Waiting is probably a good idea if you don't really feel a need for one right now but might later, as they're only going to get better and with more functions, and more titles available, etc.
Plus, it's much more expensive than a book. In my case, it was cheaper considering the amount of free books I got at the same time, but considering ebooks are at this time mostly more expensive than pocket books (the version they "replace" for me, as the ones I would have cared enough to buy in hardcover, I'll still want to buy them as a physical copy, not an ebook), it doesn't really pay for itself much.
And even for those that are slightly cheaper, it's by what, one dollar? You'd need to buy 200 before that pays for your device, and that could very well take a year or two.
If you're a heavy reader that expects to use the device for two to four years though, it seems pretty justifiable to me. And that number of books can be drastically dropped to something like 30 or so if you read a lot of hardback books. For a nerdy example, the latest Star Wars series of books has been released in hardcover only. The ebooks are about half the price of the lowest cost book, and there's going to be 9 books in the series. So you can easily save around $90 on that series alone.
Random question: does anyone know if you can put library ebooks on a kindle? Cause that would make it worth more to me. I'm less picky about where I read borrowed books.
Random question: does anyone know if you can put library ebooks on a kindle? Cause that would make it worth more to me. I'm less picky about where I read borrowed books.
Plenty of libraries lend out ebooks, though far more often than not you need to be a member of that particular library. Restrictions like only having 2 or 3 "digital copies" of a book to lend out at a time, along with a time period after which the book can't be read anymore, apply. I think the rules are different from library to library.
Try looking through this list, and check with your local library branch.
Plenty of libraries lend out ebooks, though far more often than not you need to be a member of that particular library. Restrictions like only having 2 or 3 "digital copies" of a book to lend out at a time, along with a time period after which the book can't be read anymore, apply. I think the rules are different from library to library.
Try looking through this list, and check with your local library branch.
Thanks for the info, but my question was whether or not ebooks from libraries can be put on a kindle easily.
I can't tell you for the Kindle, but I'd go with no: my library lends epub books, which are read by pretty much anything but the Kindle. Extremely easy to put them on my 505 though, and I assume it would be the same for any reader that can read epub.
Again, Calibre can convert file types, so I still don't see the problem.
For time-limited, DRM'd library books? And if you use ePub a lot, isn't it extremely annoying to convert almost every book from one format to another? And, in my experience, there are sometimes formatting issues that pop up in the conversion. Why not get a reader that uses the format that just about everyone is using NOW, rather than the one that is generally locked into a proprietary one and then convert the files for its needs?
i'm a s60v5 user (nokia touchscreen) and those of you who have used this will know that there are a few ebooks on the ovi store. and this is where my first experience lies. i have just read a book called 20,000 leagues under the sea and i must say the ebook usability is very good. however, some of the books i would like to read are not in ebook form. i.e. there are more physical books than ebooks and i think for it to be more successful every book must be in ebook form. also i find it more satisfactory to turn a page rather then press a button or touch a section of the screen. also, professionals say that you need to take a break from the computer every so often. would you need to do that with an ebook too to protect your eyesight? to conclude, i think ebook is great. but books are better!
I just use my iPad. I know that it lacks in several ways compared to eInk devices but as most books i'm interested in aren't available as eBooks, it's also good enough. I solely use it with PDFs.
There is a spot on the screen about the size and shape of a grain of rice that looks like the pixels are physically damaged. tbh, the way it looks reminds me of an Etch-A-Sketch.
I called Amazon immediately when I noticed it (which was two hours ago), got to a live CSR within 2 minutes, and she told me that I should have a replacement in hand on Tuesday (it's currently Saturday night) free of charge to me.
I called Amazon immediately when I noticed it (which was two hours ago), got to a live CSR within 2 minutes, and she told me that I should have a replacement in hand on Tuesday (it's currently Saturday night) free of charge to me.
That's good service. I would have expected that they'd make you pay for any repairs or replacements. Is it still under warrenty? By the by, from your picture it looks to me like a squashed bug!
I think it still is under warranty, but Amazon has been known to replace Kindles that were also out of warranty for free as well.
Nah, it's not a squashed bug. The damage is underneath the plastic of the screen. If you've ever played with an Etch-A-Sketch, that's what it reminds me of because it looks almost like something scraped away at the pixels from underneath.
My Nook actually experienced something similar to that. I brought it into a Barnes & Noble, and they just took another one off the shelf and handed it to me.
I've been talking to Dashing about the new Nook. It looks great, tbh. I really don't have anything bad to say about it at all. Granted, it doesn't support books from Amazon's huge bookstore, but there are ways around that if you really care.
