Book Haven discussion
Dead Discussions
>
How often do you sort your TBR pile?
date
newest »
newest »
message 51:
by
Danielle The Book Huntress
(new)
Aug 09, 2009 05:36PM
Now that Kindle takes PDF it meets my needs for a reader. I can buy a lot of the books off Amazon, and the rest I can download onto my Kindle from my computer. The disappearing book was weird, so I agree with that, Julie. You're not alone. I know of several people who don't like the Kindle.
reply
|
flag
Joy wrote: "Danielle wrote: "That would be a fantastic gift, Joy. It's a bit pricey if you get the 2 year warranty $100 and a cover $40. You're looking at $650 dollars. But I decided working all the time shoul..."Even if he doesn't buy the extras, that's still a great gift. I would guess you could purchase the warranty and cover on your own if you wanted.
Anne wrote: "What is the disappearing book?"Amazon removed copies of 1984 from all the Kindles it was on, and refunded the money ... when they learned that the edition was pirated, and was not sold legally.
In short, they did the right thing from an ethical, legal, and business perspective, and people got their panties in a bunch and cried conspiracy.
That's DRM technology for you. There are still some benefits for print above ebooks.
In my opinion, the 1984/Kindle situation isn't quite that simple. Yes, I agree that it would be ethically and legally irresponsible of Amazon to allow pirated copies of a book to be sold on their website, and no I'm not a conspiracy theorist. What I don't agree with though is the way they went about resolving the situation. People should have been informed what was happening and not simply had the book deleted remotely without warning. Here is a NY Times article about it: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/tec...
The article states, "Amazon’s published terms of service agreement for the Kindle does not appear to give the company the right to delete purchases after they have been made," and it seems that customers had no idea Amazon could even do that. If this is the case then Amazon broke their own rules by deleting the book, and in that same article an Amazon spokesperson essentially said that it was a bad idea. This wasn't just a case of people loosing a book either. There is also mention of a student who had been making notations in his Kindle for a paper he was writing and those notes disappeared right along with the book. I just think that Amazon could have handled the whole situation much better than they did.
Joy wrote: "I don't know anyone with a sony reader. How well does it work. Have you tried the Kindle? Which one is better? LOL Sorry, too many questions...I'll stop now..."
I haven't actually used a Kindle, so I can't do a hand-on comparison for you, Joy. My husband and I did lots of online research comparing the two readers before deciding to purchase the Sony. I got the PRS-505 model which is not the latest one. I chose it for two reasons, one being that many users were complaining of glare off the new touch screen on the latest model, and the other simply being that I still prefer real books, and didn't think that I would use it enough to make the extra investment for the newer model worth it. So far it's been working great for me, and I have no real complaints. I know several people here on GR who have the Sony and love it too. I'm more than happy to answer questions about it if I know the answer.:-)
Anne wrote: "Starling wrote: "One of my neighbor's kids (adult kid actually) owned one and it was on the coffee table when I visited for a few minutes. It was bigger than I expected. Since the owner was not the..."In the states the newest Kindle will run you about 400 dollars before taxes. The screen is bigger on the new versions. They screen is now as big as a fiction novel as opposed to those little paperbacks. You donwnload ebooks much the same way you download music for your iPod except instead of purchasing tunes on iTunes and then uploading them onto your iPod you download straight from the Kindle. You can also get periodicles and the daily news sent to your Kindle at a regular basis. The memory is quite large and you have an account so if your Kindle breaks you can purchase a new one and sign in and all your books are there again. They also have the free book of the week, much like iTunes has a free download of the month and so on. It is a great device but I have been told that it is still too pricey for what it is. After all, I just bought a mini computer for 450 dollars and I can get as many ebooks as I like on that and it's just as small and does loads more. I think this will become a fairly popular gadget once the price goes down by half. And it will too. Just be patient. ;) Hope that helps!
