OT: Amazon Kindle First Impressions
Steve Hodgson
was released in the UK I would just go out and buy it. Despite some
backsliding on this I received an Amazon Kindle from the US yesterday
and thought I would write up some first impressions. I appreciate this
is quite OT, particularly as the Kindle doesn't need a computer, but I
thought it might be of some interest.
First things first. The service from Amazon and speed of delivery was
fantastic. It’s amazing that something can be ordered from the US on a
Wednesday evening and delivered by Friday lunchtime.
The Kindle arrives in a very small easy to open package and once you
open the lid, the Kindle itself sits ready for use; other than a
plastic screen protector printed with a few setup instructions there’s
nothing between you and your new toy. Apple have been praised for the
quality of their packaging and the experience they provide a new user
and this is a very similar story.
Once you connect the power cable and begin charging, the Kindle is
available for use and this is where the fun really starts. Peel off
that plastic screen protector and you find that those initial setup
instructions are actually on the Kindle’s screen. Turn on the Kindle
and the books you ordered after it was despatched are already waiting
for you. The Kindle uses the 3G network to deliver contents wirelessly
so you don’t need to connect to a computer to use it. As Amazon put it:
“3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime,
anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi
hotspots”.
The reason that I chose the Kindle over similar readers such as Sony’s
range came down to two elements - the wireless delivery and the
ergonomics. The wireless delivery means you can purchase and download
books wherever you are, there’s no need to go back to your computer
first. As for the ergonomics, compared to the Sony readers, I really
like the great big paddle buttons for turning pages. Unlike the earlier
Sony PRS-505, the current Sony readers have buttons mounted on the
front face, supplemented with a (very laggy) touchscreen swipe gesture
in the case of the Touch Edition.
The other aspect of the Kindle that appeals is that I can have content
sent to me by third parties for a small cost. In my case this means I
can have my unread Instapaper articles (BTW If you don’t already use
this, you should) sent to me once a week or at whatever schedule I
choose.
At the end of the day it’s a personal choice and there is no perfect
device but the Kindle works for me.
Of course, the fact it has the same form factor as a Star Trek Padd
doesn’t do any harm.
--
Cheers,
Steve
The reply-to email address is a spam trap.
Email steve 'at' shodgson 'dot' org 'dot' uk
Jaimie Vandenbergh
wrote:
>At the end of the day it�s a personal choice and there is no perfect
>device but the Kindle works for me.
Thanks for that, good to get another personal review.
Would you do a "second impressions" post in a month or so? I'm more
interested in the actual use and practical ergonomics than the
unboxing.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
"We have to go forth and crush every world view that doesn't
believe in tolerance and free speech." - David Brin
Gavin
> When Amazon first released the Kindle, I promised myself that once it
> was released in the UK I would just go out and buy it. Despite some
> backsliding on this I received an Amazon Kindle from the US yesterday
> and thought I would write up some first impressions.
Is it this one?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015T963C?amp%3Brw%5Fabsolute=y
--
Gavin. ACSP 10.5
http://www.stoof.co.uk
http://www.twitter.com/gavin_wilby
James Jolley
<jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> said:
> On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 06:38:54 +0000, Steve Hodgson <ham...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> At the end of the day it�s a personal choice and there is no perfect
>> device but the Kindle works for me.
>
> Thanks for that, good to get another personal review.
>
> Would you do a "second impressions" post in a month or so? I'm more
> interested in the actual use and practical ergonomics than the
> unboxing.
>
> Cheers - Jaimie
I'm glad you've written this. What's the TTS like for reading? Is it
continuous or do you have to turn pages manually? Also, does the TTS
speak the UI?
Best
-James-
Steve Hodgson
>
>> When Amazon first released the Kindle, I promised myself that once it
>> was released in the UK I would just go out and buy it. Despite some
>> backsliding on this I received an Amazon Kindle from the US yesterday
>> and thought I would write up some first impressions.
>
> Is it this one?
>
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015T963C?amp%3Brw%5Fabsolute=y
That's the one.
Steve Hodgson
> On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 06:38:54 +0000, Steve Hodgson <ham...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> At the end of the day it’s a personal choice and there is no perfect
>> device but the Kindle works for me.
>
> Thanks for that, good to get another personal review.
>
> Would you do a "second impressions" post in a month or so? I'm more
> interested in the actual use and practical ergonomics than the
> unboxing.
Will try to follow-up on this in a month or so.
I'm very impressed with the ergonomics so far. The paddle buttons are
sensibly placed on the two edges, the keyboard is useable. The joystick
is, very small but works.
Steve Hodgson
TTS for reading works quite well and the voice, although basic, is not
unpleasant. Once enabled it will read the text continuously and pages
will turn in sync with the text. It doesn't seem to recognise
punctuation with any subtlety, only really pausing on full stops, and
this can make the voice a bit monotone.