The thing is pretty impressive. They're not releasing until the 10th(or the...sixth? The store seemed to contradict the original announced launch), but they had a sample unit up and apparently had already received their first shipment of them, they just weren't selling them! :P
The thing is damn impressive. You change pages by tapping on the screen. Right side to turn forward, left side to turn backward, middle to pull up a contextual menu(which I found out when my thumb accidentally overshot a page turn, heh). The thing is fairly small without sacrificing screen size(it's just all screen and bezel), fits really nicely into one hand, is very light, is slightly zippier than the Kindle 3, has a microSD slot for expansion, and has a software overhaul that has a useful "home" screen(for the current book you're reading, your recently purchased books, and a few recommendations at the bottom). The original nook had a "read free in a store for an hour" function, but it seemed to load the book in chunks until you hit the one hour mark, and the page turns for in-store reading were always slow. On the new Nook, they seem to have front-ended in-store reading and put a timer on it, so page turns are just as fast as reading your own books(which is great, because the stall on giant several thousand page books was sometimes unbearable on the original nook). The device doesn't have "smooth" scrolling, in that you can't "drag" menus, but it's surprisingly quick to transition between pages or rows of a menu when you swipe it. Wherever you are in the device's menus, there's a little button to go directly back to where you are currently reading and the page you're on, which is nice because it lets you jump to other functions and then jump back. They say that, with WiFi off, the device has 156 hours of battery life when pages are being turned one every minute, which gives you a week of solid reading at a rate of one page per minute without stopping for any reason(eating, sleeping, etc), which is nice.
I have an ipad with the Kindle and Nook apps on it in addition to the standard ibooks app. It is the single most convenient way to read a book, ever. Take for example a book I needed for my independent study. I could have waited for it to be shared by my student peers on loan from the library, or gone searching for it (a desperate venture given that it is not a too-common book), but no! A simple search of the Kindle store revealed it was available for reading digitally. And since it was something I had to do a report on, I could switch between the Kindle reader and the Quick Documents office suite to take notes, while being connected to the net to do backup research, all from the convenience of a Borders lounge chair.
I have an ipad with the Kindle and Nook apps on it in addition to the standard ibooks app. It is the single most convenient way to read a book, ever. Take for example a book I needed for my independent study. I could have waited for it to be shared by my student peers on loan from the library, or gone searching for it (a desperate venture given that it is not a too-common book), but no! A simple search of the Kindle store revealed it was available for reading digitally. And since it was something I had to do a report on, I could switch between the Kindle reader and the Quick Documents office suite to take notes, while being connected to the net to do backup research, all from the convenience of a Borders lounge chair.
Both the nook and the Kindle have note-taking functionality, you know.
And can connect to the internet.
And can be read in the sun.
And have far longer battery lives.
And cost more than $300 less.
I was talking about ebooks. Ebooks are the most convenient way to read a book ever. I was responding to the general topic of the thread. Stop over analyzing.
Then that statement should have gone BEFORE the clarification of platform. It's not overanalyzing, it's reading it the way you wrote it(I have ebooks on my iPad, [having ebooks on my iPad] is the most convenient way to read". Simple sentence structure and pronoun grammar.
You know what's simple? Giving someone the benefit of the doubt. I saw a topic, I responded, it took like less than a minute to do it. If you want to do some heavy duty critical reading there are better places for it than an internet forum.
If I talk enthusiastically about my platform it's because it's my platform. I'm not going to vouch for the nook and kindles respectively because I don't own them but I didn't denigrate them either.
The thread's opening question is "Do many of you have an e-book reader? (eg. Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony PRS) iPad/iPod/iPhone only counts if you intend on reading books with it.
What are your thoughts about these devices or what impact it might mean for paper books? "
Right. You also used the pronoun "it" directly after talking about the iPad. The way I read it is not cynicism or some weird weasel logic or picking apart anything said to find something objectionable, it's just how english works.
So I picked up a Nook today.... just because .. I saw it on the shelf and thought meh... what the heck why not?
So far I dig it.. its not going to replace my love for real paper books anytime soon.. but I see it will come in handy as a portable library... My kids really like it too.. my daughter is reading a Pirates of the Caribbean book as I type this.
Amazon finally has an answer to Barnes & Noble's new Nook, with a touchscreen capable Kindle. They also have an $80 Kindle that has an onscreen keyboard but is navigable with face buttons instead of touchscreen.
And finally, Amazon's response to the iPad. The Kindle Fire.
I can't believe they haven't discounted the old line after launching the new one! Are they planning to maintain the old keyboard line as well or something?
