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Talk to me about Amazon Kindle....? who's got it?

Joeytpg

Joeytpg

macrumors 6502
Original poster
I read a lot, and it seems like a fun little gadget to own. Kind of pricy tho, isn't it?

Who in here has it?

Is it worth it?
🙂
 
my mom has it and she loves it.
i have had a few chances to tinker around with it and it is pretty dang coool.
I don't think it is work the money.
 
iTeen said:
my mom has it and she loves it.
i have had a few chances to tinker around with it and it is pretty dang coool.
I don't think it is work the money.
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Yeah, kind of pricey :S I don't think it's worth 400+ dollars :s


can you see images in it? because some books have photos, and I'd like to know if I'll be able to see it.
 
I'd love to play with one, and I've been very tempted to get one. But I guess I'm holding out to see if Apple comes out with some sort of tablet form-factor device that would do a better job.
 
Eh, I use my Macbook Air to read my pdfs and I don't have to encrypt it into Amazon's format by email.
 
I've only used the Sony Reader or whatever, but oh man what a screen.. 😀 Almost worth buying just for that.
 
A fun and useful toy if you got the money.

The Theatre/TV Production teacher at my school has one and adores it. While I see its appeal, I'm not sure it demands the asking price.
 
One thing about the price tag that some people overlook is that it includes the wireless networking ("Whispernet") service, with no monthly fees. So depending on how good of a web browser it is, that could easily make up for the up-front price tag.
 
Plymouthbreezer said:
A fun and useful toy if you got the money.

The Theatre/TV Production teacher at my school has one and adores it. While I see its appeal, I'm not sure it demands the asking price.
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It is not worth $400. It is not like ebooks are that discounted in many cases so technically you can't say the $400 upfront cost will somehow be recouped over time. If it does it'll be a long time and not worth it. I understand the screen is designed to be better on your eyes than a computer screen. Having seen it myself I tend to believe it. I also like that it syncs directly to Amazon where as I understand you can buy books on the fly.

I want one but I do not know if I read enough to justify the cost or if I need to not carry a book. Having limited space now for books and still finding myself buying them I would say this could combat my storage issues but still, at $400 I am not running out to buy it. I would say $200 is a better price point.
 
Kindle owner...

Hey there - Saw the various posts about the Kindle and wanted to drop a note in. I've had mine for about two months and love it. A few oddities to it such as where they've placed the next/previous buttons and that you can't charge it via standard USB. And of course the case is a pain.

Set those aside the device is brilliant. I read 3-4 books a month and if two or three of these are hardbacks then the Kindle pays for itself pretty quickly. Most Kindle hardback books are less than half the real hardback price.

The case was bugging me but WaterField design just released three kinds of cases. I picked up the Sleeve style which solves the case problem perfectly. Made with their usual high quality and solid design.

If Amazon would support charging via USB I'd be 100% satisfied. If anyone has any questions about it feel free to drop me a note.
 
I can't read so no need for it (just joking). I think its a waste of money. If I want to read a book, I'll go to the library. I don't always want to be looking at an electronic screen.
 
ArmyKnight12 said:
I can't read so no need for it (just joking). I think its a waste of money. If I want to read a book, I'll go to the library. I don't always want to be looking at an electronic screen.
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If I want to listen to music, I'll just go to the record store. I love my CD player!


/sarcasm


EDIT: More to the point, I've been thinking of getting an ebook reader but I don't know if I should go through with it. The electronic ink display is great, so don't pass judgement if you haven't seen it yet. I just don't know whether I should (I know I don't need it) get it. I would get it in a heartbeat, but the Kindle is just SO UGLY. Absolutely horrible aesthetics.
 
I sometimes read books on my phone (one of the many TyTn models out there).

Cheaper than the Kindle, and always in my pocket. Has wifi and bluetooth and GPRS and internet explorer. And MS office. Actually the only thing I don't do with it is make calls 😀 But it could.

