MobileRead Forums - View Single Post

Elfwreck · 05-12-2010, 01:04 PM

My daughter was given a Kindle by her grandfather, who has no idea how ebooks or ebook readers work.

I don't like it. I'm one of those "rant about the evils of Amazon, DRM and the Kindle" people. (Thought I should put the disclaimer up front.) She doesn't like it, but at least some of that is just carryover bias; mom doesn't like it; mom knows All About Ebooks, ergo, there must be something wrong with it.

It'd seem rude at best to just sell it and get an ebook reader I understand. Maybe I'm overlooking the Kindle's good features? Besides, I would like to know how they work.

I'd *love* some advice on how to use this thing, so she could at least give it a fair test before deciding whether or not she likes it. Issues:

1) We don't do DRM. At all. Of any sort. Won't be buying from Amazon.

2) We won't be setting up an account at Amazon. (Am not giving access to my credit card to a 14-year-old and whichever of her friends she decides to share the thing with.) I gather this may hamper some of the Kindle's more nifty features.

3) The button arrangement makes no sense to me. Advices here would be VERY VERY WELCOME. The manual is, like most manuals, something that will obviously make a lot more sense after I understand how the device works.

4) Have not yet connected it to a computer. When I do, what can I expect? Will I see a nice little collection of folders into which I can start throwing .pdb files?

5) Any general-overview, getting-started advice would be welcome. All the Amazon instructions are focused on "here's how you start buying books, which we won't be doing. (At least, not from them.)

I'll try to be polite in my responses, and I promise to actually consider what people say about the benefits of the Kindle.

05-12-2010, 01:04 PM	#1
Elfwreck Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,187 Karma: 25133758 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: SF Bay Area, California, USA Device: Pocketbook Touch HD3 (Past: Kobo Mini, PEZ, PRS-505, Clié)	Received Kindle as gift; have questions My daughter was given a Kindle by her grandfather, who has no idea how ebooks or ebook readers work. I don't like it. I'm one of those "rant about the evils of Amazon, DRM and the Kindle" people. (Thought I should put the disclaimer up front.) She doesn't like it, but at least some of that is just carryover bias; mom doesn't like it; mom knows All About Ebooks, ergo, there must be something wrong with it. It'd seem rude at best to just sell it and get an ebook reader I understand. Maybe I'm overlooking the Kindle's good features? Besides, I would like to know how they work. I'd love some advice on how to use this thing, so she could at least give it a fair test before deciding whether or not she likes it. Issues: 1) We don't do DRM. At all. Of any sort. Won't be buying from Amazon. 2) We won't be setting up an account at Amazon. (Am not giving access to my credit card to a 14-year-old and whichever of her friends she decides to share the thing with.) I gather this may hamper some of the Kindle's more nifty features. 3) The button arrangement makes no sense to me. Advices here would be VERY VERY WELCOME. The manual is, like most manuals, something that will obviously make a lot more sense after I understand how the device works. 4) Have not yet connected it to a computer. When I do, what can I expect? Will I see a nice little collection of folders into which I can start throwing .pdb files? 5) Any general-overview, getting-started advice would be welcome. All the Amazon instructions are focused on "here's how you start buying books, which we won't be doing. (At least, not from them.) I'll try to be polite in my responses, and I promise to actually consider what people say about the benefits of the Kindle.