#32 Electronic reading: Is it just me or what's wrong with a book?

[Laurel]

Jayne, reading on an e-book reader is not like reading on a screen. It's a different technology. The e-reader is not back-lighted, so it is very much like paper. That's why an e-paper reader is so much easier on the eyes than a computer or a cell phone.

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jayne08 wrote:
I think that the kindel is good in the sense that you can have many books without taking up alot of space. I have tons of books and have no way of storing all of them so i have acess to them at all times. I though do not like reading off a screen for long periods of time, and since I often read for hours so i prefer paperbacks.  I also love to wander around bookstores looking at things ramdomly.

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[ande]

I think I am going to have to borrow one from someone and take it for a test drive. I'm not ready to buy one yet.

Ande

[Everyman]

I would indeed encourage you to do that.  Try it out for a week (if you have a friend who is a good enough friend to let theirs leave their clutches for a week!)    The first few hour or two with mine felt strange, and I wasn't sure I would like it.  Within a few days, I was hooked, and no, I'm not a good enough friend to let mine out of my clutches for a week so you can try it! 

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ande wrote:

I think I am going to have to borrow one from someone and take it for a test drive. I'm not ready to buy one yet.

Ande

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[ande]

What???? You're not going to pack it up and send it to me? What a surprise!

[debbook]

I finally succumbed to the pressure and ordered a Kindle. The pressure was from the little voice in my head. I had been debating ordering one because I thought I might be getting one for Christmas. I almost ordered it yesterday and didn't. Today I found out I'm not getting one as a gift, so I went to order it. If I'd ordered it yesterday, it would have taken 3-4 weeks. Because I waited until today, it is now up to an 11 week wait. Aargh!!! I've lived all this time with out it, I now I can't wait to get it. What's wrong with me??

[Everyman]

That's how it was in the early days -- you ordered and waited forever. I though they had that fixed; for awhile they were shipping right out of stock, but I guess they

But you can get started right now looking for and downloading all the books you're going to want to put on it; you can just save them to somewhere on your computer and download them onto the Kindle when it comes; when you plug it into your USB it acts just like a USB drive.  (Just remember to load books into the Documents folder, or it won't find them!)

If you're planning to load a lot of books onto the Kindle, I suggest you get a 4 or 8 gigabyte memory card.  They're easy to plug in and will give you lots more book storage.

Also, while you're waiting, if you haven't already, download the free MobiPocket reader and you can start reading the books you've downloaded.  

Here are a couple of sites you could plumb for pay (2 sites) or free books.  Laurel can offer others, I'm sure.

The Amazon Kindle shop has some fairly cheap classic books.  That's not as good as free, but the formattiing is sometimes better.  Look elsewhere first, but  if you can't find what you want, or download something and find it isn't formatted well enough for you, try Amazon.

Mobile Reference is the only other pay site I like.  They have lots of reference stuff, but what I like is down on the lower right hand corner of the site, the classic book collection.  Click on it and see what you get for $20!  Each author's works come in one huge file, so they're not quite as easy to navigate as separate books, but for the price they are hard to beat, and there are some books you wouldn't otherwise been likely to find.

Got to run, being called for dinner, will continue later.

[debbook]

Thanks, that should keep me busy while I wait.

[Everyman]

I'm back.

Here are some good sites for free Kindle books.  The format you want if they don't specifically offer a Kindle format is the Mobipocket format.    (By the way, you can get Amazon to convert other files to Kindle format for free if you have them send them to your computer instead of directly to your Kindle.)

Mobileread.  Join for free. Click on e-books on the blue line. 

Feedbooks.   Use the search box or click on Discover/Books.  I find these are sometimes the better formatted free books.

Manybooks.   Large selection, but sometimes not with the best formatting.  But heck, they're free, and if you get one you don't like just delete it from the Kindle (and your computer) and get it somewhere else.

You'll find other sites as you start exploring, but those are the three I used most, and it's seldom that I can't find what I want on one of them.

Good luck, and welcome to the world of Kindle.

One further hint.  Leave your Kindle plugged in as much as you can for the first couple of days.  Every time you download books it indexes them in the background.  The user guide talks about this, but doesn't mention that this process keeps it running in the background and so uses battery life.  If you've downloaded a bunch of books and leave the Kindle unplugged overnight, it's likely to be dead the next morning.  Not a major problem; the user guide tells you how to bring it back to life, and your books will still all be there, but it's a bit scary the first time you leave it fully charged but unplugged in the evening, come down in the morning and turn it on, and nothing happens. You thnk you broke it when all that happened is that it used up all its battery life indexing your downloads.  

They say it's best to leve it plugged in whenever you can, and I agree with that.  It won't overcharge.  

Let us know when it comes, and what you think of it!

