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Kindle

KieyKiey
edited May 2008 in Technology
I bought a Kindle, and I won't really get into the reasons why yet, (once I've had more time to play with it I'll write up a little something.) But until then I wanted to show off a pic I took.
image
FRC forums on a Kindle. Now I can post at work.... or anywhere really.
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Comments

  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Does that access cost you anything?
  • KieyKiey
    Absolutely nothing, and it uses the 3G network.
  • DkongDkong
    Too damn expensive, IMO. I'd rather just get a PMP with a big screen and just download ebooks to that.....or just read real books.
  • KieyKiey
    I do love real books, but these are cheaper, and also I don't really have room to buy more books. So for the convenience of not having to find room for books is nice.
  • SailSail
    edited May 2008
    I would definitely get one if they were cheaper. I don't know how much cheaper, but I do know they're too expensive as it is.
    Post edited by Sail on
  • tobywobytigertobywobytiger
    That's pretty cool (the pict of FRC.com). Let us know what you think of it when you've played around with it. I've been eying it for awhile now. I'm just wondering if it's comparable to reading a real book in terms of weight, the feel of it in your hands (does it feel more/less comfortable), eye fatigue, etc. If the pros outweigh the cons I'll probably get one too =D
  • WallyBmanWallyBman
    I was considering one, thanks to the guys from TWiT, but got the eee instead, since the Kindle won't let me play WoW at work. ;)

    Still, when they come down a little, I might still pick one up.
  • KieyKiey
    So far from playing with it today I've found it to be impressive with what I can do (a lot thanks to Google.) The web browser works ok, but works really well with Google 's mobile services, so I can use Reader, Maps, Mail, and even Documents from the Kindle. It was also nice to be able to pop onto news sites when I was out during the day today, for instance I read an interesting article over on BBC.com about them mapping the genome of the platypus.

    I got the 14 day free trial of the NY Times (it seems that they offer the 14 day trial for every newspaper they have that you can download,) and I find that it is a far superior experience as compared to reading the actual paper. This is mostly due to the ease of browsing the paper for articles I'm interested in reading. I've also downloaded a bunch of sample chapters to books, but haven't had a chance to read them yet.

    I also tried out its image viewing capabilities, since you are able to put images on an SD card then view them on the Kindle. It does a surprisingly good job with them. The color images obviously come out in black and white, but they still look good. What really looks good are comic pages. I put in a few images of manga pages and they look really crisp and detailed. I hope they start selling comics in the Kindle store eventually... at least the black and white ones.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    What really looks good are comic pages. I put in a few images of manga pages and they look really crisp and detailed. I hope they start selling comics in the Kindle store eventually... at least the black and white ones.
    That's what I was wondering. It looks like it's not actually very high-resolution -- 800x600. Although, now that I think of it, that's actually vertically oriented, and 800 pixels high isn't too bad, for a vertically oriented comic page.

    I read that you can convert PDFs to some format that works on there, either by e-mailing them to an address at Amazon, or by using some program you can download. If you had manga scans, you could make PDFs out of them and convert them.
  • JohnUJohnU
    edited May 2008
    Comics on the kindle, there is an interesting idea. Now if I somehow had the time, and IF they were very reasonably priced, I would read the hell out of them. If I was a punk kid I would be REALLY excited by comics on the kindle.
    Post edited by JohnU on
  • KieyKiey
    Well when you send things to get converted through Amazon they charge you 10 cents which really isn't too bad. But the thing with comics is that you don't have to convert them to a pdf, the kindle will read jpg, gif, and png files, which saves you the trouble of having to convert them.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    If the kindle were available in Germany, 200$ cheaper and would allow me to buy Manga I would instantly buy it! ^_~
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    edited May 2008
    The Sony Digital Reader is significantly cheaper than the Kindle, but I know little about its functionality versus the Kindle. The fact that it retails for 230.00 - 300.00 is a plus in comparison. If nothing else, it is offering up some competition and other companies will soon follow suit, I am sure.
    As soon as I can get one for about 150.00 dollars, as long as it is compatible with most formats of digital books, I am on it like white on rice! I will likely still purchase some non-digital books as well (I LOVE the tactile experience of antique books, and there are some editions of books that are worthwhile for preface, notes, etc. when compared to other versions), but it will significantly cut down the number of paper books I buy and up my total book purchases per year.
    Can you tell I like books? ^_^
    If the kindle were available in Germany, 200$ cheaper and would allow me to buy Manga I would instantly buy it! ^_~
    With the Kindle you can access any scanned in manga you wanted. Whether you are ok with scans or not is your choice.
    Post edited by Kate Monster on
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    Though I knew that, it would still be much better if I could just buy the manga cheap and extremely conveniently through the Kindle.

