eBook Reader help

I'm eventually going to get an iPad, but I'm waiting for the next iTeration.

Why the iHatred for the iProducts? Apple really does design some good iProducts. :madgrin:

 

What formats are the e-books from your library? Amazon has been expanding what the Kindle can read... I can load PDF's and text files on it without a problem, and it's also supposed to support mobi files (although i haven't tried this). The eInk technology is amazing - Amazon really did a good job. I get any books i order in seconds (in fact, i pre-ordered a book a few weeks ago that arrived while i was sleeping last night!).

If you want, we could look into "test driving" an e-book from your library and see if it'll work on the Kindle...

 

funny, 2 years ago, we investigated getting one. but all had limitations of what they could read. we were waiting for something that would be "all encompassing" or at least, could do more. PDF's do cover a lot, but anyway, the only progress we have made is the purchase of another dozen books....on paper.

have not looked into anything in the recent past, but thinking that Google has to be developing something. they are pushing digitalization of all print matter, they are pushing the browser and cellphone market so e-readers seems like the next logical direction.

 

According to the Amazon Kindle DX page:

There are only two down sides to the Kindle: It's expensive; and you cannot pass along a book you've bought to someone else, as you can with a print book.

There are some limitations: B&W only (though the image resolution is excellent). Some magazine and newspaper publishers choose not to include all their content in their Kindle version. It's EXCELLENT for reading straight text, as in novels and magazine articles, but not well suited for reference books, and not good for art in spite of its good B&W resolution.

From reviews, the Kindle 2 has poor contrast. The Kindle 1 and the DX have excellent contrast.

I read something like 3 or 4 books on my last trip and had several more to choose from in case I didn't like some. I'd never have wanted the weight of that many books on a trip. When I'm wearing my distance glasses (in an airport or doctor's waiting room or waiting for a haircut, whatever) I set the font size larger and I don't have to keep switching glasses.

Most of these advantages will apply to any ebook reader. e-Ink is a jillion times easier on the eyes for extended reading than is a computer screen such as the iPad. If you read a lot, and can afford one, you'll love an ebook reader. Go to the web site of any reader you're considering and see if they have any way to actually see one in your city, to make sure the contrast is good on that particular model. Or go to Amazon and read the user reviews for the reader you are considering. They are not glowing for the Sony. (I tried including a link, but one link to Amazon is transformed by this board's software into three ugly graphics. I'll let you do your own search on Amazon.) One of the reviewers explains the extreme difficulty of setting up the software for getting protected Adobe ePub books from the library, and uninstalling the software if you change your mind about it. I personally am EXTREMELY reluctant to install proprietary software when it's required for something that really should not require it. E.g., I can download Kindle books directly to the Kindle wirelessly, or I can download them to my computer, without special software. I can download free ebooks from several sources just as easily (though then there is no wireless delivery, and there are not a lot of free ebooks I really want to read.) Why does the library require me to install software I'd never heard of if I want to read their books? Probably so they can delete the book from my computer after the loan period. Somebody else's software deleting files from my computer??? No thank you.

Anyway, check out the user reviews on Amazon for all the different readers.

I seldom read print books any more. Reading on the Kindle is just so much easier. (Though print books from the library are cheaper. )

 

One more thing to add... Amazon has 1.8 million free, out of copyright books, including some great classics by authors like Jules Verne, Alexandre Dumas, HG Wells, Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Mary Shelley and many more. Needless to say, I've been going back and reading all those free books of which I'm acquainted with the storyline, but never actually read

 

sounds like Kindle has a lot more going for it now than when i looked at it. not sure its worth the money. how much are current books. what is the discount over the paper version?. can you store books u buy on your home computer?

 

(I have no ebook reader and am not into such things.)

Why not the Kindle? It's $189 and I think its biggest advantage is that you can get your books wirelessly w/o involving a computer at all.

Sony's been on the ebook reader business for a long time and never got much traction, despite their retail prescence. Maybe it's because of marketing and because of dependence on the PC?

 

I'll try to answer these questions for you.

