Last night I took the leap and ordered the Kindle.
It should arrive this week. I already know what my first purchase will be: Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies, by Michelle Malkin.
Why should I be different from everyone else on Amazon?
Pronounced "Patter-EE-koh"
E-mail: Just use my moniker Patterico, followed by the @ symbol, followed by gmail.com
Disclaimer: Simpsons avatar may resemble a younger Patterico...
The statements made on this web site reflect the personal opinions of the author. They are not made in any official capacity, and do not represent the opinions of the author's employer.
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | ||||||
Powered by WordPress.
Just don’t buy anything by George Orwell.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 8/3/2009 @ 7:27 amYeah, that was funny. Amazon wasn’t checking out the bona fides of people posting “Kindle Editions.” And I couldn’t believe that Bezos didn’t realize how that looked to the public!
There are lots of public domain titles for the Kindle, Patterico. I enjoy mine.
Eric Blair (204104) — 8/3/2009 @ 7:41 amKindle is cool,convenient,and compact. Besides it solves the problem of what to do with all the books, after you have read them. If you are a “reader” this is a major problem and why I have a Kindle 1. But don’t forget, it’s what in your head that counts. Not what some sophisticated scribe scribbled somewhere.
Todd (0c8993) — 8/3/2009 @ 7:46 amDon’t forget to backup the Kindle documents on your own laptop from time to time. Other than that, the Kindle is unobtrusive technology that does one thing really well.
richardb (592499) — 8/3/2009 @ 8:01 amI’d be more interested in Kindle if the e-book prices were substantially lower. But $10 for an electronic version of a book I can get in print for $5 seems a bit high.
Kevin Murphy (0b2493) — 8/3/2009 @ 8:01 amThe Kindle will last you for a few years, and then you’ll need to replace it or upgrade it. If you don’t, all the books you “bought” will be unusable.
steve miller (c5e78c) — 8/3/2009 @ 8:12 amDon’t disdain the free sites. For one suggestion, gutenberg.au which has books from the 20th century due to different copyright laws.
nk (f76b99) — 8/3/2009 @ 8:13 amKevin@5, the prices are kind of hit and miss. Most NY Times bestsellers are $10 when equivalent dead tree hardback would be significantly more. Generally, but not always, fiction in paperback is about a buck cheaper on the kindle, and most of the publishers will use the $10 price for hardbacks, though not all.
Nonfiction is much more likely to be more than $10, but with its correspondingly smaller sales I guess that makes sense.
I definitely echo the call to back the files up locally, that way in the worst case you can jailbreak them. I won’t link instructions how, anyone with reasonable google-fu can find out how, and I suspect Patterico, as an attorney, probably wouldn’t do that anyway, even though it’s something that falls into the ‘morally right, against the law’ category.
Skip (ba6438) — 8/3/2009 @ 8:28 amI would have a DX on it’s way here if I could be sure that text books for college classes were available in ebook format, and if I knew they were 30-40 bucks cheaper.
Over the course of a few semesters the savings would easily pay for the DX, and I wouldn’t have to carry a mountain of books.
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/3/2009 @ 9:02 amI’ve had mine for about 6 months and like it although I use it for light reading more. One annoying fact is the inability to leaf back and forth to look at illustrations and the like. For non-fiction, the charts are often not legible. Best for novels and stuff you’ll read once.
Mike K (addb13) — 8/3/2009 @ 9:06 amWhy pay for one? Just got on a flight with Leo LaPorte of This Week In Tech, and take his. He’s left 2 on planes in the last couple of months. 😉
evilned (638e4b) — 8/3/2009 @ 9:09 amIf it’s actually worth it then it’s a threat to non-book dirty socialist media in some way. If it’s not a threat to non-book dirty socialist media in some way then it isn’t worth it.
happyfeet (71f55e) — 8/3/2009 @ 9:12 amI bought my darling bride a Kindle for our anniversary, but I can’t say that I’m terribly impressed with it. Perhaps if I had gotten the larger Kindle DX, I’d have liked it better.
One thing that really bugs me: it takes about four or five Kindle “pages” to hold the text on one print-edition page, so you’re constantly flipping through the pages.
