Post by: jcarter on March 20, 2009, 02:29:12 PM
There are a lot of pros and cons.
And I dont know anyone who has one around here, so no way to actually see one live.
So I was wondering if anyone here on TS has one, and if you like or dislike it.
Thanks,
Jane
Post by: kimmer on March 20, 2009, 04:08:45 PM
I have friends who love their Kindle.
I have friends who wish they'd never bought their Kindle.
Possibly not an issue in your area, but double check the "download" map at Amazon before you buy. My one friend went ahead and bought the latest Kindle, even though she's in a non-download area. You couldn't tell her ... so now she has to get in the car and drive up or down the road to get a signal. Kinda dumb, if you ask me.
Post by: jcarter on March 20, 2009, 04:31:34 PM
I guess I will wait a while, there are a lot of cons for this device for the price.
I did check the download area map for sprint and found we are OK, but my cell phone service, AT+T here is not good. We are on the coast, its flat, but the nearest tower is up beyond the moraine.
My husband did say, he would rather have the book, as we donate them to the library or swap them when finished.
Jane
Post by: danf63 on March 20, 2009, 07:21:56 PM
Dan
Post by: jcarter on March 20, 2009, 07:35:28 PM
But I am going to really hold off on that Kindle, as its not really what I though it would be.
Thought it would be great to download lots of good books and take it on vacation. But its just as easy to get all the paperbacks.
I know I always can get the best info here, and I sure will wait on that Kindle thing,
Thanks again,
Jane
Post by: kimmer on March 21, 2009, 03:23:17 AM
QUOTE(jcarter @ Mar 20 2009, 01:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I did check the download area map for sprint and found we are OK, but my cell phone service, AT+T here is not good. We are on the coast, its flat, but the nearest tower is up beyond the moraine.
Jane, I don't believe the Amazon download is dependent on your cell phone service carrier. It's something Amazon has set up, and it's supposed to be "free"
(other than the price of the book you are downloading and the purchase of the Kindle.) If Amazon's map shows you in a good area, then you should be good to download books from them. We live in a black hole for our cell phone service, yet we would be able to download Amazon books -- if I had a Kindle.Honestly, if I had spare cash, I'd probably splurge on one. Lots of books that I can't get from the library and at $9.99 they'd be "buyable" for me -- but my hubby's "Scotch-ness" has rubbed off on me and so no Kindle.
Post by: jcarter on March 21, 2009, 07:18:27 AM
I do think I will wait on the Kindle for a while anyway, as I can see a lot of things in the reviews that could very well be fixed in the next version. Like the shades of gray, and the font sizing problem and other little potential improvements.
Though it sure would be nice to have a load of books in one little gadget to take on a trip. When we do go to islands though, we always take a load of paperbacks and when we finish them, we leave them behind for others to read, or donate them to their tiny libraries.
In poor places like Belize, we left our clothes, towels and stuff for the people too. And left our American peanut butter, as its a delicacy in parts of Belize.
Jane
Post by: gunug on March 21, 2009, 07:19:26 AM
Post by: jcarter on March 21, 2009, 08:16:20 AM
Jane
Post by: RNKIII on March 21, 2009, 10:57:09 AM
Bob K. rnkiii
Post by: jcarter on March 21, 2009, 12:27:52 PM
Jane
Post by: Bbob on March 21, 2009, 06:30:28 PM
One of the oddest things I had to get used to was NOT turning pages. On the Kindle you just press a bar on the side and the next page pops up almost immediately.
The text is easy to read. The "inkless ink" screen is very legible. There are about six sizes of type to choose from (but only one type face).
I have about fifteen books on my Kindle, and it will hold up to fifteen hundred.
One of the drawbacks is not being able to share books with other users. I figure some hacker will come up with a way around that before long.
Pictures don't look very good with the four gray levels, but the newer version has sixteen gray levels, which will make black and white photos tolerable, at least.
One of the features I love is the ability to turn off the Kindle, and when powered on again the exact page you were on reappears. You can also do bookmarks.
Yep, I love it.
Post by: dboh on March 22, 2009, 06:00:19 PM
Post by: jcarter on March 22, 2009, 07:03:44 PM
But I sure will check, as Ive a book to return this coming week.