I agree it is going to go down. I've also experienced taped movies priced at $75+ per movie and not selling, going down to about $20 and suddenly taking off. There is a price point for all kinds of hardware and software.I think that when they get an e-reader down to the $150 price point, they will also need to address the per book price point. But that will come too.
I'm pretty sure this particular technology is going to be around for a long time.
Starling wrote: "I agree it is going to go down. I've also experienced taped movies priced at $75+ per movie and not selling, going down to about $20 and suddenly taking off. There is a price point for all kinds of..."Agreed. :\
Right now the cost of ebooks is a bit ridiculous when you consider that you can get a lot of those books at a bookstore for 30 to 40 % off and that's new! Think about used bookstores...I think there is something to be said for the technology and even though I will always prefer physical books to the Kindle, I would love to have the Kindle for all my magazines and newspapers and stop having the paper versions sent to me! That would be lovely.
HAHA! Imagine a Kindle being kept in the bathroom instead of outdated magazines! I HAVE SEEN THE FUTURE! AND IT IS GLORIOUS! hahahaha...
One more comment I didn't make. Yes, you can get a cheap laptop and read ebooks with it, but you can't get really comfortable with a laptop (a bit too heavy and weird shaped and they get HOT. I'm pretty sure one of the advantages to a kindle is that you can curl up with it just like you would with a book.
I'm in the UK and can't get hold of a Kindle, neither can I download e-books from US publisher/web sites because of copyright restrictions. I can however buy from BooksONBoards UK site (which offers nearly all the US books I want/desire:)). Does anyone buy books from them/know how reliable this company is?
Mod
I mean we usually have two options, get them in pdf format on our computers, or lug around the copies from a bookstore.
My husband can't stand looking at the computer screen for his homework(I dont mind it personally), and I cant stand the copies from the bookstore. LOL A ebook reader would work nicely, because we could put it straight onto the ebook reader. It'd also be nice b/c he could take it to work with him to read his schoolwork on his breaks...
There are soooo many benefits to it. I'm just trying to decide between the sony one or the Kindle DX. LOL Ugh! Decisions can be so difficult sometimes!
Joy wrote: "A big part of the reason why my hubby wants an ebook reader is because it is soooo much easier when it comes to textbooks. I mean we usually have two options, get them in pdf format on our comput..."
Wow! I didn't even think about textbooks! What a fantastic idea! I was just thinking it would be great for magazines and newspapers but to get textbooks through a kindle! Fantastic! I'm sold. I'm going to have to get one now. Let me know which Kindle you decide? I am curious to know the differences...
I like the idea for textbooks/school books (being an English major textbooks become quite rare), but I like to mark school books up, underline things and postit tab pages to make it easier to find things. And I know you can make notes on an e-reader, but I think being able to open the book to the exact part you marked and know what is marked because of the postit. Personally I would like the e-reader for all those silly books that I would like to read, but will find nothing to underline and I could do without them taking up precious space on my bookshelf.Maybe if I had to deal with physical huge textbooks more often I would fee differently though.
Lisa Anne wrote: "I like the idea for textbooks/school books (being an English major textbooks become quite rare), but I like to mark school books up, underline things and postit tab pages to make it easier to find ..."As an English major myself I would NOT recommend a Kindle for your books because I STILL have all my textbooks marked and underlined etc. However, my husband is a bio-chemistry major and his books are TEDIOUS and HUGE. I swear his last book weighed as much as me. I think it would be a great idea for him. BUt, I'm with you. I like having physical books to mark in, tab, underline, write notes in etc...
I NEVER marked a textbook in my life. I had no choice but to sell them all because I needed the money for next semester's textbooks. And unmarked textbooks sold for more money than marked ones.I wonder if I would use the notations applet in an e-reader. Don't have a clue.
Mod
I'm still leaning towards the Kindle DX, because it has a lot of properties that would suit me and my hubby...especially the textbooks. LOL
