Kindle Myths and Partial Truths

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by slayda

Bob, while what you say is true, it presupposes that the Kindle owner is aware of the method of extracting the Kindle's PID, and indeed that it is even possible to do so. Without being aware of said method, they would be restricted as Robert has said. I doubt that Amazon is advertising the method of extracting the Kindle's PID.



DG, I also thought there was some sarcasm but that it was directed at the prvious post, not at the Kindle.

Thats what I was saying.

And I say again. I todays world, you cannot trust a company, any company, to tell you the complete truth about a product.

As a consumer, it is your responsibility to do some basic research, ie, Google, forums, etc, to learn about the product you buy, or are considering buying.

I was a total novice at e-book readers when I ordered my Kindle, I barely knew what one was.

Do you know how long it took me to find MobileRead? 1 day.

I quickly learned the difference between the Amazon Kindle discussion pages and this site. I learned by haunting the threads, asking stupid questions, being embarrassed by my own stupidity, but coming back time and again until I figured out how to do what I wanted to learn.

The members here are responsible for me sticking around so long. Blame yourselves!!

I"m just sayin'.....

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by curtw

A desktop computer or any Mobi-compatible device, assuming one would use their Mobipocket PID in place of the Kindle ID.

That is true, but it pre-supposes a fair degree of technical know-how. The average person who did not own a Kindle could not simply buy a book from the Kindle store and then read it on, say, the Windows Desktop Mobi Reader (unless it was one of the very small number of DRM-free books in the store).

[daffy4u]

I'm tired of this. If those who do not agree with the current wording for the myth of being locked into purchasing from Amazon only, can come up with better wording that satisfies both sides, please post it here. If there is a consensus of agreement, I'll add the new wording.

[curtw]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

I'm tired of this. If those who do not agree with the current wording for the myth of being locked into purchasing from Amazon only, can come up with better wording that satisfies both sides, please post it here. If there is a consensus of agreement, I'll add the new wording.

I think Jon got it. Sorry for injecting ambiguity.

[curtw]

Originally Posted by HarryT

That is true, but it pre-supposes a fair degree of technical know-how. The average person who did not own a Kindle could not simply buy a book from the Kindle store and then read it on, say, the Windows Desktop Mobi Reader (unless it was one of the very small number of DRM-free books in the store).

That exactly is what I am saying is the PROBLEM with the Kindle store. If they would sell Kindle books to anyone and everyone who shows up with a Mobi PID, they would also sell more Kindles. But they don't seem to "get it."

[pshrynk]

Originally Posted by curtw

All the more reason I'm sure I made the right career choice in becoming an engineer. I have tech editors to fix my writing deficiencies.

That's a software problem!

[Lilly]

Originally Posted by curtw

That exactly is what I am saying is the PROBLEM with the Kindle store. If they would sell Kindle books to anyone and everyone who shows up with a Mobi PID, they would also sell more Kindles. But they don't seem to "get it."

Actually, that might not be true. I can tell you if I could have had access to the Amazon ebook store without the Kindle1, I would never have purchased it. I chose the PRs-505 over the Kindle1 because I thought it was butt ugly. But once I bought one, I changed my mind (with mine red Nexxus skin and red Oberon Sky Dragon cover), I thought my Kindle1 was beautiful. But I would not have had a chance to discover that without my need to get access to the Amazon store by buying a Kindle. Now it would have been a different story for the Kindle2 because I loved the look right away. Even when the 1st pictures were leak and people were saying no that could not be true, I thought it was beautiful!

[slayda]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Thats what I was saying.

And I say again. I todays world, you cannot trust a company, any company, to tell you the complete truth about a product.

As a consumer, it is your responsibility to do some basic research, ie, Google, forums, etc, to learn about the product you buy, or are considering buying.

I was a total novice at e-book readers when I ordered my Kindle, I barely knew what one was.

Do you know how long it took me to find MobileRead? 1 day.

I quickly learned the difference between the Amazon Kindle discussion pages and this site. I learned by haunting the threads, asking stupid questions, being embarrassed by my own stupidity, but coming back time and again until I figured out how to do what I wanted to learn.

The members here are responsible for me sticking around so long. Blame yourselves!!

I"m just sayin'.....

But DG, you're an exceptionally brilliant person. Not every Kindle user fits in that category.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by slayda

But DG, you're an exceptionally brilliant person. Not every Kindle user fits in that category.

