Who's Buying Kindle 2?

[Yanwoo]

I've already pre-ordered. Very excited about getting it.

As with most things, pros and cons. I'm on a mission to go paperless and this is one more step on my journey.

I tend to prefer to try gadgets that operate in a 'new' space, rather than try and guess whether it'll work for me.

It always amazes me how strongly held the opinions are on forums likes this when most haven't even experienced it.

 

[Macbimmer]

I've already ordered my K2. I've had a K1 for a year and love it. The size is perfect. Having a couple dozens reading options with me all the time is as important as having a couple hundred (or thousand) songs with me all the time on my iTouch. I'll watch a movie on the Touch, but reading an entire book would be a drag. Reading on the Kindle is easy on the eyes, hands, and posture. If you've never held one and tried one, you shouldn't be slamming it. If you like reading, try it. You'll be hooked on Kindle like we're hooked on Mac's, iTouch, iPhones, and this web site.

 

[alphaod]

Of course.

Love the fact that we first generation get priority

Oh and with $4 overnight shipping of course.

 

[pellets007]

I can understand the attraction. But, what am I paying $360 (+each e-book) for? I'll stick with paperback.

 

[Scottsdale]

My step-dad reads a book every 2 or 3 days. If he had a Kindle, he could go on vacation without bringing 3 novels with him, and a bunch of magazines. He'd probably never need to charge his battery during his trip either, since a charged Kindle can handle 8000-10,000 page flips before running out of battery power.

So, cannot he just take three novels? Would it really make a difference in a suitcase for that extra book or two (most people carry around one and same as one kindle).

Music is SOOOO very different. The iPod just makes sense. I guess, as a read of newspaper articles, that makes far more sense than a book. I would prefer my book over a kindle. I guess, if it saves newspapers and such, that would be a good feature... I want to see the photos and etc in a magazine though. I don't get the magazine either.

I guess, I think the computer is a good spot to read some articles on a better display with millions of colors and photos included.

I get the newspaper part more than anything for certain, when it comes to the kindle.

I do a little web browsing, but my iPhone works for that if I am out and about.

Best wishes to you all who buy it. I hope you get your money's worth...

 

[alphaod]

I do a little web browsing, but my iPhone works for that if I am out and about.

But is your iPhone internets free?

 

[LizKat]

Usually I am a big fan of small gadgets, but for reading books and magazines, I like the paper. I like the feel of the magazine paper and the binding of the books. I like being able to roll a magazine or newspaper into the corner of a tote bag on the way out the door and not worry about harming it. I like leaving these things around the house open to wherever I left off. It's the only way I manage to get through them. And when I run into something from 2007 I know it's time to do some serious spring cleaning...

OK so maybe I'm the potential customer for the flat rollup electronic reading device, like those rollup plastic veggie cutting board things. Whatever. I just definitely don't like reading books on little screens attached to rigid frames or boxes!

 

[macmee]

There is no Kindle in Canada!

 

[Adokimus]

yup, a 3.5" screen is AWESOME for casual reading....

+1

I think I will stick with my Touch, even though I do not use it for reading books.

Exactly the point. You don't use it to read books. Almost no one does. The touch is a different market. You could have said you will stick with french fries, even though you don't use them for reading books.

Then I guess Jobs was right---nobody reads anymore. (Size of a Kindle screen is the size of a decent paperback).

Unfortunately he was onto something, but here's to Amazon proving him wrong and providing some hope.

Do people who say that an iPhone could be an eReader have any idea what e-ink is?

<snip>

...nope


To be fair, until I saw the sony reader in person and (mistakenly) thought that it had a printed demo screen painted on it, I didn't know about it either. It's amazing how much it looks like a non-electronic printed screen, even in sunlight. Then there's battery life, screen size, etc.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Exactly the point. You don't use it to read books. Almost no one does. The touch is a different market. You could have said you will stick with french fries, even though you don't use them for reading books.

The main reason I bought a Touch was for e-books which I read with the fabulous Stanza. I replaced a Palm TX whose main purpose was the same before it. Just because you personally don't find the Touch to be useful for this purpose doesn't translate to "Almost no one does."

I quickly scanned this thread and I'm not sure if someone mentioned it but the Touch's backlight allowing one to read in the dark without attaching a light is another big advantage for me over the Kindle.

For other Touch e-book readers out there I recommend you set to white text on a black background for best battery life. Anyway, e-book reading is the among the least battery draining purposes I use the Touch for.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Thank you, Abstract, for helping explain the advantages of a Kindle (or similar device). I would LOVE to get a Kindle. Sadly, it would be more for the tech-geek side of me than for the reader. I only read 12-15 books a year, so I can't justify the price for reading alone. Maybe someday...

 

[Mjmar]

The Kindle seems great for people that read a lot. If you don't read much it's not for you. It's funny how hype can make someone want something that they normally wouldn't even consider.

 

[NT1440]

The more i think of it, the better it seems. The main drawback is the content available, I doubt theres a whole lot of the kind of thing I'm interested in. Is there a site that lists the available content?

Also, does the kindle have college textbooks available, that would be a GREAT feature for college students.

 

[Ozzhead]

I'll stick to my audio book in the iphone.

 

[tobefirst ⚽️]

Is there a site that lists the available content?

