If you walk out of the cinema this week with a burning desire to read Elizabeth Gilbert's 'Eat, Pray, Love,' you can download it onto your Amazon Kindle electronic book reader-if you have one-for $12.99.

Then again you could just walk into your local Borders bookstore with a coupon and get the paperback for $10.

Barnes & Noble will charge you $12.99 to read the book on its e-book reader, the Nook. But it's only $9.36 (shipping may cost you extra) if you order the paperback at bn.com.

As a society, we have gadget-itis. No new machine that goes ping goes unsung. People stand in line for hours to purchase an iPhone barely distinguishable from the one already in their pockets. Amazon's newest Kindles sold out within days of going on sale. (Those who bought quickly will receive theirs this week.)

E-book readers are booming. Amazon says in the past few months sales of e-books have zoomed past sales of the paper ones. While e-books are still in an early stage-the Association of American Publishers says that so far this year they account for 8% of consumer books, compared to just 3% in 2009-the growth rate is dramatic. (This is one of the problems besetting Barnes & Noble, which has just announced a quarterly loss following a decline in sales of traditional books.)

Beyond all the hype, are e-book readers a good deal? Are they worth the money? If so, how can you get the maximum return on your investment?

Here are six money tips for pennywise book lovers.

1. Casual readers probably shouldn't bother.

The median American book-buyer purchases just seven books a year, according to an AP-Ipsos poll in 2007.

An e-book reader right now typically costs about $150 (more on this below). Even if you save a couple of bucks per book by downloading them onto your e-book reader, the payback isn't going to be much for the casual reader. If you saved $5 a book, you'd have to buy 30 just to earn back your initialinvestment. If you only saved $2 a book, you'd have to buy 75.

I don't want to sound negative. I happen to think e-book readers are great. But that's because I read books avidly. (I've been known to take 10 books on a beach holiday.) If you are in my camp, e-book readers let you carry a library in your pocket or bag. But if you're a casual reader, they probably don't make much economic sense yet. (On the other hand, once you buy an e-book reader you will probably buy and read more books.)

2. The books aren't as cheap as they should be.

E-books are far, far cheaper to produce, distribute and sell than paper ones. There is no paper, no printing, no trucking and no retail space.

So they should cost a lot less to buy, but the deal often isn't anywhere near as good as it should be. Amazon has tried to drive prices for best sellers down to $9.99, but the publishing industry has fought back. A lot of best sellers go for $12.99 instead. That may be cheaper than the hardbacks, but the gap should be wider.

As in the case of Elizabeth Gilbert's runaway success, you may sometimes find the traditionalversion cheaper. Looking for Stieg Larsson's 'The Girl Who Played With Fire'? It's $7.99 on the Kindle. I bought it in Borders, with a coupon, for $5.68.

Books are cheaper in electronic format, but not all.

3. Savvy readers read the classics anyway.

Why? Because they're free. From Aesop to 'Zarathustra.' From 'Hamlet' to 'Huckleberry Finn.' They won't cost you a penny. These books are outside of copyright. Just go to Gutenberg.org and download them. Thousands of them. And they're better than most of the stuff published more recently anyway.

4. Be aware of the potential costs of buying a Kindle.

Amazon sells the best-selling e-book reader. It's a great product, very easy to use-much easier, I've found, than the competition. But Amazon has given the device a cellular connection and a keyboard so you can access its online bookstore any time, any place, to buy a book. Good for them. Not so good for you. The results are predictable: You may end up making lots of impulse purchases. Don't be surprised if you spend hundreds of dollars on books in your first year. (Amazon now sells a Kindle that only has a Wi-Fi connection instead of cellular. This may save you money, as the connection will only work in a Wi-Fi hot spot. By the time you've found one, you may have decided you don't want the book.)

5. Be aware of the costs of the rivals.

The main ones are time and hassle. The many rivals to the Kindle generally use a software platform from Adobe, and it can be a pain. Even worse: Adobe provides only very basic help if things go wrong. In extremis, you may find yourself emailing India. I asked Adobe why this was. A spokesman explained that because Adobe Digital Editions was given away for free, the company only provides 'a baseline level of support, which is web-based,' he says. This includes 'an active user forum'-in other words asking other customers how to solve your problems. Good luck with that.

