Kindle

[PoisonedSuperman]

<p>Does anyone have one? How do you enjoy it? There is a kindle 2 on craigslist that I am thinking about purchasing. I love to read but don't really carry books outside of the house, with a kindle I can bring my book any where also there's an app on amazon.com that will allow me to sync my blackberry with it? Thats how I read it at least I could be completely wrong, which is why I come to you! </p><p> </p><p>

Would you recommend it? Whats the positives? Negatives?</p><p> </p><p>

I really don't have the money to throw away so I want to make sure this is a good purchase, sure I'm not paying as much as it is for a new one but it still cost a bit of money!</p><p> </p><p>

Thanks.</p>

[Irish Wolf]

Don't do it. Buy books, from local bookshops not Barnes & Nobles and most certainly don't give your money to Amazon.

[Remianen]

Don't do it. Buy books, from local bookshops not Barnes & Nobles and most certainly don't give your money to Amazon.

 

Disagree.

 

I got my mother a Kindle 2 (on release day) and the woman won't leave home without the thing. 70 years old and on her person, pretty much at all times, is her Kindle 2 and her iPhone. I've been thinking about getting one for myself but it's not a priority. I read lots but many of the books I read don't get Kindle versions.

 

And I disagree with the whole 'local bookshops' line of thinking for the same reason. If the 'local bookshops' actually had what I was looking for (and no, I don't read Mary Higgins Clark or Carol Higgins Clark or Danielle Steele), I might patronize them. But they don't, so I go to Amazon (or Borders) where I can be assured they'll have what I'm looking for. Same reason I shop at Wal-Mart/Lowe's/Home Depot/Costco/BJ's/Lumber Liquidators instead of the local hardware/grocery store or lumber yard. It's not even so much price as it is having the stuff to begin with.

 

It has decent battery life (a little better than my iPhone 3G) and seems very convenient (most of the books that show up on the New York Times Bestseller list show up on Kindle. MOST of 'em). Downside would probably be the price. It's not really priced for the mass market just yet (though they have lowered the price on it). But I wouldn't buy it used. I don't like to buy any used tech because of the possibility of someone else's neglect completely screwing you up post-purchase.

[Guest Instant Classic]

Do not buy it. If you ever need to replace it because of it breaking or what have you, or even if you just want a new one you cannot transfer anything you bought to a new Kindle. Basically if you spend a few hundred and it gets smashed, good luck to you. I almost bought one myself last year but I have not heard many good things. Buying a book on Kindle is more or less like purchasing TEW only you cannot move the e-license from one system to the other. It works on that one Kindle and that's the end of it. You can't back up your books on your computer because you only buy the lease to read them, you're not buying the book.

[Purple Cowboy]

B&N's Nook is actually kinda cool too, in a corporate-y way. It recognizes when you are in a physical store and automatically updates your Nook with store-specific sales or deals, a map of the store, etc.. If I was a regular B&N shopper I'd certainly get one (even though I think without modding it it only has 2G memory).

 

I do tend to shop local though (which at this point feels a bit like being a musician aboard the Titanic), and even though our local shop in Princeton (Micawbers) was excellent in terms of selection because the town and clientele demanded it, it still went out of business and was bought up by Labyrinth. In many cases stores just can't compete with heavy online discounters because of the overhead involved.

[TommyDreamerFan]

B&N's Nook is actually kinda cool too, in a corporate-y way. It recognizes when you are in a physical store and automatically updates your Nook with store-specific sales or deals, a map of the store, etc.. If I was a regular B&N shopper I'd certainly get one (even though I think without modding it it only has 2G memory).

 

I do tend to shop local though (which at this point feels a bit like being a musician aboard the Titanic), and even though our local shop in Princeton (Micawbers) was excellent in terms of selection because the town and clientele demanded it, it still went out of business and was bought up by Labyrinth. In many cases stores just can't compete with heavy online discounters because of the overhead involved.

 

One of the few things I like about B&N is that they encourage people to hang out in their store, read books. Buy something or don't mentality (I use to work there) and their employees are very helpful. So as far as evil corporations go, they're all right (but still one of the reasons probably, you can't get published with out name value)

 

As for the kindle... Why? Where are you reading with it that you can't bring the physical book too? I could never imagine wanting one. I'm one of those people who read a book and then relishes the moment it adorns my bookshelf, like a mounted trophy kill of a big game hunter. It makes me feel good about myself ^.^

 

Not to mention, for leisure, who reads more then one book at the time? Why would you need your entire book collection with you where ever you go? Music on an iPod I understand, but not this.

[Irish Wolf]

Disagree.