I can't believe they haven't discounted the old line after launching the new one! Are they planning to maintain the old keyboard line as well or something?
I think they did discount the old line... or is that Europe only? The kindle I had my eye on dropped from 139€ to 119€ in the last two days.
What are your thoughts about these devices or what impact it might mean for paper books? What has your experience been with them? Do you have any gripes with things you wish they would change/improve?
I love books. I love big and pompous bindings. I studied literature for a reason. But I also am in a living situation which could change pretty suddenly, so when I come home and look at all the stuff I'd have to transport in a move, I start to panic. I'm not sure how healthy that is, but I started discarding and selling old stuff on a regular basis so I could move out faster. I also seldom buy weighty things, and I keep my inventory very slim, so to speak. Compared to other people, my move would be no problem at all.
That said, buying books is always a pain considering what I'm trying to achieve there. So are DVDs and Blu-Rays, but they are significantly less heavy. I do not yet own a kindle, but it seems that investment is just around the corner. Last month I read the Count of Monte Christo, and that is a serious biggie. On kindle, it weighs almost nothing and is possibly available for free (even a German version??). And as much as I love books, those without illustrations would be nicer to read on a slim digital device.
Still, NEW books on kindle seem seriously overpriced. They're just as costly as their non-digital counterparts. In Germany, books are even more expensive (for reason of a law in effect since 1888, the "Buchpreisbindung", price drops are virtually impossible for publishing houses and bookstores without actually damaging the books and/or writing on them in large letters that they are damaged. Sounds very strange, I know). I'm not sure I could buy books at full price in the kindle store, and I would love to read some German stuff again for a change.
As far as I can tell, the pricing for the Kindle 3 (now called "Kindle Keyboard") is the same as it was. They just priced the new Kindle Touch at a similar price point to the Kindle 3. From what I reading, the pricing is:
Kindle, Wi-fi only (onscreen keyboard accessed with a physical d-pad)
$79 with "Special Offers" on home screen and screensaver
$109 without ads
Kindle Touch / Kindle Keyboard -Wi-fi only: $99 with "Special Offers" ; $139 without ads
-w/ free 3G: $149/$139 with "Special Offers" for Touch/Keyboard respectively ; $189 without ads
It doesn't appear to me that the ads on the home screen are that obtrusive, and if I may say, the default screensaver images on my Kindle 2 and my mom's Kindle 3 are not that great... unless you like looking at a creepy-looking sketch of Emily Dickinson or Jules Verne. Granted, I hacked my Kindle to change the images, but I gather most people won't do that. So then I would guess that a picture of some beach with a VISA logo in the corner wouldn't be that bad.
Yeah, I think I'd definitely get one at that price if they offered it over here (Instead we only have the non-advert ones on sale/pre-orderable). From what I've heard the adverts are basically a small banner underneath your book list, and a big advert instead of the screensaver.
Personally, I love the look of the new Kindle fire, but that probably won't be heading UK ways anytime soon. Heck, we don't even have the amazon android appstore yet. Or the streaming movies thing. Both of which make up a large part of the product. Boo.
Comments
Try looking through this list, and check with your local library branch.
Thanks for the info, but my question was whether or not ebooks from libraries can be put on a kindle easily.
My mother got herself a Kindle 3, and gave me her old Kindle 2 for Christmas (which I promptly put a black DecalGirl.com skin on.)
I have no idea when or how it happened.
There is a spot on the screen about the size and shape of a grain of rice that looks like the pixels are physically damaged. tbh, the way it looks reminds me of an Etch-A-Sketch.
I called Amazon immediately when I noticed it (which was two hours ago), got to a live CSR within 2 minutes, and she told me that I should have a replacement in hand on Tuesday (it's currently Saturday night) free of charge to me.
That's good service. I would have expected that they'd make you pay for any repairs or replacements. Is it still under warrenty? By the by, from your picture it looks to me like a squashed bug!
Nah, it's not a squashed bug. The damage is underneath the plastic of the screen. If you've ever played with an Etch-A-Sketch, that's what it reminds me of because it looks almost like something scraped away at the pixels from underneath.
Sure there's benefits, but just call me old school... please?
I'm impressed.
