Amazon Kindle - ebooks & readers v "traditional"

[darkside]

I'm happy that the Kindle and eReader coming to iPhone will continue to boost the ebook market. I've been a customer of eReader since 1998 when it was called Peanut Press. I understand electronic books are not for everyone, but I have always loved the fact I can have a book with me on my PDA, Laptop or phone whenever I want to read. I've probably only bought 3 or 4 paper books the last 10 years compared to several hundred digitally. I don't have books cluttering shelves and I can take most of them with me at all times.

I have been turned off by the standalone readers like the Kindle and Sony models because they are so expensive and have no backlight. I read mostly at night so this is a great option since it illuminates perfectly without being too bright and disturbing the person trying to sleep next to you. The upside though are those great looking eink screens. Another downside I see for the Kindle and Sony is you can only read on them so if those devices break or get discontinued you are out of luck. With programs like eReader that support Windows, Mac, iPhone, Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian and Blackberry you have a ton of options for reading devices.

I'm reading mostly now on my laptop and my T-Mobile Dash and its great these apps have the stores built in so you can buy a book wirelessly whenever you need to. I don't think they will replace paper books, but at least now they are becoming a stronger second option.

[drmoze]

Originally Posted by darkside

The upside though are those great looking eink screens. Another downside I see for the Kindle and Sony is you can only read on them so if those devices break or get discontinued you are out of luck.

eink is great. Feels just like a reading a p-book! Also, don't know about Kindles, but Sony does have a reader program (the Library) that works on any Windows pc, including those nifty lightweight netbooks that I've been eyeing lately.... And the Sony program alsohas their ebookstore built in for downloading.(How else would you buy books for the Reader?) Although these days most of the ebooks I have in my reading list were free or borrowed from an online library.

[GatorDeb]

I have a Sony Reader 505 and a Kindle, and I never use them. I'm always afraid that I'm going to break them AND Vegas is so damn dusty that there's always a big speck of dust on the screen, stuck enough that I can't blow it away. And I hate touching the screen with my fingers so I end up not reading until I get home where I have my solution/cloth.

So I've gone back to the library.

[Tygan]

Originally Posted by GatorDeb

I have a Sony Reader 505 and a Kindle, and I never use them.

But you only filed for citizenship because the fees were increasing...

for someone who comes across very cheap - you sure do have a lot of electronic equipment that sits unused.

[GizmoDVD]

The $259 Amazon deal is very tempting...

[GatorDeb]

Well, well, well, my Sony Reader might just get a little bit more use after all.

I just learned that as of July 2008, it supports PDF Digital Edition (PDF DRM), and my library uses that format for downloadable eBooks (which expire three weeks after checkout). That means that I have a host of books to download and read now. It's convenient because I skip the trip to the library and the wait for an available book to get to my library (there a certain # of copies for each book available, but if it's available, you can get it immediately) and I can check out 35 at a time. The only bad part is that once I check one out, I can't return it... I have to wait the three weeks. I don't read 10 books a week, though Just got Blink and am looking for a good fiction one now.

[GizmoDVD]

GatorDeb,

let me know if you want to sell your Kindle in the near future.

[GatorDeb]

I'm not selling it for $259


By the way, I have to comment on how cool PDF DE support is. I go to my library and check books out, then click on the download button. I double click the downloaded file which loads the book into Adobe's PDF DE organizer program. Then I drag and drop the book(s) into the Sony Reader icon in the Adobe PDF DE program and it loads it into the reader. It even shows how many days I have left.



Also wanted to mention that the latest firmware update added epub support (whatever that means) but more importantly, regular PDF books are VASTLY improved, and I can now increase the font to a size I can read (and the text flows, no scrolling necessary). Along with PDF DE, this is a great addition. And there's no news on the Kindle getting PDF DE, so this would be a huge plus for the Sony.

[benedict]

Tygan, you don't seem to post much in Book Talk but, when you do, half the time you are demonstrating your fascination for GatorDeb in a somewhat unfortunate manner. I'd strongly suggest that you control any future temptation to continue along similar lines. If clarification is required, please PM or email to avoid taking this thread further off-topic i.e. into the realm of the unwanted personal comment.

[GatorDeb]

For Sony owners:

By the way, if anybody likes RSS Feeds, check out Calibre (http://calibre.kovidgoyal.net/). It comes loaded with quite a bit of feeds (i.e. New York Times, Newsweek, The BBC, The Economist, etc.) and there's an option to add more (which I haven't figured out, but I'm not that good with RSS Feeds in the first place). The ones preloaded are enough to last for a while (and I think most if not all of them are dailies).

You pretty much connect the Reader, click a drop down arrow, select the feed, and it's imported into your Reader automatically. It used to be called libprs.

"calibre is a e-book library management application. It is free, open source and cross-platform in design and works on Linux, OSX and Windows. calibre is meant to be a complete e-library solution and thus includes, library management, format conversion, news feeds to ebook conversion as well as e-book reader sync features. "

[Mordred]

Calibre is a far better book management system than the Sony one. Unfortunately, you can't have both installed on your system at the same time.

[DeputyDave]

I am so close to buying A Kindle. I'm swinging either way.
Quick someone convince me to jump!

