I've been somewhat ambivalent on e-readers for awhile now. I love the idea of having portable text readers with me. My netbook isn't too bad for it, but a tad on the large side to carry around and not super easy to read just anywhere. My phone is an antique palm trio and far too small as well as lacking the software.
So a dedicated e-reader doesn't seem too bad.
My main concern for the past year or so has been which reader would eventually wind up winning out: The Kindle, Nook, or something else?
So far, Kindle's look to be far ahead so I'm pretty set on getting one of them if I do decide to get an e-reader of some sort. I'm also quite enthused about the Kindle library lending program that was just announced that lets you digitally "check out" books from 11,000 libraries and save all your annotations for later use. I'm not entirely sure what that means, but it sounds like a lot more titles available for free. At least, temporarily. Still, I'm quite good with that!
However, the big issue is still title availability. I went through my reading list and for the books on my "Still to Read" list, 4 of the 8 had Kindle versions available. This is a fair amount and I'm happy with it.
I popped through the listing of science books in the Kindle store and there's some 2,500+ titles available. Not too shabby! However, looking through them, there's a lot of self published nonsense out there. Like this piece of stupidity from Richard Hoagland. So I guess the number of titles isn't all that impressive when any idiot can slap their crap up there to make a quick buck.
So, does anyone have one? If so, how have you found it on good sciencey books like the ones on my reading list? Is the 3G version worth the extra $50? I do like the idea of being able to pull up Wikipedia anywhere, anytime. Choices, choices...
About Me
- Jon Voisey
- St Louis, MO, United States
- Jon Voisey is an Astronomy graduate from the University of Kansas on a mission to bring science to the masses.
4 comments:
I live in Australia, and have the Australian Kindle 2. This has 3G but no wi-fi.
I also have an iPad with the Kindle app installed.
Good things -
Screen is really nice to read. You need lighting. But it looks a lot like paper. And I find it much easier to read than the backlit screen on my iPad.
I hear the Kindle 3 has even better looking e-ink.
The software is available on multiple platforms (Kindle, iPad, Mac, PC, Android?). And you can put your books on up to 5 (I think. Though the publishers can limit that I have read). It will keep them all synced with your notes and place in the books across devices.
Easy to hold. It's great for reading non-reference things.
Some people complain that the flash that the page makes while changing is annoying. But I find it slips into the background after a few minutes. It's no worse than turning a page in a real book.
The 3G also allows you to to look stuff up and buy your books.
Battery life. Makes the iPad look bad. Turn off the wireless, and it's even better.
Bad things -
The size. It's a great size for casual reading. But it can be a tad small for reference books. I find the iPad screen better for those.
PDFs can also be an issue. You cannot change the font size on PDFs, even though the device can display them. You can zoom in on the page, but the key sequences are awkward. (The zooming on the iPad is a pleasure). I think the larger Kindle DX would fix these issues, but at the cost of a much more awkward device to hold. And $$$.
The 3G connection. It can be just too damn easy to buy books for it. I've done it on the train. Just be careful.
Note - my normal way to buy books is to go to Amazon via the web, and buy it there.
An issue I've had has to do with being in Australia, and not all books that I want have been available for me. But that's a region thing.
I say get it. I don't think the 3G is needed. Wireless is good enough, especially if you have a mobile hotspot. I do wish I had wireless on mine. While I don't pay for the 3G service. I live in fear that it will be turned off one day.
Philip from Australia
I used to use a Palm to read books. I'd download them from Project Guttenberg. I had written a filter for my desktop to make them better. These days, i see people buying "Treasure Island" and other books that are available on Guttenberg. Reading is one of the last things that still works reasonably well on my old Palm. The digitizer in the screen is in such bad shape that it's very frustrating to use. But the buttons work, and that's how "page down" is done. The Palm fit in the shirt pocket, and my older LCD palm lasted forever on a pair of rechargable AAA batteries. It's too fragile to take out of the house anymore. Palm doesn't sell a non-phone device anymore. There are people who use their iPhone to read Kindle books though.
I live in Australia, and have the Australian Kindle 2. This has 3G but no wi-fi.
I also have an iPad with the Kindle app installed.
Good things -
Screen is really nice to read. You need lighting. But it looks a lot like paper. And I find it much easier to read than the backlit screen on my iPad.
I hear the Kindle 3 has even better looking e-ink.
The software is available on multiple platforms (Kindle, iPad, Mac, PC, Android?). And you can put your books on up to 5 (I think. Though the publishers can limit that I have read). It will keep them all synced with your notes and place in the books across devices.
Easy to hold. It's great for reading non-reference things.
Some people complain that the flash that the page makes while changing is annoying. But I find it slips into the background after a few minutes. It's no worse than turning a page in a real book.
The 3G also allows you to to look stuff up and buy your books.
Battery life. Makes the iPad look bad. Turn off the wireless, and it's even better.
Bad things -
The size. It's a great size for casual reading. But it can be a tad small for reference books. I find the iPad screen better for those.
PDFs can also be an issue. You cannot change the font size on PDFs, even though the device can display them. You can zoom in on the page, but the key sequences are awkward. (The zooming on the iPad is a pleasure). I think the larger Kindle DX would fix these issues, but at the cost of a much more awkward device to hold. And $$$.
The 3G connection. It can be just too damn easy to buy books for it. I've done it on the train. Just be careful.
Note - my normal way to buy books is to go to Amazon via the web, and buy it there.
An issue I've had has to do with being in Australia, and not all books that I want have been available for me. But that's a region thing.
I say get it. I don't think the 3G is needed. Wireless is good enough, especially if you have a mobile hotspot. I do wish I had wireless on mine. While I don't pay for the 3G service. I live in fear that it will be turned off one day.
Philip from Australia
PDFs can also be an issue. You cannot change the font size on PDFs, even though the device can display them. You can zoom in on the page, but the key sequences are awkward. (The zooming on the iPad is a pleasure). I think the larger Kindle DX would fix these issues, but at the cost of a much more awkward device to hold. sazkove kancelare
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