The thing is damn impressive. You change pages by tapping on the screen. Right side to turn forward, left side to turn backward, middle to pull up a contextual menu(which I found out when my thumb accidentally overshot a page turn, heh). The thing is fairly small without sacrificing screen size(it's just all screen and bezel), fits really nicely into one hand, is very light, is slightly zippier than the Kindle 3, has a microSD slot for expansion, and has a software overhaul that has a useful "home" screen(for the current book you're reading, your recently purchased books, and a few recommendations at the bottom). The original nook had a "read free in a store for an hour" function, but it seemed to load the book in chunks until you hit the one hour mark, and the page turns for in-store reading were always slow. On the new Nook, they seem to have front-ended in-store reading and put a timer on it, so page turns are just as fast as reading your own books(which is great, because the stall on giant several thousand page books was sometimes unbearable on the original nook). The device doesn't have "smooth" scrolling, in that you can't "drag" menus, but it's surprisingly quick to transition between pages or rows of a menu when you swipe it. Wherever you are in the device's menus, there's a little button to go directly back to where you are currently reading and the page you're on, which is nice because it lets you jump to other functions and then jump back. They say that, with WiFi off, the device has 156 hours of battery life when pages are being turned one every minute, which gives you a week of solid reading at a rate of one page per minute without stopping for any reason(eating, sleeping, etc), which is nice.
Overall, I'm extremely impressed.
And can connect to the internet.
And can be read in the sun.
And have far longer battery lives.
And cost more than $300 less.
To be more precise, you said it was a great deal more convenient than the Nook or Kindle.
If I talk enthusiastically about my platform it's because it's my platform. I'm not going to vouch for the nook and kindles respectively because I don't own them but I didn't denigrate them either.
The thread's opening question is "Do many of you have an e-book reader? (eg. Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Sony PRS) iPad/iPod/iPhone only counts if you intend on reading books with it.
What are your thoughts about these devices or what impact it might mean for paper books? "
and I answered it.
So far I dig it.. its not going to replace my love for real paper books anytime soon.. but I see it will come in handy as a portable library... My kids really like it too.. my daughter is reading a Pirates of the Caribbean book as I type this.
So you got the first generation? With the new one right around the corner?
Amazon finally has an answer to Barnes & Noble's new Nook, with a touchscreen capable Kindle. They also have an $80 Kindle that has an onscreen keyboard but is navigable with face buttons instead of touchscreen.
And finally, Amazon's response to the iPad. The Kindle Fire.
It all looks pretty nice, if you ask me.
I can't believe they haven't discounted the old line after launching the new one! Are they planning to maintain the old keyboard line as well or something?
I think they did discount the old line... or is that Europe only? The kindle I had my eye on dropped from 139€ to 119€ in the last two days.
I love books. I love big and pompous bindings. I studied literature for a reason. But I also am in a living situation which could change pretty suddenly, so when I come home and look at all the stuff I'd have to transport in a move, I start to panic. I'm not sure how healthy that is, but I started discarding and selling old stuff on a regular basis so I could move out faster. I also seldom buy weighty things, and I keep my inventory very slim, so to speak. Compared to other people, my move would be no problem at all.
That said, buying books is always a pain considering what I'm trying to achieve there.
Still, NEW books on kindle seem seriously overpriced. They're just as costly as their non-digital counterparts. In Germany, books are even more expensive (for reason of a law in effect since 1888, the "Buchpreisbindung", price drops are virtually impossible for publishing houses and bookstores without actually damaging the books and/or writing on them in large letters that they are damaged. Sounds very strange, I know). I'm not sure I could buy books at full price in the kindle store, and I would love to read some German stuff again for a change.
Kindle, Wi-fi only (onscreen keyboard accessed with a physical d-pad)
$79 with "Special Offers" on home screen and screensaver
$109 without ads
Kindle Touch / Kindle Keyboard
-Wi-fi only: $99 with "Special Offers" ; $139 without ads
-w/ free 3G: $149/$139 with "Special Offers" for Touch/Keyboard respectively ; $189 without ads
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005890G8O
It doesn't appear to me that the ads on the home screen are that obtrusive, and if I may say, the default screensaver images on my Kindle 2 and my mom's Kindle 3 are not that great... unless you like looking at a creepy-looking sketch of Emily Dickinson or Jules Verne. Granted, I hacked my Kindle to change the images, but I gather most people won't do that. So then I would guess that a picture of some beach with a VISA logo in the corner wouldn't be that bad.
Yeah, I think I'd definitely get one at that price if they offered it over here (Instead we only have the non-advert ones on sale/pre-orderable). From what I've heard the adverts are basically a small banner underneath your book list, and a big advert instead of the screensaver.
Personally, I love the look of the new Kindle fire, but that probably won't be heading UK ways anytime soon. Heck, we don't even have the amazon android appstore yet. Or the streaming movies thing. Both of which make up a large part of the product. Boo.
Hmph. 99,00 € on Amazon.de (about 135,00 $ at the time and damn, that's almost double the price).