Posted on 11/06/2008 3:22:57 AM PST by PJ-Comix
I wavered back and forth for months on this purchase. It seemed overly expensive, and it didn’t have that sleek industrial design look that we’ve come to expect from high end gadgetry.
And Steve Jobs said it was a “non-starter.” He should know, right?
Well, no. Steve may have a good record of launching killer gadgets, but he was wrong on this one. Way wrong. I think he might be a little jealous.
My new object of gadget lust: Kindle: Amazon’s Wireless Reading Device.
This thing rocks hard. If you’re a hard core reader like me, it’s a dream come true.
The high points:
Almost instantaneous wireless downloads, with no connection problems and no monthly charges. Almost 200,000 titles online, usually at big discounts. Download sample chapters before buying. Save clippings and bookmarks, adjust text size, search the Amazon store for titles and authors, read reviews, and look up words in a built-in dictionary. A high resolution electronic paper display that’s nearly indistinguishable from real ink on real paper—because it uses real ink. Weight: a bit over 10 ounces. Size: about the thickness of an average dinner plate. Battery life is incredible; if you turn off wireless, it stays charged for at least a week of constant use.
It stores an enormous amount of data as is, and uses SD memory cards to store an even more enormous amount. It even plays MP3 music files.
It’s an iPod for books, and I highly recommend it if you’re as addicted to the joys of reading as I am. With the amount I read, it will pay for itself in about two months. And it’s unbelievably cool to be reading in bed, finish a book, and buy the next book in the series and start reading it without even getting up.
bump for later
I bought one a couple of months ago and I love it. I too wavered because of the expense, but it probably does pay for itself fairly quickly if you are in the habit of buying hard covers or even higher end paperbacks (the books are much cheaper in Kindle format). It’s great for traveling because it’s light, it can hold literally a couple of hundred books, the battery lasts for an incredible amount of time (although less if you’re using the wifi function), and you can sit around and browse books and download sample chapters instantly. An entire book, in fact, downloads in a couple of seconds.
You can also annotate the books, save sections to a clippings file, and of course look up words and get full etymological information from the built in dictionary.
But it’s also very comfortable just for reading in bed at home. I was worried that there wouldn’t be enough books available for it, but there are many thousands, and most new books seem to be available on it. There’s also an academic press (Princeton?) that has started publishing its books in Kindle format.
I’m really happy with it. The price will probably go down somewhat in the future as the reader base grows.
Best of all, you can get FR on it!
I work for a publisher, and we took a look at it. I am NOT big on proprietary ebook formats. Kindle loads graphics very slowly. Price is an issue. The winner, in my opinion, is someone who practically gives the product away as part of a subscription. Also, it should play with PDFs nicely, really nicely.
I like paper for most of my reading. Obama’s number one supporter named it her ‘favorite thing’ and gave each audience member a free one.
Got one. Love it!
Bought one 2 weeks ago.
Yes, buy one.
Simply excellent; wonderful purchase.
I am very happy with my Kindle.
I will always buy paper books, because when I am finished I can share them.
I have one and really like it. Not all titles are available, but a lot are. I get asked about it a lot when people see me reading it in public. It could stand some tweaking, too easy to hit the “next page” button by mistake, and pages with graphics load more slowly than those with just text. Like every other device like this, more, better and more easily available content is what will win the day. Think iTunes, think VHS.
Unfortunately, when I checked out the pricing on a sampling of reference books available in Kindle format, I found that the books I'm interested in are just as expensive (or maybe $0.05 cheaper) than the paper version. So I'd have to shell out almost $400 for the reader and then repurchase my library at full price? No sale.
I collect books. I've got thousands. I don't like the thought of giving any away, selling some, or (heaven forbid!) throwing some out.
My concern is that, while the Kindle holds hundreds of books, it will eventually fill up -- is it possible to shift the books to another storage location (computer hard drive?)
I have the impression that you cannot do that, but I'm not sure why I have that impression.
Even with ipods and sansas, I still have cd’s and tapes. I’ve held onto my walman and tape deck too.
Kindle ping
I LOVE mine too!
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