TTS only works for reading text which would be better if they had
included an option to enable it system-wide.
Most significantly TTS is enabled on a per-book basis - all of my
'Kindle' books have it enabled as does my Instapaper archive but my
copy of Iain Banks' 'Transition' doesn't (presumably because it's ePub
format). This suggests to me that the majority of material will work
but NOT all.
Hope this helps.
Woody
> At the end of the day it's a personal choice and there is no perfect
> device but the Kindle works for me.
Ooh - when I get back home, I have to do a sony PRS-600 review too - I
bought one a few weeks back and love the thing.
--
Woody
Mark Bestley
> On 2009-11-07 15:47:36 +0000, James Jolley said:
>
> > On 2009-11-07 10:44:32 +0000, Jaimie Vandenbergh
> > <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> said:
> >
> >> On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 06:38:54 +0000, Steve Hodgson <ham...@gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >>> At the end of the day it?s a personal choice and there is no perfect
> >>> device but the Kindle works for me.
> >>
> >> Thanks for that, good to get another personal review.
> >>
> >> Would you do a "second impressions" post in a month or so? I'm more
> >> interested in the actual use and practical ergonomics than the
> >> unboxing.
> >>
> >> Cheers - Jaimie
> >
> > I'm glad you've written this. What's the TTS like for reading? Is it
> > continuous or do you have to turn pages manually? Also, does the TTS
> > speak the UI?
>
> TTS for reading works quite well and the voice, although basic, is not
> unpleasant. Once enabled it will read the text continuously and pages
> will turn in sync with the text. It doesn't seem to recognise
> punctuation with any subtlety, only really pausing on full stops, and
> this can make the voice a bit monotone.
>
> TTS only works for reading text which would be better if they had
> included an option to enable it system-wide.
>
> Most significantly TTS is enabled on a per-book basis - all of my
> 'Kindle' books have it enabled as does my Instapaper archive but my
> copy of Iain Banks' 'Transition' doesn't (presumably because it's ePub
> format). This suggests to me that the majority of material will work
> but NOT all.
>
Epub standard includes indices to help audio reading. It definitely does
not stop TTS - what stops it is DRM. Try a publ;ic domain epub from
<http://www.feedbooks.com/> or similar.
--
Mark
Steve Hodgson
Please do. I'd be interested in reading that.
Steve Hodgson
> On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 06:38:54 +0000, Steve Hodgson wrote
> (in article <7lkivuF...@mid.individual.net>):
>
>> When Amazon first released the Kindle, I promised myself that once it
>> was released in the UK I would just go out and buy it. Despite some
>> backsliding on this I received an Amazon Kindle from the US yesterday
>> and thought I would write up some first impressions. I appreciate this
>> is quite OT, particularly as the Kindle doesn't need a computer, but I
>> thought it might be of some interest.
>>
>
> Can you get delivery of UK periodicals such as New Scientist, or Focus,
> or Private Eye ?
Some UK periodicals are available as well as newspapers but none of those.
Newspapers from memory are the Telegraph, Times, Indy and Daily Mail.
James Jolley
It does, greatly. I am guessing this has something to do with the
author's guild complaining that TTS readings are effectively a
performance of there work. Pathetic really but there we go.
I'm glad you've tried the TTS, I' guessing it's similar to the iPhone
3GS voice witch is of course system wide.
What's the likelyhood of them actually making the TTS work system wide?
Do they update the software often?
Best
-James-
Gavin
> When Amazon first released the Kindle, I promised myself that once it
> was released in the UK I would just go out and buy it.
Now we are a few days in to your ownership of the device, Id be
interested to know how your getting on with it.
I guess Im gonna treat myself this Christmas, but before I commit, a
real world opinion would be useful!
Woody
> On 2009-11-07 23:56:57 +0000, Woody said:
>
> > Steve Hodgson <ham...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> At the end of the day it's a personal choice and there is no perfect
> >> device but the Kindle works for me.
> >
> > Ooh - when I get back home, I have to do a sony PRS-600 review too - I
> > bought one a few weeks back and love the thing.
>
> Please do. I'd be interested in reading that.
OK, well less in depth than yours!
I really wasn't convinced that I needed an eReader, as I don't do much
book reading at all, other than technical books and the open university
stuff.
Looking at book readers, the options for the sort of technical books I
read were very limited to either expensive readers or the Kindle DX,
which isn't available in the UK yet, and after reading reviews probably
didn't seem like what I needed.
I knew there was another sony coming out with a bigger screen in the
states at christmas, and I will be in the states at christmas, but it is
a bit more expensive and if the small one is no use to me, i can't think
that the bigger one will be either.
After that my options were basically the Sonys or the kindle. I liked
the idea of wireless delivery on the kindle, but I wanted wireless from
my computer, not from amazon (note, that also colouring this, I never
use amazon out of choice) and I wanted to be able to make my own books
from my own sources, normally PDF text. The kindle seemed to me to be a
bit restrictive in file formats and sources, so I went for the sony.