If you can overcome that problem, rivals do offer benefits that may save you money. First, they let you shop around for e-books at different online bookstores, and many run promotions. Second, they will let you borrow some e-books online from your local library. Third, many of them come without any wireless connectionwhatsoever. That means fewer impulse purchases.

6. And if you're thinking of buying a book reader-wait!

At least, hold off for a month or two or maybe even a few weeks. Prices simply have to come down. They may do so fast.

Amazon's first Kindles went on sale three years ago for $399. Its latest versions, out this week, start at just $139. That's cheaper than rivals. They're going to have to respond.

There's an upgrade cycle going on as well. E Ink Corp., the company that makes most of the screens, has developed a newer version with somewhat sharper contrast. (Handy if you're reading fine print, but not so important for most books).

In a rational market, we should see big price cuts this fall, especially as the last of the old models go on sale. Of course, that's in a rational market. Let me know if you ever find one.

Brett Arends

本周当你走出电影院时也许会迫不及地想要拜读伊丽莎白口吉尔伯特(Elizabeth Gilbert)的著作《美食，祈祷和恋爱》(Eat, Pray, Love)，那么你可以花12.99美元将它下载到你的亚马逊(Amazon) Kindle电子阅读器上──如果你有这样一个阅读器的话。

AFP/Getty Images
Kindle 2
你也可以到当地的 Borders书店，用礼券再花上10美元，买上一部平装本。

若是在巴诺书店(Barnes & Noble)的电子阅读器Nook上看这本书，得支付12.99美元，而要是在其网站bn.com上订购一本平装本，只要花9.36美元（运费也许需要额外支付）。

现如今小玩意儿可真是大行其道。还没有哪种大手笔推出的新玩意儿是不受热捧的呢。人们排几个小时的队去买一款与他们口袋中已有的iPhone几乎没什么不同的另一款iPhone。亚马逊最新款Kindle在发售的几天内就被订购一空。（那些出手快的消费者本周就能拿到他们的最新款Kindle了。）

电子阅读器的发展可谓是欣欣向荣。亚马逊说，过去几周内电子书的销量迅速超过了纸质书。尽管电子书依然处于发展初期──美国出版商协会 (Association of American Publisher)说今年迄今电子书在消费者所购书籍中占到8%，而2009年时这一比例仅为3%──可它的增长速度却是惊人的。（这也是困扰 Barnes & Noble的问题之一，该公司最近宣布由于传统纸质书销量下滑，公司出现了季度性亏损。）

且不论那些天花乱坠的广告语，来说点实际的吧，购买电子阅读器划算吗？它们是否物有所值？如果答案是肯定的，你又如何利用这笔投资获取最大的回报呢？

以下是给那些精打细算的爱书人提供的六点理财小贴士。

1. 非阅读发烧友，请靠边。

根据AP-Ipsos 2007年的一份调查，中等水平的美国购书者一年才买七本书。

目前，一部电子阅读器通常售价在150美元左右（许多都低于150美元）。即便你通过下载电子书可以每本书节省几美元，但对不经常买书的人来说，这种投资回报率不会太高。如果每本书省下5美元，你得买够30本书才能赚回最初的投资。而如果每本省下2美元，就得买75本。

我不想让你们觉得我总是唱反调。我也觉得电子阅读器是个好东西，但那是因为我是个书迷。（我曾经在一次去海滩度假时带上了10本书。）如果你和我是一类人，那么电子阅读器能够让你将一座图书馆装进口袋或是包包里随身携带。可如果你只是偶尔翻翻书，它们也许没有太大的经济意义。（另一方面，你一旦买了电子阅读器，很可能就会去买更多的书来读。 ）

2. 电子书没有想象中那么便宜。

就生产口配送和销售价格而言，电子书要比纸质书便宜许多。无需纸张口印刷和装运，也不需要售卖空间。

因此电子书的售价应该便宜很多，可事实上这笔买卖往往没有理所应该的那么划算。亚马逊曾试图将畅销书售价下调至9.99美元，却遭到了出版界的反对。于是，很多畅销书卖到12.99美元。这或许要比精装书便宜，可二者的差价应该再大一些才是。

以迅速走红的吉尔伯特的书为例，你也许会碰到传统纸质书比电子书更便宜的情况。再来看看斯蒂格口拉尔森(Stieg Larsson)的《玩火的女孩》(The Girl Who Played With Fire)，在Kindle上看要花7.99美元。而我在Borders买的纸质书，用了礼券之后只要5.68美元。

