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What’s great about the Kindle
October 22, 2008 | 10:36 am
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By Paul Biba
I tell you, the Kindle is really addictive in a way that the current Sony Reader, or the new one about to be released, can’t match.
So I’m sitting in the living room and have to be in New York for a few hours tomorrow. I’d like to spend the rest of the day there, perhaps take in a museum and have lunch. My Kindle is by my side and I remember that I saw an ad on Amazon saying that the Frommer’s city guides now have Kindle editions. I fire up the machine, connect to Amazon, buy the guide for $9.99 and I plan my day. There is absolutely no question in my mind that connectivity is the thing that will sell ebooks in the future.
The same thing can be said for the iPhone and eReader or Stanza. However, the iPhone platform is not well suited to something like Frommer’s. Nevertheless, I use my iPhone to download, over the air, my monthly subscription to The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and Interzone. Now that I have wireless connectivity, I will never connect an ebook reader to my computer again. No point to it and I no longer have to fight the hassles of trying to use the Sony Reader with a Mac. There are solutions out there, but I no longer have to fool with them. To be free of a tether to a computer is worth whatever compromises in ergonomics the Kindle has made me make. I can even download books, easily, from Manybooks and Feedbooks onto the Kindle directly over the air.
By the way, a bit of heresy. I don’t mind DRM for something like Frommer’s. The content changes every year anyway, so who cares about DRM – I’ll want to buy another edition next year no matter what. Boy, that statement will get David’s blood pressure up!
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Comments:
I’ll take your opinion a step further. (David, please don’t read this until your heart has recovered! ) I suspect that I’m in the majority when I say that I don’t mind most DRM. For most ebooks, the DRM is very mild, and I don’t even notice it. Like most people, I don’t try to share my ebooks, and I’m not trying to switch content between readers.
On the other hand, I agree with David that it’s generally not needed for most trade books. Piracy is likely to be a very small issue, as long as the list price for ebooks remains low.
Now, for textbooks, and for high-value content, and in several other niches, I think heavy-duty DRM is likely to be required. And that sounds as if it might be a hassle to deal with. But for the content most of us use routinely? Not needed but not a problem, IMO.
I guess, Paul, I don’t see the Kindle’s advantage. If you had told me that you mistakenly flew into NYC when you were supposed to be in Chicago and now need to kill a few hours between connecting flights, then maybe the Kindle’s wireless connectivity to buy Frommer’s would have some meaning. Or if you needed a travel guide and it wasn’t available for anything but the Kindle (but then that would be a crap shoot because the next desperately needed guide might not be available for the Kindle).
But sitting at home. And what would you do if you were in London, UK where the Kindle wireless won’t work. If you had a Sony, you would at least have a shot at being able to download a guide to London, but no shot with the Kindle.
But you don’t even have to go to London to find that the Kindle wireless is of limited value. There are lots of areas in upstate New York where one can’t connect because of very poor Sprint coverage.
Granted I have to take an extra couple of minutes to hook my Sony to my computer and access the Internet but I’m sitting at my computer anyway writing this note, so no big deal.
Do travel guides really translate that well to the Kindle or Sony? I have yet to see a map or trail outline that was really useful on either.
I agree somewhat with your statements on connectivity. I was just surprised that a travel guide was the spark.
As opposed to getting off your duff and connecting you reader to your computer and downloading the same book.
Yeah, I can see the huge benefit of wireless in that siutation, NOT!
And let’s not forget that at least you have far greater choice with the Sony about where to buy your books.
Wireless won’t sell readers. Epub and the ability to purchase ebooks from anywhere will.
But as long as you enjoy your Kindle…
Ebook Reader,
I’m not sure that you payed much attention to the article. Paul uses a Mac. The process to buy books and transfer them to the Sony without doing conversions and using a non-native application is not exactly trivial.
There are lots of different things that will sell ebooks. For some of us wireless is one of them. I have a Sony PRS-500 and loathe jumping through hoops to get content since I am not a PC owner/user. I use Mac and Linux. There were three things that made me buy a Kindle. Book selection without conversion, dictionary support within a book, and the biggest reason for me… wireless.
I would probably be perfectly content with the Sony that I already have if I was a PC user. Since I am not I enjoy using my Kindle more.
Paul I am with you, I have been dealing with the same issues for 2 years. Now that I have a Kindle I am happy as can be.
Rich Aidin says: And what would you do if you were in London, UK where the Kindle wireless won’t work.
You’d hook your Kindle up to a computer and download your book over the Internet. Just exactly what you have to do with a Sony all the time, except that the Kindle works with Macs too.
trav says: Do travel guides really translate that well to the Kindle or Sony? I have yet to see a map or trail outline that was really useful on either.
The illustrations don’t come across well on a Kindle. If the maps are important, right now I think a paper book is the way to go. On the other hand, searching for information on a landmark, like “Tower of London” is quicker. If you want more than one travel guide, the Kindle is much lighter, too.
A lot of people have the mistaken belief that the Kindle locks you into Amazon’s content and delivery system. Probably 95% or more of the content on my Kindle is from anyplace but Amazon.