How is the price $259? Is that with the $100 of with a Amazon CC?

[GatorDeb]

I have both the Sony Library software and Calibre on the PC Also had both Libprs and the Sony Library software installed at the same time. I use Calibre for feeds and the Sony software for everything else.

Having both, I would go for the Sony if I were buying a new reader. Just because of the PDF DE Support. Check out if your library offers book checkouts for digital files.

[DeputyDave]

Originally Posted by GatorDeb

I have both the Sony Library software and Calibre on the PC Also had both Libprs and the Sony Library software installed at the same time. I use Calibre for feeds and the Sony software for everything else.

Having both, I would go for the Sony if I were buying a new reader. Just because of the PDF DE Support. Check out if your library offers book checkouts for digital files.

I checked last night and it looks like the two libraries near me (City of San Diego and City of Chula Vista) do not offer PDF downloads.

I might just make the big jump to Kindle if they offered credit towards eBooks. I can't imagine why they wouldn't in order to hook people in. I would have to add $100 to the initial cost in order to cover the books I'd want.

[Mordred]

Originally Posted by GatorDeb

I have both the Sony Library software and Calibre on the PC Also had both Libprs and the Sony Library software installed at the same time. I use Calibre for feeds and the Sony software for everything else.

Having both, I would go for the Sony if I were buying a new reader. Just because of the PDF DE Support. Check out if your library offers book checkouts for digital files.

I could swear that when I was checking the calibre forums the author said you had to uninstall the Sony Library software first. My wife just has the Sony Library on her laptop and I have calibre on my PC. I never tried to put both on the same computer.

[GatorDeb]

I -have- heard that before. I paid it no mind PC runs fine and it has to be at least a year since I discovered libprs.

[GatorDeb]

i'm on a hotel bed in Primm, NV posting from my kindle with built in internet access

[GatorDeb]

Well, I'm back on being torn between both, but now I'm using both of them This thread reinvigorated my interest in them. I love the built-in Internet access - didn't have to carry around and worry about my laptop and skipped the $11/day Internet hookup fee (third-rate hotel). I also think the Kindle attracts less dirt. The keyboard is awesome but I hate having to press the symbol sign, scroll down, and press another button just to include a '. Why couldn't they have a symbol button and symbols superimposed on the regular keys like every cell phone out there.

[DeputyDave]

GatorDeb, how is the internet on the Kindle? I mean what are the limitations? Certain sites only?

I heard someone mention (maybe earlier in this thread) that Amazon would be cutting it eventually.

[GatorDeb]

Internet is close to perfect. The only site I haven't been able to use was my University's online course (WebCampus). It does images, links, everything.

The thinking is that Amazon has to cut down the Internet sooner or later because of cost, but Amazon hasn't said anything about it. They HAVE promised that Wikipedia and Whispernet will always be free. Who knows if they'll ever cut it down or they want people on the device because that means buying books. Cut the Internet, people move away from it to their phones/etc., and buy less books. Pay for the Internet, have people use it more because of the added benefit = more books. Maybe they'll leave a certain amount of Kb per month free and anything else will be charged. Maybe they'll charge a flat monthly fee for usage or maybe they'll charge per Kb. Maybe they'll cut it off altogether.

Amazon hasn't said anything about it and all these months later, still free Internet. For me it's not necessary - I had my phone with me, it was a bigger screen. And I didn't get on the Internet long.

[Duran]

Originally Posted by DeputyDave

GatorDeb, how is the internet on the Kindle? I mean what are the limitations? Certain sites only?

I heard someone mention (maybe earlier in this thread) that Amazon would be cutting it eventually.

It's not a great browser by any stretch, but it is adequate. No flash support. It is nice if you don't have a smart phone and data plan.

[GatorDeb]

Well because of this thread I got back into ereaders, and now my Kindle never leaves my side. Reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle on it. Through Mobipocket Reader I have tons of newspapers, magazines, and blogs autodelivered daily to my kindle while it charges, full of up-to-the-minute news. I am totally in love with it now.

[DeputyDave]

Originally Posted by GatorDeb

Well because of this thread I got back into ereaders, and now my Kindle never leaves my side. Reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle on it. Through Mobipocket Reader I have tons of newspapers, magazines, and blogs autodelivered daily to my kindle while it charges, full of up-to-the-minute news. I am totally in love with it now.

You almost got me convinced.

[GatorDeb]

How about this: You can add the Kindle PID to Fictionwise and buy books from there in Mobipocket format to read

You can also run a Python script (easy to install) to ADD your Kindle PID to library books that you check out so that you can read them on the Kindle. So go to your library and look at their Mobipocket collection - you can borrow and read those! After the checkout time expires, the Kindle won't open them anymore.

I needed to have some documents on hand this past week so I loaded them onto the Kindle and took them with me everywhere. Curiously, not -one- person asked me what it was. A couple of people at work have, though.

[Duran]

Originally Posted by DeputyDave

You almost got me convinced.

It really is cool. I travel by commuter train, and it's great to be able to have a ton of boosk with me without carrying them. And I haven't played with Mobireader RSS feed functionality, I did use a similar function from Feedbooks.com (also free). It's awesome. Basically, get all the latest news in an easy-to-read format over the cell network for nothing.