Any Kindle owners here?

[ScottG]

My wife really enjoys the Kindle 2... she read for an hour or so outside today (bright sunny day) and enjoyed it... I've only used it for a couple of minutes... but it was impressive... very easy on the eyes... fairly quick page turning. My only gripe is lack of backlighting. I've heard it's a huge battery drain, but it would be a great feature while reading in bed.

We haven't tried the text to voice feature, but we will try it with my youngest son who likes to here a story before he reads it.

All in all, thumbs up... it has a good beat and we like to dance to it:ROFL:

 

[tonepub]

Got mine this afternoon, but too busy trying to get the issue done...

Have to get pics for the article too, so can't play with it till the work is done!

Being responsible is a pain!

I did fire it up with the plastic though and it looks pretty nice. I'm curious if they hired the same design people that did the iPhone. Lots of similar styling cues.

 

[Rich]

Wow,

I ordered mine on Wednesday and was not expecting it until Monday, but it showed up yesterday. Two days from order to delivery. That is fast.

I have been playing with it a little today and it is quite nice. I read the NY Times this morning and then read Time Magazine this afternoon. I don't miss color at all. The Kindle does a great job at reproducing monochrome images. I certainly don't miss all the ads that intrude in on my reading a regular print magazine or reading this content on the web.

I also find it a lot easier to set down and pick right back up where I left off when I get interrupted. It is a very user-friendly device that is really geared toward getting you into reading the material and getting out of the way.

I haven't really begun to play with it in depth. Haven't even read the user manual. But it is easy to just pick up and start scanning stories and reading. I think it is perfect as a source of portable reading material. More info as I get to play with it a little more.

 

[Beakman]

I've used the Sony book reader . . .

. . . Ignoring the display technology, the basic difference between the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader is the purchasing and distribution mechanisms . . .

You see, the primary problem that had to be solved for a book reader to be a viable product is how provide and distribute content in a licensed manner. Sony decided to use the Apple iTunes model, creating an 'eBook' store and designed a PC storefront for it. The user would then use the PC to select, purchase, download to the PC, and upload (via USB) to a connected reader. Substitute iTunes for eBook and iPod for Sony Reader and you get the idea . . .

. . . Amazon's approach was different and, IMO, much more inventive. They licensed usage on one of the national 3G cell networks, and then built the Kindle with a keyboard (the Sony reader doesn't have one) and 3G network access. They then created their storefront with a Kendle-based interface and the 3G network as the connection medium. This allowed them to eliminate the requirement for a PC and allowed direct downloading of both purchased (books), periodic (magazines, newspapers), and even personal (email) content. Pretty impressive, actually.

I've been using ebook readers for years now, on my phone, pda's and slates. Mobibook , Palm eReader, and always the disaster, Microsoft eBook reader. The best is the Palm, with a very effective DRM. It is tied to the name and number of the credit card used to purchase the materials, whether the reader or content. The urge to "share" is far outweighed by the need for self preservation.
I'm staying with my phone based ereader for now, no extra gizmo to lug, no extra charger, and a title list from years and years. Just need a pair of reading glasses and I need those anyway.

 

[DrJRapp]

Well, of course we would never eliminate the current format, I'm just looking at alternatives to getting a bigger audience.

Nothing's in stone, yet but thanks for the input...

EReader

My iTouch cries for more content

 

[amey01]

I think the electronic-ink display technology is pretty innovative. It produces black and white and sixteen shades of gray for a very nice, readable monochrome screen. I think the emphasis is on readability of text, as it should be. I have been reading monochrome text in books, newspapers and magazines my entire life, so I don't see what the big deal is. If you want color, get an iphone.

Move over Kindle 2 with your c.1956 B+W screen - a colour one is already here! Come on, stop kidding us that that was suitable 2009 technology.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/worlds-first-colour-ereader/2009/03/20/1237055063710.html


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[Rich]

Move over Kindle 2 with your c.1956 B+W screen - a colour one is already here! Come on, stop kidding us that that was suitable 2009 technology.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/worlds-first-colour-ereader/2009/03/20/1237055063710.html


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Sorry, Amey. But you are just flat-out WRONG! You really should actually audition something before lambasting it as outdated technology. The electronic ink display of the Kindle is NOT standard CRT, LED, or LCD technology as you imply. It is new, innovative, and makes the Kindle incredibly comfortable to read for hours at a time.

You just don't need color to read text in books, newspapers and even magazines. I have color on my computer and I don't enjoy reading newspaper articles on it, especially because of all the color flash-based annoying ads. I have an iphone, which has a color screen and there is a Kindle software available that would allow me to use the iphone as a Kindle. But there is no way I would give up my Kindle and use my iphone instead. The difference in ease of use and readability between the two devices and their screens is like night and day.

You sound like some young engineer who has never heard the sound of a tube amp or a quality phono rig lambasting companies like ARC and ClearAudio for charging such a premium for products using such outdated technologies. Get over it. Until you have actually held one, read with it, and compared it to what else is available, your opinion is completely uninformed and baseless.

Gee, I wonder how many color e-book readers Fujitsu is going to sell at three times the price of the Kindle and no obvious plan for supplying color content to it? How many people buying such a device mainly for book reading are going to want to pay three times as much for a color screen that will prove useless to enhancing the text in a book?

 

[amey01]

I appreciate the Kindle is different, and I don't like reading on a computer (or any backlit screen) either.

It's just that I really don't like to see "technology" that is obviously out of date at the time of introduction. It really gets my goat - sorry.

 

[Rich]

I understand your reasoning, Amey. I just don't think it really applies in this situation. I believe if you actually used the device you would realize that the electronic ink technology is very different from other existing screen technologies and it really does make reading on a screen easier and less fatiguing.

I also think that the choice of a monochrome screen vs. a color screen is the correct choice considering the primary application of this device, which is reading text. How many books on the New York Times best seller list are printed in color, after all?

OK, I have beaten this dead horse enough. Sorry to keep hammering on it.

 

[taylode]

I understand your reasoning, Amey. I just don't think it really applies in this situation. I believe if you actually used the device you would realize that the electronic ink technology is very different from other existing screen technologies and it really does make reading on a screen easier and less fatiguing.

I also think that the choice of a monochrome screen vs. a color screen is the correct choice considering the primary application of this device, which is reading text. How many books on the New York Times best seller list are printed in color, after all?

OK, I have beaten this dead horse enough. Sorry to keep hammering on it.

Rich: I agree with you. I think the Kindle use the correct technology for the right reason -- reading! I've read the Kindle for several hours non-stop with no more fatigue than reading a traditional book. Not to mention the detail it's capable of delivering. I wish I could a dual computer monitor set up one using electronic and one traditional color. So much of what I do on the computer is not enhance by color that much and for those that are I'd use the color screen. I guess I'm a Kindle convert! :ROFL: