Why Kindle (and the other E-book readers)?

[Nords]

Anybody else feel similarly?

I'm still trying to decide whether I need to abandon my current library habits.

If I can put my name on a "hot pick" list and get a new release within a few months for free, admittedly with only a week to read it and no renewals, then I'm not sure there's any reason to buy an e-reader or pay for e-books.

However libraries could hypothetically save a lot of state funds and maybe even bring in a little revenue by acquiring the lending rights to new releases instead of buying a couple crates of hardbacks. The "e-hot-pick" could go out to say 100 readers for up to one week. As soon as one reader's week expires it disappears from their e-reader, the next reader gets some sort of electronic notification, and their hardware downloads it for one week.

I'd pay 99 cents for the convenience of skipping two trips to the library. The library doesn't have to manually handle a couple more crates of books, and the author's book gets out there a lot faster in higher volume.

 

[Cattusbabe]

Right - that's one thing that scares me off of the Kindle - the proprietary format.

Amazon's primary business is selling books. They really do not care what device you read them on. They just want you to buy the book from them. This explain why they are not really interested in easily allowing content that is not purchased from them on the Kindle.

There are ways around this however. You can use Caliber to convert a book to a format that Kindle supports and then transfer it the device.

 

[ScottFromUtah]

I have successfully converted PDF files to .mobi files, which Kindle supports, using Mobipocket Creator, which you can download for free. It appears that it also can convert HTML, MS Word, and text documents to the .mobi format. I have purchased 3 or 4 books from Amazon for reading on my Kindle, but the other 20 or so books I have on the Kindle are ones that I downloaded for free and, when necessary, converted to the Kindle format.

I have, however, found books that I'd like to read on Kindle that don't appear to be available in Kindle format. I might just have to resort to a paper book (gasp!) at some point.

 

[zinger1457]

Didn't get a chance to read through all the post so hope this hasn't been asked/answered. Can you rent e-books like you do a movie? Maybe it would expire after 30-90 days. Never was one to read books more than once so having it disappear after reading is fine with me.

 

[wheel9]

Rental not yet available - maybe someone will try to develop that market. You can only convert unprotected books to Kindle format - if they are copy protected, you are out of luck.

E-Pub format and the ability to use library books is what sold me on my Nook. I have rarely purchased books. In California, all libraries offer library cards to state residents - I stop in all large cities and request cards so tha I have a large selection of books tochoose from, all for free. And the best part, no trips to the library - just put your name on the waiting list and they send you anemail when the book is available for download.

 

[kramer]

Epub format is trivially convertible to Kindle or Mobi format (both readable on Kindle) using Calibre. It is very simple button push, no tech wizardry, etc.

Most libraries do NOT lend in Epub format. They use a proprietary Digital Rights Management scheme developed by Adobe on top of Epub. That is what you are reading on your Nook when you check out a library book, for instance, not Epub.

However, this is an advantage of the Nook over Kindle, IMO, the ability to read this proprietary format easily (IMO the only real advantage).

One can also convert these locked Epubs into almost any other format, but it is not trivial.

 

[ARCHER]

Thanks for the tip, Archer! Please come back and let us know what you think of their e-book collection once you have your card and have explored it.

I have enjoyed borrowing e-books from my own city's library, but the collection is small at this point. I was impressed with how totally seamless it was to borrow the e-books. The process was incredibly simple, the amount of time left until my book's expiration was obvious on both the computer and on my reader, and "returning" my book was a simple click. Gotta love it!!

Charlotte

They have almost 4,000 titles. A much better selection than our little library.

 

[Lsbcal]

I investigated audiobooks since DW wants them. We can get lots of downloads from the local library.

Then I asked about getting a card at another city's library. The librarian said that we can get a card at any California library by showing up a a branch and asking for one. I guess all you need to be is a state resident.

Don't know if the process is the same for ebooks and other states but I'm guessing it is.