Looked at the two sizes in waterstones, and decided the small one was
too small. Also noticed in every waterstones I went in (about 4), the
touch had books to try it with, the pocket was without books, making it
a bit hard to test! I would like to have seen as all the reviews would
go on about how bad the screen was with the touch interface loosing the
clarity and causing reflections, none of which I could see.
Bought it from WHSmiths online, which is for some reason the cheapest
place online, and �40 less than waterstones in the shop.
The reader is smaller than it seems in pictures, and is nice to hold.
Thin and quite light. It has one of those sony duo memory slots sony
insist on pretending people use, but at least it also has an SD card for
normal use. It has a little mini USB socket, and a lead which both
charges it and transfers books. Wireless network would be very good for
this. When you plug it in the mac, it appears as a series of drives, one
which contains the mac software to load it with books.
The software is ok, does what it is supposed to do. Or you can just drag
the books on. Or you can use calibre, which is what I am using.
Calibre also lets you automatically download news sources and transfer
them to the reader. They look ok on there.
Read 'Brave new world', which I had failed to get into in paperback.
Downloaded it on a PDF and used calibre to convert to epub format.
The touch interface seemed totally natural to me - you select books, you
pick a book, you start reading it.
There is a gesture for turning the page, but honestly it is not worth
it. THere are two buttons by your left thumb when you are holding it for
next and back, they work a lot better. The screen is not like an iPod,
it is a resistive touch and it requires a bit of pressure. Works well
for the menu, works quite well for annotating books (especially with the
stylus), but not great for gestures.
When you are reading, the only real use for the touch screen is
annotations - you can select text, highlight it, save bits off etc and
to look up words. If you select a word by double tap or tap and hold, a
dictionary appears down the bottom with your word and the definition. If
you select down there, it goes full screen to the dictionary.
You can also follow links if your document has any, as well as other
things such as goto page. If you press the top corner, it dogears the
page and marks it in the index.
Actually reading the screen, well, you forget it is electronic once you
start reading - it just looks like slightly darker paper.
I find I am now reading generally before going to bed.
I have converted my open university documentation to ePub and mostly it
has converted fine. Calibre is a bit clunky but it does give you a lot
of options, and they do mostly work.
I don't know now whether I will get the bigger one, as the size is
great, and I have been carrying it around when I went away. I think
bigger may not be the advantage I want.
Oh, battery life is good. It is good for a few books over a week or so.
--
Woody
Steve Firth
> The wireless delivery means you can purchase and download
> books wherever you are
It also means that Amazon can delete those books, without authorisation
from you, wherever you are.
Jaimie Vandenbergh
wrote:
http://mashable.com/2009/07/17/amazon-remote-delete/
Plus you can take backups. I don't think it's known if restoring a
deleted book will trigger a new deletion; it definitely won't if you
crack the DRM'd book files to plain .mobi which is drag'n'drop easy.
And Amazon credited the user accounts, so they could purchase fresh
(legal) copies with the change.
All in all a far, far lower risk than dropping your device/having it
pinched.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
If ignorance is bliss, why are so many people unhappy?
Woody
news:pokqf5ts2m2a30ji5...@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:34:56 +0000, %steve%@malloc.co.uk (Steve Firth)
> wrote:
>
>>Steve Hodgson <ham...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The wireless delivery means you can purchase and download
>>> books wherever you are
>>
>>It also means that Amazon can delete those books, without authorisation
>>from you, wherever you are.
>
> http://mashable.com/2009/07/17/amazon-remote-delete/
Too right they aren't going to delete the books any more, they realise what
a PR disaster that is for any book service
> Plus you can take backups. I don't think it's known if restoring a
> deleted book will trigger a new deletion; it definitely won't if you
> crack the DRM'd book files to plain .mobi which is drag'n'drop easy.
But would most people do that? If I bought a book that was DRM'd it wouldn't
occur to me to crack it, as I already had it, so why would it matter? I
would also be disproportionately unhappy if I was half way through reading a
book and it was removed by the publisher. At that point the device stops
being 'your book reader' and starts feeling like something else.
> And Amazon credited the user accounts, so they could purchase fresh
> (legal) copies with the change.
So why didn't they just convert the books to the legal ones without having
to remove it?
> All in all a far, far lower risk than dropping your device/having it
> pinched.
Its not either / or though - you still have that risk as well.
I don't know, it seems like the eBook industry is trying to learn from the
music business as to how to successfully make legal ownership of media as
hard as possible for their customers.
--
Woody
Steve Firth
> All in all a far, far lower risk than dropping your device/having it
> pinched.
A far higher risk than I face at the moment. And I can't read a Kindle
in bed with the lights out as I read my backlit iPaq at present.
