I’ve had my Kindle for almost a week, and have read a complete book on it and I have to say I love this toy very much. Add it to the list of electronics I can’t live without (my DS, Sirius radio and laptops being the other ones). Here’s why it’s great:
1. Downloading books takes about 3 seconds. It’s that fast.
2. Lots of free books. I have downloaded Dickens and Doctorow, Lovecraft and Baum without spending a penny.
3. Book samples. Also free, you can sample books-you get about 3 or 4 chapters, BANG, and then decide if you really want to pay for ‘em.
4. Text-to-speech. It’s not perfect and it’s almost unlistenable, but it was really nice on our return trip to have a robot voice lulling in my ear about true crime.
5. The screen rotates to suit how you hold it. That’s hot.
6. It offers recommended books, depending on your searches and downloads.
7. The screen savers are cool.
8. Amazon has all the different prices listed for books, ie, standard books, kindle, audio etc, so that makes picking stuff out easier too.
9. Built in PDF reader=knitting patterns on the go. Yay!
Here’s what I don’t like about it:
1. People who think it sucks and have no problem telling me it sucks. Ok, whatever, your opinion, that’s nice. The cashier at Chapter’s (yes! I still buy BOOKS!) complained that it’s not backlit (hi, neither are books!) and that the keyboard was too fiddly. Ohhh kaaayyy.
2. Not all books are available yet. Not even close. Nothing by John Irving or CD Payne showed up. No Jeffrey Steingarten or Jilly Cooper either. No Palahniuk or Eggers. Weird.
3. Boring selection of magazines. And newspapers. And no blogs available in Canada yet.
I will not be downloading (I mean, paying) for books I already own, this isn’t going to make my books obsolete, not by a long shot. So the 9 shelves of books in our house have nothing to fear.
And I really enjoyed I Only Roast the Ones I Love by Jeffrey Ross, the first book I bought on Kindle.
I’d love to check out Kindle.
But no Palahniuk!? Oh No!!
I know, but I think that they’re just getting it all together slowly.
Luckily I’ve read most of Palahniuk already!
Have you tried reading it with a flashlight? Long story, but I do a fair amount of reading with a flashlight and would like to know how that works.
No Irving?!!! :\
My sister, who works at Barnes & Noble, has been telling me about their “Nook”, a competitor to the kindle. Supposedly it’s an improved Kindle with the features that Kindle was missing (per users of Kindle) and “fixes” for some of the problems, making it better. The only problem right now is availability. They’re reportedly backordered to Feb’10.
I personally have not seen it (nor the Kindle for that matter), and can not give an unbiased, informed opinion on it. Anyone considering the Kindle might do well to check out the “Nook” as well.
Sorry if this sounds like an ad, it’s not meant to be. It’s just that my sister has been talking about it for months now and to remind people to check out other options as well. (I think they’re others as well but I’m not familiar with any of them.)
Caitlin, I’m glad you’re enjoying the Kindle and that it is providing you with the “fun”ctionality you need. It’s nice to hear a “real” user talking about it and not some paid spokesperson.
I’m still a “paper” person. I can lend books to friends, donate them to libraries, or read while sitting on a mountain top without the need for electricity.
A Nook, eh? I’m told they’re not supported in Canada so it’s simply not an option for me. There are definitely improvements that Kindle could do with, but for the most part it’s all good. I mean, if my main complaint is that the mp3 playing options are weird and not entirely…useful, that’s not a big deal. Not like a paperback book is going to play music for me, right?
I get the argument for paper, and there’s no doubt that I love books in their standard form too, and for what it’s worth, not like every book I would like to read is available anyway, so I will still be reading paper. I do feel psyched about being able to carry a large portion of my book collection in one small format for the next 30 times I move in my lifetime. Let me tell you, packing and moving books is the worst.
And ps, I am a book hoarder. I’ve loaned out too many books and not gotten them back, so I am very cautious about that behaviour nowadays.
Been a reader of this blog for a while but never commented. My mom just got a kindle for Christmas and I have to say i love it. I plan on buying one at the soonest opportunity that I have the cash. But what I love is the fact that the books are cheaper than at the book store. 9.99 for a new release. If your a fast reader I highly recommend it just for the money you’d save in the long run.
In case you were wondering about the Nook-
here’s Wired’s Gagets Lab’s write-up on it.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/10/barnes-nobles-kindle-killing-dual-screen-nook-e-reader-leaked/
It does look interesting. Although they are a little harsh to the Kindle in the article- my opinion is whatever makes people read more is a good thing.
Sure, it looks interesting, no arguing with that. But reading further reviews, comparisons between them both, I still would stick with a Kindle.
And what about that colour screen at the bottom? Would it eventually show commercials for McDonalds’s on it? I’m fine with little chiclet buttons, I’ll survive. The battery in a Kindle lasts longer for it. Whatever, I like my Kindle, I’m not about to trade it in for a machine that doesn’t even work in the country I live in!