A confession of defection

[F1Wild]

Hey, who's kidnapped my defection thread. I want this about me, me, me! Haha!

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Sporadic

(No offense but) nobody besides nerds give a damn about ePub.

It really is iPod vs OGG all over again.

I have to disagree. Look what's happening in Europe. ePub is taking over and Amazon needs to get on board if they plan on selling a reader outside the US. Also we have more and more public libraries adding ePub to their Overdrive collection. So if Amazon had ePub support (with DRM), then it would be more library friendly then it is now without the need to DRM strip or format shift.

[lilac_jive]

Originally Posted by F1Wild

Hey, who's kidnapped my defection thread. I want this about me, me, me! Haha!

It makes me sad you are cheating on your beautiful 505 *sniff*

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by F1Wild

Hey, who's kidnapped my defection thread. I want this about me, me, me! Haha!

Your defective? Are you still under warranty so we can send you back for a model that works?

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by sirbruce

You may be partly right here; Bezos is quick to point our Kindle's advantage by reducing "friction", thereby making it cheaper and easier to buy new books. It's the same philosophy behind Amazon itself, one-click buying, etc. Make it easier for people to buy, and more people will buy from you.

I guess I'm one of those oddities because I do not find shopping at Amazon for books (pbooks, that is) either easy or friendly. I found it much better/easier in Amazon's early years, but the changes are what ultimately made me stop buying pbooks at Amazon (which was before Amazon became such a dominant part of the industry so that now it is a matter of principle). I personally prefer the experience at Barnes & Noble (talking online). I find it easier to find books of interest.

Of course, one of the big "advantages" to Amazon are the reader comments, but as I never look at them anyway, to me they are meaningless.

I do not like the Sony store for ebooks, although I occasionally (very occasionally) buy a book there, but even worse is the Fictionwise store, where I have been buying a lot of multiformat ebooks. Never having shopped for a Kindle book, I hope the Kindle shopping experience is better than either, but if it is like shopping for a pbook at Amazon (and by shopping, I mean you are browsing, you don't already have a book in mind), I can't imagine calling it a great experience.

I know people rave about the one-click shopping, but I haven't yet gotten to the point where I can't do 2-click shopping.

However, what are these other eInk devices offering free wireless? All the ones I've seen announced are just cheaper or larger readers but without wireless. WiFi is not entirely the same; you need a hotspot. These small companies are going to have to team up with cell phone providers to provide a truly equivalent offering.

First, the Whispernet experience is good only if you live in an area serviced by Sprint and receive a decent signal. At least in my area, that is pretty flighty. Second, I see this as a comment on how lazy we have all become when it is too much effort to transfer a book from one's computer to one's reading device. No wonder obesity reigns. I don't begrudge anyone the wireless access but I have to admit that with 150 books on my reader, in 1.5 years I have yet to have run out of options for reading material that made me lust for wireless access.

As for the other eink devices offering wireless, I think you will see that withn the coming months.

[kevindorsey]

There are bound to be quite a few of these threads around, since Amazon always has a bunch of problems at launch.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Second, I see this as a comment on how lazy we have all become when it is too much effort to transfer a book from one's computer to one's reading device. No wonder obesity reigns. I don't begrudge anyone the wireless access but I have to admit that with 150 books on my reader, in 1.5 years I have yet to have run out of options for reading material that made me lust for wireless access.

I'm not a lazy (or obese) person and I'm a big fan of the wireless access. When I bought the Kindle I thought of it as a luxury I likely wouldn't use much. I figured it was more there for the tech-shy rather than the lazy, but I figured I'm more than capable of transfering stuff via USB so it was not a compelling addition. I was more interested in the content selection and reading-related features. I liked that wireless would improve the searching abilities but it wasn't a huge selling point to me.