I'd love to try one before buying!
Thanks,
Jane
Post by: kimmer on March 22, 2009, 11:08:52 PM
QUOTE(dboh @ Mar 22 2009, 03:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My local library loans out Kindles. Books can be downloaded for free for 14 days.
Wow. My library has audio books on CD (and I can pop them into iTunes and keep them as long as I want - although that's not kosher). They also use the OverDrive Media Console for download-able books, and then you listen through iTunes (or on your iPod). You can keep them for 14 days and then the key expires. So far most of the books that I want are "win only", and the few books available for the Mac are "checked out" and I am on a long list. Having Kindles through the library would be cool.
Post by: sokukodo on March 23, 2009, 01:32:42 AM
Post by: kimmer on March 23, 2009, 03:23:20 AM
QUOTE(sokukodo @ Mar 22 2009, 10:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
... also when done with a book, it's moved to an archive (presumably a server) where it can be retrieved at any time for re-reading.
Server as in it's no longer on your Kindle?
Post by: jcarter on March 23, 2009, 07:42:06 AM
Have to go to town tomorrow to have our well water tested, so will go to the library afterwards.
The fact that the Kindles are easy on the eyes is great for me, as my eyes do get tired reading stuff on my computers after a while.
Jane
Post by: Bbob on March 23, 2009, 11:42:05 AM
That's right. It is stored by Amazon. All the books you buy are stored on their server. You can delete them from your Kindle, then download them at any time.
Here's another feature that hasn't been mentioned. You can put your own documents on your Kindle. Simply save them in Word as a .doc file, email them to your Kindle address, and they will be converted and downloaded to your Kindle.
Post by: daryl66 on March 23, 2009, 12:21:57 PM
QUOTE(kimmer @ Mar 22 2009, 11:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
QUOTE(dboh @ Mar 22 2009, 03:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My local library loans out Kindles. Books can be downloaded for free for 14 days.
Wow. My library has audio books on CD (and I can pop them into iTunes and keep them as long as I want - although that's not kosher). They also use the OverDrive Media Console for download-able books, and then you listen through iTunes (or on your iPod).
Due of the amount of time "SHE" spends at airports and in airplanes a couple of times a month, the desire to put AudioBooks on the IPOD Touch was emphatically expressed. Our library system is great here with 8 county and city libraries all interconnected with loads of books on cd. HOWEVER the "Overdrive" software is the only option for downloading, and it has the large caveat "NOT AVAILABLE FOR MAC" in big letters. We are still using G4's so a Windoze option is just not an option.
Kosher or not, I have began checking out a book or 2, and ripping it to Itunes. I return the book and remove it from Itunes all within the 3 week checkout period. I guess that is as close to 'Kosher" as I can come.
And that is my story and I am sticking to it.
Daryl
Post by: jcarter on March 23, 2009, 12:50:04 PM
Thats a great idea!
We dont travel as much as we used to, but if we did, I would do this too.
Tomorrow I will take a look at the Kindle.
Thanks,
Jane
Post by: Mayo on March 23, 2009, 04:54:51 PM
Post by: kimmer on March 23, 2009, 05:56:20 PM
QUOTE(daryl66 @ Mar 23 2009, 09:21 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Our library system is great here with 8 county and city libraries all interconnected with loads of books on cd. HOWEVER the "Overdrive" software is the only option for downloading, and it has the large caveat "NOT AVAILABLE FOR MAC" in big letters.
It's not the software, it's your library system. I have the Overdrive software and it works fine. However, my library has yet to "purchase" very many Mac titles.
Here's the info on Overdrive for the Mac from their site:
QUOTE
Mac System Requirements
* Intel® or PowerPC® processor
* Mac OS 10.4.9 (or newer)
* iTunes® v7.6.2.9 (or newer) (download iTunes)
* QuickTime® v7.4.5 (or newer) (download QuickTime as part of the iTunes download
* Intel® or PowerPC® processor
* Mac OS 10.4.9 (or newer)
* iTunes® v7.6.2.9 (or newer) (download iTunes)
* QuickTime® v7.4.5 (or newer) (download QuickTime as part of the iTunes download
Talk to your local librarian and ask, urge, plead, chant, rant
for the support for the Mac. That's what I did, and so now it's there. Now I'm asking, begging, urging, pleading, chanting and ranting for more Mac titles. 