Jaimie Vandenbergh
wrote:
>"Jaimie Vandenbergh" <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote in message
>news:pokqf5ts2m2a30ji5...@4ax.com...
>> Plus you can take backups. I don't think it's known if restoring a
>> deleted book will trigger a new deletion; it definitely won't if you
>> crack the DRM'd book files to plain .mobi which is drag'n'drop easy.
>
>But would most people do that?
I don't mind either way. I'm talking about me, and to a lesser extent
you (where "you" means YOU, gentle reader!).
>If I bought a book that was DRM'd it wouldn't
>occur to me to crack it, as I already had it, so why would it matter?
Because if your device does die/get nicked/crash horribly/goes in for
repairs, and the DRM locks your books to your device, then you're
screwed.
If (as I think they are) books are locked to your amazon account, then
replace that with your amazon account getting hacked/whatever.
>> And Amazon credited the user accounts, so they could purchase fresh
>> (legal) copies with the change.
>
>So why didn't they just convert the books to the legal ones without having
>to remove it?
I don't know about everyone else, but in the same situation I'd rather
have a credit to allow me to buy a different book if I wanted.
>> All in all a far, far lower risk than dropping your device/having it
>> pinched.
>
>Its not either / or though - you still have that risk as well.
The deletion was a one-off event targetting one edition of two books,
and Amazon say they won't do it again. Risk? Negligable. Compare that
to the ongoing risks above, it's lost in the noise.
>I don't know, it seems like the eBook industry is trying to learn from the
>music business as to how to successfully make legal ownership of media as
>hard as possible for their customers.
Yep - apart from a few DRM-free holdouts they're largely even less
tech and marketing savvy than the the A/V media fuckwits.
Kudos are due to Baen in particular, who have been demonstrating that
not only DRM-free but also cost-free ebooks make money for the authors
and publisher for about 7 years now. Not many following their lead,
unfortunately. Shame I only like about two of their authors!
Cheers - Jaimie
--
Note that despite substantial evidence to the contrary, it is in fact possible
to delete files copied to the desktop, and you don't need to throw away the
computer and get a new one once the desktop is full. -- Peter Corlett, ASR
J. J. Lodder
> "Jaimie Vandenbergh" <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote in message
> news:pokqf5ts2m2a30ji5...@4ax.com...
> > On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:34:56 +0000, %steve%@malloc.co.uk (Steve Firth)
> > wrote:
> >
> >>Steve Hodgson <ham...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>> The wireless delivery means you can purchase and download
> >>> books wherever you are
> >>
> >>It also means that Amazon can delete those books, without authorisation
> >>from you, wherever you are.
> >
> > http://mashable.com/2009/07/17/amazon-remote-delete/
>
> Too right they aren't going to delete the books any more, they realise what
> a PR disaster that is for any book service
>
> > Plus you can take backups. I don't think it's known if restoring a
> > deleted book will trigger a new deletion; it definitely won't if you
> > crack the DRM'd book files to plain .mobi which is drag'n'drop easy.
>
> But would most people do that? If I bought a book that was DRM'd it wouldn't
> occur to me to crack it, as I already had it, so why would it matter? I
> would also be disproportionately unhappy if I was half way through reading a
> book and it was removed by the publisher. At that point the device stops
> being 'your book reader' and starts feeling like something else.
Why should you want to tolerate files on your computer
that belong to somebody else?
Jan
Ben Shimmin
I can't imagine that's very good for your eyes.
b.
--
<b...@bas.me.uk> <URL:http://bas.me.uk/>
`Property, marriage, the law; as the bed to the river, so rule
and convention to the instinct; and woe to him who tampers with
the banks while the flood is flowing.' -- Samuel Butler, _Erewhon_
Woody
>>> And Amazon credited the user accounts, so they could purchase fresh
>>> (legal) copies with the change.
>>
>>So why didn't they just convert the books to the legal ones without having
>>to remove it?
>
> I don't know about everyone else, but in the same situation I'd rather
> have a credit to allow me to buy a different book if I wanted.
In the same situation I would prefer that I never noticed that the publisher
of a book had changed from one to another, and that it didn't affect me. If
I wanted the credit I wouldn't have bought the book in the first place.
>>> All in all a far, far lower risk than dropping your device/having it
>>> pinched.
>>
>>Its not either / or though - you still have that risk as well.
>
> The deletion was a one-off event targetting one edition of two books,
> and Amazon say they won't do it again. Risk? Negligable. Compare that
> to the ongoing risks above, it's lost in the noise.
true, but it demonstrates a lack of ownership over your books which many
people would find unacceptable. Bearing in mind that most people I talk to
about ebooks either don't read many books or talk at length about the feel
of paper and the memories tied in the physical purchase or ownership of
books, it is another impediment to widespread use.
