Amazon Kindle (ebook thingy)

Why e-readers will soon cost less than $100.
http://www.slate.com/id/2263787/

REAL BOOKS ARE STILL BETTER.

this is seriously my only hold-out— i won't ever fucking buy one of these things. books belong on paper.

how much do books cost on these things? What are the selections like?

http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Books/b/ref=sa_menu_kbo3?ie=UTF8&node=1286228011

And Jaq - I think your friends are lying. No way would I rather read on an iPad.

friend of mine is thinking of getting one since he's gonna be going to africa for a few months and wants to bring hell of books with him

― i like to fart and i am crazy (gbx), Friday, May 8, 2009 2:33 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark

still think travel is the A#1 selling point on these things---def gonna get one if/when i'm abroad for any substantial amount of time again

And Jaq - I think your friends are lying. No way would I rather read on an iPad.

I think so too - I held an iPad the other day, so much bulkier and heavier. The Kindle is light, easy to turn pages or hold w/ one hand, no glare problems, etc.

I checked out the B&N Nook the other day - pretty cool except the contrast really sucks, everything you read feels like it's printed on cheap grayish recycled paper, like standardized test paper. wonder how much improved the new Kindle is.

I like my iPad just fine for longform reading, especially cause in landscape mode it gives you the full 'spread'. but yeah it's kind of heavy and only good for at home etc.

No way would I rather read on an iPad.

― Kindle hardware designer, Thursday, August 12, 2010 6:49 PM

haha

I totally see the appeal of a Kindle. I've never seen an iPad though

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/hsc1792l.jpg

downloaded a few free books from project gutenberg for plane ride tomorrow to test it out. kindle has two flights to win me over.

I've been using PDAs for reading books since 2003, going from a Franklin eBookman to a Palm Zire to an iPod Touch, and I'm really not sure why people think they need dedicated hardware for this sort of thing.

reading on an iphone is the absolute worst

I like it. Even better with iPhone 4.

Massively so. Text on the retina display looks like its on glowing paper. No jaggies, nothing.

REAL BOOKS ARE STILL BETTER.

this is seriously my only hold-out— i won't ever fucking buy one of these things. books belong on paper.

― a repulsive person and/or a repulsive sphincter (the table is the table), Friday, 13 August 2010 08:33 (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I thought ebooks were the stupidest thing ever until two weeks ago when I got my iPhone 4 and actually tried reading one. Now I'm so impressed that I'm about to buy a dedicated ebook reader.

Can you explain the appeal?

What kind of reading habits do you have?

What do you read?

Sorry, I thought the multiple disclosures up-thread had me covered.
I also own an iPhone 4, but I don't read books on it.

So what is that for? corporate espionage?

Dropping calls. *rimshot*

I have the Kindle app on my android phone, but reading the e-ink display of the Kindle doesn't give me eyestrain like the phone display. The larger display of the Kindle with a larger font size cuts way down on the motion sickness I usually get reading on the bus, while reading on the phone makes it worse.

I would install reader on my pathetic iPhone 3, but there is jelly on the screen that I can't seem to get off.

I can still answer calls though

With the iPhone, try setting your reader app to display white or colored text on black--try green or, better yet, amber. This should ease the eyestrain a bit. (And use Night Mode when you use Zing Touch.)

(I meant Dark Theme, of course.)

I have a K2, and only use it while traveling. It has two purchased texts, and about 300 classics for which I paid nothing, and I hope it will spare me from having to build more shelving for a few years.

Recommended hotlinked directories of public domain and creative commons works (download URLs for kindle):

http://www.feedbooks.com/kindleguide
http://freekindlebooks.org/MagicCatalog/magiccatalog.html (download the mobi edition)

Dude! Dark theme rules! Thanks for the tip. And of course the REAL answer to why I have an iPhone is Zing.

The main appeal for me right now is travel. In a few weeks I'll be in the middle of nowhere for a month, flying all over the place and with a reasonable amount of spare time on my hands. I can't lug around half a dozen books due to luggage weight restrictions. The two ebook readers I'm eyeing off atm weigh under 250g, which is less than two ordinary paperbacks, and their e-ink screens last ages on a single charge (important coz I'll have unreliable electricity most of the time).

I carry my iPod everywhere I go; I'm sitting on the toilet right now. I still have a bunch of 'books' (many, if not most, are short stories/novellas) from a Fictionwise buying binge that ended a few months ago, and I'm working through them at the rate of 30,000 words a week, a very slow rate for me--I was getting through 50,000 words during a 12-hour work shift for a while there.

http://maestro-sec.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/xbox-360-toilet.jpg

Can you explain the appeal?
Is like the difference between having CDs and having MP3s. Can do so much I can't easily with books: I can take notes and highlights and have them automatically pulled out into an index or transferred to Mac for searching/reference. Can search back through text to find first mention of characters etc. Can pull up definition of unfamiliar words with one press. Can read in the dark. Can see what other readers have been highlighting in the same text (Amazon could take this sort of stuff to amazing places. Collaborative marginalia. Author's notes and clarifications).

Also, like MP3s, now have novels I'm reading *everywhere*. In an unexpected queue or taxi? Have *all* the novels I'm reading in my pocket.

What kind of reading habits do you have?
Read a lot, daily.

What do you read?
Fiction, non-fiction and philosophy.

starting to get kind of tempted by the Kindle :/
can't afford it right now anyways but might ask for one for xmas or something

i didn't realise this thing was as cheap as it was, now i'm considering this.

make it under a hundred and i'll buy one

stet which reader do you prefer?

Don't have an actual Kindle, the ones I've played with are nice but the flash, slow refresh and keyboard bug me. On the iPad Kindle app >>>> iBooks app in nearly every way except some of the source material, which is typeset really shoddily by Amazon and better by Apple)

I agree.

I have never used a Kindle, but moving four bookshelves of books recently made me realize how nice it would be to have one.

yeah, the price is getting there. I do appreciate the physical aspect of books and piles of books taking over my apartment, but...

1. Would be nice to be able to set the type to a nice size for reading (having a harder and harder time with small type in some books)
2. Integrated dictionary, right?
3. Free, portable, access to the bulk of classic lit via Project Gutenberg etc

the price is right now (I'd prefer £99 obv but I'm not going to begrudge that extra £10) as is the form (much more attractive/less unseemly looking now)

srsly considering buying one

apparently the magazine subscriptions (economist eg) aren't great value for money tho, which is disappointing

Meh, I think I read two "books" on the Kindle. I have an ipad but doubt I'll read books on there. I prefer to read actual books to be honest.

I bought a Kobo and I'm stoked. Using it daily. Already churned through 1.5 books (not counting half of Under the Dome because it was rubbish). Obv I'll read paper books again but the reduced weight and having the option to read stuff I can't get hold of in the shops is wonderful.

Took ipad on holiday and it was superb compared to my old case o' books. IPad screen is shit in sunlight though, so might just get a Kindle after all.

Not aimed at you stet but why do people refer to Apple products as though they were people? 'I am using iPad', 'I left iPhone on the bus', 'I have pushed iPod Shuffle up my bottom' etc etc.

I was just being lazy there, but it's also official Apple style - you see it in all their copy, it's very rare to see "The iPhone is", it's almost always "iPhone is". Started with iPod.

hah that grammar directive actually comes directly from Apple itself. apple views i-N as strong, proper nouns so they don't need articles or possessive pronouns.

xp

I see the point you're both making but it's more than a little bit creepy.