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Amazon Releases Kindle for Mac Application
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There is a difference between browsing a website and reading a novel. Website is animated, has a lot of pretty pictures and colors and the texts are always short and precise. It's a lot harder to keep focus on lcd screen than on paper. This is why when writting anything longer, it's always a very good idea to do the last couple rounds of editing and spellchecking on a printed version of your work. Trust me, you will catch errors and weird phrases that you didn't notice even after reading the damn thing 5 times on your monitor.
Now...reading on LCD can still be enjoyable, but that's not the question here, the point is it won't be as enjoyable as on paper or e-ink. Even a website article, most people would prefer to read it on magazine than on a website.
How much will that difference be worth to somebody will determine if he's willing to spend extra cash on dedicated reader or will be settle for multipurpose device
No NEXT button!
What a crummy browser! There is a back button but no next button.
So with my MacBook, I must use the two finger gesture to scroll through the text, which is a delicate operation making it difficult to read a book.
I guess Kindle for Mac must be really designed to be used on the iPad with the touch screen. Hopefully the book I just bought will transfer to the iPad when it arrives.
What a crummy browser! There is a back button but no next button.
So with my MacBook, I must use the two finger gesture to scroll through the text, which is a delicate operation making it difficult to read a book.
I guess Kindle for Mac must be really designed to be used on the iPad with the touch screen. Hopefully the book I just bought will transfer to the iPad when it arrives.
These rants are irrelevant to the subject at hand.
The Ford F-150 can carry/tow a lot more than your Lexus LS i.e. Aperture here represent a load, which your LS [iPad] can't handle so if you start something, but don't expect people to be smart... don't use it.
What I mean, and this article is about; The Kindle application for Mac will turn your Mac Book [Pro] into a simple e-reader. Just like the iPad, but a Mac Book [Pro] can do so much more. Like running Aperture or say... iLife because the iPad also has a photo application, which is nothing compared to the real thing i.e. iPhoto and thus don't be so harsh when people see more use for a Mac Book. Especially when the new Kindle application does a great job for them.
Correction. This thread is about the "Kindle [app] for Mac" i.e. Mac Book et all. It has nothing to do with the iPad!
Says who? The person who compares cars with Mac's and iPad's and adds phones into this conversation with his:
"Maybe in your world a reader can only do one thing, but surprise, there are phones now that do more than make calls and, hey, they are called...phones."
p.s. Thank you for the insult. Oh and that are smart phone. Not just phones.
I certainly understand your comments, but I think that many people who have never read a book on either are just speculating. I've actually read for awhile on my iPhone with an eReader for extended periods of time without any problems. I think, as a general statement, that e-ink would be easier on the eyes in the long-run, but it really will depend on the user. I know some who wish their Kindles were back-lit! You can't make everyone happy.
I believe the iPad as a reader will be much better than a MacBook, especially when it comes to portability and battery life. But, just as the Kindle App for the iPhone is a good supplement to the Kindle to catch up on a few pages when the Kindle isn't handy, the Macbook app will fill those in-between times more often than it will be the primary reader.
I'll give it a shot...what the heck, right?
No Kindle books on my iBook then! I really am going to have to start thinking about a MacBook Pro one of these days.
those are all superficial differences. When reading all you do is look at screen and read. And there's no diffrence in that basic activity between iPad or laptop. The most basic function is the same, while the most basic function of those two cars is driving and experience of it is completely different on both.
There are some small advantages of iPad over Macbook when reading, but they're small and don't make much of a difference in the end. if one can read comfortably on iPad, he can do the same with Macbook, it won't be exactly as good, but the basic experience is very close
I read on variety of devices, I'm just a real book freak
. I'm a different breed for most tech geeks I guess (Steve's comment about people not reading anymore, while obviously overblown describes the typical modern customer well). When having to choose between print and e-ink I don't care, they're both as good in my book. While I often read on lcds (laptops, phones and tablets), when having a choice between them and print I will always choose print.That's why Kindle has been such success, while non e-ink ebook readers all crashed and burned before. It provides viable replacement of reading on paper.That's why personaly don't think iPad will eat into Kindle market much , as majority of their customers have chosen e-ink because it's not lcd. What I think will happen is that the new wave of tablets (including iPad) will convince people who aren't heavy readers/ebook maniacs to try ebooks. People who aren't into reading heavily enough to bother with dedicated one-purpose device.
I think all the tablet hoopla will do great things to ebooks, but not by cannibalizing the existing market, but instead by expanding it and opening it up to a brand new audience.
