Ever since the announcement of the iPad, many seem to expect everyone to choose sides. If you want an iPad, you must not like your Kindle. If you have an iPad, you will not want a Kindle. If you have a Kindle, you will not want an iPad.
Hey, people, they are not the same type of device. Did Steve Jobs say it was an e-reader? No, he said you could read books on it—not the same thing, You can also watch movies and sports, get e-mail, play games and more. I am perishing for an iPad and have to wait till "late April," as Apple puts it, to get a 3G model, thus will not even be able to join the happy band of brothers and sisters on April 3rd in their delirious joy over the new toy.
On the other hand, I happily read on my Kindle and know that I will continue to do so long after I receive the iPad. To be without my Kindle for even one day would be sheer torture to me since, besides books, I read newspapers, magazines and blogs on it. One blog is the NY Times Latest News which is updated many times a day. I only care about the content and it doesn't matter that the pictures are in black and white. On the other hand, if it were National Geographic, with colored pictures, it would be best on the iPad—no contest. Technically I can read e-mail on my Kindle through the experimental web browser, but I don't, and do not know why any one would put themselves through the slow torture. E-mail is always with me on my phone and will be even better on the iPad.
Why do I love the Kindle for sustained reading? Because its e-ink screen is easy on my eyes and I literally read faster using it, possibly because it takes less time to click Next Page than it does to turn pages in a real book. Also, if the ambient light is a little dim, I can up the font size to make it easier. Backlit screens make my eyes burn after a short time, so I am unlikely to do much sustained reading on the iPad. Someone is bound to comment that a backlit screen does not bother HIS eyes. Well, good for him. I've been light sensitive all my life and it only gets worse.
The Kindle that I think is dead in the water when the iPad launches is the DX. It appears at this time that textbooks and college material in the form of pdfs will work much better on the iPad. The DX does not deal well with pdfs because it does not make them re-flowable. Since I can already re-flow a pdf on my iPhone, I know that it will be possible on the iPad.
To wrap up: my 6" Kindle and my iPad will co-exist just fine.
Showing posts with label Kindle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kindle. Show all posts
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Permanently delete books? Amazon says no
Something that Amazon needs to address is the current inability to permanently delete something from the archived items or from content manager, depending on which Kindle you own. There are many reasons for someone wishing to do this.
Countless times I have read on various Kindle forums of people who wish to buy their adolescent child a Kindle and share the account, but are leery of doing this because some of their past purchases have been too racy for children that age. They want to be able to get rid of the books permanently.
It is not the only reason. If you have been at this for any length of time, you have accumulated a lot of books in the archive. Many of these you will never read again and maybe didn't even especially enjoy the first time around. We can't always make good choices.
And sometimes we latch onto free books just because they are free, and they didn't work out for us.
Currently, if an author decides to revise his or her book under the same ASIN number, so that previous buyers will receive the revision at no cost, the revision is not available for anyone who has annotated or bookmarked his copy. This is because of a glitch in Amazon's software. The only thing which will make the new edition available to previous buyers is to issue it under a new ASIN number. Go to the Kindle store and type in David Emberson in the search box. You will see three books, the first of which is The Kindle 2 Cookbook: How To Do Everything the Manual Doesn't Tell You by David Emberson (Kindle Edition - Feb 27, 2009). The third of these is The Kindle 2 Cookbook: How To Do Everything the Manual Doesn't Tell You (Alternate ASIN) by David Emberson (Kindle Edition - Feb 27, 2009). Sandwiched in between is the book for the K1 reissued. David had to do this alternate ASIN thing so that those of us who purchased and annotated the first book would be allowed to buy the 2nd edition. It was the only way.
Why can't Amazon devise a method of allowing us to permanently take books off of our virtual bookshelves? They shouldn't make it too easy or something you could do accidentally. Obviously it should be done from your Amazon account as opposed to doing it from the Kindle itself. I wouldn't even care if it came with a popup box asking if we were sure, and another warning you that you will never see this again. Make it as obnoxious as you want, Amazon, but please let us do it.