>>I don't know, it seems like the eBook industry is trying to learn from the
>>music business as to how to successfully make legal ownership of media as
>>hard as possible for their customers.
>
> Yep - apart from a few DRM-free holdouts they're largely even less
> tech and marketing savvy than the the A/V media fuckwits.
>
> Kudos are due to Baen in particular, who have been demonstrating that
> not only DRM-free but also cost-free ebooks make money for the authors
> and publisher for about 7 years now. Not many following their lead,
> unfortunately. Shame I only like about two of their authors!
Hopefully the industry can get something sorted out sooner than later.
Currently I haven't bought anything, I have only had my ereader a few weeks,
and I still have 3 books to get through before I am out of books and have
just signed up with essex library (which suprised me, being in somerset!)
where I can get books for the sony on loan for 3 weeks per book, it may be a
while before I do.
--
Woody
Woody
news:1j94ee0.1q7jejo1ofipgkN%%steve%@malloc.co.uk...
I never got on with trying to read on an iPaq, or any backlit device. my
sony has a clip on book light - the official sony light is something daft
like �50, but the reading light for a fiver from waterstones works a treat.
--
Woody
Pd
> Kudos are due to Baen in particular, who have been demonstrating that
> not only DRM-free but also cost-free ebooks make money for the authors
> and publisher for about 7 years now.
And as long as a paperback is still the best way to read a book, that
will continue. When eBook readers become better than paperbacks, then
it's even possible that authors make *more*, if eBooks are priced
sensibly. For while it may be possible to "give" somebody else your
purchased copy, if you like the author and hope they continue writing,
you'll be more likely to encourage your friends to buy it for 99p or
whatever. And ten times 99p with 60p of each going to the author is
better than one times 8.99 with 90p going to the author.
--
Pd
Jaimie Vandenbergh
wrote:
>Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>
>> All in all a far, far lower risk than dropping your device/having it
>> pinched.
>
>A far higher risk than I face at the moment.
Humans are very poor at correctly identifying risk.
>And I can't read a Kindle
>in bed with the lights out as I read my backlit iPaq at present.
I use the iPhone for the same, and before that a string of Nokia
Communicators. Very decent eBook readers, the lot of them.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
I was most impressed when I looked up into the London sky and saw
a star through all the light pollution. A few of us checked some
astronomy references to try and identify it, and we're reasonably
confident that it was Sol. -- Peter Corlett, asr
Jaimie Vandenbergh
<b...@llamaselector.com> wrote:
>Steve Firth <%steve%@malloc.co.uk>:
>> Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>> All in all a far, far lower risk than dropping your device/having it
>>> pinched.
>>
>> A far higher risk than I face at the moment. And I can't read a Kindle
>> in bed with the lights out as I read my backlit iPaq at present.
>
>I can't imagine that's very good for your eyes.
It depends. For some people it's incredibly uncomfortable, for me it's
as easy as reading off a paper page. Easier, in the dark!
I've never had trouble with computer screen work, and my eyeball
prescription hasn't changed in nearly a decade now while working with
constantly increasing resolution of both larger and smaller screens.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
It is better, of course, to know useless things than to know nothing.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca, 'Epistles'
Steve Firth
> >And I can't read a Kindle
> >in bed with the lights out as I read my backlit iPaq at present.
>
> I use the iPhone for the same, and before that a string of Nokia
> Communicators. Very decent eBook readers, the lot of them.
And that's it for me too. The iPaq is too long in the tooth and too crap
to continue with for much longer. Now that Orange offer the iPhony I'll
get one of those.
noauth
> When Amazon first released the Kindle, I promised myself that once it
> was released in the UK I would just go out and buy it. Despite some
> backsliding on this I received an Amazon Kindle from the US yesterday
> and thought I would write up some first impressions. I appreciate this
> is quite OT, particularly as the Kindle doesn't need a computer, but I
> thought it might be of some interest.
Yes, there's always some wanker that might find it useful.
>
> First things first. The service from Amazon and speed of delivery was
> fantastic. It�s amazing that something can be ordered from the US on a
> Wednesday evening and delivered by Friday lunchtime.
Say no more. The fantastic service is because it came from the US. Brits
could never do it that quickly.
>
> The Kindle arrives in a very small easy to open package and once you
> open the lid, the Kindle itself sits ready for use; other than a
> plastic screen protector printed with a few setup instructions there�s
> nothing between you and your new toy. Apple have been praised for the
> quality of their packaging and the experience they provide a new user
> and this is a very similar story.
A similar story is it's probably over-priced, appeals to gay people, and
breaks easily.
>
> Once you connect the power cable and begin charging, the Kindle is
> available for use and this is where the fun really starts. Peel off
> that plastic screen protector and you find that those initial setup
> instructions are actually on the Kindle�s screen. Turn on the Kindle
> and the books you ordered after it was despatched are already waiting
> for you. The Kindle uses the 3G network to deliver contents wirelessly
> so you don�t need to connect to a computer to use it. As Amazon put it:
> �3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime,
> anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi
> hotspots�.
