MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Multiple E-book owners

SensualPoet · 08-04-2010, 12:04 AM

I've been aware of Project Gutenberg since at least the mid-1990s, having been on BBSes and, more importantly, running my own web company as early as 1994 (!). The 100th book was the Complete Works of William Shakespeare in 1994; the 1000th book was Dante's Divine Comedy, in Italian; I'm not sure when I came along but it was between those two points I am certain.

But text only stuff on a computer: not to much fun. I spent a good piece of my career working in a typography studio -- I love books, type, typefaces and paper. "A rose by any other name ..." is not the same read as white courier text on a green screen.

When Sony released its first e-reader in Canada, I was all over it at a book fair. But it was very expensive; not yet shipping locally

; no guarantee of books or local books ... a device before its time. I was already experiencing Amazon for boks, CDs and especially DVDs so when the launched the Kindle 2i in Canada on Nov 20, 2009 ... I was there. Remarkably, the unit arrived 22 hrs after I placed my order (yet another "wow" moment in Amazon customer service).

I really love the Kindle 2i and it has re-lit my passion for reading fiction which had lain dormant for a very long time. With so much PD Kindle material online, it was three or four months before I actually bought anything from Amazon. I have experimented with removing DRM, but ultimately I don't care one way or the other as the files work perfectly well as is ... and the latest social networking opportunities (sharing quotes, favourite passages, reviews) leave me content to leave well enough alone. I've pre-ordered the Kindle 3 and may sell the Kindle 2i.

When a Canadian vendor, Kobo, arrived May 1 I took the plunge and, despite some rocky initial firmware, it's a pretty nice device, too. And it gives me the ability to read library books and have access to certain titles not sold in Canada by Amazon (the Stieg Larsson are great examples -- Kobo, not Kindle, in Canada). When recommending to friends, I make the case for Kindle ... but if library books is a deal breaker, I don't hesitate to recommend Kobo. (Sony continues to be unattractively priced locally relative to the competition.)

The syncing is cool: but I really have no interest reading snippets on my Blackberry when away from my Kindle; I prefer to read in longer stretches. I've tried the identical book on Kindle and Kobo and, invariably, the Kindle formatting is more pleasing. I prefer justified text, a paragraph indent and no paragraph line spacing; most Kobo titles break all three rules, most Kindle books uphold them. And, I prefer the native Kindle 2i font.

So -- I can imagine staying a two e-reader household indefinitely to keep access to ePubs and library books (and to support the local Kobo team). But buying the Kindle 3? A no brainer. I expect the same will be true with Kindle 4.

08-04-2010, 12:04 AM	#53
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	I've been aware of Project Gutenberg since at least the mid-1990s, having been on BBSes and, more importantly, running my own web company as early as 1994 (!). The 100th book was the Complete Works of William Shakespeare in 1994; the 1000th book was Dante's Divine Comedy, in Italian; I'm not sure when I came along but it was between those two points I am certain. But text only stuff on a computer: not to much fun. I spent a good piece of my career working in a typography studio -- I love books, type, typefaces and paper. "A rose by any other name ..." is not the same read as white courier text on a green screen. When Sony released its first e-reader in Canada, I was all over it at a book fair. But it was very expensive; not yet shipping locally ; no guarantee of books or local books ... a device before its time. I was already experiencing Amazon for boks, CDs and especially DVDs so when the launched the Kindle 2i in Canada on Nov 20, 2009 ... I was there. Remarkably, the unit arrived 22 hrs after I placed my order (yet another "wow" moment in Amazon customer service). I really love the Kindle 2i and it has re-lit my passion for reading fiction which had lain dormant for a very long time. With so much PD Kindle material online, it was three or four months before I actually bought anything from Amazon. I have experimented with removing DRM, but ultimately I don't care one way or the other as the files work perfectly well as is ... and the latest social networking opportunities (sharing quotes, favourite passages, reviews) leave me content to leave well enough alone. I've pre-ordered the Kindle 3 and may sell the Kindle 2i. When a Canadian vendor, Kobo, arrived May 1 I took the plunge and, despite some rocky initial firmware, it's a pretty nice device, too. And it gives me the ability to read library books and have access to certain titles not sold in Canada by Amazon (the Stieg Larsson are great examples -- Kobo, not Kindle, in Canada). When recommending to friends, I make the case for Kindle ... but if library books is a deal breaker, I don't hesitate to recommend Kobo. (Sony continues to be unattractively priced locally relative to the competition.) The syncing is cool: but I really have no interest reading snippets on my Blackberry when away from my Kindle; I prefer to read in longer stretches. I've tried the identical book on Kindle and Kobo and, invariably, the Kindle formatting is more pleasing. I prefer justified text, a paragraph indent and no paragraph line spacing; most Kobo titles break all three rules, most Kindle books uphold them. And, I prefer the native Kindle 2i font. So -- I can imagine staying a two e-reader household indefinitely to keep access to ePubs and library books (and to support the local Kobo team). But buying the Kindle 3? A no brainer. I expect the same will be true with Kindle 4.