You are very kind, and very wrong!

I am average. Just average. less than average when it comes to computer literacy. However, just put my head down and keep going when there is sometime I want to learn.

I guess what I'm trying to say....Are Kindle users so much less intelligent than other e-book users? I surely don't hear the same complaints about the Sony or ebookwise.

Or is Amazon pandering to the 'lazy' amongst us?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by curtw

That exactly is what I am saying is the PROBLEM with the Kindle store. If they would sell Kindle books to anyone and everyone who shows up with a Mobi PID, they would also sell more Kindles. But they don't seem to "get it."

If they were to do so, it would almost inevitably increase eBook prices at the Kindle Store. Amazon are subsidizing the $9.99 "best sellers"; I can't see them continuing to do that if they could be read on other manufacturer's devices, can you? At the moment, the books are a "loss leader" for the Kindle itself.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

I guess what I'm trying to say....Are Kindle users so much less intelligent than other e-book users? I surely don't hear the same complaints about the Sony or ebookwise.

Or is Amazon pandering to the 'lazy' amongst us?

Amazon clearly designed their system to be simple to use for non-technical people. This, combined with their greater visibility, seems likely to build a user base of non-geeks that other devices likely missed. However, non-technical does not necessarily mean less intelligent. I know some brilliant people who are still nervous about downloading and transferring files via USB and I know some brilliant engineers who haven't read a novel since university. We also know from this site that there are plenty of us geeky types that own Kindles.

Aside from these extremes, I would imagine there's a substantial middle ground of people who just want to enjoy their books and haven't had any problem doing that so far. If they come across a circumstance where they cannot do something they want to do and believe they should be able to do, some of them will dig for an answer (and likely join us here). It's hard for me to believe that the average owner of any device dedicated to reading books is fundamentally lazy or lacking in intelligence.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If they were to do so, it would almost inevitably increase eBook prices at the Kindle Store. Amazon are subsidizing the $9.99 "best sellers"; I can't see them continuing to do that if they could be read on other manufacturer's devices, can you? At the moment, the books are a "loss leader" for the Kindle itself.

I wonder if a dual-pricing model would work?

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by Alisa

It's hard for me to believe that the average owner of any device dedicated to reading books is fundamentally lazy or lacking in intelligence.

Then I would suggest you go to the Amazon Kindle discussion forums, and look at a lot of the posts that could be answered by a simple viewing of the Kindle informational video, or by download the manual.

How do I delete a book?

I pre-ordered a kindle2 and now I find I can't read in other languages. I don't understand why not??

How do I share books with friends?

Help, my Kindle froze!

I ordered a book by mistake....what do i do?

Lazy lazy lazy.

[bwaldron]

^^ Have to agree with grandma regarding the Kindle forum at Amazon

[daffy4u]

New addition below.

Myth:

If you buy a Kindle, you are locked into Amazon's Kindle store.

Truth:

There are many sources for books that can be read on the Kindle.

Some Free Sites (Public Domain / Creative Commons)

• MobileRead.com (look for .mobi books you can download to your computer or download the MobiGuide and get your books via Whispernet)
• Feedbooks.com (books can be downloaded to your computer or if you download their Kindle Guide you can get your books via Whispernet o they even have a video on how to use the guide)
• Manybooks.net (when you download to your computer, look for Kindle format or Mobipocket)

Some Pay Sites

• Fictionwise.com (look for .mobi books but NOT Secure Mobipocket books)
• BooksonBoard.com (register your Kindle's PID and you can download any .mobi from their Overdrive servers - to learn more about this see the Visual Kindle Guide" class="wikilink" title="MR Wiki entry">Visual Kindle Guide wiki)

And of course there is always the library. See the Visual Kindle Guide" class="wikilink" title="MR Wiki entry">Visual Kindle Guide wiki for more information.

While Kindle owners have the option of purchasing content outside of Amazon, the depth and pricing of the Amazon ebook catalog makes it the best option more often than not. It is more likely that you'll find the book you're looking for on Amazon than elsewhere, especially when it comes to current bestsellers. There are retailers that specialize in specific genres (like Baen.com for Sci-Fi and eHarlequin.com for romance) that may be better choices than Amazon in those areas.

For a more comprehensive source of ebook sources, please see our E-book_stores wiki.