(no subject)
First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you're having a lovely day, whether or not you celebrate this holiday.
Now on to the real reason I'm writing at the moment. My mother very thoughtfully got me a Sony digital reader for Christmas -- the kind that you see at Borders, where you can download books and have a bunch on a slim little device. There are, however, two problems with it, which have caused me to be researching digital options online for the majority of the morning. 1) The software is unfortunately not compatible with my Mac, and 2) When I opened it, my mother informed me that there was a newer version (which she had recently found out about) of the Sony that allows you to highlight and annote what you're reading. So I have been comparing Amazon's Kindle and Sony's PRS 700 (the "newer version" my mother was telling me about) online, and am planning on relating what I think are the most important issues so that I can have your opinion -- and maybe convince myself one way or another. I'm horrible at making decisions.
Compatibility
As I mentioned before, the Sony PRS currently only comes with software for PCs, and I use a Mac. However, I have found a free software download from Docudesk that will allow me to organize the content easily (I hope, since I haven't opened it yet). The way it works is that you buy and download eBooks and documents, pdfs, etc. to your computer and then you dock and upload them to the reader (very much like an iPod). The Kindle, on the other hand, works wirelessly. You buy things on the device and they are then downloaded to the device, with a backup saved in your Amazon account -- so you need no computer at all. However, from everything that I've read online, the Kindle only works with a certain type of file, which can be limiting (and Sony, in contrast, allows you 5 copies of the purchased econtent if you want to share). The other thing about the Kindle's compatibility - apparently, if I want to get my own stuff on my device (Word docs, or articles for class in pdf format, for example), I have to send it to them to convert and download to my device for a $.10 fee. Cheaper than printing the articles (which, at school, are $.13 per page), for sure, but still. I have recently learned that you can convert the pdfs for free and then upload them to your Kindle yourself. This is a big plus.
Content
Amazon's Kindle titles are somewhere around 200,000. Sony's eBook Store is only in the "tens of thousands." I have more confidence that Amazon will stay far ahead of Sony in this area than that Sony will quickly catch up. Granted, I am not going to read that many books from either site, but the likelihood that something I want is available in e-format will, I think, be far greater with Amazon. Also, I do not generally read magazines, newspapers, or blogs on a regular basis, but I do like the idea that if I should so desire, I could get the NY Times or Time magazine on my device. To be honest, though the wireless capabilities of the Kindle are often praised, I could take or leave it (I say this without having tried it, of course -- I didn't need the wireless capabilities on my iPhone which now I would be lost without). But I'm a very careful book purchaser. I breeze through books so quickly and they represent such a significant investment to me (I'm still poor, people! even $10 is a considerable amount to me!) that I am very very cautious in what I actually spend money on and tend not to do much impulse book buying. My general criteria for purchasing a book myself are that a) I know and like the author, b) the novel sounds intriguing and I want to open it as soon as I read the description, or c) it has been talked about so much (whether classic or brand-new) that I feel like I ought to read it. As far as textbooks go, it appears that Sony will also support books that are not purchased through their store...so if I need to purchase an e-textbook, I'd be able to download it to my Sony, but likely not to my Kindle. Also, both devices allow me to highlight and take notes, which is a very very good feature. However, the Kindle does not, apparently, tell you what page you're on, which would be difficult for me and citations.
Price
The Kindle is currently $40 cheaper than the PRS 700. Also, a random recently-released book (The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Barry, if we're getting technical) is $9.99 on Amazon, and $11.99 on Sony. A book that has been out for awhile (Twilight) is $6.04 on Amazon and $9.89 on Sony.
Aesthetics
The Kindle is ugly, the Sony is not. That is simple enough. Also, I have read many complaints about the Kindle's page turning button placement -- that it's easy to hit it and turn the page without meaning to. Also, I have read that the Kindle's contrast is not as good as the Sony's, but this matters less to me, since my mom got me a backlight for it (yay!) and I don't really have experience with one to compare it to.
Availability
I can go down to Borders tomorrow, return the one I have and pick up a Sony, where I will apparently have to wait 8-10 weeks for the Kindle, since it's on backorder. Also, this version of the Sony is the newest, where the speculation is that the Kindle version 2.0 will be released very soon -- possibly as early as February. And if there is anything I hate, it's making a large purchase like that, just to have technology make it obsolete the next week. At least give me several months where I can enjoy the thing and not wish I had the other one. Of course, even if I go with the Sony, this might be the case.
And...that was a very long and rather materialistic analysis of something I really don't need but am excited about and will probably use. It's better than my iPhone, which is really too small to read from anyway (even though I have been all semester). At this point, I'm leaning toward the Kindle and just forcing myself to wait, even though the idea is a bit painful. What do you all think?