Cost of books: Feel free to browse yourself to match your interests, but I don't think i've paid more than $10 for a book, and probably not very many that were even that expensive. Under their "Hot new releases" category, "The Girl who kicked the hornets nest" is $9.99 for the Kindle, $11.92 for the hardback edition from Amazon, and lists at $27.95. If we look at something a little older, like "It" by Stephen King, the Kindle price is $7.99, while print price is $8.99 from Amazon.

So all in all... a discount of 10-20% off hard copies from Amazon, significantly more off the list price (does anyone pay list anymore though?).


Storing books: You don't need to store them on your home computer (which may get a virus, or a bard hard drive and lose all your stuff...) - you can download them for free as many times as you want wirelessly to your device. Simply "archive" the item (which removes it from your device), and later restore it from the archive, which downloads it again.

That said, you can store and view them on your computer (or on multiple computers) with their "Kindle for X" software - just replace X with blackberry, iPhone, android, mac or PC. All are equipped with the "whisper sync" technology, that updates last location read across all your devices. So i could read the kindle in bed, put it down, walk over to my desktop and pick up where i left off. Head out to the family room and my laptop and continue, then out to the car (as a passenger!) and finish the book on my iPhone. All of their reading apps are free for your devices.

 

I got 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as a free Kindle book. It was so boring I quit reading halfway through. But I got His Majesty's Dragon free and ended up buying the rest of the series because I liked it so much.

Current books range from free (some authors want you to give them a try, and sometimes book 1 of a series is free) to maybe $12 or $15. Amazon does not set prices. The publisher sets the price. Amazon encourages publishers to charge $9.99 for new-releases and best sellers, but not all of them do. Lots and lots and lots of books are in the $6 to $7 range.

You can transfer books and magazines back and forth between your Kindle and your computer freely. Once you've bought a book, you can download it again at any time. (But not periodicals: those you can save to your computer but after a short period they will no longer be available for download.) You can download your books & periodicals directly to the Kindle if you are in the U.S. and within the range of the wireless service (Sprint for my Kindle DX, but I think maybe it's AT&T for later units.) You can download them to your computer off the internet and then transfer them to your Kindle.

HOWEVER, the free samples (available for every book) are ONLY available over the wireless network. You cannot download free samples directly to your computer. I have no idea why. I discovered this while accessing my Kindle account via the internet while traveling outside the U.S.

Once you buy a book it's yours to keep forever, but I believe it's copy-protected to your individual Kindle and cannot be loaded onto someone else's.

The Kindle is expensive. So is the Prius if you compare it to a 4-year-old Civic. Library books are free. It's all a matter of what you can afford. For me (I can afford it) the Kindle is the best toy I've bought since I got my scuba gear (which cost a lot more and gets used less -- and there's much less risk of drowning while using the Kindle ).

 

iEnvy?

 

So did I, including the one that just came out today Now, to finish my current book so I can go read that one!

 

It looks like that's a result of the DRM placed on the eBooks, not anything inherent to the readers themselves. Just goes to show, DRM is bad!

 

Our Sacramento Public Library offers eBook titles for free download, but the Adobe software that you must install first for access made me decide that it wasn't worth it.

 

No, not afraid, mostly annoyed. They have annoying (and unnecessary) installation software for their apps on the Mac. Most Mac apps are very straightforward to install when they use the standard Mac installer, but Adobe insists on using their own installers that don't work very well.

 

I am afraid of ANY software capable of deleting files from my computer without my express permission. I can accept DRM (though I don't like it) but what does that Adobe program do at the end of the loan period? I'd rather go to the library and take out real books than "borrow" ebooks under a program like that.

Of course, I understand the issue: They are loaning out books that are still under copyright, whose publishers expect to be paid if you are going to be able to keep a copy or share it with friends. I just choose not to participate. As was mentioned earlier, there are a lot of free ebooks in the Kindle store and on the net generally. And I don't mind paying the author of a good book that I want to read. I once aspired to be an author, and I'd have liked to be paid for my work.