How great! No monthly fees! I didn't know they were providing free 3G
service!
>
> The reason that I chose the Kindle over similar readers such as Sony�s
> range came down to two elements - the wireless delivery and the
> ergonomics. The wireless delivery means you can purchase and download
> books wherever you are, there�s no need to go back to your computer
> first. As for the ergonomics, compared to the Sony readers, I really
> like the great big paddle buttons for turning pages. Unlike the earlier
> Sony PRS-505, the current Sony readers have buttons mounted on the
> front face, supplemented with a (very laggy) touchscreen swipe gesture
> in the case of the Touch Edition.
And, of course, it appeals to gay people.
>
> The other aspect of the Kindle that appeals is that I can have content
> sent to me by third parties for a small cost. In my case this means I
> can have my unread Instapaper articles (BTW If you don�t already use
> this, you should) sent to me once a week or at whatever schedule I
> choose.
What a concept. You can collect even more articles which you'll never read.
>
> At the end of the day it�s a personal choice and there is no perfect
> device but the Kindle works for me.
It's approved by 3 out of 4 gay people.
>
> Of course, the fact it has the same form factor as a Star Trek Padd
> doesn�t do any harm.
Come on, that why you chose it.
--
"This is supposed to be a support group. Here I am, obviously in pain
and in need of support. Has anyone offered me anything except criticism
and abuse? Of course not. Scum, fucking evil bastard scum."
Rowland McDonnell - Support me you fucking bastards! - Jan 9, 2009
Ben Shimmin
The screen on the iPhone is far too small to read a book in any sort
of comfort, in my opinion (I say this as someone with, I think, fairly
good eyesight). As an experiment, I read the book in my .signature
in Stanza on the iPhone; I would much rather have had the paperback.
Will
How did you join essex library? Did you give a study or work address?
Woody
> How did you join essex library? Did you give a study or work address?
I gave them my home address. Which is Yeovil, somerset. Didn't seem
right to lie about these things but I guess it doesn't seem to matter
--
Woody
Will
that is very funny!
I'm on a US Kindle so even using my Wiltshire address I'd have to get
another reader such as Sony, unless I managed to strip the drm.
In my view, if most books were about £5 or less, then for many people
it wouldn't be worth circumventing the drm (based on an assumed
earning capability of more than £10 an hour.) What irritates me is the
pricing of ebooks. They are often more expensive than Hardbacks which
is crazy. Itunes has got close to a price that has made illegal
downloads probably not worthy the effort and risks given the possible
viruses etc and the fact that many people only wanted one or two songs
from the album anyway.
Woody
> On 14 Nov, 11:36, use...@alienrat.co.uk (Woody) wrote:
> > Will <teapot...@googlemail.com> wrote:
> > > On 13 Nov, 13:19, "Woody" <use...@alienrat.co.uk> wrote:
> > > > Hopefully the industry can get something sorted out sooner than
> > > > later. Currently I haven't bought anything, I have only had my
> > > > ereader a few weeks, and I still have 3 books to get through before
> > > > I am out of books and have just signed up with essex library (which
> > > > suprised me, being in somerset!) where I can get books for the sony
> > > > on loan for 3 weeks per book, it may be a while before I do.
> >
> > > How did you join essex library? Did you give a study or work address?
> >
> > I gave them my home address. Which is Yeovil, somerset. Didn't seem
> > right to lie about these things but I guess it doesn't seem to matter
> >
>
> that is very funny!
I must admit I was suprised when I learned. I was even going to contact
my local library to find out when they were doing ebooks until someone
said about it.
> I'm on a US Kindle so even using my Wiltshire address I'd have to get
> another reader such as Sony, unless I managed to strip the drm.
I guess so, I don't know what the kindle uses.
> In my view, if most books were about �5 or less, then for many people
> it wouldn't be worth circumventing the drm (based on an assumed
> earning capability of more than �10 an hour.) What irritates me is the
> pricing of ebooks. They are often more expensive than Hardbacks which
> is crazy. Itunes has got close to a price that has made illegal
> downloads probably not worthy the effort and risks given the possible
> viruses etc and the fact that many people only wanted one or two songs
> from the album anyway.
Well, I don't think iTunes has, I think other electronic download
systems are getting closer with �5 per album although i went to buy an
album from HMV today, it was �5.99 for the physical CD and �7.99 for the
download, so they have a way to go yet.
I think it is way worse with books though. Although the costs with music
are a lot less with a download than a physical CD, books are an extreme
example. If a paperback is say �6, then it is a long way from reasonable
to charge even �5 for the eBook, which requires no storage or printing
charges, no distribution charges and is very small in electronic form, a
lot less than even one music track for a large book.
