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Kindle on iPhone


bakerzdosen

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bakerzdosen

Well, Amazon finally (after a lot of rumors) released a free Kindle book reader for the iPhone platform.

 

It's not a Kindle, but it will make always having a good book to read easier... if you happen to own an iPhone anyway. :)

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Jerry Johnston

I felt the Kindle was expensive considering you can buy a $300 note book which should do most of what the Kindle does and give you a computer besides. Now that they say writters are allowed to turn the text to speech off, I'm really wondering about Kindle's value.

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The Kindle's value is in giving you a screen that is actually very readable (as opposed to the $300 notebook) and the included wireless access to Kindle content.

 

I downloaded a book for the iPhone app today. It looks pretty good -- but not epaper good -- but the screen's just too small for practical reading, and the lack of search makes it worthless for reference materials. Maybe the next version will update some of these things.

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Eric the Blue

Maybe I'm too old school, but I fail to see the advantage of a Kindle over a book. If I drop my book, or get it wet, or I abuse it in any number of ways, it still works. If I lose it, I'm only out a few bucks, and I never have to worry about it running low on battery power. Also, after I've read it, I can loan it to several of my friends. Most importantly, print is permanent, whereas electronic media isn't--I have a stack of 5 1/2" floppy disks to attest to that :-)

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I've got eReader on the iPhone - and with the latest updates it's not half bad...

 

There are apps to make your own eBooks which you can load up, in addition to stuff from vendors like FictionWise, etc.

If you prefer FREE reading material, there is a TON of it available. For starters, check out the gutenburg project! (27,000+ free titles there alone, and a claimed 100,000 titles in combination with their 'partners/affiliates.')

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

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Maybe I'm too old school, but I fail to see the advantage of a Kindle over a book. If I drop my book, or get it wet, or I abuse it in any number of ways, it still works. If I lose it, I'm only out a few bucks, and I never have to worry about it running low on battery power. Also, after I've read it, I can loan it to several of my friends. Most importantly, print is permanent, whereas electronic media isn't--I have a stack of 5 1/2" floppy disks to attest to that :-)

 

It depends how much you read. Personally, the advantage of carrying a 10oz electronic device massively outweighs (pun intended) the weight of the 3 or 4 books I otherwise carry around with me. You really needn't worry about running out of power on a kindle, either. Mine routinely goes for 2 weeks without needing a charge. Try that on a netbook or iphone! Amazon have tacitly acknowledged that a kindle must be as robust as a book. After I fell over backwards with a kindle in my backpack, amazon had a new one to my door the next day, free of charge, despite being fully cognizant of the fact that I had crushed it. With a bit of forethought, you can share your kindle books with your friends, and you don't have to mail them anywhere to physically hand them over. My whole family shares kindle books among each other. A kindle doesn't make any sense unless you read a lot. If you are the kind of person who cracks open a book every time you sit down to eat or have a moment to yourself, then buy a kindle. You will never look back. If it takes you 2-3 months to get through a 300 page book, forget it. It will never offer enough advantage to bother with.

 

Mine paid for itself in convenience the first time I had to take a 4 week business trip to a country in which I knew no one and english books are hard to come by. I brought along 10 books in my kindle, and wound up buying about 6 more before I left. Try that with paper books a 20kg luggage weight limit.

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Incidentally, the iphone reader is a nice piece of strategy. The iphone is such a crappy platform for reading that it won't cost them a single sale, but will likely cause a lot of folks to buy into the kindle ecosystem. Once you own more than a couple of books that can only be read on the kindle platform, it is pretty much a done deal that if you ever buy a dedicated reader, it is going to be a kindle compatible one.

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Jerry Johnston

I agree somewhat because if you buy a lot of books (I tend to read a new western every other day)it's much cheaper to by used books. The real advantage I can see is if you're driving or ill you can use the text to speech feature. Gee, I wonder if you can get "Tracks in the Sand" by Kent Lundgren for the Kindle (An enjoyable book). If it's like records I'll never be able to find the exact title I'm looking for. Maybe in another ten years I'll be able to read the same book over and over, thinking wow! what a great book.

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I love my Kindle. When traveling, to have the luxury of having 5 or 6 books in one place{I read multiple books at a time}, and not having to lug the weight or volumn around is tremendous. Especially traveling on the bike where I find my space to be at a premium. If you are a reader, it pays for itself very quickly as the most expensive book is 9.99. I love the fact that I can be somewhere, read a review about a book, and download it instantly, pass a bookstore in the airport see a book, and download it saving myself $20.00 or so. I also love the fact that I can change the font size, so if my eyes are getting tired, I can increase the font size and continue reading{I think you can't do that on the I Phone}. You can bookmark, highlight passages for future reference.

I firmly believe that with the cover on it it feels close enough to a book, get an after market leather cover and it does feel that way.

Great product that will change the way we read in the future.

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Jerry Johnston

Good point about being able to change font size - that is nice. I can't image books being cheaper unless they're under $6 or half that for used, although they should be since they save paper and ink.

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where are you buying paper books for $6? Go to a Barnes and Noble or the look and anything published recently will run you a minimum of $12-$14 and hardcovers might go as high as $30. A new release on the kindle will cost $10 and anything that's been out a while will be a couple of dollars cheaper. It's a pretty significant drop from retail on new paper books.

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Jerry Johnston

When not buying used I buy new from Barnes & Noble, Hastings, and Fred Meyer. I just purchased three new books from Barnes & Noble last week - 2 were $5.99 and 1 was $7.50 All 3 were Westerns. Used I pay half price and return on another book for half again.

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