Kindle
I saw a post in my feed lamenting the lack of updates. Since I've been thinking about posting, I figured I'd finally do it :-)
A few months ago, I decided to try out our Kindle for real. Saeed has been using it to read articles, etc while traveling, but I never did. So, since I had some free time, I bought The Hunger Games and settled in to read.
Pros: The Kindle is GREAT for one-handed reading. I could prop the book up on my leg and just click the button. For some reason, when I prop up a real book, my eyes can't keep my place on the page. With the Kindle, I had no issue with that. Plus, the e-ink doesn't hurt my eyes at all. When I read on a computer screen, I need my reading glasses and I occasionally get headaches. But on the Kindle, like with a real book, I can read for forever and have no problems. On top of that, it's light weight and I can carry tons and tons of books. Plus, when I finish one incredibly addictive story, book 2 is just moments away via download (Hello, CF & MJ)! No need to go to the store and buy one, or wait 3-7 days while amazon ships it.
Cons: Sadly, the airlines made me turn my book off for take off and landing, which is kind of annoying. Also, it tells me percent done instead of page numbers. That gives me a clue how much more of the book I have to read, but not how long the book really is. I realize that with changing font size, page number are difficult and/or meaningless, but I'm a little stuck on that. Someone should come up with a way to emulate that feature of real books.
But the biggest issue: you can't really "browse." When I read, I like to flip forward to figure out how many pages until the end of the chapter and/or next page that ends in a period. Those give me discreet stopping points, which satisfies my OCD-tendencies :-) I also like to read the last page of the book, which is possible with the 'go to' function, but not as easy as just flipping. And finally, when I get confused about who someone is and what they did at a certain point, I flip back and look around to figure out what I'm missing. THAT is impossible on the Kindle.
For reasons I don't understand, the books are all within 1-2 pennies of the print books. Do the publishers not realize that there's a lot of money saved by not having to actually print & ship the book?! Okay, I'm guessing the answer to that is 'yes' and they are also thinking 'Ooh, Julie was willing to pay $7 for this book in print. I'm sure she'll still pay $7 for this book on her Kindle!" and so far, they've been right. But they annoy me almost as much as whoever decided that posting TV shows online 8 days after they air was a good idea. The authors who post their first book of a series for free? THOSE people are awesome. I approve of you.
I also like the swipe feature for turning pages on the iPhone better, so please work on the touch e-ink.
With just a few feature enhancements, the Kindle would be perfect. But for now, it's pretty darn good :-) Overall, I declare it a win.
As a total aside, THG is *awesome*, although very very disturbing. I highly recommend it!
For the record, typing with a sleeping baby in your lap is a lot more difficult than reading the Kindle in the same position. Sorry this post was so disjointed!
A few months ago, I decided to try out our Kindle for real. Saeed has been using it to read articles, etc while traveling, but I never did. So, since I had some free time, I bought The Hunger Games and settled in to read.
Pros: The Kindle is GREAT for one-handed reading. I could prop the book up on my leg and just click the button. For some reason, when I prop up a real book, my eyes can't keep my place on the page. With the Kindle, I had no issue with that. Plus, the e-ink doesn't hurt my eyes at all. When I read on a computer screen, I need my reading glasses and I occasionally get headaches. But on the Kindle, like with a real book, I can read for forever and have no problems. On top of that, it's light weight and I can carry tons and tons of books. Plus, when I finish one incredibly addictive story, book 2 is just moments away via download (Hello, CF & MJ)! No need to go to the store and buy one, or wait 3-7 days while amazon ships it.
Cons: Sadly, the airlines made me turn my book off for take off and landing, which is kind of annoying. Also, it tells me percent done instead of page numbers. That gives me a clue how much more of the book I have to read, but not how long the book really is. I realize that with changing font size, page number are difficult and/or meaningless, but I'm a little stuck on that. Someone should come up with a way to emulate that feature of real books.
But the biggest issue: you can't really "browse." When I read, I like to flip forward to figure out how many pages until the end of the chapter and/or next page that ends in a period. Those give me discreet stopping points, which satisfies my OCD-tendencies :-) I also like to read the last page of the book, which is possible with the 'go to' function, but not as easy as just flipping. And finally, when I get confused about who someone is and what they did at a certain point, I flip back and look around to figure out what I'm missing. THAT is impossible on the Kindle.
For reasons I don't understand, the books are all within 1-2 pennies of the print books. Do the publishers not realize that there's a lot of money saved by not having to actually print & ship the book?! Okay, I'm guessing the answer to that is 'yes' and they are also thinking 'Ooh, Julie was willing to pay $7 for this book in print. I'm sure she'll still pay $7 for this book on her Kindle!" and so far, they've been right. But they annoy me almost as much as whoever decided that posting TV shows online 8 days after they air was a good idea. The authors who post their first book of a series for free? THOSE people are awesome. I approve of you.
I also like the swipe feature for turning pages on the iPhone better, so please work on the touch e-ink.
With just a few feature enhancements, the Kindle would be perfect. But for now, it's pretty darn good :-) Overall, I declare it a win.
As a total aside, THG is *awesome*, although very very disturbing. I highly recommend it!
For the record, typing with a sleeping baby in your lap is a lot more difficult than reading the Kindle in the same position. Sorry this post was so disjointed!