Who has a Kindle...

I have an iPad with a Kindle app. I haven't used the iPad for many things except for reading. I have had it only a short time and I plan to do more with it. Jim
 
Chris101 said:
I gave my 10 yr. old girl (who loves electronics and gadgetry) a Kindle today, and she just told me that she's on Chapter 2 of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon already! I saw a little spark of loving to read in her a couple months ago, but the library here is atrocious. She told me she really liked Roald Dahl, and so I did the "other reader who bought this also bought ..." thingy and Volia!
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She got 1/3 way through the book and gave up. She has red seeral paper books, but only because they were assigned. She tells me that she prefers TV anyway.

We can dress up reading like TV by putting it on an electronic device, but you still need to love to read in order to do it.

I'm taking the TV remote away.
 
I bought a Kindle recently and must say that I find it absolutely superb for reading books. The e-ink screen technology makes it almost useless for anything else but is just the thing for this application. And I got a leather-case with a built-in reading-light. I am now on holiday, I traveled by plane so was weight-limited but the Kindle has enough books in it to last me for months. Highly practical. The best gizmo I have bought for ages. Just don't confuse it with a pad; it is a different thing altogether and highly optimized for its one purpose: reading books.
 
My wife has a Kindle. I bought it for her birthday in April. We commute 50 miles each way to London every weekday and it's smaller, lighter and more convenient than a book.

The screen is very easy on the eye - no overly bright, backlit, shiny screen, hyper-contrast. You can store and access readily over 3,000 books (more than most people will ever read). The e-books are cheaper than the printed ones and, on a global basis, probably kinder to the environment.

When travelling, she can store guides and reference books instead of having to take weighty tomes around with us. The battery life is phenomenal - even for a daily user. There's a built in dictionary and other tools that help improve vocabulary and understanding of the books being read. It's smaller and more discrete than most "tablets".

E-books can be downloaded / bought in a matter of seconds and the choice of subject matter is huge and is only going to grow. Because of the lower publishing costs, it's probable that a wider variety of authors will see their books published - offering even more choice.

The only downside is that it doesn't offer colour images so that one could read magazines and photography books but that's a small price to pay for someone who just loves reading.
 
Paul Jenkin said:
My wife has a Kindle. I bought it for her birthday in April. We commute 50 miles each way to London every weekday and it's smaller, lighter and more convenient than a book.

The screen is very easy on the eye - no overly bright, backlit, shiny screen, hyper-contrast. You can store and access readily over 3,000 books (more than most people will ever read). The e-books are cheaper than the printed ones and, on a global basis, probably kinder to the environment.

When travelling, she can store guides and reference books instead of having to take weighty tomes around with us. The battery life is phenomenal - even for a daily user. There's a built in dictionary and other tools that help improve vocabulary and understanding of the books being read. It's smaller and more discrete than most "tablets".

E-books can be downloaded / bought in a matter of seconds and the choice of subject matter is huge and is only going to grow. Because of the lower publishing costs, it's probable that a wider variety of authors will see their books published - offering even more choice.

The only downside is that it doesn't offer colour images so that one could read magazines and photography books but that's a small price to pay for someone who just loves reading.
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Unless, of course, they're black and white... (working on one right now).

Cheers,

R.
 
All joking aside, Roger, the quality of the Kindle screen is great for text (the "look" is very close to traditionally print) but wouldn't come close to doing justice for anything other than the sketchiest of pictures.

A few newspapers and some magazines are now offered as "apps" for viewing on the new wave of "tablet" PCs. I think it's fair to say that traditional printing will become a niche product in a short time-scale but I'm hoping that there will always be a place for high quality printed art and photography outside of any on-line / digital media.
 
mabelsound said:
If anyone's interested, my friend and I recently put out an e-only book of short stories and accompanying collage art:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-Zombini-ebook/dp/B004USM86M

21 stories for 4 bucks! That's about 20 cents a story, can't beat that. Well--maybe you can. But still.
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I also have a small collection of short stories. You can see it here.

http://www.amazon.com/Three-Old-Men...?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1310702774&sr=1-1

I have not, nor do I expect to, make any money but it's kind of nice to see your own book in (sic) print??.

