Manicm Posted January 6, 2011 Posted January 6, 2011 Anyone have one or use one?? Ive seen the ads and thought might get the app for my iphone, but then i thought how about a Kindle, its £111 from Amazon at the moment for the wi-fi version. I do like a good read and my book collection is slightly overtaking everything so digital books seems the way forward. My iphone and ibooks is an alternative but my OH won't allow me to take my phone aboard on holidays so the Kindle seems the alternative. Any thoughts or views??
Jimboxy Posted January 6, 2011 Posted January 6, 2011 I hear the KINDLE is meant to be ok. Not sure what a kimble is.
Craymen Edge Posted January 6, 2011 Posted January 6, 2011 Kindle. I'd be quite tempted, although the number of different people who need their cut means price of the books isn't much lower than RRP of the dead tree versions. Not having to store or offload them after I'm finished with them does make up for that a little though. I think if it was a little cheaper, I would go for one.
Manicm Posted January 6, 2011 Author Posted January 6, 2011 Lol just testing!! seriously really tired at the moment! didn't notice.
DANGERMAN Posted January 6, 2011 Posted January 6, 2011 the screen on them is amazing, it's just the cost of the books I dont like. That and I'd feel a tosser getting my kindle out on the bus. Mind you the app for it works quite well (I've got the android version) so I guess you could always use that instead for small journeys
stoobie Posted January 6, 2011 Posted January 6, 2011 Kindle books work on all Kindle apps/devices dont they? So you could be getting books on the app on your phone to see if you get on with electronic books before taking the plunge and then carry them over to your Kindle if/when you buy one.
Manicm Posted January 6, 2011 Author Posted January 6, 2011 Yep downloaded the app this afternoon and a free book to give it a go. Looks nice on the iphone and a easier than ibooks.
Jimboxy Posted January 6, 2011 Posted January 6, 2011 what is also clever is it remembers where you were reading on one device and automatically updates the other device, so if you swap you're still up to date.
Cyberpunk Posted January 6, 2011 Posted January 6, 2011 I'd try this first Aldiko It's a free ebook app for Android, that'll also let you download hundreds of public domain freebie books too. Usually the old classics like War of the Worlds, Dracula, etc. That way you can see if you can get on with electronic books, before paying for the Kindle, or buying Kindle books.
Maryokutai Posted February 17 Posted February 17 Tiny miracle I found this topic despite the typo. Reasoning for the necromantic summoning is that amazon is adding a big fat piece of additional DRM to everything Kindle related on the 26th February: https://www.theverge.com/news/612898/amazon-removing-kindle-book-download-transfer-usb The short version is pretty much that right now, you can download any eBook you might have purchased on there and save it on your PC. I don't know how encrypted these files are and I doubt you can just freely distribute them among friends and family, but at least they're backed up and can be archived offline. After that date, the only way to access your books will be through Kindle devices and therefore through an online connection. It's coherent with the trend of turning 'digital ownership' into a bit of a joke term and will not only lock you more strongly into their ecosystem, but also force you to be at the mercy of whatever happens to 'your' books (availability, copyrights, changes etc.). I've been toying with getting a Kindle for a while now because space is limited, but I think I'm going to stay clear. Whoever has a Kindle I'd suggest going through your library and downloading everything. Depending on the volume of purchases it might be annoying but you'll be happy to have done it by the time this rolls out. Edit: maybe useful info from one of the comments under that article if you own a Kindle: Quote There are some bulk downloaders on Github (https://github.com/treetrum/amazon-kindle-bulk-downloader for example) but they all looked like too much bother. I'm retired so I just spent a few hours using the Content UI on the Amazon web site to download all the files. Then it was just a matter of Calibre (https://calibre-ebook.com/) plus DeDRM_tools (which you can find on Github) to get unlocked copies on to my desktop PC. Calibre's built-in server function plus FBReader gets them on my Android devices. With bookshop.org adding ebooks that's one less Amazon dependency for me.
one-armed dwarf Posted February 17 Posted February 17 Amazon for books has turned into such a faustian bargain. Super convenient but they basically helped kill the book depository and lots of other book shops over the years, and now this Though I've sort of gone off e-readers anyway. It's just not the same
Nag Posted February 17 Posted February 17 Had a Kindle (well still have, just haven't switched it on in years) but it never really felt right... books are literally the last piece of media where it's physical all the way for me.
Metroid66 Posted February 17 Posted February 17 I've been using one for a while. For years I always maintained (when the topic was raised) that it was my favourite piece of tech - the virtual paper component amazing me to this very day. It's so strange @Maryokutaibumping this today, because I was using it this morning before work, Pride and Prejudice, as it happens (don't judge, I've been trawling 20 books to read before you die posts on YouTube) and it just occurred to me that it no longer felt 'right.' I wanted to be holding a book. I wanted to be smelling an old book, someone's well thumbed copy of this classic that I picked up in a second hand book shop. Luckily I never got rid of all my old books. And I can't wait to do what I used to do regularly, go the old book shops in Chester and Southport and fill my boots, if they're still feckin' there, that is. 1
one-armed dwarf Posted February 17 Posted February 17 Anyone who judges someone for reading Jane Austen just hates books imo. It's like judging someone for playing Ocarina of Time or something 👎 Plus the bits with the zombies were really exciting
Metroid66 Posted February 17 Posted February 17 That's not really a spoiler. I sort of felt it was heading in that direction.
DANGERMAN Posted February 17 Posted February 17 I've fixed the title. Funny reading those decade and a half old thoughts too 😄 I have a kindle, I don't mind it, but it's so knackered at this point that I don't use it. I just never wanted to give Amazon more money when everything about their Kindle set up has got worse. So that it's getting worse still is only cementing that
regemond Posted February 18 Posted February 18 16 hours ago, Metroid66 said: go the old book shops in Chester and Southport Pretty sure that amazing one in Southport has closed. The one with like 3 or 4 floors, including new stuff and all the ancient tomes. A little more on topic though, that sucks for users, but I've read you'll still be able to send books direct to your Kindle using your kindle email address (which every account has). How that will work in practice, I'm not sure, but that might be the way to circumvent Amazon's bullshit. Personally I read e-books every day. Usually on Kindle, but the last couple of weeks it's been through my phone just for convenience. I adore real books, there's nothing like them, and when part 3 of The Book of Dust comes out, I'll be there, day one on hardback. Kindle has introduced me to so many books I never would have tried in the past though, so I can never see me fully leaving the digital book space again. If the other e-readers have a way to access Kindle libraries, then I might look towards one of those. Otherwise, I'm stuck in the Amazon ecospace, because I'm not starting to find and buy the books I already own again. 2
Metroid66 Posted February 18 Posted February 18 It would be difficult to describe to anyone the sheer wonder of that shop. It was like something from Diagon alley.
Pikman Posted February 18 Posted February 18 I have an old Kindle Voyage and love it! I take it everywhere as it fits in my pocket I read at least an hour a day and find it most useful when one of the kids is already in the big bed and I don't want to wake them with a reading light. My bookshelf has a fair few normal books too though (see photo!) . I tend to get whatever is cheapest and really try my best to avoid buying brand new books. I can't remember the last time I did that actually! I only find real books occasionally annoying when I realise I need to keep the lights off and wish I had one on Kindle too! (oh and the thing that looks like a plastic boob is a clock that projects onto the ceiling - I need to try to fix it for our son)
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