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Old 08-14-2010, 01:22 AM   #1
Andrew Kaufman
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What's your favorite thing about the Kindle?

The Kindle has survived the iPad as well as challenges from the publishing industry which forced them to raise the prices of e-books over the originally planned $9.99. It seems this device is bomb proof. I'm guessing there are a myriad of reasons why. But what about you? What's the reason you chose the Kindle, and what's keeping you loyal?



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www.andrewekaufman.com

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Old 08-14-2010, 02:13 AM   #2
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Amazon.com is more dedicated to providing the finest book reading experience for the masses than anyone else. Jeff Bozos reaffirmed that fact for me as I watched him interviewed last week on PBS TV. For that reason, I pre-order a Kindle3 sight-unseen, and will continue to make purchases via my Kindle account.

Some may dislike the "big bro" aspect of Amazon's presence in the eReader world. But in reality, Amazon is here to stay. Detractors of Amazon's influence and intent to provide the best source for eReading are ignorant of reality.

Just Clint's opinion, of course.
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Old 08-14-2010, 02:17 AM   #3
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The adjustable font sizes and clear readability save my ability to read for pleasure. Without the Kindle I'd hardly be reading at all.
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Old 08-14-2010, 07:30 AM   #4
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The design, the very long battery life, black and white non-touch screen with the superb, paper-like reading pleasure
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Old 08-14-2010, 08:42 AM   #5
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The battery life, and how little and light it is. The kindle is also so convenient in the sense that you can browse and buy "affordable" books directly on the program and not need to go to a computer. It also provides me with long hours of entertainment without making my eyes tired.

Last of all... being a student that earns mere peanuts salary. The kindle is an affordable gadget.
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Old 08-14-2010, 09:11 AM   #6
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The only reason I bought a Kindle was cuz I accidently ran arcross the Mobi collection of Edgar Rice Burroughs. As an ERB fan for decades the thought of carrying a large part of his works around with me was irresistable.

What keeps me loyal is the reading experience and the dictionary. If my eyes are tired, or if I'm reading in dimmer light, I can increase the font and read comfortably. Can't do that with DTB. I was suprised how much I use the dictionary. I used to guess at the meaning of words based on context. Now I easily look up the meaning of the word and I get a clearer picture of what the author is telling me. My first look up was fillip. I thought it was a tug on the ear. I was excited when I learned that it was something I grew up getting from my sisters (flicking someone with their finger).
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Old 08-14-2010, 09:13 AM   #7
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I think of this as two questions:

1) Why an e-book reader at all? (Because the advantages of e-books apply to the Kindle)

2) Why a Kindle rather than one of the other fine options?

So, why an e-book reader at all?

My husband and I have over two thousand (paper) books between us. E-books weigh nothing and take no space.

Bookcases are bulky and expensive. Hundreds of e-books will fit on a 20$ SD chip the size of a postage stamp.

When I travel (admittedly only a few times a year) my books are heavy and packing them into the suitcase so that they don't chew on each other is difficult. And when I go to the store, I can take a dozen books to choose from while I wait for them to fill my prescription.

Of all the e-book readers out there, why a Kindle in particular?

I want e-Ink. Some people have no problem reading from LCDs for long periods of time, but I'm not one of them. I want the clearest screen I can get, which at the moment eliminates touch screens.

I want dictionary lookup, and to be able to search, highlight, and annotate. There are other readers that can do this now, but at the time I started, Kindle was it.

Kindle has free web access, anywhere there is cell phone coverage. I grant you the browser is slow and clunky, but this has been enormously convenient in the past.

Kindle hooks up to Amazon, which has a great selection of recent releases in e-book, and very convenient purchasing. I am less enamored of their DRM, of the topaz format in general (fortunately a small subset of their books), and of their tendency to offer public domain e-books for money instead of for free, but I am a reasonably savvy e-book buyer, and can take care of myself.

I bought a Kindle when Kindles were $400. At this point, the price looks great!
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Old 08-14-2010, 09:29 AM   #8
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Free lifetime (we hope) 3G web access. Quite acceptable when you stick to mobile sites only, use Basic mode, and disable images.