How very 2008 - discussing making phone calls with my book reading device 🙄
 
curious

I use Audible.com, and have for a few years now. When Kindle came out, I was tempted, as listening is convenient, but I've often listened to books with names I was unfamiliar with, and wanted to know how they were spelled. Now that Amazon has purchased Audible, I'm curious if Kindle 2.0 will include the ability to listen/read a book simultaneously, as I think this would be brilliant. I know it sounds silly, but imagine how useful it would be for those who struggle with reading, or are just learning. Also, I would like the option to toggle between reading when I'm able to give my full attention, and listening when I'm not (driving, etc.).

It's a desire born of pure laziness on my part, as I hate having to thumb through a book to figure out where I've left off in an audio book, and then scrolling through my iPod to sync it back up when I am driving/listening. But if Kindle 2.0 allows this, I'll definitely purchase. An aesthetic redesign would be nice too, as right now it's not at all appealing to me aesthetically. Naturally, this would make computer/USB syncing a wise addition as well. I'm off to check out the Sony version, to see if it fills in these gaps. 🙂
 
  1. DRM, no matter by who or for what reason, is never acceptable.
  2. Do I really want to look like I'm carrying around a device from the eighties? The form factor has to be one of the most ill-conceived design decisions I've seen since... actually, even the eMate and Honda Element are better looking.
 
digitalnicotine said:
Naturally, this would make computer/USB syncing a wise addition as well. I'm off to check out the Sony version, to see if it fills in these gaps. 🙂
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I believe when you plug in the Kindle it reads it as a USB Mass Storage device and you can transfer files to it.

Iscariot said:
  1. Do I really want to look like I'm carrying around a device from the eighties? The form factor has to be one of the most ill-conceived design decisions I've seen since... actually, even the eMate and Honda Element are better looking.
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Exactly, and that's why I haven't bought one. I really want the technology, but this thing is so ugly it makes Britney Spears' current look seem sexy.
 
Badandy said:
I believe when you plug in the Kindle it reads it as a USB Mass Storage device and you can transfer files to it.



Exactly, and that's why I haven't bought one. I really want the technology, but this thing is so ugly it makes Britney Spears' current look seem sexy.
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Thanks, badandy. It looks like it's a PC-only for audible/Kindle. Fortunately, I have PC's as well, and am glad to know it's possible. I'm also holding out for a better design. LOL about Britney. 😉
 
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I've read lots of threads in different forums and still haven't heard a great reason for why anyone would want this product. I've only heard of 2 theoretical situations that that would make an ebook reader a useful product. First is if you're constantly going away on very long trips and you're a voracious reader. The other is if you like to read big novels that would be heavy to carry around.

In all other situations, an ebook just doesn't make any sense. If you're not a voracious reader or extremely attracted to very long (i.e. physically heavy) novels, then even on a week-long trip you'll be perfectly happy with 2 or 3 paperbacks which are cheap, light, can't break, and can't run out of battery. If you like to read the newspaper they're literally available for pennies, are on sale everywhere like 10 feet away from somewhere where you're gonna go in your day, come with color photos and color coded graphs and color coded information, etc.

Can anyone tell me any other realistic scenarios where an ebook reader is better than paper?
 
Osper said:
I read 3-4 books a month and if two or three of these are hardbacks then the Kindle pays for itself pretty quickly. Most Kindle hardback books are less than half the real hardback price.
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it's completely unfair to compare the price of a hardback to the price of an ebook. An ebook can at best be compared to a paperback.
 
motulist said:
I've read lots of threads in different forums and still haven't heard a great reason for why anyone would want this product. I've only heard of 2 theoretical situations that that would make an ebook reader a useful product. First is if you're constantly going away on very long trips and you're a voracious reader. The other is if you like to read big novels that would be heavy to carry around.

In all other situations, an ebook just doesn't make any sense. If you're not a voracious reader or extremely attracted to very long (i.e. physically heavy) novels, then even on a week-long trip you'll be perfectly happy with 2 or 3 paperbacks which are cheap, light, can't break, and can't run out of battery. If you like to read the newspaper they're literally available for pennies, are on sale everywhere like 10 feet away from somewhere where you're gonna go in your day, come with color photos and color coded graphs and color coded information, etc.