I can't see how even if an eBook was a fifth of the price of a printed
book it wouldn't be a lot more profitable for everyone concerned in the
production, and this is coming from working in an industry that has
cripplingly high printing costs.
--
Woody
Jaimie Vandenbergh
<b...@llamaselector.com> wrote:
>Steve Firth <%steve%@malloc.co.uk>:
>> Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>> >And I can't read a Kindle
>>> >in bed with the lights out as I read my backlit iPaq at present.
>>>
>>> I use the iPhone for the same, and before that a string of Nokia
>>> Communicators. Very decent eBook readers, the lot of them.
>>
>> And that's it for me too. The iPaq is too long in the tooth and too crap
>> to continue with for much longer. Now that Orange offer the iPhony I'll
>> get one of those.
>
>The screen on the iPhone is far too small to read a book in any sort
>of comfort, in my opinion (I say this as someone with, I think, fairly
>good eyesight). As an experiment, I read the book in my .signature
>in Stanza on the iPhone; I would much rather have had the paperback.
Did you use landscape mode?
The Communicators were better than the iPhone - they have a 5+ inch
wide screen so you could use full paperback size font and lines.
Cheers - Jaimie
--
Ambiguity Man Strikes Again! (...or /does/ he?)
-- Eric Schwartz, asr
Ben Shimmin
> On Sat, 14 Nov 2009 01:51:13 +0000, Ben Shimmin
> <b...@llamaselector.com> wrote:
>>Steve Firth <%steve%@malloc.co.uk>:
>>> Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
>>>> >And I can't read a Kindle
>>>> >in bed with the lights out as I read my backlit iPaq at present.
>>>>
>>>> I use the iPhone for the same, and before that a string of Nokia
>>>> Communicators. Very decent eBook readers, the lot of them.
>>>
>>> And that's it for me too. The iPaq is too long in the tooth and too crap
>>> to continue with for much longer. Now that Orange offer the iPhony I'll
>>> get one of those.
>>
>>The screen on the iPhone is far too small to read a book in any sort
>>of comfort, in my opinion (I say this as someone with, I think, fairly
>>good eyesight). As an experiment, I read the book in my .signature
>>in Stanza on the iPhone; I would much rather have had the paperback.
>
> Did you use landscape mode?
I tried both, but ended up using portrait, which felt more book-like.
> The Communicators were better than the iPhone - they have a 5+ inch
> wide screen so you could use full paperback size font and lines.
The iPhone's screen is just too small for comfortable book reading (in
my opinion, your mileage may vary, etc).
Sara
Ben Shimmin <b...@llamaselector.com> wrote:
> Steve Firth <%steve%@malloc.co.uk>:
> > Jaimie Vandenbergh <jai...@sometimes.sessile.org> wrote:
> >> >And I can't read a Kindle
> >> >in bed with the lights out as I read my backlit iPaq at present.
> >>
> >> I use the iPhone for the same, and before that a string of Nokia
> >> Communicators. Very decent eBook readers, the lot of them.
> >
> > And that's it for me too. The iPaq is too long in the tooth and too crap
> > to continue with for much longer. Now that Orange offer the iPhony I'll
> > get one of those.
>
> The screen on the iPhone is far too small to read a book in any sort
> of comfort, in my opinion (I say this as someone with, I think, fairly
> good eyesight). As an experiment, I read the book in my .signature
> in Stanza on the iPhone; I would much rather have had the paperback.
>
There's nothing as good as a book, but I find for half an hour at
lunchtime an eBook on an iPhone is a perfectly acceptable way to pass
the time.
Mind you, now the German market's back in Kingston with an open-air
gluhwein stall, my lunchtimes are pretty much spoken for until after
Christmas. Then again... a boot* of gluhwein and a couple of M.R. James
ghost stories is a perfectly portable format... what an excellent way to
break from shopping.
*They serve it in a china boot.
--
Sara
Cuddler of rats, cats and husband
Vivienne Dunstan
> The iPhone's screen is just too small for comfortable book reading (in
> my opinion, your mileage may vary, etc).
I find it excellent, and it's got me reading again. I actually struggle
to read a normal book for various disability reasons due to neurological
disease. It's a delight to be reading again on my iPod touch: to be
honest it's transformed my life, bringing books (ok digital versions!)
back into my life. I use Stanza, in landscape mode. I use a medium-sized
font, and prefer white text on a black background because it's more
restful.
The only downside is buying new ebooks for it. Most for sale in the UK
are Adobe Digital format, which Stanza doesn't support. Stanza is well
integrated with various ebookshops like Fictionwise, but that recently
introduced geographic restrictions, so many books I'd want to buy are
only available to people in the US for example. I bought quite a lot
before that restriction was enforced, and have been working through
books by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Agatha Christie, and others.