Mayo, I agree with your conclusion. It's like so many things that available as win/Mac and companies just ignore the Mac side for whatever reason.
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 24, 2009, 11:51:58 AM
Post by: daryl66 on March 24, 2009, 12:04:35 PM
QUOTE(Xairbusdriver @ Mar 24 2009, 11:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I thought that "OverDrive" thing sounded familiar. <Take a gander at this "review" of the process by a fairly intelligent Mac user.>
ABD: It was this article that firmed up my decision to go the "ripping" route. There is another rendering that I cannot find that explains in detail the DRM (By MS BTW). After downloading "Overdrive" I visited numerous libraries hoping to find one I could use. No such luck.
You must give them their due. They still have (most)of the world believing its the only game in town.
Daryl
Post by: kimmer on March 24, 2009, 07:35:42 PM
When my library first started the downloadable books, we were promised all books would be available for the Mac, but that it would take a bit of time to purchase the Mac copies. Okay. I bought that.
When a book was there and available to for the PC download but not available to check out for the Mac, I was told the wait was because they would buy 1 win copy and 1 Mac copy and if the Mac copy was "out", I'd have to wait. Okay. I bought that.
I was able to download one book that I wanted, and yes, I went through the stuff that the guy speaks of in his article, but I thought it was my library district that had set up all the hoop jumping. I will admit that I copied the book to my iPod to listen to, so when the expiration date rolled around, it was no biggy to me. I don't plan on sharing the darn thing with anyone and once I'm through, I'll trash it (it's a long and somewhat boring book that would take several renewals to get through).
Having read the TidBits article and your comments, I stopped at the library today and had a nice chat with the librarian. I had to bite my tongue to not say the wrong thing. What a load of garbage. Now we're being told to contact Apple and complain because it's all their fault with their proprietary software.
I realize there are 2 sides to this whole digital copyright issue, and I can see both sides ... but I'm frosted that Mac users are "punished" for having a superior computer system. I can see why the Kindle is such a big thing, and like I said ... if I had the money I'd own one. Shucks, I'd probably buy some audio books if I had the money.
Post by: jcarter on March 24, 2009, 07:44:20 PM
I didnt see all of the interview, my husband called me out of the kitchen, but looks like they are very very impressed with it and expect it to make a lot of money.
Though libraries are not happy with the thing.
We stopped in to our main library today and they dont have any, not in the budget, but they have friends who say they are great.
I really really hope that Apple comes up with their own Kindle thing, why not?
Just because it wasnt their idea to start with, they really should do it and get on the stick now before its too late.
Jane
Post by: Xairbusdriver on March 24, 2009, 09:23:16 PM
They used to take umbrage at the idea of xeroxing a page, copyright and all, you know! That's all most of them have ever known - text on paper. Then came records, no problem, no one can copy those things. Oops, what is this cassette tape thing? WARNING! COPY PREVENTION FLAGS AT FULL STAFF! And now these kids are talking about 'digital rights?' Don't they have digits on the left, too?!
Trying to explain that their Over Drive "system" prevents nothing is like trying to explain the workings of an aircraft to people who've never even seen a bird.
As much as libraries have done for America nd freedom, not to mention education, I fear that the current model will become more and more of a dinosaur and will be hard to find in a few scores. I only hope some form of free access to information remains available for all citizens. And Google® ain't it!
Post by: jcarter on March 25, 2009, 11:42:36 AM
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/appl-g...1824/from/yahoo
Jane
Post by: daryl66 on March 25, 2009, 12:02:49 PM
QUOTE(kimmer @ Mar 24 2009, 07:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
What I kneweth I no longer knoweth and nothing worketh like it dideth.
I must admit that I have "Been There" and "Done That" at least one time in my life.
No Apology necessary.
Daryl
Post by: swhitset on March 25, 2009, 04:32:26 PM
Steve
Post by: Mayo on April 05, 2009, 12:28:14 PM
Hmmm... The Kindle has more going for it than I knew before watching the video. But I'm waiting for iPhone 3.0 in June.