Can anyone tell me any other realistic scenarios where an ebook reader is better than paper?
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I'm a fast reader. 200 pages an hour or so, and there are other people faster than me. I can carry 100 books on my mobile phone on a 4gb micro-SD the size of my thumb nail that cost me about £30. My mobile is always in my pocket, and the battery lasts for about 15 hours of reading. I can read it on the train or in the toilet or in bed, without needing to bring a book with me in advance. I can read it in bed without needing a night light that wakes my partner. Sometimes I don't read anything for a month, but it's still there, and I haven't been carrying around an unused heavy book.

Project Gutenberg has thousands of free books, and Baen Library has many other free e-books, and there are other places to get free books. If I don't like what I've currently loaded, I can go online with my mobile and get something else.

Yes the screen's small, and yes it isn't a fantastically decent screen (240x320 , and about 3 inches across) but it shows about 3 paragraphs at at time, which is enough. The most complex book I read on it was probably about half of Frazer's The Golden Bough.

For other people, an A4 or A5 size e-reader might be useful for reading college texts or technical documentation. I'd rather carry around and e-reader than 10 college books or 10 kilos of technical documentation.

E-readers do have their uses, but reading non-free fiction is perhaps the worst one. I've never paid for an e-book. I'd rather pay for a physical book I can put on my shelf.

Finally, if you're still dead against e-readers, then I ask you why do you bother using the internet at all? Might as well pay someone to print it out and put it in a book for you 😀
 
My parents in law are visiting and they brought their kindle with them. I was really amazed at how small it was, and how well thought out it's design/overall use is.
They said NY Times Bestsellers go for $9 and for them who like LARGE print the ease of selecting A6 font on anything they read was huge selling point (no pun intended).
Seeing it and using it a little bit definitely made me think that it has a future.
 
I'd definitely be interested in it if I wasn't a student. I'd use it to read PDFs if possible. I want to carry all my journal articles with me. Geeky, I know. You may argue about the price of eBooks compared to paperbacks, but paperbacks don't offer you the same convenience, or variety. It's not really comparable, nor would I dare to.
 
Lyle said:
One thing about the price tag that some people overlook is that it includes the wireless networking ("Whispernet") service, with no monthly fees. So depending on how good of a web browser it is, that could easily make up for the up-front price tag.
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Just to point out, this is likely not going to be the case much longer. I've read that there is already discussion about the best ways to charge for the service. At the very least, most of the things you can view and d/l now for free will not be that way much longer.

For one, I'll be buying physical books until they are outlawed. I love my library, I love flipping open a new book or a book from my past, I love the little stains of tea, I love the pile of books that I'm waiting to read, I love bookmarks, I love writing notes and underlining. Until recently I still got the Times delivered to my home... I love to hold what I'm reading and have tried but never enjoyed reading a tablet device.

Admittedly I'd rather go to a device like the Kindle for newspapers, but the Kindle is way too much for just that.

And

Iscariot said:
Do I really want to look like I'm carrying around a device from the eighties? The form factor has to be one of the most ill-conceived design decisions I've seen since...
Click to expand...

... doesn't help either.
 
I have it. The screen somewhat resembles real paper, making it easier on the eyes. Book downloads are quick and painless. The device is a little over priced, IMO.

I use it often, but hate the way the device looks. It's just ugly and akward, IMO.
 
Honestly, I just don't see any advantage of a dedicated e-book reader device. I can see the advantage of reading e-books over paper for some people in some situations. I can see the advantage of an "e-ink" type screen for some people in some situations. But I don't see how those two advantages make a dedicated e-book reader a worthwhile product.

If the advantage you like most about an e-book handheld is that you can have your books with you where ever you go, that same advantage is offered by any handheld or portable digital device because they can all run e-books.

If the advantage like most is the "e-ink" type screen, then that has nothing to do with the e-book reader itself. Display technology is evolving quickly these days and it won't be long before all portables and handhelds have qualities that closely match the e-ink displays, but can also do color and video. For instance, the kindle's screen is 167 ppi resolution, and the new hi-res screen option on the 17 inch MBP is now at 133 ppi. Higher PPI resolutions will now quickly filter down to all handhelds.

What is the advantage to a dedicated e-book reader? Who wants another single-use device to lug around?
 
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