[debbook]

Thanks for all the info. I downloaded the mobipocket and a bunch of books from Feedbooks. I am not good at being patient once I decide to make a purchase. You'd think Amazon would have increased production, once Oprah endorsed it. Especially with the holidays. Oh, well, I lived this long without one, what's a couple more months?

[Sandikal]

I saw the Sony reader in person a couple of weeks ago.  It's so cool. 

[Purpyl]

I'm so tempted to get a Kindle because I'm a gadget freak. But it's too darn expensive. I think I'd really like it, even though I love books - the feel, the smell, the ability to see how far into the book I am by glancing at my bookmark. I, too, carry on at least two books when flying. I have a Treo & have eReader on it & several books. This way I know I always have a book with me.

I think if the price drops on the Kindle, though, I may get one some day...

Cathy

CR: Love in the Time of Cholera

RR: The Tales of Beedle the Bard

So many books...

[Melissa_W Moderator]

NYTimes blog "Bits" covered the 10am press launch of Amazon's updated Kindle - named Kindle 2.  The transcript of the live blog (the updates read from the bottom of the article up) is here.

(Interestingly, the launch was held at the Morgan Library and Museum in NYC)

[Laurel]

Mine is coming Feb. 26. Name is Tolstoy. Thackeray is already green with envy.

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pedsphleb wrote:

NYTimes blog "Bits" covered the 10am press launch of Amazon's updated Kindle - named Kindle 2.  The transcript of the live blog (the updates read from the bottom of the article up) is here.

(Interestingly, the launch was held at the Morgan Library and Museum in NYC)

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[Melissa_W Moderator]

As a previous Kindle purchaser, did they let you know ahead of time that Kindle 2 was coming?  or did you have to infer from the news release that you have until tomorrow night (or tonight?) to sign up for the new one?

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Laurel wrote:
Mine is coming Feb. 26. Name is Tolstoy. Thackeray is already green with envy.

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pedsphleb wrote:

NYTimes blog "Bits" covered the 10am press launch of Amazon's updated Kindle - named Kindle 2.  The transcript of the live blog (the updates read from the bottom of the article up) is here.

(Interestingly, the launch was held at the Morgan Library and Museum in NYC)

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[Laurel]

They didn't let me know. I didn't believe all the rumors, but they were true.

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pedsphleb wrote:

As a previous Kindle purchaser, did they let you know ahead of time that Kindle 2 was coming?  or did you have to infer from the news release that you have until tomorrow night (or tonight?) to sign up for the new one?

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Laurel wrote:
Mine is coming Feb. 26. Name is Tolstoy. Thackeray is already green with envy.

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pedsphleb wrote:

NYTimes blog "Bits" covered the 10am press launch of Amazon's updated Kindle - named Kindle 2.  The transcript of the live blog (the updates read from the bottom of the article up) is here.

(Interestingly, the launch was held at the Morgan Library and Museum in NYC)

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[debbook]

Laurel, I think you will automatically get the Kindle 2. That's what the website said, if you ordered but haven't received a Kindle, you'll get Kindle 2.

I am a little annoyed as I got mine in med-December. If I had known how soon the new one would be released, I would have waited. Jeff Bezos wouldn't be more definitive than "2009 at the earliest".

[Laurel]

Right. I already have k1 (since 2007), and I ordered k2 this morning after the press conference.

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debbook wrote:

Laurel, I think you will automatically get the Kindle 2. That's what the website said, if you ordered but haven't received a Kindle, you'll get Kindle 2.

I am a little annoyed as I got mine in med-December. If I had known how soon the new one would be released, I would have waited. Jeff Bezos wouldn't be more definitive than "2009 at the earliest".

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[thewanderingjew]

I do not have a kindle but I think it will be the way the future generations read. My daughter is ordering it for her daughter (my sweetie pie grandchild who is my heart) because she is never without a book, at not quite 10 years old. Just as the computers and electronic games are second nature for our coming generations, so will the kindle be their book, I think. For me, I still like the feel of a book but when she gets hers, I may just have to try it out because my daughter wants to buy one for me too and I love presents. I wish I could build a house with a two story library as everyman did. What a great thing to be able to store all of your books somewhere other than on top of each other and in different places, houses, boxes, basements, coffee tables, under the bed, etc.

twj

[debbook]

Oops, sorry I misunderstood.

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Laurel wrote:
Right. I already have k1 (since 2007), and I ordered k2 this morning after the press conference.

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debbook wrote:

Laurel, I think you will automatically get the Kindle 2. That's what the website said, if you ordered but haven't received a Kindle, you'll get Kindle 2.

I am a little annoyed as I got mine in med-December. If I had known how soon the new one would be released, I would have waited. Jeff Bezos wouldn't be more definitive than "2009 at the earliest".

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[Melissa_W Moderator]

Another company, Plastic Logic, is developing thier own ebook reader - this one geared to business professionals.  According to the article it should debut today at a tech show on the West coast.