电子书是会便宜一些，但不能一概而论。

3. 聪明的读者会选经典读物来看。

原因何在？因为它们是免费的。从《伊索寓言》到《查拉斯图拉如是说》，从《哈姆雷特》到《哈克贝利口费恩历险记》，它们都不花你一分钱。这些书不涉及版权。只要去Gutenberg.org下载就可以了。那上头有数以千计的经典之作。而且它们比最近出版的多数东西都要好看。

4. 当心购买Kindle产生的潜在费用。

亚马逊的电子阅读器是同类产品中最畅销的。这是个很棒的东西，使用起来非常方便──我觉得要比同类产品好用得多。不过亚马逊阅读器支持蜂窝网络上网，带有键盘，这样你就可以随时随地到它的网上书店买书了。这对它们来说是好事，但对你来说可未必。结果可以预料：你最终可能会有大量冲动购物的行为。要是你在拥有 Kindle的头一年里买书买了几百美元，千万不要吃惊。（亚马逊目前销售一种仅支持Wi-Fi连接口而不支持蜂窝网络连接的Kindle。这可能会替你省钱，因为这种连接只能在有Wi-Fi热点的地方使用，等你找到可以上网的地方时，你或许已经决定不要那本书了。）

5. 当心竞争对手需要你付出的代价。

主要的代价就是时间和麻烦。Kindle的众多竞争对手通常使用的是奥多比(Adobe)的软件平台，这使用起来会有麻烦。更糟的是，如果出了问题，奥多比只提供十分基本的帮助。在紧急关头，你或许会发现自己不得不往印度发电子邮件。我向奥多比公司询问为何会如此。一位发言人解释说，因为Adobe Digital Editions是免费系统，所以公司只提供基于网络的基本支持，包括一个活跃的用户论坛──其实就是在论坛上向其他用户咨询如何解决你的问题。靠这种方法，我只能说，祝你好运。

如果你能克服这个问题，竞争对手们的的确确能带给你好处，也许真能帮你省钱。首先，它们允许你在不同的网上书店选购电子书，许多还都有促销优惠。其次，它们允许你从网上借到当地图书馆的一些电子书。第三，它们当中很多都没有什么无线连接之类的，也就是说你冲动购物的次数能相对少一些。

6. 如果你正想着买一部电子阅读器──等一等再说！

至少，再等一两个月，也许就等上几个星期。价格一定会降下来。而且降价步伐可能很快。

三年前亚马逊的首款Kindle上市时售价399美元。本周发布的最新版本一开始就仅售139美元。此价格要低于同类产品。竞争对手们将不得不做出反应了。

产品也在不断的更新换代中。多数电子阅读器显示屏的制造商E Ink Corp.已经研制出对比度更加清晰的新型阅读器。（如果你看的是小字体，这会更加方便，但对大部分书而言，作用不是很明显。）

在正常的市场环境下，电子阅读器在今秋将会大幅降价，尤其是在上一种旧款阅读器进行促销时。当然，这是在正常的市况下。你要是发现降价了记得告诉我一声。

• charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
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• dramatic [drə´mætik] a.戏剧的；戏剧般的 (初中英语单词)
• investment [in´vestmənt] n.投资；(时间等)投入 (初中英语单词)
• distribute [di´stribju:t] vt.分配；分布；散播 (初中英语单词)
• anywhere [´eniweə] ad.无论何处；任何地方 (初中英语单词)
• competition [,kɔmpi´tiʃən] n.比赛；竞争 (初中英语单词)
• device [di´vais] n.装置；器具；策略 (初中英语单词)
• connection [kə´nekʃən] n.联系；关系；联运 (初中英语单词)
• impulse [´impʌls] n.推动(力)；冲动；刺激 (初中英语单词)
• platform [´plætfɔ:m] n.(平)台；讲台；站台 (初中英语单词)
• overcome [,əuvə´kʌm] vt.战胜，克服 (初中英语单词)
• contrast [´kɔntrɑ:st] n.对比 v.使对比(照) (初中英语单词)
• reading [´ri:diŋ] n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词)
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• whatsoever [,wɔtsəu´evə] (强势语)=whatever (英语四级单词)
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