I also have photo books on Blurb. It's almost too easy but it is a feeling of creativity.
 
27July2011
I was given one for fathr's day. Dubious at first. Now I am reading Gibbon, Heroditus, Josephus, accounts of Indians in the American west, and other things that previously I would have to go to a major library. I even found the WPA slave narratives. Refreshing!
John E.L.Robertson, 82
Professor Emeritus, UKCCS
 
Can someone just explain why a Kindle is a must-have? I am not interested in buying 3500 books to carry around. I am not interested in reading except at home.

So, what is it about Kindle that would make me want to spend my grocery money on?:angel:
 
free books

free books

and cheaper books. I have several hundred books that were on the kindle free page, that are now back up to 19.99 or so, many are in the top seller lists.

Now some of these I wouldn't have bought, but others were on my reading list.


dave lackey said:
Can someone just explain why a Kindle is a must-have? I am not interested in buying 3500 books to carry around. I am not interested in reading except at home.

So, what is it about Kindle that would make me want to spend my grocery money on?:angel:
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ampguy said:
and cheaper books. I have several hundred books that were on the kindle free page, that are now back up to 19.99 or so, many are in the top seller lists.

Now some of these I wouldn't have bought, but others were on my reading list.
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Not convincing for me. I do an awful lot of research online everyday.

Constantly reading about a variety of topics, but rarely, full books as I had enough of that in law school. 😛

But occasionally, say on vacation or during the winter, I may get into some light reading in the evening before dropping off to sleep. If I read, say 12 books a year (novels, etc.), how is a Kindle worth it to me?

Is there something else that Kindle offers besides having books to buy?:angel:
 
dave lackey said:
Can someone just explain why a Kindle is a must-have? I am not interested in buying 3500 books to carry around. I am not interested in reading except at home.

So, what is it about Kindle that would make me want to spend my grocery money on?:angel:
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Dear Dave,

(1) Portability when you do travel, as many do, and need the information with you.. This includes commuting on the train, aeroplanes, waiting in government offices and Indian banks...That's why I'm working on revising Motorcycle Touring in Europe. Printed copies went as high as $25 in the decade after it went out of print (iin 1987 or so). At $9.95 it's a LOT of (updated) research you don't have to do for yourself.

(2) Cheap information. I'm also working on a PDF book on B+W. Projected price is $9.95 and it would be $29.95 printed.

(3) Convenience. That's why most (not all) of my future web stuff will be downloadable with Kindle in mind as well as A4 PDF.

"Must have"? No. Quite handy? Yes.

EDIT: Then again, I probably read well over 120 books a year. How long does a book take to read? A day or two?

Cheers,

R.
 
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Roger Hicks said:
Dear Dave,

(1) Portability when you do travel, as many do, and need the information with you.. This includes commuting on the train, aeroplanes, waiting in government offices and Indian banks...That's why I'm working on revising Motorcycle Touring in Europe. Printed copies went as high as $25 in the decade after it went out of print (iin 1987 or so). At $9.95 it's a LOT of (updated) research you don't have to do for yourself.

(2) Cheap information. I'm also working on a PDF book on B+W. Projected price is $9.95 and it would be $29.95 printed.

(3) Convenience. That's why most (not all) of my future web stuff will be downloadable with Kindle in mind as well as A4 PDF.

"Must have"? No. Quite handy? Yes.

Cheers,

R.
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I think I understand what you just wrote.

Still not working for me as I really don't understand how it would make life better at the expense of my not buying groceries for a week. For instance, as a photographer, I produce images, documentaries and other projects. I have no idea how to take, say, a documentary and can sell it on anything other than AdoramaPix website.

I care nothing about reading tons of books as I rarely read books outside of the home and then I do that in my own comfortable bed. Research is accomplished online at my desk.

I am open, however, as to how I can get Kindle to work for me rather than the other way around as a consumer making Kindle richer.:angel:
 
Hi Dave

Hi Dave

It very possibly is not for you. If you don't read outside of bed, then regular books should be good for you.

Some other stuff I like it for is the ability to have email access almost anywhere. My son was off for a couple of weeks with only 3g access, and emailing from the minimal browser was much easier than from the smartphone I lent him.