 

I got my mother a Kindle 2 (on release day) and the woman won't leave home without the thing. 70 years old and on her person, pretty much at all times, is her Kindle 2 and her iPhone. I've been thinking about getting one for myself but it's not a priority. I read lots but many of the books I read don't get Kindle versions.

 

And I disagree with the whole 'local bookshops' line of thinking for the same reason. If the 'local bookshops' actually had what I was looking for (and no, I don't read Mary Higgins Clark or Carol Higgins Clark or Danielle Steele), I might patronize them. But they don't, so I go to Amazon (or Borders) where I can be assured they'll have what I'm looking for. Same reason I shop at Wal-Mart/Lowe's/Home Depot/Costco/BJ's/Lumber Liquidators instead of the local hardware/grocery store or lumber yard. It's not even so much price as it is having the stuff to begin with.

 

It has decent battery life (a little better than my iPhone 3G) and seems very convenient (most of the books that show up on the New York Times Bestseller list show up on Kindle. MOST of 'em). Downside would probably be the price. It's not really priced for the mass market just yet (though they have lowered the price on it). But I wouldn't buy it used. I don't like to buy any used tech because of the possibility of someone else's neglect completely screwing you up post-purchase.

 

Understandable but I manage a local bookshop, so I'm biased. And we don't carry any Mary Higgins Clark or Carol Higgins Clark or Danielle Steele. Where an academic bookstore with fine Philosophy, literary criticism and literature sections. Although we do have an annex that carries genre fiction and I hand built the science fiction and fantasy section myself. We can also order just about anything we don't have in stock.

 

That said I use Amazon as well for older out of print books. As for the kindle I prefer having the hard copy book in hand, although I find it great for periodical subscriptions. I just won't buy one on general principal given my vocation.

[Remianen]

As for the kindle... Why? Where are you reading with it that you can't bring the physical book too? I could never imagine wanting one. I'm one of those people who read a book and then relishes the moment it adorns my bookshelf, like a mounted trophy kill of a big game hunter. It makes me feel good about myself ^.^

 

The problem arises that after a while, you run out of space to put those books. At least if you're a voracious reader like I tend to be. I still have books I read in middle school (including every "young adult" Judy Blume novel AND all four series of the Hardy Boys) on forward and I just don't have anywhere to put them anymore. As it is, my comic books (all 5,000 or so of them) are in storage and that has a recurring cost as well.

 

I understand your point but it's one that only really applies to people on one end of the scale. I have more cookbooks in the crib right now than most people have books, period. When you couple 'insane reader' with 'frequent traveler', you get a recipe for CLUTTER (which is only remedied by either offsite storage or frequent disposal of things. I chose the former).

 

Understandable but I manage a local bookshop, so I'm biased. And we don't carry any Mary Higgins Clark or Carol Higgins Clark or Danielle Steele. Where an academic bookstore with fine Philosophy, literary criticism and literature sections. Although we do have an annex that carries genre fiction and I hand built the science fiction and fantasy section myself. We can also order just about anything we don't have in stock.

 

Gimme the name. If you actually carry Forgetten Realms & Dragonlance series and the like (Patricia Briggs, James Patterson, Robert B. Parker (RIP), and so on), I have no problems popping in every now and again. The problem is much like it is in other areas: convenience. People don't like having to run to eight stores to find what they're looking for when they don't have to.

 

And you know, maybe ten years ago, I felt the same way about online travel sites and tax prep services and programs as you do about online booksellers and such. Given my vocations, I felt threatened by the Orbitz, Travelocity, Pricelines, and Expedias of the world not to mention H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. But you know what? I beat the pants off those services (as well as the Hotels.coms and Kayaks and even the Turbo Taxes of the world) several times a week (if not daily). I chalk that up to being a professional, not an order taker (which is all those services are good for). In other words, I know my s..stuff. If I found a bookstore with folks who knew the stuff I tend to go for, I'd frequent that place, no question. The website referrals ("If you like this book, you'd probably also like these..." which have zero correlation besides genre) are trash so I dismiss them immediately. The human touch has value and always will, in all segments where commerce is conducted.

[Irish Wolf]

Gimme the name. If you actually carry Forgetten Realms & Dragonlance series and the like (Patricia Briggs, James Patterson, Robert B. Parker (RIP), and so on), I have no problems popping in every now and again. The problem is much like it is in other areas: convenience. People don't like having to run to eight stores to find what they're looking for when they don't have to.