 

[TromboneAl]

That "Order Now $139" that appears on amazon.com is calling to me every time I see it. But here's what holds me back:

It has no backlight. The best thing about reading books on my iPod Touch is that I can do it without a light. This is great for camping, and even good sitting in my LazyBoy. I don't have to get the light position right, or moving it when I recline further.

 

[Moemg]

That "Order Now $139" that appears on amazon.com is calling to me every time I see it. But here's what holds me back:

It has no backlight. The best thing about reading books on my iPod Touch is that I can do it without a light. This is great for camping, and even good sitting in my LazyBoy. I don't have to get the light position right, or moving it when I recline further.

If you are happy reading on your I pod touch I would wait as there are so many e readers now that I bet the prices will drop even further .

 

[GregLee]

That "Order Now $139" that appears on amazon.com is calling to me every time I see it. But here's what holds me back:

My wife reads books outside, usually, so I bought her that $139 Kindle, but I read inside, often at night, and also spend time on the web, so I got myself an iPad.

 

[happy2bretired]

I'm becoming a little intrigued by the new color Nook. Our library has check out e-books now. I tried to listen to a demo at the store the other day, but couldn't hear enough to really understand how it works. It looks to me like it works pretty much like Kindle, 'cept in color. Looks like it has internet access, with no monthly charges (I think?) I do like the idea of checking out e books from my library...no more over due books. I think they just disappear when the time runs out.

 

[CyclingInvestor]

Right - that's one thing that scares me off of the Kindle - the proprietary format.

I was considering one also, but this :

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html

and the proprietary format also scared me away.

 

[W2R]

I was considering one also, but this :

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/technology/companies/18amazon.html

and the proprietary format also scared me away.

True, anyone who hasn't done a secondary backup of their books onto their own PC could be vulnerable to such an Orwellian occurrence. But is that person you or me? I somehow doubt it.

I'd kind of like the idea of getting my money back.

 

[lhamo]

That "Order Now $139" that appears on amazon.com is calling to me every time I see it. But here's what holds me back:

It has no backlight. The best thing about reading books on my iPod Touch is that I can do it without a light. This is great for camping, and even good sitting in my LazyBoy. I don't have to get the light position right, or moving it when I recline further.

They have a leather case that has a built-in pop-up light that is supposed to work really well. I just ordered myself a 3G version (as 3G works here in China, supposedly, whereas the wifi alone does not) and an apple green leather case with light. Merry Christmas to me!

 

[TromboneAl]

Whoa. I just came across this:

Northern California Digital Library - Help - Quick Start Guide

I haven't figured out yet whether it's free, and whether I can gain access (but according to wheel9 I can). They have tons of good, modern books. The books do not seem to be compatible with Kindle.

 

[TromboneAl]

On Wikipedia I note that there are already 32 different ebook file formats. Why can't people standardize?

 

[Moemg]

Whoa. I just came across this:

Northern California Digital Library - Help - Quick Start Guide

I haven't figured out yet whether it's free, and whether I can gain access (but according to wheel9 I can). They have tons of good, modern books. The books do not seem to be compatible with Kindle.

That is why I bought the Nook . It is (in my non techie opinion ) much easier to download library books . We have a an E library with thousands of volumes .All you have to do is sign up on a library computer and pick a name & password and then you can access it anywhere from your laptop.

 

[modhatter]

That "Order Now $139" that appears on amazon.com is calling to me every time I see it. But here's what holds me back:

It has no backlight. The best thing about reading books on my iPod Touch is that I can do it without a light. This is great for camping, and even good sitting in my LazyBoy. I don't have to get the light position right, or moving it when I recline further.

I do not have an Ipad (would like one though) but I do have a Kindle, and I use it camping. If you do tent camping or dry dock camping in a camper (no electric), you should be aware of battery life. I do not remember the actual battery life of the Ipad. I seem to recall they state around 9 hour but in real life it's like 6.5 hrs. I may be wrong on these numbers. At any rate, the Kindle can easily go 30 hours (mine lasts a couple of weeks reading each night for at least a couple of hours), and also be recharged in a matter of an hour or two. The Ipad takes quite a bit longer to recharge I understand. Also reading on a Kindle type screen does not produce the eye strain you get from reading on a back lit screen.

