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I have a Kindle and love it. It took a month to arrive, but works perfectly. I buy everything on the Kindle now, with the exception of technical books. I've los

I have a Kindle and love it. It took a month to arrive, but works perfectly. I buy everything on the Kindle now, with the exception of technical books. I've lost count of the number of people who have seen me reading it, played with it, and walked away saying they were going to buy one. Amazon is not hiding a failure--it's a huge success and this marks the turning point for e-books.

deleted 19y ago
[deleted]
anewaccountname 19y ago
Thanks Jeff, I'm glad someone finally spoke up for the truth.
silencio 19y ago
Hmm, interesting. My boyfriend has a kindle and I've occasionally played around with it. I love books, so I've also checked out the sony reader, cybook, etc., and I've owned a couple of ancient ebook readers as well. I really love the idea of ebooks and so a physical reader only makes sense to me. The problem I've always encountered is that it's not really something I'd want to carry around with me all the time or that I'd probably end up using that often so I haven't even bothered to think about ordering one. I think the ultimate reason why is that I have a jailbroken iPhone with (among other apps) Books.app and unlike the kindle, it can do a lot more and it fits in my pocket and my purse for when I'm not lugging around my laptop. I obviously take it everywhere to make calls, to check email, to play Solitaire, to hang out in IRC. As a result, I have it with me all the time so I can read too - for example, I read most when I'm at a restaurant waiting for a takeout order that's taking forever or when I'm in line for some event or another. Sure, I can't get the latest books and magazines on there to read, but there are plenty of free ebooks to read and download e.g. from manybooks.net and textonphone.com. It's definitely not a dedicated device for ebooks, but that is exactly why I think it's so great for them. Finally, in just over half a year of having Books.app on my phone, I've read over 200 ebooks (well, some of those were short stories, but the vast majority weren't). Surprisingly enough that's more than I've read in the previous couple years, textbooks included. I suspect I wouldn't have even come close to that number with a kindle (etc.) just because the convenience is not there.
- Flemlord 19y ago
  The Kindle is roughly the size of a paperback, and comes with a nice leather case so it's not awkward to carry. But it's the integration with Amazon that really does it for me. You can select books online, and have them sent to the Kindle. You can also browse a Kindle-only Amazon site directly from the Kindle over the wireless. With any book, you can download the first 5 chapters or so as a free sample. I have about 30 samples on the Kindle right now that I browse through when I'm ready for my next book. Plus, about 80% of new books I'm interested in have Kindle versions. I expect that number will be 100% soon.
  - silencio 19y ago
    The thing is, I know how small the Kindle is. In theory, it's pretty cool. But it is definitely not something that fits in my purse or in my pocket like the iPhone does..and even if it did it doesn't do everything the phone can (especially with the just-released sdk). The integration is the only reason why I would contemplate a Kindle purchase..and yet..isn't a very compelling reason for me to do so. There aren't many new books I am truly interested in that I don't want a dead tree version of (easier to share with family/friends) or that I can't find an online version of (e.g. safari books, books24x7). I suppose it's really a personal preference thing. If the cost were slightly lower than it is right now I may consider it for home use. Or maybe if more of my textbooks were available..I would definitely purchase it in a split second. But as-is..nah.

deleted 19y ago

[deleted]

anewaccountname 19y ago

Thanks Jeff, I'm glad someone finally spoke up for the truth.

silencio 19y ago

Hmm, interesting. My boyfriend has a kindle and I've occasionally played around with it. I love books, so I've also checked out the sony reader, cybook, etc., and I've owned a couple of ancient ebook readers as well. I really love the idea of ebooks and so a physical reader only makes sense to me. The problem I've always encountered is that it's not really something I'd want to carry around with me all the time or that I'd probably end up using that often so I haven't even bothered to think about ordering one. I think the ultimate reason why is that I have a jailbroken iPhone with (among other apps) Books.app and unlike the kindle, it can do a lot more and it fits in my pocket and my purse for when I'm not lugging around my laptop. I obviously take it everywhere to make calls, to check email, to play Solitaire, to hang out in IRC. As a result, I have it with me all the time so I can read too - for example, I read most when I'm at a restaurant waiting for a takeout order that's taking forever or when I'm in line for some event or another. Sure, I can't get the latest books and magazines on there to read, but there are plenty of free ebooks to read and download e.g. from manybooks.net and textonphone.com. It's definitely not a dedicated device for ebooks, but that is exactly why I think it's so great for them. Finally, in just over half a year of having Books.app on my phone, I've read over 200 ebooks (well, some of those were short stories, but the vast majority weren't). Surprisingly enough that's more than I've read in the previous couple years, textbooks included. I suspect I wouldn't have even come close to that number with a kindle (etc.) just because the convenience is not there.

Flemlord 19y ago
The Kindle is roughly the size of a paperback, and comes with a nice leather case so it's not awkward to carry. But it's the integration with Amazon that really does it for me. You can select books online, and have them sent to the Kindle. You can also browse a Kindle-only Amazon site directly from the Kindle over the wireless. With any book, you can download the first 5 chapters or so as a free sample. I have about 30 samples on the Kindle right now that I browse through when I'm ready for my next book. Plus, about 80% of new books I'm interested in have Kindle versions. I expect that number will be 100% soon.
- silencio 19y ago
  The thing is, I know how small the Kindle is. In theory, it's pretty cool. But it is definitely not something that fits in my purse or in my pocket like the iPhone does..and even if it did it doesn't do everything the phone can (especially with the just-released sdk). The integration is the only reason why I would contemplate a Kindle purchase..and yet..isn't a very compelling reason for me to do so. There aren't many new books I am truly interested in that I don't want a dead tree version of (easier to share with family/friends) or that I can't find an online version of (e.g. safari books, books24x7). I suppose it's really a personal preference thing. If the cost were slightly lower than it is right now I may consider it for home use. Or maybe if more of my textbooks were available..I would definitely purchase it in a split second. But as-is..nah.