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What's the Point, Kindle? (rant)

For discussion about electronic reading devices and related issues (pricing, formatting, accessories, comparisons, etc.)
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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Wed May 25th, 2011, 7:25 pm

i hate it (reading it on a screen - not the book). it actually feels like work and i just didn't enjoy the reading experience as much.
Reading on the computer screen and the Kindle (can't speak for the other devices) is like night and day. Don't let your experience with one stop you from trying the other.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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Rowan
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Interest in HF: I love history, but it's boring in school. Historical fiction brings it alive for me.
Preferred HF: Iron-Age Britain, Roman Britain, Medieval Britain
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Post by Rowan » Wed May 25th, 2011, 8:15 pm

[quote=""Misfit""]Reading on the computer screen and the Kindle (can't speak for the other devices) is like night and day. Don't let your experience with one stop you from trying the other.[/quote]

I agree. It's the same for an iPad. Very different than staring at a computer.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Wed May 25th, 2011, 8:20 pm

[quote=""Rowan""]I agree. It's the same for an iPad. Very different than staring at a computer.[/quote]

I forgot to mention that the kindle is nice for long PDF documents and take advantage of the easier to read screen. You can have them emailed directly to your kindle and/or via USB cable. There can be fees attached to it for formatting, but it's too long to explain how to not get the fees for this thread.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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EC2
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Post by EC2 » Wed May 25th, 2011, 9:55 pm

I have just ordered a Kindle 3G. I had been pondering an I-pad, but I don't have Wifi in the house - we use ethernet and confine all those nasty wifi waves in a cable while keeping the PC's connected to the internet. To use an I-pad I'd need to activate airborn Wi-fi so to speak, so I've gone with 3G instead.
Anway, I've done the deed, so now I will see if it's worth it!
Les proz e les vassals
Souvent entre piez de chevals
Kar ja li coard n’I chasront

'The Brave and the valiant
Are always to be found between the hooves of horses
For never will cowards fall down there.'

Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal

www.elizabethchadwick.com

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Divia
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Post by Divia » Thu May 26th, 2011, 1:43 am

I thought the ipad has an LCD screen?
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Mythica
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Post by Mythica » Thu May 26th, 2011, 8:51 am

[quote=""Rowan""]I agree. It's the same for an iPad. Very different than staring at a computer.[/quote]

Really? I don't find that to be the case at all - the iPad has an LCD screen, same as most computers. They are essentially the same on the eyes because they all have backlit screens. Kindle and other ereaders use a technology called eInk which is not backlit and it looks just like paper and ink. It's more comparable to paper and ink than it is to other electronic screens. There is no glare or reflections so unlike a backlit screen, it's easy to read in full sunlight. It also uses a lot less power so the battery lasts much longer. Photographs of it don't really do it justice because you're still viewing the photo on a backlit screen. Honestly, when I got my Kindle and saw the eInk screen for the first time, I couldn't believe how much the screen didn't actually look like a "screen" at all.

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MLE (Emily Cotton)
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Interest in HF: started in childhood with the classics, which, IMHO are HF even if they were contemporary when written.
Favourite HF book: Prince of Foxes, by Samuel Shellabarger
Preferred HF: Currently prefer 1600 and earlier, but I'll read anything that keeps me turning the page.
Location: California Bay Area

Post by MLE (Emily Cotton) » Thu May 26th, 2011, 2:56 pm

My friend has a nook, and I have a kindle, so we are always comparing. I'm glad I went with the Kindle (I chose it for the keypad, to enter notes, altho it is a pain when reading, I keep holding it by the keys unintentionally) because it weighs four ounces less--not a big deal until you have to hold it up for an hour-- and, the biggest plus, because the battery lasts me THREE WEEKS when I have the wireless off.

Kindle also has more books available, but that is probably temporary. Plus I constantly download pdfs from my computer, but I do create them myself with an oversized font. I know you can alos mail word documents to your kindle account and have them converted, but I haven't had the brainspace to try that yet.

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Misfit
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Post by Misfit » Thu May 26th, 2011, 3:20 pm

I know you can alos mail word documents to your kindle account and have them converted, but I haven't had the brainspace to try that yet.
You do want to have those sent to your *free* kindle account/email and then transfer them via USB. Otherwise they'll whack you with a small fee based on file size.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be

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LoobyG
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Location: Derbyshire, UK

Post by LoobyG » Thu May 26th, 2011, 4:13 pm

I'm firmly in the real book camp - I've no intention of purchasing an e-reader, although I do see the many benefits in them, especially for some of my patients with advanced neurological disease who have difficulty holding a book and turning pages -for them it's absolutely marvellous. The ability for increasing font size and being easy on the eye too, I think is a big advantage. However, I buy most of my books second hand and the majority are OOP, and I really enjoy going out to hunt them down either in charity shops, car boots, book sales, the few independent bookshops left. I just don't think I'd have the same satisfaction purchasing them. My mum's also an independent second-hand bookseller and I've seen the affect that e-books, as well as the recession, have had on her trade and this makes me want to support the few independent booksellers that remain. I'll never say never - it's a technology that's here to stay, and one day I may make the decision to have an e-reader too, but not yet :)

SGM
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Post by SGM » Thu May 26th, 2011, 6:21 pm

I still buy second hand books and I can't see me stopping whilst they are still available. That's why I needed the Kindle for the new books - so I have room for the second hand stuff. Plus a lot of the stuff I buy second hand isn't, and will continue not to be I suspect, available for quite a while on Kindle because its academic stuff and won't appeal to Amazon because the sales aren't be high enough.

I do use the Kindle for stuff that I download from the Internet so that I don't have to sit at the computer all day reading it.

But I have whole days out buying second hand books and I couldn't give that up. It's my favourite shopping fix.
Currently reading - Emergence of a Nation State by Alan Smith

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