I've held the future of books

[Pat.bz]

I've held the future...and its a Kindle; Amazon.com's electronic reader that is the size and weight of a paperback but holds 200 books on its hard drive and over a thousand on an SD card. We cruise a lot (w/ the associated flying) and this just makes life so much easier. I have at least 30 books on mine and DH will also have one before our b2b TA in November.

[Verity]

What a great idea. My husband and I read several books on our cruises but with all the weight restrictions, we are thinking twice about it. The libraries on the ships are iffy. I am going to check this out. It sounds like it might be a good Father's Day gift.

[Shirley and Les]

I've held the future...and its a Kindle; Amazon.com's electronic reader...

Out of curiosity, what made you choose this device over an iPod? I was thinking about an iPod, mainly for books, but also for music and pictures. From what I have read, copying CD books onto your iPod is fairly easy and the storage capacity is amazing.

Les

[hylasgirl]

Out of curiosity, what made you choose this device over an iPod? I was thinking about an iPod, mainly for books, but also for music and pictures. From what I have read, copying CD books onto your iPod is fairly easy and the storage capacity is amazing.

Les

 

The Kindle isn't audio... it is actually pages of a book you read. Very different than an iPod.

 

I think those are a great idea for travel! I will have to check into one...

[Shirley and Les]

The Kindle isn't audio...

:o Thank you! :o

Les

[denb]

A picture is worth a thousand 'words'. Sorry, couldn't help it. ;)

 

[John Y]

I've been interested in the evolution of the electronic book for a number of years. The "gold standard" that I use is "how will it stand up to the 3-B's". Can it be used in Bed, on the Bus, and in the Bathroom (either on the throne or in the tub). From a quick read of the marketing blurb on Amazon this one bears looking into. But the list price of $359 will have to drop quite a bit before it becomes popular. And how does a user store a favorite book for re-reading in 2 years? And what limitations are there going to be on the selection of titles? Interesting gadget. Thanks.

[Cruisenmom]

This sounds like a great device, and one worth watching. BUT, I would certainly miss that great "new book" smell. Not a big deal, I know, but it's part of the fun with a brand-new page-turner!

[stomsf]

I just got one last week and as much as i was afraid of hating it (didn't care for the visuals, looked kind of clunky and a 1st Generation device) I must say I LOVE it.

 

Size is perfect, wireless access to the Amazon store is great, and to be able to keep an entire library of thousands of books in one small place is sure to reduce the clutter in our house!

 

Perfect for reading in bed or in a nice comfy chair. Bathroom is fine, though I would never read in a tub with it as it is electronic. Internal storage can hold 200 books as the OP said, with an added SD card you can leave books on there indefinitely.

 

Selection of books is great -- Sony Reader (which looks a bit better but has no wireless) has only ~30,000 books on their store, and at hight prices for bestsellers/new releases. Amazon has over 100,000 and prices mostly top out at $9.99.

 

I love mine! Can't wait to take it on a cruise with me!

[kitty9]

I started out with an eReader and then moved to the Kindle. I much prefer the Kindle mostly for the longer battery life and the wifi downloading of books. I don't understand how you can read a book on the tiny screen of an iPod--oh you must be talking audio books. The Kindle also has music download capability and email ability. It's a great gadget if you love books. And the cost of even the newest books is less than purchasing theactual book.

 

Once you purchase the book from Amazon, it's yours forever. Plus, the book doesn't delete once it's read, so it stays on your Kindle for as long as you want. If you somehow lose the book, you can redownload the book from your Amazon account

 

For those wondering about the popularity of the device, the waiting list for the Kindle has been as long as 5 weeks. They cannot keep up with the demand.

[pattyj 1204]

This looks like something I might be interested in Thanks for sharing. One question. Where do you get the books from? How does it perform in the sun, does the screen fade away? If it is on Amazon, I'm going to check it out.

[stomsf]

Patty --

 

It's pretty slick, once you purchase a book it wirelessly downloads to your device -- instant gratification. Also, if you're trying to decide you can download free samples of the books you like to see if you want to buy the whole enchilada.

 

As for reading in the sun, this is an e-Ink display, meaning you need direct light in order to see it. In direct sunlight the lettering is extremely sharp -- and better than a book, if you want you have a choice of five font sizes to change to on the fly.

 

It's great in that as it's not backlit, it doesn't cause any eyestrain during reading -- just like reading a printed page, almost, except you don't need to physically turn pages, just hit a button on the side of the device.

 

You can preview the Kindle Store on Amazon to see if books you like are available -- they are adding new ones every day, and old ones as people migrate to the new format. Also (I haven't tried this yet) you can google Project Gutenberg and download free e-books that can be read as well -- mostly classics and public domain literature.

[stomsf]

Also -- I forgot. The Kindle also does audiobooks! It has a speaker if you want to listen or you can plug headphones into it.

 

Also in the Continental US it has a free internet browser (though interface is odd as there is no touchscreen/mouse control) and full access to Wikipedia. Display is B&W, so photo viewing is not optimal.

