E-Readers

[DGF]

My daughter and son-in-law gave me a Kindle for fathers day. I was skeptical but kept an open mind. My son-in-law is addicted to his Kindle and he told me to persevere. I have and I find I love it. The thought of being able to take 3000 books with me on vacation is exciting. I have always enjoyed the feel, the weight, the everything, about a real book and I never thought I would like an E-Reader. I was wrong I may spend the rest of my life downloading books rather than buying them.

Our public library in the fall will have the software installed that will allow you to "check out" books at no cost. As it is, there are many, many free books and the average cost to download looks to be about 99 cents. Anyone here use E-Readers?

[alfsauve]

Since the wife is a librarian and I've publish several hard copy books  (small quantities, very small distribution), we're resisting the urge.

I get about half my gun magazines on-line now.   So I'm half way there.

I'm wondering though whether Kindle or other dedicated e-reader is the way to go over the tablet  (iPad, xoom, etc)?

[tombogan03884]

While I like the idea, I have one problem with it.
I like to put a book or magazine in my pocket and go down to the local coffee shop for an hour or so.
I can't afford one of those fancy phones that lets you surf the net, and the other E readers all seem to be about the size of a hard cover book , which does not fit my pocket. So I stick with traditional print media .
Mention it again in 10 years and it will probably be a very different story. 

[Badgersmilk]

I've played with the Nooks and Kindle a few times and have been tempted.  Definately beats reading off any computer or the Ipads IMO.  I get a headache after reading a few pages on backlit screens.     E-readers seem to have beat that problem.

You can subscribe to gun magazines on the Kindle???

[DGF]

I also have trouble reading for any length of time on a backlit screen, the Kindle has, as you say, solved that problem. I can read for hours with no problems. As far as carrying it to the coffee shop it is lighter, and about the size of a Paperrback. It's true you can't stuff it into your back pocket but neither can you stuff a book into your back pocket. Also, if you want, you could subscribe to any number of mags and have them at your fingertips.

I don't know if gun mags are downloadable on a Kindle but it does seem that all periodicals are jumping on the E-Reader bandwagon as hardcopy sales dwindle. I predict that at sometime in the future we will eliminate all hardcopy.

[Sponsor]

[fightingquaker13]

What is the battery life? I always look at these andthink  gee that's cool (if they solve the headache issue), but what happens when the power goes out, or Kindle goes out of  business and some other company is the new industry standard and I've lost all those E books I bought? If I had books or CDs (using the music analogy) I'd have hard copy, not just the ability to access stuff electrically. Of course I'd also have boxes and boxes of books and music as opposed to a slim little doohickey. I think its a neat idea, but like Tom, I am holding off for now.  We will see.
FQ13

[kmitch200]

While I like the idea, I have one problem with it.
I like to put a book or magazine in my pocket and go down to the local coffee shop for an hour or so.
I can't afford one of those fancy phones that lets you surf the net, and the other E readers all seem to be about the size of a hard cover book , which does not fit my pocket. So I stick with traditional print media .
Mention it again in 10 years and it will probably be a very different story. 

Get gangsta pants.     Or not...

Wife loves her kindle, FWIW.

[Solus]

What is the battery life? I always look at these and gee that's cool (if they solve the headache issue), but what happens when the power goes out, or Kindle goes out business and some other company is the new industry standard and I've lost all those E books I bought? If I had books or CDs (using the music analogy) I'd have hard copy, not just the ability to access stuff electrically. Of course I'd also have boxes and boxes of books and music as opposed to a slim little doohickey. I think its a neat idea, but like Tom, I am holding off for now.  We will see.
FQ13

I've had a Kindle for several years now.  On my second one, Kindle 3, and gave my first Kindle, Kindle 2, to a friend.

I love it.  Never thought I'd like it as I to liked the feel of a book...and the smell if I happened to have a leather bound volume.

But having several thousand books in my hand is great.  Easier to read and handle than a real book and if I miss the leather smell, I'll get a spray scent for it.

Battery life is long.  If you keep the wireless off when you don't need it and power down when you are not reading, it should last over a week unless you are reading many hours a day.

It will easily recharge in a few hours, overnight is always long enough.

There are very many free books available...most of the classics because there is no one getting royalties and literary groups are converting them to Kindle format and donating them.  

Several things about the Kindle you can't get in a paper book.  Real time dictionary to look up words you are not sure of; commenting or marking passages you find of interest (these can be shared online); audio feature to "read" a book to you using a ear piece or the built in speakers.

You can also load .txt and .pdf files that you have to your Kindle.

You can put your books in user defined categories, with a book being in multiple categories.  I generally use author as the category with some for utilities, like reference and games, and  have one for Not Read and Read and Reading.  

Time to pick my next book, I look in Not Read and find something that seems interesting.  Move it out of Not Read to Reading so I can see the several books I am in the middle of reading..all book marked at my last page read.  Move them to out of Reading to Read when I am finished.

It is nice to have all the books I am currently reading with me so that I can choose the one that fits my reading mood at the time.

I checked for Gun Magazines about a month ago and there were still none listed.

The Kindle 3 is maybe a quarter inch narrower and half an inch shorter than the Kindle 2.  Both should fit in a cargo pocket.

The Kindle is an Amazon product and it isn't likely that they will be out of business soon.  All of your purchases are remembered by Amazon and are always available for download.  There are Kindle Reader apps for Window and some mobile devices.  They are free and you can download your Kindle library to your PC.  I only am familiar with the Windows version.

You can set it so your book marks are synced online, so each copy of the books you are reading will have the latest bookmark.

You can Download your Kindle library to any device, PC or mobile device, you wish.  You can connect your Kindle to your PC using an USB port and it appears as a drive to Windows.  You can back up your Kindle library and operating system that way.  It is cumbersome, but possible.  I don't back up the operating system because It would be better to reinitialize with the latest online copy.

Should the Kindle become obsolete, you will still have your library online for as long as Amazon will maintain it, and you will have your copy on your PC and backup media.

I haven't checked, but, no doubt, a conversion utility would be available should the Kindle go defunct.

There is a Large Screen version of the Kindle that was designed for technical documents or texts where shrinking to a small screen size would hinder proper use of the document.

Take all this as a recommendation.

[tombogan03884]

I can stuff a 500 page novel in my a$$ pocket, Kindle won't bend to fit. 
( This past week it's been 2 by Frederick Forsyth, "The Dogs of War" 436 pages, and "The Day of The Jackal" 495 pages. That was in Jeans.  )

[fightingquaker13]

Is it just me or did anyone else learn more than they wanted to know about Tom's ability to stuff large objects in his "ass pocket".
FQ13 who tried really, really hard, but could not resist.