 

And you know, maybe ten years ago, I felt the same way about online travel sites and tax prep services and programs as you do about online booksellers and such. Given my vocations, I felt threatened by the Orbitz, Travelocity, Pricelines, and Expedias of the world not to mention H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt. But you know what? I beat the pants off those services (as well as the Hotels.coms and Kayaks and even the Turbo Taxes of the world) several times a week (if not daily). I chalk that up to being a professional, not an order taker (which is all those services are good for). In other words, I know my s..stuff. If I found a bookstore with folks who knew the stuff I tend to go for, I'd frequent that place, no question. The website referrals ("If you like this book, you'd probably also like these..." which have zero correlation besides genre) are trash so I dismiss them immediately. The human touch has value and always will, in all segments where commerce is conducted.

 

We're called Book Culture on the upper west side. I'm pretty sure we have titles of Patricia Briggs, James Patterson and Robert B. Parker on the shelves as is. I love the D&D books, especially Dragonlance I'm running the modules that the first three books were based on for my D&D group now. But I purposefully didn't order those books for the store because there are so many and you never know which one people are up to so it becomes hard to keep them all in stock. But they are widely distributed and if I order before 11am I can usually have it by 5pm same day.

 

As for staff, we have a very knowledgeable staff here on a number of different topics. Usually there is some one who can find you a book that you may like based on previous readings you enjoyed.

[Sons of Kohral]

Next to Columbia Uni? I think I actually stopped in there this summer. Weird...

 

Regardless, my mother loves the Kindle. Me? Not so much. Yeah, I can see why it's better to carry it than an actual book, but I usually have a backpack with me wherever I go so it's really not an issue. Also, the books I read are generally short (comparatively). It's not like I'm dragging around Harry Potter or Twilight.

[Remianen]

We're called Book Culture on the upper west side. I'm pretty sure we have titles of Patricia Briggs, James Patterson and Robert B. Parker on the shelves as is. I love the D&D books, especially Dragonlance I'm running the modules that the first three books were based on for my D&D group now. But I purposefully didn't order those books for the store because there are so many and you never know which one people are up to so it becomes hard to keep them all in stock. But they are widely distributed and if I order before 11am I can usually have it by 5pm same day.

 

As for staff, we have a very knowledgeable staff here on a number of different topics. Usually there is some one who can find you a book that you may like based on previous readings you enjoyed.

 

I think you'd be safe if you kept the box sets (at least one) on hand. I know I had to run to Amazon to get the 'War of the Spider Queen' set because none of the Borders or local sellers I went to had it. Especially for Dragonlance (the War of Souls, the Chaos War, the Companions quintet, the Dark Disciple, Preludes, etc). I will admit, I didn't expect the twist with Mina but that was why I bought that series.

 

But my point was, the online "revolution" was bound to happen because, on a corporate level, it allows you to have almost unlimited stock without taking up space. Heck, by your own admission, your store uses the same system on a smaller scale (you don't have it in the store but you CAN have it within a few hours...so really, you do have it, it'll just take a few hours to dig it out of the archives ). Paired with the need for convenience, this made it an obvious path to take. However, personal service is still what will allow smaller stores to distinguish themselves.

[cappyboy]

You know, the Kindle is one of those deals where I'm probably a bit too rational for Internet poster. It's not really my thing but I can see the appeal. I'd much rather have a physical book in my hand that a gadget that tries to simulate the turning of pages and the appearance of pages. But then, the occasional self-improvement book aside I do most of my reading just before bed at night. And there's really not that curl-up factor with an electronic device like there is a good old-fashioned printed book. For someone who's always on the run or has storage issues, then yeah. The Kindle can be a good thing. It's just not for me.

[Remianen]

Regardless, my mother loves the Kindle. Me? Not so much. Yeah, I can see why it's better to carry it than an actual book, but I usually have a backpack with me wherever I go so it's really not an issue. Also, the books I read are generally short (comparatively). It's not like I'm dragging around Harry Potter or Twilight.

 

Except for the short book thing, I'm the exact same way. My mother LOVES her Kindle but I can't see getting one, though the Kindle 3 might convince me (I'm such a tech whore).

 

You know, the Kindle is one of those deals where I'm probably a bit too rational for Internet poster. It's not really my thing but I can see the appeal. I'd much rather have a physical book in my hand that a gadget that tries to simulate the turning of pages and the appearance of pages. But then, the occasional self-improvement book aside I do most of my reading just before bed at night. And there's really not that curl-up factor with an electronic device like there is a good old-fashioned printed book. For someone who's always on the run or has storage issues, then yeah. The Kindle can be a good thing. It's just not for me.

 

I'm always on the run and have storage issues but I still don't really want a Kindle. I know how great it can be (I read James Patterson's latest on it) but it's not something I feel I must have. I don't have an attachment to the tactile feel of a paper book (except with comics) but it's still something that just doesn't really appeal to me much.