Another thing that irks me: a regular Kindle does not have an internal light, so you can’t read it in low light or the dark.
The amazon.associate Dana who makes 4% if you buy a Kindle through the portal on his site (474dfc) — 8/3/2009 @ 9:36 amYou are gonna love it. you’ll read faster easier and more.
Too bad they disable the browser and don’t have color but the Kindle is the future.
David Brown (b23017) — 8/3/2009 @ 9:53 amI’m seriously considering the Sony book reader. I think I prefer not to be locked into a single source for books. Amazon is just a bit too collectivist for me.
Plus the Sony does offer the light. And I’d love to get all the public domain stuff at Gutenberg Project.
Gesundheit (9ca635) — 8/3/2009 @ 10:40 amThinking about getting my grandfather a DX. He’s technology challenged, but I’m sure I can help him figure it out.
G (58c282) — 8/3/2009 @ 10:43 amWhy wait for the Kindle to arrive to purchase the book? If you order it now, it will download when you start up the device.
I really enjoy my Kindle. It has reasons for most of the design choices. The lack of a back lit screen makes it less harsh on the eyes and aids in text crispness. You can alter the font size on the page, if you find 3 Kindle pages per printed page annoying.
As much as I like the device, I still agree with Mike K’s assessment that this is a device for recreational reading and not scholarship. Even the “notes” function, while useful, isn’t a substitute for the functionality of a physical book. The Kindle is perfect for the annual reading of Moorcock’s Elric Saga, but isn’t great for investigating Hegel.
Christian (22837a) — 8/3/2009 @ 12:07 pmSome free book sites:
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
http://www.baen.com/library/
and a review of some other book readers (follow ups on the one he bought later on the blog)
http://docrampage.blogspot.com/2009/07/e-book-readers-amazon-vs-open-standards.html
Foxfier (db0f51) — 8/3/2009 @ 2:11 pmI’m waiting for the Plastic Logic reader next year. It’s letter-sized, so less flipping pages and easier on the battery, it’s by an independent English company instead of a content company looking to sell books (i.e. Amazon/Apple) and it’s incredibly lightweight. Reads all common file types and doesn’t care how many times you upgrade your device. You can annotate to your heart’s content as well.
Ozwitch (6d7cae) — 8/3/2009 @ 3:52 pmGot a link for that, Ozwitch?
And why do I now hear the theme to “Dave the Barbarian” running through my head?
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 8/3/2009 @ 7:23 pmA library card is cheaper.
DCSCA (9d1bb3) — 8/3/2009 @ 10:10 pmI wouldn’t take a Kindle for free. Hardcopy books only for me. They can’t take those away!
Peg C. (48175e) — 8/4/2009 @ 3:01 amLOL and Amen.
voiceofreason2 (590c85) — 8/4/2009 @ 4:43 amWe bookworms are irrepressible. New books at Borders, used books at book fairs and Goodwill stores, books online, library cards, … just as long as there are words in a row. 😉
nk (8200d5) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:09 amMy seven-year old is reading Moby Dick!!!!!
nk (8200d5) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:11 amCool about Moby Dick. Gotta say I didn’t like reading it, but if he likes it, try Treasure Island & Gulliver’s Travels. My 8 yr old does not like fiction at all, only non-fiction.
I’m torn about the Kindle thing. On the one hand, books don’t break or have batteries. And you can buy a whole lot of books for the price of it. On the other, I live in a row house and am at maximum book storage capacity now.
JEA (0ccd61) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:38 amYup, my wife got her Treasure Island too. And I told her that Peter Pan was a book (she likes the old movie) and I think that will be next.
nk (8200d5) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:54 amNot to mention the fun of passing on a good book to someone. When I was in college I read Atlas Shrugged – my Dad had it in the book case since he was in college. A couple of years ago I gave him my copy of Prince of Darkness by Novak.
voiceofreason2 (10af7e) — 8/4/2009 @ 5:57 amMy son and I enjoy the Stephen King books and I pass those onto him on a regular basis and it gives us something fun to talk about.