I don't think so....my parents and in-laws each have Kindles and swear by them...they have macs as well, but they would never give up the Kindle...it will have its market, and the price will come down...but it's all about selling the books, not the devices....nice to have choices!!
Updates will improve this app, overall it's nice to see Amazon trying. They still have a ways to to go yet.
Funny, I stare at a computer screen for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week at work, and several hours at home, and my eyes are never strained. Most of my time on the computer is spent reading some sort of text.
The myth of eye strain is something concocted by the e-ink market to make their product more appealing. There are benefits to it, like increased battery life and readability in sunlight. However everyone I know sits in front of a computer for 8+ hours a day and doesn't have any problem with eye strain.
I really wish this myth would die.
Notion Ink's Adam tablet has a Pixel Qi screen. Should be out in a few months. Should be cheaper than an iPad.
I think the point of this is to round out the options. Reletively few will buy books to read on their Mac, but people you buy books will be happy to have the option. Personally, I'd never read a novel on a computer, but for reference/computer books this is great.
Hmm, this I can believe. Might try it sometime.
(I tend to read long wikipedia articles rather than flashy websites, but I'm also open to the possibility that I'm harming my eyes with the amount of computer staring I do in a day.)
I'm not buying the iPad primarily as an e-book reader so I don't really have a dog in this fight. I'm just still not sure how I feel about the eyestrain argument (that it's any worse than any other screen-staring).
It's not a myth. This has been known for many years. LCDs issues include spectral distribution, flickering, more recognizable pixels and patterns, increased brightness, polarization and "wrong" binocular cues. When your eyes adjust to this, it causes your eyesight to deteriorate.
Your opinion does not eliminate years of research into this.
Other e-ink ebook readers crashed and burned as well. I don't think e-ink was the big innovation. I think Amazon made a successful ereader because they did a good job making a device that was comfortable to read on and combined it with a great ecosystem for acquiring books.
It's pretty obvious to me that the LCD-causes-eye-strain argument is a myth -- I and millions other put the lie to this when we read LCD screens for numerous hours daily. IMO, their biggest advantage is that they conserve battery life so well when the screen image doesn't change -- an important advantage for ebook reading only (conversely, the very slow refresh lag is a terrible disadvantage for almost any other purpose.
I think the iPad will be a better, more comfortable reader than the Kindle (I'm making some assumptions about battery life with this prediction). But the Kindle still has a superior ecosystem: more books, cheaper books, available on-the-go without extra costs. I think the Kindle will continue to rule the ebook reader market, at least for a while.
I read a lot, and my experience is that I can go for maybe an hour on the iPhone app and 2-3 hours on a Kindle (basically comparable to a book) before experiencing the beginnings of eyestrain. I'll be using the Kindle app on my iMac, which has a nice screen. I expect I'll more be using it to read a few pages here and there between other tasks rather than literally sitting at my computer to read an entire novel. The nice thing about all these Kindle apps and the Kindle itself is that they sync whatever you're reading to the last page read on any device.
Totally agree.
Excellent; Amazon is supporting this in NZ even though the Kindle itself isn't available here. I believe that this marks the first official eBook shop here (or at least the first that I've heard of)
Edit: Confirmed working in NZ with a very big selection of books (almost 700k!)
Edit 2: Wait, no, it's more like 350k; the "categories" have duplicates. It's still a lot to launch with though.
You can access the whole 'U.S' library by changing the Address to 'United States'. This is what I did and it works for me..
Apple can easily compete with Amazon outside the US, we here in Europe have to pay $2,40 extra for each transaction. That is meant to cover data roaming but we still have to pay it when bought via wifi.
plug: $0,99 graphic novel only for US citizen, the rest needs to pay $3,44
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00359FCN8
plug: $0,99 graphic novel only for US citizen, the rest needs to pay $3,44
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00359FCN8
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Try turning the brightness of your lcd monitor to max and stare at it for 1 hour non-stop and see if your eye's don't strain. The turn it down to 25% and you instantly feel relieved.
Why are these the parameters of the test? Are we assuming that the iPad doesn't have any brightness controls and that the 'white on black' mode in the tech specs is a lie?
What do you mean? Of course there are both forward and back buttons. Hover the mouse over the area to the right or left of the page.
That's an argument against staring at lights that are too bright, not an argument that LCD displays cause eye-strain.
I agreee that backlit displays should have a brightness control. (Ideally a good automatic one + manual controls for when the automatic brightness isn't optimal.)