A co-worker recently received a Kindle for her birthday (about a week and a half ago). She told me this week that she’s already burned through five books on it and absolutely loves it, not to mention she likes that she doesn’t have to continue stacking her pile of books around her home. She was showing it off to me at work with the leather cover and light attached and all. It was intriguing.
Now, I’ve been reading for decades non-stop and love my huge collection of books. Just the thought of giving it up for electronic versions has me cringing. But I have to say that the Kindle really has me interested just for the convenience factor (and I love gadgets even though I have little use for them).
Sorry if I didn’t notice it, but has there been anyone in this massive thread that got a Kindle and went back to physical books because they missed something about them? I’m thinking how, in recent months, I’ve reread books I bought ranging from 12-20 years ago. I somehow doubt that I’ll be going back to my Kindle ebooks that long after purchase; tech moves a tad quicker into obsolescence than does the physical book.
Equisilus,
Yes and no. I now use Kindle for all my fiction/ biography/ autobiog/ poetry reading - basically any text heavy (or only) stuff. However, it doesn’t work well for guide books, or reference books that need diagrams/ pictures to be useful.
And I still find myself buying “trophy” books in physical format (i.e. the monster authorised history of MI6 that came out recently) for the interior decoration - i.e. looks good in the bookcases in my study when friends browse through
nlanza
1803
Yeah, I do the same. Stuff like the new Iain Banks that I know I’ll want to own for years I end up buying in both physical and eBook format, but the semi-junky popcorn fiction I’m happy to just own as bits.
Well, i never had love for physical books, so i didn’t have that problem. I mean, i love literature, but a physical book for me is a means to an end (reading a story, or something interesting), not the end itself. I still have a intriguing stories or loveable characters with the Kindle, so why should i come back to physical books? Missing something about them? That’s awfully vague, next thing you will begin to sing about the Earth spirit, jeez. :P
My kindle ebooks can be converted to other formats, stripping DRM, so they will never “dissapear” or be obsolete, if in the future there is a new and superior gadget i trust in my technical capabilities of passing the library to a new format. I mean, it’s text, how hard can be to convert.
If you don’t think books are (or at least can be) things of beauty, you’re the outlier.
Earth spirit. Sheesh.
Athryn
1806
Paperbacks certainly aren’t.
Charles
1807
Has there been any news on fixing the bug where the Kindle will lose your place? Flipped my book on yesterday and it dropped me like 10% back in the book. Pain in the ass, given that I don’t really remember where I am at any given time.
Charles, the only time I’ve had that happen is when I laid it down to go to sleep or put it away, did not manually turn on the screen saver, and something ends up pushing the forward or back buttons.
I believe you have to go back to the home screen to save your place; going to sleep within a book will not do it.
I’ve had that happen when I try reading the same book across multiple devices. Sometimes Whispernet is Works For Shitnet and Fucks Everything Upnet.
Wait, what? Whenever you wake it up from sleep, it always goes right back to where you were. You don’t have to take any specific action to make it save your place.
I believe he’s talking about syncing between multiple devices.
Ah, okay. Yeah, I’m actually confused by the syncing.
If I did have two Kindles, and I put stuff onto one of them via USB, just drag-and-drop copying it on there or syncing with Calibre, would it be able to sync that across multiple devices? Or is it only stuff that gets auto-delivered from Amazon?
Many of us run the Kindle app on our phone as well, so we sync between that and the Kindle device. It’s really easiest to just let the wireless do it’s job, it’s just a matter or remembering to turn it on and then off again.
Only stuff that gets delivered. And from my experience, it seems like it’s only stuff that is considered a real book. Samples don’t show up on my iPhone.
If you drag and drop something onto your Kindle, it’s only going to be available there.
Charles
1816
I only use the device. I usually sleep it, but I suppose it’s possible that I didn’t sleep it and something hit the button. But hit and held it for like 25 pages? Seems kind of unlikely, especially given that it’s in a case.
And it saves where you were if you sleep in a book. Usually.
Editer
1817
Kindle app announced for Windows Phone 7. Hmm, now I have to start reading device reviews! The Kindle app was the only roadblock keeping me from switching.
This used to happen to me all the time with my DX and the Amazon case. Sometimes when stuffing in a bag there was enough pressure on the button to make it fast forward or back up. Other times going to sleep I’d stick on the nightstand or wedge it in a drawer and that would be enough. Now that I put it to sleep religiously I don’t have that issue anymore.
Dejin
1819
You can explicitly send samples to your iPhone (or at least you can with an iPad, and I assume you can with an iPhone). There’s a pulldown menu in the Amazon store, where you can toggle whether to send a particular sample to your Kindle or your iPhone. It’s right below the “Send Sample Now” button.
JeffL
1820
Just got home this morning (2 AM) from India. 30 hour trip over, 30 hour trip back.
I now officially love my Kindle 3.
In the past, I’d have my carry-on computer bag stuffed with books for a trip this long. I had about 20 books on the Kindle, and was able to easily switch from the latest Michael Connely fiction to a great nonfiction book on the Magellan journey when my mood changed. The device is designed so well, it fits the hand so well, while being so readable. You don’t even think about it, it just reads like a book. I used the cover with the built in light a couple of times when the plane was dark and I didn’t want to disturb the person in the seat next to me with the overhead light (I was forcing myself to stay awake to adjust my internal clock) and the light was perfect.
I resisted a Kindle for a long time because I just love physical books and I never thought reading on an electronic device would be as enjoyable as holding a “real” book in my hands. I find myself now preferring to read on the Kindle. Only thing I can’t do now is read in the bathtub.
BTW - I see in some books dotted underlines on some passages. I don’t have highlights turned on - how do I get rid of these?
