Anybody have an . . .

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 4:31 am

Amazon Kindle?

If so, what do you think of it? Does it really look "like paper?" I was thinking of getting one.

The price of an e-copy of the books seems consistently less than that of a hard copy. The thing downloads wirelessly, in a minute or two after purchase, pretty much no matter where you are (it says). You don't need to connect it to a computer. Might solve the ghastly book clutter around here. Books today don't hold up well--they yellow, the paper cracks, and the cover curls after only a year or two--or an hour if you've left one in the car--so it's not like getting them in paperback is any advantage.

djm · Post by **djm** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 6:01 am

I just watched the movie on Amazon's site. It looks way too small for my liking, and with a memory upgrade the thing will easily cost over $400. That's just too much moolah for me, and especially for something that only displays a quarter of a page, and can only manage b&w.

I'm not averse to an electronic page turner, but it would have to have a display area of at least 8.5x11", 16M colours, and not cost more than $100 to be a worthwhile investment for me.

djm

... oh yeah, and it would need some way of cleaning the crayon off so I could move on to the next picture.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 6:49 am

It looked interesting to me, and I've wondered whether I would enjoy using one. Really hard to tell without trying though, and a pretty pricey experiment it would be, at that.

The thing that made it a definite "no" for me was an easy exercise.
I simply looked up all the books I could remember reading over the past 2-3 years to see if they had a "kindle edition."
Only a very small percentage did, by which I conclude (possibly erroneously) that those books which I am most likely to want to read in the future are the least likely to be available on kindle.

rhulsey · Post by **rhulsey** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 7:09 am

My sister in Oklahoma received one of them from her hubby this spring, and I didn't know there was such a thing until then.

It does strangely look like paper with writing on it. Lambchop, if you'd like, PM me and I'm sure my sister would be glad to give you a first-hand review!

Reg

Roderick [Rod] Sprague IV · Sat Aug 09, 2008 8:58 am

Kindle is an odd name for it. You can't set data on fire and burning books is an anathema to the whole point of books in the first place. I know nothing about Kindle, other than what I've read here, so it my actually make sense in context (it's supposed to set your mind ablaze with all that reading?).

rebl_rn · Post by **rebl_rn** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 1:30 pm

I don't have one myself. I know someone who does and loves it, here's some of her comments on it:

Kindle is awesome. I can carry around about five billion pounds of paper taking only three ounces.

The thing is, I don't really notice the size of the screen, any more than I notice the size of a page of a book that I'm reading. The screen is small, but I don't actually notice, because the paging turns immediately enough (there's a lag, but you unconsciously time your reading to coincide with the page flip--just like you slip your finger under the next page when you're three fourths of the way down).

The Kindle disappears when you read it, just like a book. It's not a screen. It's a page. It's not too small in the same way that a mass market isn't too small compared with a hardback. You just don't notice the size of the pages.

Also, you can search anything on the Kindle, so if you know you read in that one paper somewhere something that said ABC, you can enter a search term and the Kindle will find it for you! I have no idea how many times I have said, "Gosh, I know that two months ago I read blah blah blah, and I need to take another look at it again," only to discover I had no idea where I read blah blah blah, and that trying to find it in all of the many pounds of paper I had was prohibitive.

I'm using it for the piece I'm working on now and it is amazing. It's also cool because it allows me to fill up the little bits of time--like standing in line or 10 minutes on the train--that otherwise would get filled with daydreaming.

chas · Post by **chas** » Sat Aug 09, 2008 6:40 pm

My sister-in-law is a librarian and has one. She loves it. It's about book sized, and the black-on-white really looks like a book.

It seems that not all of these book readers will read each others' formats. However, according to mi SIL, http://manybooks.net/ now provides free out-of-copyright books for the Kindle. If you do get the Kindle, I'd recommend downloading Free Air by Sinclair Lewis from manybooks (I found manybooks looking for that book).

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:50 am

Another good site is www.fictionwise.com - they often have free books on offer, and anything you purchase stays in your bookshelf forever. I bought stuff in 2002 when I had a reader and I was able to get it again last year.

The Kindle isn't available here yet but I'm tempted, and also tempted by the Sony Reader, which just became available here. I had a Rocket eBook in 2002 and I liked it a lot.

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:23 am

This has been very helpful! Thank you all.

I see that Amazon may be coming out in October with the 2nd generation Kindle, which will come in colors and be more streamlined or something. There are also plans to bring out an 8-1/2 x 11 version to make inroads into the college textbook market.

Ava, they also seem to be trying to open a European market for wireless downloads. I think they hadn't offered it in Europe.

avanutria · Post by **avanutria** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:16 am

Yeah, whenever I tried to find out what Kindle offered I got a message telling me I was in the wrong country to shop there.

Anything that supports doc, pdf and and html files is good in my book. Er, pun not intended. The Sony Reader does, so I am sorely tempted, but I can't really splash out £200 at the moment on a luxury. Keeping my eye on them though.

dwest · Post by **dwest** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 6:42 am

Roderick [Rod] Sprague IV wrote:Kindle is an odd name for it. You can't set data on fire and burning books is an anathema to the whole point of books in the first place. I know nothing about Kindle, other than what I've read here, so it my actually make sense in context (it's supposed to set your mind ablaze with all that reading?).

When they short out then you'll see a blaze.

To me they are just not as friendly on my eyes as a printed page, yet. And of course for cooking, forget it. I index my recipes by spilling ingredients on the pages, how would that work with a Kindle?

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:45 pm

Looks like Amazon is at least thinking about the "it's not on Kindle" problem. I checked again, and now there's a clickable link for "Tell the Publisher: 'I'd like to read this book on Kindle,'" for the books I have read recently or might wish to read in the near future.

I'm afraid the Kindle, or something similar, will have to become more ubiquitous to the point that almost anything can be purchased or converted for it before I'll be interested.

MandoMark · Post by **MandoMark** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:03 pm

emmline wrote:
I'm afraid the Kindle, or something similar, will have to become more ubiquitous to the point that almost anything can be purchased or converted for it before I'll be interested.

I agree... however, I'm sorely tempted, as I travel a ton and always have 2-3 books in my computer bag. I'd love to be able to use this as a dedicated travel item.

djm · Post by **djm** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 1:49 pm

MandoMark wrote:I'd love to be able to use this as a dedicated travel item.

Any electronic item is a target for theft by their nature, but I have never had books stolen.

djm

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Sun Aug 10, 2008 2:56 pm

MandoMark wrote:
emmline wrote:
I'm afraid the Kindle, or something similar, will have to become more ubiquitous to the point that almost anything can be purchased or converted for it before I'll be interested.
I agree... however, I'm sorely tempted, as I travel a ton and always have 2-3 books in my computer bag. I'd love to be able to use this as a dedicated travel item.

A user comment on the Amazon website indicates that the screen may crack if too much pressure is put to bear on it. I would think if you put something hard and flat over the front, though, it would take care of that problem. Perhaps the new edition will have a better cover.