Link

 

[Abstract]

For other Touch e-book readers out there I recommend you set to white text on a black background for best battery life.

That doesn't do anything.

Your Touch doesn't use a CRT display.

The more i think of it, the better it seems. The main drawback is the content available, I doubt theres a whole lot of the kind of thing I'm interested in. Is there a site that lists the available content?

That's where the internet comes into play. Do you know how much I look at my iGoogle homepage? I get Engadget RSS feeds to my Firefox, and an iGoogle homepage with all my business news, tech, sports, and world news. However, if I had a newspaper subscription and blog access all the time from Amazon and Sprint, I'd get that feed wherever I was in the country (if I lived in the US). Wouldn't that be pretty darned good?

So, cannot he just take three novels? Would it really make a difference in a suitcase for that extra book or two (most people carry around one and same as one kindle).

You're right. A suitcase can easily fit 2 novels (he gets hardcovers and softcovers), 4 magazines, and a newspaper. The other newspapers that come to his home the day he leaves for vacation can sit at his doorstep.

 

[budkid]

ill stick to paper!

 

[8767092]

I thought about buying one because I am such a gadget nut, but I don't really know all that much about what content is available.

1) What content is available at no extra fee with the Kindle? (Example: Newspapers, magazines, or other "printed" material.)

2) What text formats does the Kindle accept that can be loaded from a computer? Does it support Mac OS X to load from a computer?

3) Where can I buy content for the Kindle besides Amazon.com? I don't like only having one store to buy from.

I could definitely see scanning my books I already have to put on the Kindle via OCR. The device itself looks very nice due to the connectivity if there is enough advertising supported content available at no fee.

I look at the Kindle a lot like I do my AppleTV so far. The content is too expensive for my tastes, but it might be good for me to use with content such as ripped DVDs on my AppleTV.

 

[macpluslaptop]

1) What content is available at no extra fee with the Kindle? (Example: Newspapers, magazines, or other "printed" material.)

2) What text formats does the Kindle accept that can be loaded from a computer? Does it support Mac OS X to load from a computer?

3) Where can I buy content for the Kindle besides Amazon.com? I don't like only having one store to buy from.

Check out this site: http://manybooks.net . It's a resource for free (public domain) e-texts, and you can put them on a Kindle. You can also put your own docs on a Kindle, or pdfs, and you don't need to go through Amazon to do that. You can also buy books in the .mobi format for Kindle and don't need to use Amazon to do so.

I got interested in e-books after I realized how much I enjoyed putting books on my iphone through Stanza. But it's frustrating to read a couple of square inches of text at a time.

I'm getting a Kindle through work now. I also looked seriously at the less expensive BeBook, which is open source. But Amazon is poised to open this up in a big way (even now you can add your own docs to it, and you can add texts from other sources, so the proprietary issues are overblown.) Eventually, most of Amazon's inventory will be available for Kindle, and that will give them a Netflix-like advantage because Amazon is already the most reliable source for obtaining books. I've half given up on libraries and bricks & mortar stores.

This kind of device will be ubiquitous once it's cheap enough for mass sales. It's a fantastic idea.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I thought the idea of an eReader and e-ink was a joke, but after seeing the Sony eReader at Best Buy I am sold.

I agree with those that read the newspaper on a daily basis. You know.... those of us that like to stay in the loop of current events and all. Being able to do that is enough for me to get one, and there are plenty of books that I'd be reading now if I could find them easily.

The sad part is that the K1 and K2 are fugly as sin. Fugly as original sin to be honest. I do wish that the Sony version had the free 3G though and/or the Kindle was designed better and with a touch screen, so I may just sit back for another cycle and see what happens.

 

[Consultant]

Not me.

Already got my 17" iPod and ebook reader: MBP 17"

 

[alphaod]

I should point out that half of this isn't about saving money buy books; it's about not having to carry a ton of books and being able find the books you can want to read easily.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Not me.

Already got my 17" iPod and ebook reader: MBP 17"

Nice, how is that for turning pages one handed while standing on the bus?

 

[vga4life]

Not me! Even if I did read, which I don't because Steve Jobs told me nobody reads anymore, I'd just load txt files onto my 1st-gen iPod nano. Screen size and type don't matter for extended reading of text, plus it's 95% shinier than the Kindle.

But again, that's just what I would do, if I read. Which I don't. No one does. In fact, you're not reading this right now - I assume you downloaded the audiobook of this post from iTunes. I'm nt even reaidng tihs as I tpye!@

 

[jayselle]

I'm getting one. Even if you don't like it you can always sell it as the resale value is phenomenal. I would like to read more especially when traveling but I hate carrying books with me. I enjoy reading the paper in the morning too. I also get instant gratification. I want a book; I own in 60 seconds later.

I've tried reading on the iPhone and it's wears my eyes out after about an hour not to mention the constant page turning as it only displays a half page at a time.

Being able to book mark pages and take notes will be handy. No more shuffling through my large collection of books and then flipping through pages looking for highlighter marks.

I find it comical how some people are so passionately against it. Have you tried it? Everyone I know that's ever used one loves it. Yeah, it's expensive but so was the iPod in 2001; were you still clutching to your CD's (or were you 8 years old at that time )