Now on to the real reason I'm writing at the moment. My mother very thoughtfully got me a Sony digital reader for Christmas -- the kind that you see at Borders, where you can download books and have a bunch on a slim little device. There are, however, two problems with it, which have caused me to be researching digital options online for the majority of the morning. 1) The software is unfortunately not compatible with my Mac, and 2) When I opened it, my mother informed me that there was a newer version (which she had recently found out about) of the Sony that allows you to highlight and annote what you're reading. So I have been comparing Amazon's Kindle and Sony's PRS 700 (the "newer version" my mother was telling me about) online, and am planning on relating what I think are the most important issues so that I can have your opinion -- and maybe convince myself one way or another. I'm horrible at making decisions.
Compatibility
As I mentioned before, the Sony PRS currently only comes with software for PCs, and I use a Mac. However, I have found a free software download from Docudesk that will allow me to organize the content easily (I hope, since I haven't opened it yet). The way it works is that you buy and download eBooks and documents, pdfs, etc. to your computer and then you dock and upload them to the reader (very much like an iPod). The Kindle, on the other hand, works wirelessly. You buy things on the device and they are then downloaded to the device, with a backup saved in your Amazon account -- so you need no computer at all. However, from everything that I've read online, the Kindle only works with a certain type of file, which can be limiting (and Sony, in contrast, allows you 5 copies of the purchased econtent if you want to share). The other thing about the Kindle's compatibility - apparently, if I want to get my own stuff on my device (Word docs, or articles for class in pdf format, for example), I have to send it to them to convert and download to my device for a $.10 fee. Cheaper than printing the articles (which, at school, are $.13 per page), for sure, but still. I have recently learned that you can convert the pdfs for free and then upload them to your Kindle yourself. This is a big plus.
Content
Amazon's Kindle titles are somewhere around 200,000. Sony's eBook Store is only in the "tens of thousands." I have more confidence that Amazon will stay far ahead of Sony in this area than that Sony will quickly catch up. Granted, I am not going to read that many books from either site, but the likelihood that something I want is available in e-format will, I think, be far greater with Amazon. Also, I do not generally read magazines, newspapers, or blogs on a regular basis, but I do like the idea that if I should so desire, I could get the NY Times or Time magazine on my device. To be honest, though the wireless capabilities of the Kindle are often praised, I could take or leave it (I say this without having tried it, of course -- I didn't need the wireless capabilities on my iPhone which now I would be lost without). But I'm a very careful book purchaser. I breeze through books so quickly and they represent such a significant investment to me (I'm still poor, people! even $10 is a considerable amount to me!) that I am very very cautious in what I actually spend money on and tend not to do much impulse book buying. My general criteria for purchasing a book myself are that a) I know and like the author, b) the novel sounds intriguing and I want to open it as soon as I read the description, or c) it has been talked about so much (whether classic or brand-new) that I feel like I ought to read it. As far as textbooks go, it appears that Sony will also support books that are not purchased through their store...so if I need to purchase an e-textbook, I'd be able to download it to my Sony, but likely not to my Kindle. Also, both devices allow me to highlight and take notes, which is a very very good feature. However, the Kindle does not, apparently, tell you what page you're on, which would be difficult for me and citations.
Price
The Kindle is currently $40 cheaper than the PRS 700. Also, a random recently-released book (The Charlemagne Pursuit by Steve Barry, if we're getting technical) is $9.99 on Amazon, and $11.99 on Sony. A book that has been out for awhile (Twilight) is $6.04 on Amazon and $9.89 on Sony.
Aesthetics
The Kindle is ugly, the Sony is not. That is simple enough. Also, I have read many complaints about the Kindle's page turning button placement -- that it's easy to hit it and turn the page without meaning to. Also, I have read that the Kindle's contrast is not as good as the Sony's, but this matters less to me, since my mom got me a backlight for it (yay!) and I don't really have experience with one to compare it to.
Availability
I can go down to Borders tomorrow, return the one I have and pick up a Sony, where I will apparently have to wait 8-10 weeks for the Kindle, since it's on backorder. Also, this version of the Sony is the newest, where the speculation is that the Kindle version 2.0 will be released very soon -- possibly as early as February. And if there is anything I hate, it's making a large purchase like that, just to have technology make it obsolete the next week. At least give me several months where I can enjoy the thing and not wish I had the other one. Of course, even if I go with the Sony, this might be the case.
And...that was a very long and rather materialistic analysis of something I really don't need but am excited about and will probably use. It's better than my iPhone, which is really too small to read from anyway (even though I have been all semester). At this point, I'm leaning toward the Kindle and just forcing myself to wait, even though the idea is a bit painful. What do you all think?