Now I realize the benefit. It's just-in-time book buying. I don't buy books ahead of time then end up not wanting them. Yes, I have plenty of books I can read at any time on my Kindle thanks to PD and freebies, but books are not interchangeable. It's not like my goal is to engage in the process of reading and anything will do. For me, it's about having the book I want right now. Maybe I'm just persnickety, but that's a huge deal to me. The Kindle lets me have what I want without having to buy a bunch of extra books to make sure. Since Sprint coverage is good most places I go, that means my shopping experience is one-click ordering the free sample of any book I think I may possibly want and then actually buying the book when I've read the sample and decided this is the book I actually do want to be reading now. I click on the link at the end of the sample and I have the book in under a minute. I can't even break to make myself a cup of tea in a minute. I'm not buying books I think I may want to read when I'm done with the next few on my list, which I may change my mind and forget about. Plus the samples are fairly large and I can read them on my Kindle at my leisure. I would not likely read nearly so much on my computer while shopping for books. This would lead to more mistaken purchases as well as a less convenient shopping experience. I've read dozens of samples and not bought the book. Those are all books I likely would have bought if I hadn't been able to read so much of them first.

[F1Wild]

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

It makes me sad you are cheating on your beautiful 505 *sniff*

Who's cheating?? It was a legal divorce and now I await my new mail-order bride/husband (will have to check its nethers when it arrives).

[F1Wild]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Your defective? Are you still under warranty so we can send you back for a model that works?

You'll have to speak to my spouse, although it may be determined that indeed I am reflective after all.

[radamo]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I have to disagree. Look what's happening in Europe. ePub is taking over and Amazon needs to get on board if they plan on selling a reader outside the US. Also we have more and more public libraries adding ePub to their Overdrive collection. So if Amazon had ePub support (with DRM), then it would be more library friendly then it is now without the need to DRM strip or format shift.

You are spot on with that. My library just started carrying ePub and I am so happy. They previously only carried PDF and Mobi. The pdf's were ok but the epubs are sooo much better to read. I guess having a Sony I have not used the mobi's yet but the epubs seem very flexible.
RA

[Studio717]

I have a Sony 500 and a 505 (no contest, as we all know - 505 wins, hands down) and bought a K1 last summer. I was expecting to use it for the instant books, but then use my 505 for all the other reading I do. I'd set up a work flow in Word that allowed me to take a file and convert it to a Sony-sized PDF, so it was fairly easy to get content on it.

Wow, was I surprised! About a month ago I actually had to dig out the 505 because I was looking for a specific book I was pretty sure I'd put on it. I had not used it in so long, the battery was completely dead. Had to recharge it before I could locate the book.

I realize it is all personal choice, so I'm not bashing the 505 at all - it's a great ereader. It just surprised me that I had taken to the K1 so readily and so fast that I hadn't done anything to 'put away' the 505. Just left it where I'd last used it before getting the Kindle.

The biggest plus for the Kindle for me is that I usually use Macs and since most of the interaction on the K is OS-independent, it's quick to put content on it even if I don't use the email service (which I often do).

The Sony, on the other hand, required that I boot up my Vista laptop and do all the work I mentioned above. I did buy a few books from the Sony store, but not many and it certainly wasn't the experience that buying from Amazon is!

I didn't move up to a K2 because the K1 was (and is) fine for what I need. I have since added the DX for reading PDFs (full-sized ones) and I'm loving it. I'm a bit more diligent in keeping the 505 charged up - just in case - but at the moment, that's all I'm doing with it. (I very much miss that great overlay light that Sony has, though. The Kindles would be even more useful with that.)

In other words, both the 505 and the Kindle are great ereaders (imo) and it's more the experience of it rather than tech specs that determine which one is right for any given person.

[F1Wild]

Just received the K2, registered it and received my 1st book - the one I had been reading on the 505 (maybe I could have extracted it, converted it somehow, but wanted to gothrough the initial motions of a Kindle "buy"). All occured in less than 3 minutes.

I'm sure the rest will go on as it did with the 505 - the actual reading part! Very happy and thank you to my Kindle's 1st owner for making this happen.

[fugazied]

Why I oughta.....!!!
.. Welcome you to the Kindle community!

I think you'll enjoy it immensely!

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by F1Wild

Just received the K2, registered it and received my 1st book - the one I had been reading on the 505 (maybe I could have extracted it, converted it somehow, but wanted to gothrough the initial motions of a Kindle "buy"). All occured in less than 3 minutes.

I'm sure the rest will go on as it did with the 505 - the actual reading part! Very happy and thank you to my Kindle's 1st owner for making this happen.

Enjoy.

[F1Wild]

Thanks!!! I cannot wait to put that big, bulky paperback away and ease into my Kindle's arms tonight.