Countless times I have read on various Kindle forums of people who wish to buy their adolescent child a Kindle and share the account, but are leery of doing this because some of their past purchases have been too racy for children that age. They want to be able to get rid of the books permanently.
It is not the only reason. If you have been at this for any length of time, you have accumulated a lot of books in the archive. Many of these you will never read again and maybe didn't even especially enjoy the first time around. We can't always make good choices.
And sometimes we latch onto free books just because they are free, and they didn't work out for us.
Currently, if an author decides to revise his or her book under the same ASIN number, so that previous buyers will receive the revision at no cost, the revision is not available for anyone who has annotated or bookmarked his copy. This is because of a glitch in Amazon's software. The only thing which will make the new edition available to previous buyers is to issue it under a new ASIN number. Go to the Kindle store and type in David Emberson in the search box. You will see three books, the first of which is The Kindle 2 Cookbook: How To Do Everything the Manual Doesn't Tell You by David Emberson (Kindle Edition - Feb 27, 2009). The third of these is The Kindle 2 Cookbook: How To Do Everything the Manual Doesn't Tell You (Alternate ASIN) by David Emberson (Kindle Edition - Feb 27, 2009). Sandwiched in between is the book for the K1 reissued. David had to do this alternate ASIN thing so that those of us who purchased and annotated the first book would be allowed to buy the 2nd edition. It was the only way.
Why can't Amazon devise a method of allowing us to permanently take books off of our virtual bookshelves? They shouldn't make it too easy or something you could do accidentally. Obviously it should be done from your Amazon account as opposed to doing it from the Kindle itself. I wouldn't even care if it came with a popup box asking if we were sure, and another warning you that you will never see this again. Make it as obnoxious as you want, Amazon, but please let us do it.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Comparison of Kindle 1 and Kindle 2
Today the Kindle 2 arrived a day earlier than Amazon had promised. Congratulations, Amazon—what an Apple-like thing to do! Also Apple-like is the sleek, thin body of the K2. The design difference between it and the K1 is amazing considering they are only a little more than a year apart. Gone is the bizarre scroll wheel, replaced by what Amazon calls a 5-way, really a tiny joystick. In the picture below, the K2 is on the left and the K1 on the right. It is hard to photograph them so that the difference in thickness comes through clearly and this and the next picture were the best I could do. The K2 is named Earl after a dear friend of mine who passed away a few years ago. He loved to read and would have wanted a Kindle had they existed at the time. He was kind of technophobic but this would have been a winner for him.
In the picture below, the K2 appears to be shorter than the K1 whereas the opposite is true. The K2 is a half inch longer than the K1 but the same width. However, this is a better picture for showing the thickness difference.
For a long time, I have wanted to try my hand at making a Kindle cover, but didn't want to tackle one for the K2 until I had it in my hand. I have a red M-edge cover for the K1 and like it very much so if I'm not happy with what I make, that's where I will go. Am thinking of the one that stands up and forms its own stand for reading at the table which is something I do all the time. M-edge has a purple leather version. Yummy! However, I wanted protection for it until I either made a cover or bought one so using the measurements which are in the specs at the end of the K2 manual (downloaded and read ahead of time), I made a slipcase to protect it. See below.
In the picture below, the K2 appears to be shorter than the K1 whereas the opposite is true. The K2 is a half inch longer than the K1 but the same width. However, this is a better picture for showing the thickness difference.
For a long time, I have wanted to try my hand at making a Kindle cover, but didn't want to tackle one for the K2 until I had it in my hand. I have a red M-edge cover for the K1 and like it very much so if I'm not happy with what I make, that's where I will go. Am thinking of the one that stands up and forms its own stand for reading at the table which is something I do all the time. M-edge has a purple leather version. Yummy! However, I wanted protection for it until I either made a cover or bought one so using the measurements which are in the specs at the end of the K2 manual (downloaded and read ahead of time), I made a slipcase to protect it. See below.
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