Anyone have a Kindle?

[smfcpacfp]

My wife is a prodigious reader, so I thought this (Kindle 2) would be a good Christmas gift. Anyone have any experience with one?

 

[Bedlam]

My wife bought one and appears happy with it. She charges it and takes it to work every day with her. We have a poor cell signal so to download its sometimes very slow. But she says when shes at work (good signal) that it works fine and fast. I'm not a book reader but I like the idea that you can change the size of the type.
if you can come up with some specific questions Ill ask her and pass it along. She likes to read but about tractors lol thats another story lol

 

[JB4310]

You have no link but I did a google search, looks like some kind of electronic screen to download books to and read off of.

If she's a prodigious reader that means she is at the opposite end of the spectrum from me, that said if I was into books I think I and she might prefer an actual book to an electronic gadget.
That's probably a part of the total experience, especially if she's been doing it for awhile, if she is a younger woman into all the techno stuff, then it would be more second nature.

But don't take gift suggestions for a woman from another man, probably the perfect recipe for a pin-cident.

I'm down to 1.5 days to zero hour, Wife's Bday is the 9th and I got nothin

 

[HCJ]

People who have them, love them. Many great features. Books are cheaper and in many cases, free. The type can be enlarged, so if your eyes are aging, that is a great advantage. They will hold thousands of books and even allow downloads of newspapers. And it can even read outloud to you if you are driving. Has a built-in dictionary so you can look up a word with only a click. You can have many books with you at all times. My employee even has three versions or editions of the Bible on hers for quick reference. All in all, it is a great device if you are a reader. You may also check out its competitor, called a "Nook" from Barnes and Noble. It is very similar but with some other features. I too am getting my wife a Kindle for Christmas. They are simple to use and you will see more and more of them.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Best thing since sliced bread.

 

[schmism]

While the idea of putting books in a digital format to make them easier to access is not a bad idea.

But the proprietary format that the Kendal uses in addtion to the ablity amazon has to steal (take back) the property you rightly bought at any time for any reason would be the reason i will never own one and suggest the same to you.

To add to that, unlike physical books that you are free to give or lend to a friend you can do no such thing with the digital versions you buy on the Kendal.

You will also end up paying money for books that are in public domain and should be free, but they dont tell you that.

I would strongly advise not to buy into a proprietary format device that is at the bleeding edge of a rapidly developing technology. History shows that early adopters often are left having to rebuy the same technology (in slightly different form) in the not to distant future.

 

[inveresk]

You might also want to check out the Ipod touch. It functions as an ebook reader but does a lot more besides.

Stanza: a Revolution in Reading | Lexcycle

 

[dave1949]

While the idea of putting books in a digital format to make them easier to access is not a bad idea.

But the proprietary format that the Kendal uses in addtion to the ablity amazon has to steal (take back) the property you rightly bought at any time for any reason would be the reason i will never own one and suggest the same to you.

To add to that, unlike physical books that you are free to give or lend to a friend you can do no such thing with the digital versions you buy on the Kendal.

You will also end up paying money for books that are in public domain and should be free, but they dont tell you that.

I would strongly advise not to buy into a proprietary format device that is at the bleeding edge of a rapidly developing technology. History shows that early adopters often are left having to rebuy the same technology (in slightly different form) in the not to distant future.

I'll ditto Steve's comments but also add our DIL has had a Kindle I for a year and really likes using it. She cares more about the convenience than the funky costs. As I understand it, new release popular books aren't that much cheaper than buying a hardback version.
Dave.

 

[forgeblast]

Friend of ours has it. she loves it they have hundreds of classics for free and much cheaper then buying a hardcover. i was worreied about eyestrain but after seeing it its not a problem.

 

[randy41]

there is a kindle app for iphone and ipod touch if you have either of those already.

 

[techman]

We looked and compared, and ended up buying the Sony PRS-600 reader. Functionally they are the same. The advantage of the Sony is that it supports epub format, which seems to be a growing international standard, as compared to the Kindle which only supports Amazon's format. Additionally native support of PDFs was an advantage for a lot of technical documents that I download and read, along with support of external SD memory cards were clear advantages to us. That lack of the radio link/update on the Sony (new sony model will support a cell link) was not a problem, since you can download a couple of books on the PC, plug-in to transfer them (takes less than a minute) and you are good for a while. There are more and more web sites and services that support the epub format which are a growing advantage. Also the Sony book website is very extensive, with lots of free public domain works as well. New books are priced competitive with Amazon as well. Also I played with a friend's Kindle to check out the web browsing capability. It locked up several times and was painful how slow it was to load and update a page. In my opinion it is not a browsing machine. Hopefully Kindle will open up to support more standards in the future and make it a more universal reader. Also next year I expect to see many new readers on the market as well.

paul

 

[ragkar]

Before you get a kindle check out the area coverage map on amazon.

 

[n8wrl]

I have one and LOVE it. I like books so it is a little sad not to be adding to my collection any more, but it has never been so easy to take as much reading as I like on trips, on planes, etc. etc. VERY highly recommended.

 

[2manyrocks]

I'm down to 1.5 days to zero hour, Wife's Bday is the 9th and I got nothin

Sounds like you need a dinner reservation and/or flowers.