[smtcan]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like a great way to cut down on weight - I typically tote six paperbacks for a week, and often bring more home, after leaving the original ones along the way. On our recent 30 day trip down under, I loaded my ipod with movies - amazing how many a 160gig hard drive will hold.

 

Sheila

[ChefPeg]

This sounds like a great device, and one worth watching. BUT, I would certainly miss that great "new book" smell. Not a big deal, I know, but it's part of the fun with a brand-new page-turner!

 

LOL!! I thought I was the only one who LOVES the smell of a new book.

[Pat.bz]

You can put 200 books on hard drive plus about 1300 more on SD card. Also found out that if you purchase additional Kindles on your account (as I will for DH)everything you have purchased from Amazon is already on the new Kindle. Go to Amazon.com to read about this and see Video. Newsweek did a cover story on it in November. You can also subscribe to some magazines and newspapers and order an item from your Kindle to be delivered (for the most part--but not Show Low AZ)wirelessly in 6 seconds anywhere in North America. I have a friend who bought it just for Audio book capability (but this must be downloaded from your computer with an SD cord).

[Pat.bz]

Almost forgot--Rick Steve now has 2 city guides available on Kindle (london and Paris)--hopefully he has Rome available before we go there in Nov. My TA owns a Kindle and said its a great way to make friends:)

[prosenbl]

After my last TA cruise - and no books in the library - I too purchased a Kindle and I love it. I expect it to be great for cruising. I got one for my DH also ( we can both download the same books). It is a wonderful device.

[ChefPeg]

Does anyone know the difference between the Kindle and the Sony Reader?

 

I am leaning towards the Sony but now I see everyone is praising the Kindle.

 

Thoughts? Comments? Help?:) :o

[bellagirl]

I have been interested in the Kindle as well,but learned that as of yet, it is not available in Canada. Can anybody elaborate on this? Does it look as if it will be available soon? Thanks, Shelly

[stomsf]

ChefPeg -- the Sony Reader and the Kindle use the same eInk technology -- aesthetically I used to think the Sony looked a lot better but now I havea Kindle the form factor has grown on me. Sony's uses their eConnect bookstore and the Kindle uses Amazon obviously. The Sony requires a computer to download and add new content while the Kindle is completely wireless and does not require a computer once you have it. For PDF compatibility, the Sony works out of the box while the Kindle needs to have some files converted in order to be viewed from PDF.

 

Bellagirl, the Kindle itself will work but it's a question of whether or not the wireless will work in Canada. For content, I'd still get a Kindle, personally.

[ChefPeg]

ChefPeg -- the Sony Reader and the Kindle use the same eInk technology -- aesthetically I used to think the Sony looked a lot better but now I havea Kindle the form factor has grown on me. Sony's uses their eConnect bookstore and the Kindle uses Amazon obviously. The Sony requires a computer to download and add new content while the Kindle is completely wireless and does not require a computer once you have it. For PDF compatibility, the Sony works out of the box while the Kindle needs to have some files converted in order to be viewed from PDF.

 

Bellagirl, the Kindle itself will work but it's a question of whether or not the wireless will work in Canada. For content, I'd still get a Kindle, personally.

 

Thanks for the quick response, I appreciate it.

 

I like Sony products and I read that the Sony Reader is a 2nd generation which tells me some of the kinks are dealt with ( I know not all) and the Kindle is still 1st generation. Correct?

 

I'm still not sure yet. I may go with the Sony since it doesn't matter to me if it's completely wireless or not. I don't think I would need to down load a book in a hurry. I'm not a newspaper type of person either.

 

Urrggh!! What to do ???

[stomsf]

ChefPeg --

 

My suggestion would be to go to the respective bookstores and check on the likely content you'd buy -- that will tell you if there's a difference content wise between the two units.

 

I know last figures I heard were Sony's store had ~30,000 titles available and Amazon's is over 100,000.

[ChefPeg]

ChefPeg --

 

My suggestion would be to go to the respective bookstores and check on the likely content you'd buy -- that will tell you if there's a difference content wise between the two units.

 

I know last figures I heard were Sony's store had ~30,000 titles available and Amazon's is over 100,000.

 

Hi,

 

I ordered the Sony Reader. I hope I like it:o . We are leaving for Alaska in less than 2 weeks so I wanted to make a decision today.

 

As I said, I am a big fan of Sony products so that was a big factor on choosing a unit.

 

I went to both the Sony and the Kindle library / bookstores. I compared each book I was interested in. I wanted to make sure they would have the books I would purchase. Both had the same selection for me, I stopped at 10 books. Prices varied.

 

I also read it was much easier to view PDF files on the Sony.

 

So I went with Sony only for the fact I like their products. DH said he liked the idea of a 2nd generation unit.

 

Thank you for all of the help and information. I appreciated it.

 

Cruise Critic has quite a few awesome and helpful members and you are obviously one of them.

 

Peggy

[DeltaOne]

I've held the future...and its a Kindle

I've become addicted to audio books on my iPod.

 

I have a long commute, so an ebook reader wouldn't work -- but I can easily listen to my iPod while driving. audible.com has several subscription plans which make buying the books more affordable -- more than the books for Kindle -- but a Kindle wouldn't work as well for me.