I also wish Amazon would release the Kindle iPhone app for UK users,
because I could buy books on the Amazon website that way, and read them
on my iPod touch. All without the need to buy a Kindle as well.
Viv
Steve Firth
> The only downside is buying new ebooks for it. Most for sale in the UK
> are Adobe Digital format, which Stanza doesn't support. Stanza is well
> integrated with various ebookshops like Fictionwise, but that recently
> introduced geographic restrictions, so many books I'd want to buy are
> only available to people in the US for example. I bought quite a lot
> before that restriction was enforced, and have been working through
> books by Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Agatha Christie, and others.
You might consider Feedbooks and Baen books (since you seem to like
SF/Fantasy). Feedbooks - http://www.feedbooks.com - covers a wide range
of fiction and non-fiction. Baen books is almost exclusively SF/Fantasy
with a large number of "classics" from the genre. Many of them are
available for free download as part of Baen's decision to promote
reading by making at least one book from each author free to download.
Some authors/publishers have authorised more than one book.
Vivienne Dunstan
> You might consider Feedbooks and Baen books (since you seem to like
> SF/Fantasy)
Many thanks for the tip. I think I've downloaded from Feedbooks before.
It's automatically integrated in Stanza, and I'm pretty sure I've used
it. But will explore further (yes I am a SF/Fantasy fan!). Haven't tried
Baen books though, so will look at that with interest.
I've also just been contacting Amazon about the iPhone Kindle app. UK
Amazon replied with contact details for the US/Kindle main support. So
message resent. I'd like as many options as possible for ebooks. And
Project Gutenberg and the like is another valuable (free) source.
Thanks again.
Viv
Steve Firth
> And Project Gutenberg and the like is another valuable (free) source.
Yes, and getting more useful as they start to add eBook formats to the
plain text ones.
James Jolley
Thanks for this. I've not visited the site yet but are the books in
common RTF type formats?
Steve Firth
>
> Thanks for this. I've not visited the site yet but are the books in
> common RTF type formats?
Baen books are available in the following formats:
HTML Format Zip
Ebookwise/Rocket Format Zip
Mobi/Palm/Kindle Format Zip
EPUB/Stanza Format Zip
Microsoft Reader Format Zip
Sony Digital Reader Format Zip
RTF Format Zip
It's probably worth mentioning that the URL for the free Baen library
is:
It doesn't seem that obvious to me from their home page.
With Feedbooks you are at the mercy of the publisher, a real mix of
formats, none of them RTF as far as I can see. You may get lucky.
If you want to read some GothiK short stories on-line then the Clark
Ashton-Smith collection is good for a laugh/snort/shiver.
http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/
Manybooks has a large number of public domain works in various formats
including RTF.
And Munseys is the home of pulp fiction - but the legal status of some
of the titles is constantly in dispute. The previous version of the
site, Blackmask, was taken down after a massive copyright dispute. Again
multi-format books, and I'm a sucker for what the Italians refer to as
Gialli (yellows) the pulp crime fiction of the 30s and 40s.
Mark Bestley
Most of feedbooks and <http://manybooks.net/> are Project Gutenberg
packaged in ebook format so I look there first
--
Mark
James Jolley
Thanks for all of these links. I enjoyed the story you sent to me a
while a go, the lighter side - a lot of fun.
Steve Firth
> Thanks for all of these links. I enjoyed the story you sent to me a
> while a go, the lighter side - a lot of fun.
That was from the Baen free library. You'll never look at a rutabaga in
the same way every again.
Steve Hodgson
> On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 06:38:54 +0000, Steve Hodgson <ham...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> At the end of the day it’s a personal choice and there is no perfect
>> device but the Kindle works for me.
>
> Thanks for that, good to get another personal review.
>
> Would you do a "second impressions" post in a month or so? I'm more
> interested in the actual use and practical ergonomics than the
> unboxing.
A few weeks later on I'm actually using the Kindle for reading much
more having cleared a backlog of books that I had still to finish.
Overall my views are still very positive. The screen is glorious for
reading, from dull conditions through to bright sunlight (where it is
particularly good). I find the convenience of buying books over the air
much better than having to plug in to a computer to install them.
The service to email content to the Kindle is useful but it is easier
to plug in to a USB port and just drag and drop material. Now that the
international Kindle 2 supports PDF natively this greatly increases the
ease of getting one's own material on there.
The main problem is that the choice of titles available on the Kindle
store can be a bit restrictive. I suspect this is because Amazon can
not sell material where the publisher of the book has a deal with a UK
paper publisher in some cases. I've found that occasionally 'moving' to
Portland, Oregon, greatly increases the choice available but does bring
an extra $1.99 charge with it so I don't 'travel' there too often.
--
Cheers,
Steve
The reply-to email address is a spam trap.
Email steve 'at' shodgson 'dot' org 'dot' uk