So if camping is your consideration a Kindle with a LED light will last you many days even weeks, whereas an Ipad will most likely need to be recharged every couple of days I expect.

 

[clifp]

I am still happy with my Kindle but... The upper right portion of the screen is corrupted so I am going have to get it replaced. My enthusiasm for the device my wane if the replacement process turns out to be too much of pain in the butt.

I think the recent announcement of Google Ebooks store which support virtually every format other than the Kindle, I think really changes the dynamic of the market. Google has a huge investment in digitizing books, via the Google books library project. In the short term Amazon/Kindle will remain the leader for ebooks, but in the long run I'd hate to bet against Google. From a consumer viewpoint Google tends to be the low cost competitor in a market with an astonishing amount of stuff offered for free.

 

[GregLee]

I am still happy with my Kindle but... The upper right portion of the screen is corrupted so I am going have to get it replaced. My enthusiasm for the device my wane if the replacement process turns out to be too much of pain in the butt.

As I ordinarily do, I read all the unfavorable user reviews on Amazon before buying mine, and, though no one said so, I got the idea that Amazon might be sending out replacement units that were returned as defective by other users. So if you can, you might want to return yours and then buy a new one, rather than getting yours replaced.

 

[ERD50]

My wife wants a Nook for Christmas, and she got one on loan from the library to try. She's been using it a few days and likes it. I just played with it and I must say I am absolutely shocked at how much I really don't like it!

I realize now that I need a screen the size of a real book. This thing is disorienting to me. I feel like I have tunnel vision since at a nice font size I can only see about a 1/4 page at a time. When I read, my eyes might jump back to check what I just read, or to double check that I got it right. I don't know exactly, but it just felt too weird to see such a small amount of real estate at a time. I feel like I'm reading a book through a cut-out in a piece of cardboard. And jumping from screen to screen w/o any scrolling just feels very disconnected to me. I really hated it. And it flashed to black on each page turn. Odd.

Obviously, lots of people like these things, so I guess it is something in the way my brain processes the information while reading. But these things are going to have to come a long long way before they will be attractive to me. It's disappointing, I wish I liked it.

I haven't read this whole thread - anyone else have this problem?

-ERD50

 

[W2R]

ERD50, e-readers are about the same size as a paperback. But if you don't feel comfortable with the usual e-reader size, I'd suggest getting the larger size (such as the Kindle Graphite DX; I don't know the model names for other e-readers in larger sizes). The DX is about the same size as a hardback book.

I thought the size would bother me too, for the same reasons (my eyes like to jump back and forth so much) but I have both sizes of Kindle and frankly I much prefer the smaller size.

 

[ERD50]

W2R - yes, I guess it is about the same size as a paperback, but I made the text larger because I wanted to and I could, and that is a great feature of these things. By the time I do that, it is probably about 2/3rds the amount of text as a single paperback? On a real book, my eyes jump easily from the end of the left page to the top of the right, so it is only the page turn at the end of two pages that breaks up the reading. So with the Nook, I'm getting about 3X the number of 'breaks'.

Maybe I'd get used to it, but I honestly feel that I won't take the time/effort, it bothered me that much. It's a bummer, I really wanted to like it. I have a feeling these won't appeal to me until they have a good projector technology available - then it could be both small in size for carrying around, with a large screen, two-page display that could fold out. And scroll!

-ERD50

 

[Lsbcal]

...(snip)...
Maybe I'd get used to it, but I honestly feel that I won't take the time/effort, it bothered me that much. It's a bummer, I really wanted to like it. I have a feeling these won't appeal to me until they have a good projector technology available - then it could be both small in size for carrying around, with a large screen, two-page display that could fold out. And scroll!

-ERD50

On PBS News Hour the other night a guy from the NY Times who reviews tech things like e-books mentioned that we're still in the stone ages of this technology. So I think it's fine to just wait for the technology and costs to come towards your point of view before purchasing. For some that time is now and for others not just yet. In the meantime there's that centuries old technology to enjoy.