 

[smfcpacfp]

We looked and compared, and ended up buying the Sony PRS-600 reader. Functionally they are the same. The advantage of the Sony is that it supports epub format, which seems to be a growing international standard, as compared to the Kindle which only supports Amazon's format. Additionally native support of PDFs was an advantage for a lot of technical documents that I download and read, along with support of external SD memory cards were clear advantages to us. That lack of the radio link/update on the Sony (new sony model will support a cell link) was not a problem, since you can download a couple of books on the PC, plug-in to transfer them (takes less than a minute) and you are good for a while. There are more and more web sites and services that support the epub format which are a growing advantage. Also the Sony book website is very extensive, with lots of free public domain works as well. New books are priced competitive with Amazon as well. Also I played with a friend's Kindle to check out the web browsing capability. It locked up several times and was painful how slow it was to load and update a page. In my opinion it is not a browsing machine. Hopefully Kindle will open up to support more standards in the future and make it a more universal reader. Also next year I expect to see many new readers on the market as well.

paul

Thanks Paul. I think I will proably go this route.

Steve

 

[Tororider]

My cousin has one and loves it. He is a bit of a techie and has actually written a book that has all the airport data for all the published airports in the country. Very handy if you are a pilot of a small plane. I currently don't have time to read much, but would consider buying one if the price is right and I can be convinced that it will be updateable.

 

[schmism]

they have hundreds of classics for free and much cheaper then buying a hardcover.

so does your local library and you are already paying (via tax dollars) for it.

 

[MikePA]

...in addtion to the ablity amazon has to steal (take back) the property you rightly bought at any time for any reason would be the reason i will never own one and suggest the same to you.

This is incorrect. Amazon did this once for certain titles after discovering that the publisher lacked rights to publish the titles in question and therefore should not have allowed the books to be downloaded. However, they later admitted they handled this situation wrong and agreed not to do it again. Full details, with more facts, at the Wikipedia link below. Additionally, the Amazon model is you are licensing the books, you are not buying them therefore you don't own the books. This isn't right or wrong. If people don't like the licensing model, don't buy a Kindle.

I would strongly advise not to buy into a proprietary format device that is at the bleeding edge of a rapidly developing technology.

While the Kindle format is proprietary, the current model of the Kindle is the second generation of the device, not bleeding edge.

There's an excellent Wikipedia article on the Kindle that lists its strengths and weaknesses plus Amazon's marketing model. Click here.

I don't own a Kindle or any other electronic book device. We buy used paperbacks.

 

[dmccarty]

I know some people love the Kindle. One person I know has eye problems and the Kindle has been a miracle for them but they loved the Kindle before their eye issues.

A few months ago I looked at the Kindle out of curiosity. At the time I really wanted some books NOW. This instant. If I had a Kindle I could have gotten the books. However the books on Kindle cost as much as the physical book. And you don't own the book. And the format is proprietary.

The idea of the Kindle is a good one. I won't say great because I still like to just sit and read a book. On the other hand I could see the advantage of reading in lower light levels. The idea of having all of my physical books on a handful of chips is tempting. I have walls full of books and boxes of book in the barn since I am out of walls which in theory could be on a few chips that I could carry in a pocket....

Course it would cost me a small fortune to buy the books again.

Having your magazine(s) and newspapers(s) downloaded onto the Kindle would be nice as well. Less trash to take to the dump. Course that does effect my fire starting.

Another good thing about the Kindle is that it is very small but large enough to have a decent size "page" to read. Another bad thing about the Kindle is that it is a dedicated hand held computer that just does ONE thing. Products like Kindle maybe worth the cost of doing the ONE thing greatly but I would still want to carry my books, newspaper, magazine, etc on other devices....

Technology is going to merge your portable music player, phone, GPS, pedometer, camera, voice record, web access, email, calendar, etc, AND book viewer. This has been happening for years but the iPhone really shows how this stuff can be successfully merged. The Android phones being announced are very powerful computers and Apple's iPhone will not stand still so you know this technology is going to be better and better.

Until there is a more open format that somehow protects the book author and the book owner, me, I will be staying away from these products. And I will wait until whatever Smartphone I am using supports the book viewing.

Later,
Dan

 

[schmism]

This is incorrect. Amazon did this once for certain titles after discovering that the publisher lacked rights to publish the titles in question and therefore should not have allowed the books to be downloaded. However, they later admitted they handled this situation wrong and agreed not to do it again. Full details, with more facts, at the Wikipedia link below. Additionally, the Amazon model is you are licensing the books, you are not buying them therefore you don't own the books. This isn't right or wrong. If people don't like the licensing model, don't buy a Kindle.

What i said is 100% correct.

I legally bought a copy of a book and you came into my personal device without my permission and removed it. had you been a brick and motor store that put out a copy of a book before you could legaly sell it, and i bought it took it home you could not just simply walk into my house and take it back because "we didnt have permission to sell that to you so we are taking it back"

"we wont do it again" is 100% BS! they technology exists in the hardware of the e-reader which means that at any time in the future they CAN do it again.

You rightly bought an item, and they came back and took it without my permission = stolen item.

Like i said, the idea of puting books in digital format so they are more accessible is great. The ability of Amazon to steal any book i rightly bought, and or shut down my device remotely for whatever reason they want is why i will never own one.