Does Anyone Here Use A Kindle?

[Beryl]

For those of you who haven't gotten the Kindle because you can't use it for library books, Amazon just announced yesterday that they will start allowing the readers to work with library books later this year.

This might actually convince me to get a Kindle. Almost everything I read is from the library and I go through a lot of books, so it would get expensive if I had to purchase them for the Kindle. Either way, I will probably wait until this is actually implemented and I can see if my library participates and how good the selection is.

This is good news for those of us who prefer to take advantage of our tax dollars for electronic media. OverDrive is the iPad app which works very well for library ePubs but not as well as the Kindle app. It doesn't have dictionary lookup, for example. It would be terrific if Audible makes a similar announcement.

You might want to check out the current ePub selections at your library. There is sometimes a virtual line for titles but I like what I can get.

 

[clifp]

A couple other thoughts on the Kindle. I have an early model, I do find web browsing to be slow and painful. In in desperate situation you could probably use it to read a few emails without going nuts.

One thing I have experienced the hard way is the screens break easily. I dropped my at airport a couple of months ago and busted it. The same fall would probably not have hurt a cellphone, netbook, or iPod. Fortunately it was under warranty and called up Amazon on Tuesday night and by Thursday it was delivered to my mother house.

Then a month or so after getting home, my cat knocked the Kindle of my nightstand and it fell 39 inches to a laminate floor and destroyed the screen. Once again Amazon customer service couldn't have been nicer and sent me a replacement two days latter. I did notice that first time they paid the postage for returning the old one, but this one I'll have to pay to return it.

My only other complaint with reading on a Kindle is reading books with lots of graphs and illustrations can be frustrating. You can zoom a chart, but I notice that even with zoom, that many of the charts on Berstein's book The Birth of Plenty is difficult to read. The good news is the process of reading a book on your PC is seamless.

 

[TromboneAl]

It would have been nicer if publishers could decide on one ebook format that all ereaders would support. But apparently humans are not very good at things like that -- we have not two or three, but at least 28 ebook formats so far. Not as bad as image file formats (hundreds).

 

[jimnjana]

I'm glad so many enjoy the Kindle. That means more paperback books at yards sales. Some day I may go digital, but I still like to fold the page back to mark my spot. Nothing like reading a well worn book too. I like the idea of reading a book that has the wear and tear of having been read and enjoyed by others. But hey, if I ever see a Kindle with a library full of books on it at a yard sale...I might just get it.

 

[Moemg]

but I still like to fold the page back to mark my spot. Nothing like reading a well worn book too. I like the idea of reading a book that has the wear and tear of having been read and enjoyed by others. But hey, if I ever see a Kindle with a library full of books on it at a yard sale...I might just get it.

I have also always been a book person and I still read a lot from the library but when I traveled there would be a trail of books behind me and now I just load up my Nook and go .

 

[donheff]

I'm glad so many enjoy the Kindle. That means more paperback books at yards sales.

I don't see the math there. Kindle owners are not buying copies of books they already have and selling off the paperbacks. They are buying books they don't have and never buying paper. But I suspect you will have a plentiful supply of paperbacks for quite some time in any event.

 

[jimnjana]

I don't see the math there. Kindle owners are not buying copies of books they already have and selling off the paperbacks. They are buying books they don't have and never buying paper. But I suspect you will have a plentiful supply of paperbacks for quite some time in any event.

I meant less competition from buyers.