Kindle

[Guest]

I've just been given a Kindle. Anyone else got one?
Apart from not yet being able to get it going, I'm trying to think what use it will be if/when I do. I've had the discussion about the feel of a book etc, and in general the impression I get is that it's grand for taking a load of books on a plane, but not much else. There must surely be some advantages..... aren't there?
All lines of thought welcome.

[Mr Pee]

I hope who ever gave it to you doesn't read these messageboards. They might think you're ungrateful!!

[aeolium]

I've just been given a Kindle. Anyone else got one?
Apart from not yet being able to get it going, I'm trying to think what use it will be if/when I do. I've had the discussion about the feel of a book etc, and in general the impression I get is that it's grand for taking a load of books on a plane, but not much else. There must surely be some advantages..... aren't there?
All lines of thought welcome.

Well, a couple of obvious ones are: saving space (I simply don't have any more space for books anywhere in the house without getting rid of books every time I buy new/secondhand ones) and portability compared with the weight of books, if you're making a long journey. Also there are a lot of free out of copyright books in the Kindle store - that's not helping secondhand booksellers of course, but I think I've done a lot for them over the years, and I usually end up getting real s/h books as well as ebooks. I can't transfer Kindle ebooks using Wifi so I use the USB connection to download them. I've only recently got the Kindle so only have a few ebooks on as yet.

[Flosshilde]

I've just been given a Kindle. .. I'm trying to think what use it will be

A table mat?

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

i was given one last birthday, read four books so far, after initial learning curve pretty much a doddle ....very easy to read, very easy to travel, huge free archive as well as substantial chunk of books on amazon .... you can dld a kindle app for your pc/laptop and have books on there too from the same account .... in a word - MARVELLOUS ... love mine ... great on trains and planes and sitting outdoors

[PatrickOD]

I should say that I was genuinely asking for suggestions from the experience of Kindle users, or from those who are thinking of getting one. The whole concept is strange to me, and I'm inclined to be a bit of a Luddite when it comes to electronic technology - I can't see what's in it for me, and have to have it explained step by step.
I have quite a few books slowly acquired over many years but I don't collect them as such - space is not a problem, though my wife would not agree. I buy mostly poetry books and I borrow novels from the library. I google stuff as required, and I find that I make less use of the reference books I have. I'm just wondering if using a Kindle will make any difference to my reading habits.
I'm sorry if I sounded dismissive, or if I appeared ungrateful.

sorry, CDJ, it took me so long to post that I missed yours. That's encouraging what you say.

[Flosshilde]

I'm a bit of a luddite as well - I don't think that the physical experience of reading a book can be replaced, & I think that there are many practical advantages of a real book, the first one being that you don't have to pay over £100 before you can actually start reading a book. And what happens if you drop a Kindle in the bath? £100 (+ all the books stored on it) almost literally down the plug-hole?

When I'm reading a novel I like to be able to flick back to remind myself of a character or an event, & if I'm using a non-fiction book I might very well want to look at several pages more or less simultaneously, or flick backwards & forwards from the index. Does it have a colour screen? At a time when most non-fiction is in colour it seems a retrograde step to see them in B&W. And everything is reduced to the same size & text & lay-out - centuries of innovative, beautiful book design junked Even the humble paperback can be a physical pleasure to read.

[Norfolk Born]

When considering whether to buy a 'traditional' book, I have to check, especially in the case of paperbacks, that the font isn't set so small that I run the risk of developing eye strain after just a few pages. (I recently had my annual check-up at Spec Savers - my eyes are fine and I don't need a new prescription for glasses. I have excellent long sight).
Reading with an enlarger or magnifying glass seems no less strange than reading an ebook. This is why I have very recently started thinking about buying a Kindle. I understand that the text can be enlarged, which would obviously be a major advantage. Are there any other long-sighted Forum members out there who've tried one, and if so, would they care to share their experiences?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I've used electronic books for some time, and find them useful, the electronic bookmark being a great boon. Having several books loaded at once, it can be a great temptation to skip from one to another, whereas when carrying around a single book does concentrate the mind more. Of course, if you want a lavishly illustrated book in glorious Technicolor, the traditional book is still years ahead.

[MrGongGong]

I bought my wife a Kindle last year
she loves it , the ability to change the text size makes it easy for her to read
also thinking about how much "wine space" a large bag of paperbacks took up on our last holiday means that when we go to France this year we can bring another case back !

Its a mistake to think that electronic books will replace paper ones and in many ways they are radically different things in the same way that Cinema didn't destroy the Theatre and recorded music hasn't destroyed live concerts. Of the readers about I do think that the Kindle is probably the best and most simple one to use , the screen is easy to read even in sunlight (which a laptop / ipad etc isn't) and the navigation seems to work well....... we will always have thousands of books as well, for me I don't think that its at all likely that many of the books I read will become available (though many are as PDFs) and graphics etc don't really work on the Kindle......

but

if you want a way to read fiction on the train, bus, in a tent, plane etc
its a great thing to have

[ostuni]

My wife and I have a Kindle each - they're both linked to the same Amazon account, which means that we can share books, but with the added advantage of both being able to read the same book simultaneously, at our own chosen speed. And in a font size/line spacing to suit our own, differing, preferences/needs.

True, Flosshilde (#7), you can't physically flip back through the pages. But you have something better: a searchable text. So when you forget, for instance, just when a character first appeared, you bring up the search box, insert said character's name, and bingo: all the page references are there (and clickable, of course).

And when you're going away from home, on a budget flight with only hand baggage, it's wonderfully reassuring to know that you're in no danger of finishing all the books you came with, and being forced to read the Danielle Steel that the last visitor left behind...

[Dave2002]

User experiences seem to vary. Some take to them very well, others not. Also, if you live in an area where there is no 3G coverage it may be only worth buying a Wi-Fi model. I know someone for which this has been an issue, and since he does not intend to download while mobile, has elected to have the cheaper non 3G model.

They are great for reading out of doors, where other gadgets, such as iPads don't work so well. We have one Kindle and a couple of iPads. The iPads have colour, and changing font size is easy, but they do cost considerably more. I can also confirm that Amazon's download service to the Kindle works even in remote areas, such as villages bordering on Indian jungle. For books downloaded from Amazon it's not only a gadget, but also a system. The system will attempt to synchronise the pages you have read across different devices.

The Kindles can also be used for documents, such as PDF files, which may be good if you are working, and they can also be used for email, and maybe even for web browsing.

Kindles have a much better battery life than devices such as iPads. Note, though, that battery life even for Kindles, is severely reduced if all the wireless facilities (3G and Wi-Fi) are turned on.

Our own use of the Kindle has reduced since getting another iPad. However, with the neat reading light (worth having!) it is still used for reading in bed.

The Kindle is also great for reading on trains (though so is an iPad), and in the event that it gets nicked or damaged, is much cheaper to replace.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

And when you're going away from home, on a budget flight with only hand baggage, it's wonderfully reassuring to know that you're in no danger of finishing all the books you came with, and being forced to read the Danielle Steel that the last visitor left behind...

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

No mention of the Sony Reader, which is rather good.

[salymap]

i don't want or need a Kindle but is there such a thing as a paper-back page size magnifying glass? I find a small round glass makes it harder than ever to read. I need to enlarge a page at a time?