Also, it's nice to have all of your camera and gear manuals online with you in searchable format.

Finally, when you find a quote while you're reading that you can't resist sharing on fb and twitter, a couple of button presses, and you can share it. And like a book, you can just go to sleep on it, roll over on it, and it will still be there in the morning, respecting you.

You can also get the first chapter of almost any kindle book free to see if you're going to like it. Check out the Lincoln Lawyer, or the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. There's some stuff of legal interest in those books, and I think they're based on true stories, or partially.

dave lackey said:
I think I understand what you just wrote.

Still not working for me as I really don't understand how it would make life better at the expense of my not buying groceries for a week. For instance, as a photographer, I produce images, documentaries and other projects. I have no idea how to take, say, a documentary and can sell it on anything other than AdoramaPix website.

I care nothing about reading tons of books as I rarely read books outside of the home and then I do that in my own comfortable bed. Research is accomplished online at my desk.

I am open, however, as to how I can get Kindle to work for me rather than the other way around as a consumer making Kindle richer.:angel:
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ampguy said:
It very possibly is not for you. If you don't read outside of bed, then regular books should be good for you.

Some other stuff I like it for is the ability to have email access almost anywhere. My son was off for a couple of weeks with only 3g access, and emailing from the minimal browser was much easier than from the smartphone I lent him.

Also, it's nice to have all of your camera and gear manuals online with you in searchable format.

Finally, when you find a quote while you're reading that you can't resist sharing on fb and twitter, a couple of button presses, and you can share it. And like a book, you can just go to sleep on it, roll over on it, and it will still be there in the morning, respecting you.

You can also get the first chapter of almost any kindle book free to see if you're going to like it. Check out the Lincoln Lawyer, or the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. There's some stuff of legal interest in those books, and I think they're based on true stories, or partially.
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Ampguy, thanks, that helps with some of the things it can do.

1. What is the cost beyond buying a Kindle unit and purchasing a book? Is there a monthly user fee? Does one have to have a separate account, etc.?
2. Can a photographer place a book or other product with Kindle or anyone else and others can actually see the product and order it?

Ha, ha... something that respects you when you roll over on it in your sleep is okay IMO!🙂 Once had a yorkie and he wasn't happy!
 
I have both an iPad and a Nook (Barnes and Nobles' 'Kindle') and was quite enthusiastic about them at first, and now use them only rarely. I've gone back almost exclusively to printed books. And I read a lot.

For me, electronic books are mostly good for reference works, such as travel guides. I also suspect they'd be good for authors who write technical books that need to be frequently updated, as with people who write photography or computer or software guides. If, for example, you wrote a guide for Lightroom 3, you could update it with each new revision, and keep your book absolutely current, where it might otherwise become obsolete. This would be especially useful in small technical niches where not huge numbers of books are sold.

They would be very useful for people who have limited access to good book stores.

The Kindle is somewhat crippled because it isn't yet offered in color, as far as I know. The Nook is, which means that it can reproduce color photographs, which is especially useful with guide books.

Unfortunately, none of the electronic books have put much emphasis on such things. Instead, they emphasize best-selling novels, which I find are more comfortably read in paper. Also, I find it much easier to browse books in bookstores -- there are a lot of visual cues to book quality that you don't see on an electronic book, and I want to browse extensively before I buy a novel. When I do find a book, I then go ahead and buy it on the spot, rather than noting it and buying it later on the Nook or iPad.

I find the greatest use for the iPad is in travel, with the cell-phone hookup for internet browsing. I have been driving across the American southwest, through small towns, have had my girlfriend use the iPad to check Starbucks locations, and had her take me directly to the proper exit, and then straight to the Starbucks. You can also look at maps, attractions, etc., as you travel. I do a lot of travel, and keep the iPad in the car.

I should note that the Nook has a common hack (Google "nook hack") that turns it into a fully functional Android tablet, just like a smart phone...the equivalent of an iPad.

Ctein, the well-known photo printer and photographer and free-lance genius, also recommends the iPad as a photo cache and review platform. I think it would be excellent for that, although I use a MacBook Air.

JC
 
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