But I do agree that wireless connectivity is the killer app on the Kindle. Number two is the dictionary support which isn’t available on the older Sony’s.
Maps and illustrations don’t translate well unless they are optimized for grayscale.
I bought my wife the Kindle last Christmas. She’s a big fiction reader and the Kindles user-friendly features lend themselves to her tech abilities. Wireless is a great and persuasive capability in any e-reader. I don’t use the Kindle but have a Windows Mobile smart phone. I’ve read at least a couple dozen books on it and the thing I love most about it is being able to go to Fictionwise or Ebooks.com, make my purchase, and download content directly to my phone. Slightly off-subject, but another great thing about my phone is that I have it with me always; the Kindle is not nearly so portable. I look forward to phones with e-ink or other better quality displays.
The iPhone sees your wireless and raises you with one high-res color screen than can do pinch-out zoomable maps as well as, oh, Google Maps.
I use an older version of Mac OS on my Macs; Mac OS X 10.2.8.
Unfortunately, although I think the Sony has the superior design, I cannot use it as I use Macs. With an older OS that makes things even more complicated and there would be no hoops for me to jump due to my older OS.
I have never seen either the Sony or the Kindle in person, only photos over the internet.
But it appears that the Kindle — although it has design flaws which do not appear to be addressed in its latest incarnation due out the first quarter of 2009 — would have to suit my needs. The Kindle works with Macs and has the added benefit of wireless technology.
I wish the Sony worked with Macs, and had built-in wireless, and could access Amazon’s content. Then we’d have two e-readers on a level playing field, and I could make a better decision between the two of them.
I also wish Amazon would truly address the design flaws of the Kindle, based on pics I’ve seen and on reviews I’ve read. The thing has a HUGE keyboard. What do I want with a keyboard on an e-reader? And if I do need one, why does it have to take up so much space and be in the way? Why does it have the page turning buttons located on the device in inconvenient places that cause accidental page turns? Why the clunky look?
I’ve seen the prototype photos of the new Kindle, and all they’ve really done is change the buttons on the keyboard to be rounded; the bottom part of the Kindle is still way too huge and in the way, and the page turn buttons are still in the wrong place. It doesn’t look modern at all. This is in stark contrast to the Sony, which I think has a very nice, snappy look to it, but the content for the Sony isn’t there, and Mac users like myself can’t easily use it, plus no wireless.
How long do those of us who have not decided on a technology have to wait before we are given valid choices in readers that compete with each other head-to-head?
And please, allow us to share our e-books with each other! Talk about trying to shoot your technology in the foot! That is ridiculous. If I have a paper book, I can certainly choose to share it with ANYONE once I finish reading it. I can understand that school textbooks may require a different DRM (digital rights management), but I believe for most recreational readers that e-books should be non-DRM (we should be allowed to share our e-books with each other and not have Digital Rights Management technology in place that stops us from sharing e-books with each other).
Meanwhile, because I’ve never personally seen a Kindle, and I don’t know how easy it is to “get used to” its idiosyncrasies, as far as how to avoid accidentally turning pages, I would be very curious to know any pros and cons of the device.
Also, have you Kindle owners had times when you wanted to buy a book from Amazon but find it is not available in Kindle form?
The Kindle is not a cheap device. For my budget, it is expensive and I want to really think through whether it is worth it, and if I would regret purchasing it, prior to purchase. So any and all comments regarding how you like (or dislike) your Kindle would be greatly appreciated!
@LookingAtBuyingAKindle I’m fortunate enough to have both a Kindle and Sony 505 and you’re assessment on their design pros and cons is spot on! I cannot hand the Kindle to anyone without them turning the page. It’s just awkward. But you can’t beat the wireless downloads. You’ll burn down many battery charges surfing the store looking for content. It’s great fun.
Do I ever look for books and not find them for the Kindle or Sony? ALL the time! And yes it’s a shame.
Both units are recognized by Macs running any OSX. When plugged up they both show up as any thumb drive USB would. So you can drag files right to your Sony the way you would a Kindle. The only problem is that the only way to buy books for the Sony is through their little shopping software, which is PC only. That’s the problem. Hopefully they’ll go to a web-only system sometime and eliminate the desktop app.
I also listen to music on the device more than I thought I would.
The Kindle is a horrid mp3 player, though it does play music. The Sony is great as it lets you scroll through track names, etc.
So I much prefer the Sony as a reader. But this early in the game content availability rules. So I’d recommend the Kindle as they have sooooooo many more titles available and the free wireless connectivity is cool.
Have fun!
@trav Thanks for the comments! A question about the battery hours burned while shopping the Kindle store: Is it possible to shop the Kindle store on my laptop, via web interface, and pick out my selections there? Is that a work-around to save on battery life?
Thanks!
@LookingAtBuyingAKindle I was just kidding about the battery life. I’ve been pleased with the Kindle and the Sony, in that area.
But, yes, you can buy the kindle edition of a book and it will be pushed to your device. I often do that, not to conserve battery life, but to comparison shop.