    All this just reminded me of the Comic Book DS thing..
  • ninjarabbininjarabbi
    Though I knew that, it would still be much better if I could just buy the manga cheap and extremely conveniently through the Kindle.

    All this just reminded me of the Comic Book DS thing..
    I tried to use comic book ds before, but I never got it working right. I could never get it so that the program would recognze the comics.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    I read all of death note on my DS.. I'll try it again and post a how to once I'm done.
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    Kindle + Wikipedia: The closest we will ever get to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the meta-book).
  • KieyKiey
    edited May 2008
    Kindle + Wikipedia: The closest we will ever get to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the meta-book).
    I hadn't thought of that, but that's really true. I should put a "Don't Panic" sticker on the back of it.
    Post edited by Kiey on
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Kindle + Wikipedia: The closest we will ever get to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the meta-book).
    That sounds like a mod just waiting to happen!
  • DkongDkong
    edited May 2008
    If I was a punk kid I would be REALLY excited by comics on the kindle.
    A punk kid myself, I must say that I'm really not excited. Something about the $400 pricetag that's keeping me away.
    Manga being as cheap as it is, I'd rather just buy $400 worth of manga rather than the Kindle. And manga being the price it is (downwards to $5-7 per volume if you get the right discounts), that would keep me busy for a long, long, long time.

    Or I'd just get a big Archos, with a nice screen and jpg and png features.
    Post edited by Dkong on
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    If I was a punk kid I would be REALLY excited by comics on the kindle.
    A punk kid myself, I must say that I'm really not excited. Something about the $400 pricetag that's keeping me away.
    Manga being as cheap as it is, I'd rather just buy $400 worth of manga rather than the Kindle. And manga being the price it is (downwards to $5-7 per volume if you get the right discounts), that would keep me busy for a long, long, long time.

    Or I'd just get a big Archos, with a nice screen and jpg and png features.
    That's why I said, if it were 200$ cheaper. If you could then get you manga for less money and more quickly, it would be totally awesome. Especially since mangas take up quite a lot of space.
  • AprecheApreche
    The problem I have with an ebook is still the DRM and lack of color. Would I love to have books digitally? Yes. My bookshelves are already filling up, and I have books piling on the floor again. Anything that saves space is awesome. However, many of my books are comics, in color. So any non-color eBook reader isn't going to cut it. Also, with all these physical books I have, I can lend them out to people. With eBooks, I can't do that.
  • ninjarabbininjarabbi
    If only they had some sort of deal where when you buy the physical book you can get the ebook for free. That way if you want to read away from home, you can just read the ebook. You would also never have to worry about losing the digital books when the kindle becomes obsolete.
  • KieyKiey
    The problem I have with an ebook is still the DRM and lack of color.
    Those are two things I had some issues with before buying it, but I don't usually end up lending books to people anyway, so the DRM isn't too much of an issue. Color would be really nice, but I guess that they really haven't gotten that down yet with the eInk. There are enough good comics in black and white, that I can just buy the color ones in physical books.

    I also want to mention that as big as the Kindle store is, there are some books it seems they still don't have that I sort of expected them to. Namely I was looking for the new Fareed Zakaria book and its not there, and none of his other ones are either. I also tried to find the Prince of Nothing books, but they aren't there either. Hopefully Amazon will be a little more proactive in getting more books onto the store.
  • AprecheApreche
    If only they had some sort of deal where when you buy the physical book you can get the ebook for free. That way if you want to read away from home, you can just read the ebook. You would also never have to worry about losing the digital books when the kindle becomes obsolete.
    I am all for this.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    No, I mean like Windows, Linux or Mac. ^
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    Necroposting to say:

    Fucking when is the fucking Kindle being released fucking outside of fucking America?
  • Loganator456Loganator456
    edited December 2008
    If only they had some sort of deal where when you buy the physical book you can get the ebook for free. That way if you want to read away from home, you can just read the ebook. You would also never have to worry about losing the digital books when the kindle becomes obsolete.
    I am all for this.
    I'm up for this not just for books, but for all media in general. If I buy a work or the like, then I should be able to consume it any way I want.

    EDIT: I actually saw something like this at a K-Mart, where they had a Movie but It also came with different files of the movie on another disc to put them on your iPod and such.
    Post edited by Loganator456 on
  • ThaedThaed
  • ninjarabbininjarabbi
    I actually saw something like this at a K-Mart, where they had a Movie but It also came with different files of the movie on another disc to put them on your iPod and such.
    Most of those digital versions are DRM'd to all hell. It is easier to just rip the dvd and convert it to mp4 or something.
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