A lot of sewing machines are quite portable and lightweight like my latest one so maybe thats why people think they are lendable, IMO thye are also easily breakable by people who dont know what they are doing and sometimes a pain to fix

I did have a very large industrial machine that the mechanic never gotr around to commisioning looks at rather dear 6 year old playing in the corner that was the result of the mechanic getting waylaid Grin

DoNotAngerTheWookiee · 12/04/2012 15:15

I second what everyone else has said: she is BVU and mental. My husband knows to hand it to me but wouldn't open the cover and read it...that is a step too far

RabbitsMakeBrownEggs · 12/04/2012 15:15

Whole books, and loads of them . At hand, downloadable if you have a Wifi connection without any wires. Light and easy to hold if you have particular problems with your hands, especially if you like to read a book immediately, you don't have to struggle with the massive hardback.

It's made a big difference to my life, I couldn't hold books very long or my wrists ached. Plus the screen is much nicer for my eyes, no glare and no need for my coloured film to stop the background dancing around in front of my eyes like it does here.

Quenelle · 12/04/2012 15:18

And I wouldn't lend this woman anything if she started getting shitty about it.

gettingeasier · 12/04/2012 15:19

Jesus Christ on a bicycle borrow your Kindle ???

Then push the request a bit ???

Then go off in a strop ???

YANBU !

perceptionreality · 12/04/2012 15:20

YANBU at all! How odd - this would surely be like lending out your mobile phone?

As an aside I have lent out loads of books that were never returned :(

A question for those with Kindles - is it cheaper to get books for them once you have all the stuff you need for one?

SweetTheSting · 12/04/2012 15:27

It's usually a bit cheaper, but not always massively so (most of the cost of the book is to pay the author, agents, bookseller etc rather than the physical distribution, so not too surprising). However, because the pricing is dynamic, there's often special prices that might be reduced one day, up again the next (unlike books where it's printed on the back). There's always a Deal of the Day for 99p and there's a Kindle Spring Sale on at the moment with lots of reduced stuff. I got the Hunger Games Trilogy for £3-£4 each.

There's also a lot of free classics that are out of copyright such as Madame Bovary, Middlemarch etc.

ariadneoliver · 12/04/2012 15:31

perception that depends. The classics can be found for free if out of copyright, and there is a top 100 list of free books which is worth checking regularly. The daily deal is usually 99p and is often a newer book, there is a varied selection of both adults and children's books. There are a lot of books which can be got for £1-2, but brand new releases tend to be at Amazon book prices so ther you are really paying for convenience. Howver Apple and Amazon have just settled a lawsuit in the US which looks like it should allow heavier discounting of new e-books.

WandaDoff · 12/04/2012 16:07

Does anybody else use Calibre?

There are many other online bookshops that undercut Amazon's prices, or I'm sure there must be places that you can get free ebooks.

Calibre will change the format if it's not compatible with your kindle, & manage your books, and I've found it brilliant. I'm not restricted to Amazon.

IShallWearMidnight · 12/04/2012 16:10

yes to Calibre, and someone on another thread just introduced me to Ultimate E Book Library which is free.