Kindle?

[geminigirl]

Any opinions or feedback on the Kindle? I'm leaning heavily in favor of buying one (particularly if there's a lot of pumping in my future again) but I don't really know if I'll like it.

There's a Kindle for iPhone, but we're sticking with Verizon, which means Blackberry not iPhone for now (don't try and convince me to change-Verizon has a plan that's more well suited to our Canada calling habits than AT&T so I'll pout and wait until the iPhone comes to Verizon.) But honestly, even with an iPhone application, I'm not sure I'd want to try and read as much as I do on a screen the size of the iPhone rather than the small Kindle, which is about the same size as some of my paperbacks.

Still, the idea of spending $300 on a Kindle and then hating it kind of bothers me. So I'd love real feedback from friends who read who have thought about one and decided against it, and those who have used it.

And yes, I'm aware of what happened earlier this year when a book disappeared from everyone's Kindle.

Comments

[zurcherart.livejournal.com]

Someone showed me this link this week. For whatever that's worth.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/03/090803fa_fact_baker?currentPage=all

I'm wanting a kindle. But I'm not sure I'd like it. Would be great if you could try one for a week before committing.

They aren't available here though.

[tronochick.livejournal.com]

in all my years of education i have *never* been a fan of reading things off a screen. To the dismay of many forests, I've elected to print things from Westlaw rather than read them off the screen, unless it was really, unbearably necessary to do so.

I also am a holdover of the intangibility of the digital age and am still reluctant about using iTunes because I hate the idea of paying for something intangible. Buying digital books seems especially pointless when I have a perfectly decent library system at my disposal and haven't bought a book in years (esp since Orange County libraries allow you to make purchase requests, so if I really can't find it, the library will buy it for me).

i think a Kindle is a great idea conceptually and may be good for people who travel frequently and don't want to lug books around with them but i'd take a good old in-hand book (i like the smell of books) over a digital version anyday.

plus, it's like everything else- the second you buy it, it's outdated. and i'm not willing to plunk down $300 only to have a new version released the next week.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Is there something specific about the Kindle that attracts you to it over other ebook reading options?

I've been reading ebooks for years on my phone/PDA, and don't personally feel that the kindle currently offers enough benefit to be worth it for me (totally disregarding price), but I know that others appreciate the readability of the screen and the ease of use.

[geminigirl]

Mostly screen size. Reading books on my Palm when I used one was annoying. My Blackberry would also bother me just as much, I think. So of the widely available eBook readers, it's generally well reviewed and not extravagantly priced, not a Sony (Cayne is very anti-Sony for reasons I don't really know entirely, but it has a lot to do with work.) The 3G thing is nice, as is the fact that it's also able to download from audible.com

[geminigirl]

The library is a wonderful resource. And we do go and we do use it-Tiny Tales is on Wednesday morning. But getting my library browsing done with a toddler in tow is virtually impossible and will only get more difficult with two along. I can go when there's another responsible adult available, but there's so many things that need to be done with two responsible adults around and only so many that get done.

[melebeth]

It has a shockingly good screen. I never would have even thought about getting one until I saw a girl reading hers in line at Equity. I still can't see giving up paper books, but having seen one in person, it's no longer completely inconceivable.

[fairion.livejournal.com]

I felt the way you do and was dead set against reading on the blackberry but Stephen said I had to try at least. It is very very convenient. The screen is small but it is not as annoying as expected. It is a pleasure to always have your book with you any time you have your phone and have fewer things to carry.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

I bought one a few months ago and I really like it. I'm still a regular library patron because $10 a book gets steep if you can read multiple books in a week. But it's great to be able to buy a book on the fly when you want one. It's fantastic for travel because I don't have to pack multiple books for a long trip, and I never have to set foot in an airport bookstore again. It's also very portable because it's paperback-sized and really thin.

All the Kindle books have free samples available. I use them to figure out if I'm interested in reading something, and if it's worth buying or if I should just get it from the library.

The screen is fine. I have never had much luck reading books on a computer screen, but the Kindle screen was comfortable by the time I'd gotten about halfway through my first book. I love that you can look up words in the dictionary or look something up in Wikipedia while you're reading. The battery life is great.

The iPhone Kindle app is not great for reading. What it is good for is if you're out and about and you think of a book you want to read, you can look it up and zap a Kindle sample to either your iPhone or your Kindle. It's mostly useful as a supplement to the Kindle.

[tronochick.livejournal.com]

i search for everything i want to read on amazon, recall the title and look it up on the library's online catalog and then either go pick it up if i have time or i order them online and have them available for pick-up at my branch or they do home delivery and just show up at my door.

if it weren't so easy i probably would still use amazon- for more than just browsing.

[jennifer0246.livejournal.com]

no personal experience, but do rather want one.

the other lady i know with your first name (same spelling!) has one and really likes it. look her up at litlmisstrouble, if you would like.

[rockstarbob.livejournal.com]

The Kindle is *amazing*, especially when you're trying to stealth-read with a baby while pumping/nursing/whatever. The screen is NOTHING like reading a backlit screen, and is in fact better on your eyes than actual paper. The e-paper they use is incredible.

It's totally silent, the battery lasts forever, you get books instantly delivered to you whenever whimsy strikes. It's perfect for mamas b/c it's lightweight and silent.

You can adjust the font size, make notes, look up words, dog-ear the pages, include multiple bookmarks, and it always remembers where you last left off.

We love our Kindle, and it's made all the more lovely by the fact that we DO have iPhones (I hear that you're not going there for now). The iPhones make it worth its weight in gold, b/c three of us adults all use the same account but we now share a huge library of books.

Anyway, it's been so wonderful with Aesop. I think you'd love it, too.

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Our library lets you reserve books online, so all you have to do is go to the hold shelf and pick them up when they're ready.

It's so wonderful, though I do miss browsing.

Personally, I check out plenty of library books. I still like ebooks for their portability, ability to read them with the lights off, and other benefits.

[geminigirl]

We even have home delivery from the library, so if I don't think I'm going to get there, they'll deliver the book to my door and then I can return it to any branch. It's wonderful if I know what I want...but if I don't know, I really miss the browsing-you know, you go to look for a book by an author you like and see something interesting above it or below it, and it turns out to be a great book...

[therealocelot.livejournal.com]

Yes, I do. It does get better eventually. I now feel comfortable leaving Leif (if I go with just him) alone in the kid's section for 10 minutes or so at a time.

These days I tend to copy down titles when I run into them somewhere, and then look them up on the library catalog. The new books shelf also tends to be something I can look over quickly. Helps that it is located directly across from the kid section, too.