Oh yeah, it has a nice extra included in the price: an ebook reader! with the best (Pearl) screen!!
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Old 08-14-2010, 12:29 PM   #9
Balerion
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hmmm... top 5 reasons

1) eInk
=2) free 3G
=2) price
=2) format compatibilities
=2) 16 shades of grey


couldn't decide on an order so the other reasons all some equal 2nd :-)

Last edited by Balerion; 08-14-2010 at 12:32 PM.
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Old 08-14-2010, 12:58 PM   #10
Alisa
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Catsittingstill beat me to it. Those are precisely the reasons I want an ebook reader and why I specifically chose the first Kindle two years ago.

I'm now upgrading for the first time to the Kindle 3. There have been plenty of other players joining the game in the last two years. I'm tech savvy enough to liberate my books from DRM and bulk convert them to a new format, so I do not have to stay in the Amazon ecosystem to keep the books I've already purchased. I have no motivation to jump ship because I still think Amazon offers the best overall book buying and reading experience. They have a wide selection, competitive prices, and customer-centered service. Plus the combination of the free samples and wireless is brilliant.

I prefer shopping from my computer but I don't buy the books at that time. I send a sample to my Kindle. When I'm ready to start a new book, I go through my samples and pick something. If I still like it after reading through the sample, I click on the link at the end which automatically buys the book. I'm reading on through the book in less than a minute and I don't have to be near a computer to do this. I used to buy a lot of books I didn't finish. That doesn't happen with the Kindle. I don't have to plan ahead as to what I read next. I don't need to have the next book already purchased in case I finish the one I have before I get home.

The closest competitor in features is the nook, but it just fell a bit short for me despite the fact that I favor ePub as a format. It has the sort of reading features I like such as dictionary look-up, search, etc., which many readers still manage to lack. It has samples and wireless delivery. However, the device itself is heavy and slow. I understand it has improved greatly since launch, but I still hear plenty of complaints about speed and a clunky UI. Barnes & Noble also doesn't quite have the selection and they can't touch Amazon's level of customer service.
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Old 08-14-2010, 03:40 PM   #11
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Selection of books
I don't care about DRM since I purchase the books. If I can't find it through Amazon, it will be a different story, but I expect to cope with that, if nothing else, through the good efforts of the kind members of Mobileread.

Dictionary
Not being a native English speaker, but thoroughly enjoying literature in the English language, I find that the built-in dictionary is a superb aid in enhancing my understanding of a novel. (Wish there was one that accepted both US and British spelling)

Connectivity
The ability to purchase and download a book withing a minute is nothing short of - wait, here it comes - awesome (God, I hate that word, but here it is appropriate). The convenience is just fantastic. When I'm on my death bed I expect to have 200 downloaded, but yet to be read, books in my Kindle.
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Old 08-14-2010, 04:55 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Kaufman View Post
The Kindle has survived the iPad as well as challenges from the publishing industry which forced them to raise the prices of e-books over the originally planned $9.99. It seems this device is bomb proof. I'm guessing there are a myriad of reasons why. But what about you? What's the reason you chose the Kindle, and what's keeping you loyal?



Andrew E. Kaufman, author of suspense thrillers
www.andrewekaufman.com
It is a KINDLE! (The features that keep me happy are each too valuable to choose just one.)

Derek
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Old 08-14-2010, 05:12 PM   #13
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The kindle works great, gives me access to more amazing books I could ever dream of, and I love reading it and carrying it with me. I could seriously go on and on.
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Old 08-14-2010, 05:56 PM   #14
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The ability to easily carry around and customize the display of a great many texts is the core thing, but that would apply to any decently-designed dedicated e-reading device anyway.

So, as for Kindle-specific things that I really like:

The ability to highlight text and make notes, and have them exported so I can use them elsewhere.

Search and dictionary lookup are also contenders, but it would be nice if they allowed you to save particular searches so you could easily re-visit the results later without having to run the search again and again. Also, Boolean search or regexp.
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Old 08-14-2010, 06:03 PM   #15
TallMomof2
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1 - Customer Service, Amazon has IMO the best customer service around.
2 - The eInk, especially the Pearl, screen.
3 - The ability to change font size.
4 - Whispernet, it's so darn easy!
5 - Customer Service
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