Amazon Kindle (ebook thingy)

Purchasing eBooks can be easier/better than piracy, in the case of easily-reflowable stuff that's definitely better than a scanned PDF. But piracy makes the ebook deal publishers have with libraries seem completely insane. Like renting one of a limited number of licenses for a digital book is completely backwards and doomed.

Like if the choice is between installing a separate app, keying in my library card number, and hoping that all 12 "copies" of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire aren't
"checked out" right now and googling "harry potter epub"…

If you buy an ebook from Amazon, you can instantly read it on everything, and it always syncs your current page across the network. If you nick an ebook, you don't get that service. Syncing alone makes ebooks worth purchasing.

…unless the ebook is US$30 when the hardback is US$25, in which case stick it up your arse, I'll buy a different ebook instead.

is syncing across devices actually useful? how many devices do you actually read on? for me reading is only on my ereader, i couldn't imagine reading from my iphone (i tried but having to turn a page every tenth word is annoying) or my laptop (i spend more than enough time on it everyday).

I read on four devices, although not all in the same time period. Work PC if I'm reading something while working over lunch, my iPhone, Kindle I just got but am putting into the rotation, and iPad.

Yeah, syncing is pretty much essential for me.

my new kindle is acting up when it comes to syncing! I need to figure out what's up. It's bad enough that it doesn't get page positions shared unless I'm on wifi, and it doesn't like the wifi spots where you have to go to a webpage before getting on the internet

starting to wonder if it's the best kindle for me

I frequently finish chapters on my phone when I'm wedged on a tram or suchlike.

woah ok. just curious, which device do you use the most?

For reading? iPad, then iPhone. The Kindle got demoted when I started running out of room in my bag.

Prefer to read on Kindle device but sometimes easier to just carry phone. Syncing doesn't work anymore for me FROM the phone, only to the phone.

Yeah, the Kindle screen is the best for reading but I'll always go for utility, especially when I've only got my phone on me.

On the phone I have to close the book (i.e. drop to the menu) and give it a sync. Annoying.

ON IPHONE

Really? Mine auto-syncs when it opens

Is there a way to crack purchased e-books? The idea of purchasing the revocable right to read a book freaks me out.

I am tempted to give my kindle away. I mean, shit, I only use the kindle app anyway. Started reading books again. Which makes me happy.

Opened a new book on my Sony last night, was surprised to see that I was on "page -2113882248 of 1"

lol

my first nook reported the battery charge as 150000000%; I had to get it replaced.

They needed it for secret experiments

Yeah, I guess 510 years of battery life would have been handy.

That would be the Kindle Viriconium model.

love this guy's expression. and man does he look uncomfortable in that position.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2012/03/05/business/readingjump/readingjump-articleLarge.jpg

pretty sure i have that futon

ugh packing for a trip & wishing i had a kindle. i have like 4 big ass books I would like to bring for my long ass flight...

My fire is really just my quick info/surf/ilx device at this point.

Can anyone recommend a good case for the Kindle (in this case, a keyboardless Kindle 4)? The Amazon ones are expensive and the cheaper ones mostly have good reviews but the bad reviews are still putting me off because it's a gift for my mother, again.

Like, if I get dye smears on my own Kindle that's no big deal, if the clasp magnet (why do they all have either clasp magnets or flimsy elastic which covers the buttons?) ruins the screen then that's annoying but I am prepared to shout at customer services and hope for a replacement, but I'd feel bad about getting something that did either as a gift for someone.

By "case" I mean cover, ideally like the leather covers where you can read it when it's still in, but tbh my old Kindle just has one it lives in when it's not in use instead of getting dusty, and it's been fine for me

So you're looking for more of a folio-style one than a pouch to store it in? I have a padded pouch that I got at Target that I quite like.

Yeah, I was thinking a folio-style cover seems... smarter, somehow? Sorry for lack of clarity, have spent so long today typing "kindle" + synonyms of "cover" into Amazon/Google in the hope of finding something perfect which I'd previously missed that I forgot to use the most helpful one in my post

I guess they are always on it so it's more protection of some sort, but I think adding anything to the device while actually using it is a waste, unless it makes propping it up or holding it easier in some way. I think my mom has one of the folder things for iPad and it just seems like a huge pain in the ass

clasp magnets ruin the screen? shit

Sorry for alarmist post! I have seen like 500 positive reviews for clasp magnets and 2 reviews saying theirs damaged the screen pretty much instantly, so I think if that hasn't happened you're fine and maybe two people were unlucky and got one with a freakishly super-strong magnet. BUT I get paranoid when gift-buying...

I got this, very cheap and does the job and so far hasn't killed my screen

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLACK-LEATHER-CASE-COVER-WALLET-AMAZON-KINDLE-4-4TH-GENERATION-2011-/270841270074?pt=UK_iPad_Tablet_Accessories&hash=item3f0f65cf3a

thanks onimo and mh! An ILXor's recommendation is worth 500 crazy people on Amazon.

(plus I know you've had it a while and used it, whereas I guess I worry that internet customer review writers open the box and immediately sit down to compose their review based on approx 3 seconds of viewing. maybe not Amazon so much but Argos customer reviews drive me crazy because half of them start "bought this today it looks good" and I would rather know whether it fell apart a month later)

I have Belkin case for previous generation and it has worked out OK for me.

i have this one and i like it - i'd get a darker color though because i have the light gray one and it's lookin a little grubby
http://www.myincipio.com/Amazon-Kindle-3-Cases-Accessories/Incipio-Amazon-Kindle-3-kaddy-Folio.asp

They mysteriously don't have the 4th gen-sized one on their site but I have a black one of these, I think:
http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=527251

Supplier sales suggest Kindle sales have fallen off a cliff http://seekingalpha.com/article/557151-kindle-sales-plunge-made-amazon-com-s-gross-margin-look-better?source=yahoo

Kindle Fire's pretty good, though

My 2nd Kindle screen died (most pixels were locked on a screensaver) in 14 months, just out of warranty, and his 3rd Kindle screen died in the same manner in two weeks. This seems fairly common.

http://cflove.org/warehouse/UserImages/IMG.jpg

Fortunately, the warranty replacement is prompt if you contact Kindle support (not Amazon service) by telephone. Still neat devices, still fill a useful niche that lcd-screen tablets cannot, but the reliability is atrocious.

I've had mine (2nd gen) for over 3 years now without a single problem. My stepmother just replaced her 1st gen one a month ago - it's still working fine though, she just wanted one with wifi.

http://craigmod.com/journal/hack_the_cover/

good thing

it sure is easy to publish kindle book

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089N21OS

as I am an amazon prime member, I will be reading this for free soon

I recently got an iPad and I am enjoying reading e-books on it, and I want to be more staunchly in favor of them but it's bothering me that you can't borrow and lend so many of them! A friend has a book I'd like to read and she'd like to lend it to me, but it is impossible and that irks me.

piracy for sure

There's money to be made for someone who knows how to set up a system whereby you can buy US-only ebooks from outside the US: they buy them from Amazon for you, and then send you the file in your electronically fenced-off third world country like Australia