Day one with my new Kindle

[tlrowley]

But if you were willing to break DRM in the past, isn't that still an option (if you were switching devices?)

I've purchased over 50 Amazon Kindle books, and only 1 was AZW1 format. That might change, I guess, but I suspect that it's not unbreakable, just unbroken.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by tlrowley

But if you were willing to break DRM in the past, isn't that still an option (if you were switching devices?)

Probably possible. However, it's a hassel... yes small... but still there. I could also buy from Fictionwise for my Kindle so I could have a second mobi device also, but I loose the convenience of the Kindle store again. Also, I now have to maintain a library on my PC for the other devices. I would rather just get a second Kindle or have two mobipocket devices, two ereader devices, etc.

BOb

PS: My biggest issue is now I will probably get the 9.7 Astak reader if it has a decent PDF viewer. I won't be able to use any of my Kindle books on it. Then again, my purpose for wanting the bigger device is for the PDF books that most software manuals and programming books seem to use.

[dugbug]

Originally Posted by manchuia

Harry is in the UK. Whispernet is useless to him as it wont work over there. Most of your examples (except the store) wouldn't really work in his situation.

There is another thread on the selection. It seems while numbers are large for amazon, they may be misleading. Check the Sony forum for the topic I am talking about.

The only example unavailable to him is purchasing on the fly.

Every book I was interested in was cheaper than sony:

Silverberg book of skulls:
http://ebookstore.sony.com/product/4...000036892.html

vs

http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-of-Sk...2859438&sr=1-1


Here is a nice example. Freakonomics is $14.00 on the sony store:

http://ebookstore.sony.com/product/4...000048113.html

and $10.00 on kindle:

http://www.amazon.com/Freakonomics-R...2859597&sr=1-1

How about "Going Postal": $6.39 on Kindle

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_ki...s=going+postal

$7.19 on the Sony:
http://ebookstore.sony.com/product/4...000072232.html

It goes on and on. The out-of-copyright multiple publisher bit does inflate kindle #s, but not in any significant way for me. Lets keep with the in-copyright examples from above:

Robert Silverberg has 84 unique titles available on the Kindle. On the Sony Store he has 71 titles. Even with his short stories which can be bought individually, you have sony offering them at 0.99:

http://ebookstore.sony.com/product/4...000078250.html

and 0.69 on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Sixth-Pala...2860448&sr=1-1


Your mileage may vary.. Sony may offer an author's works cheaper that matter to you, but either the book was not even available on the Sony or it was more expensive.



For an example of a title that is not available on the Sony, take Heinlein's "Double Star":
http://www.amazon.com/Double-Star/dp...2861007&sr=1-1

I fully expect publishers to make their works available to multiple storefronts... after all, it takes little effort on their part to do so. So selection will eventually level out.


-d

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by dugbug

Every book I was interested in was cheaper than sony:

Yep... and Amazon doesn't have the bundle specials like Sony does. But then I compared the Womens Murder Club bundle at Sony to buying the six books sperately at Amazon and Amazon still came out cheaper, buy about $.50.

BOb

[catsittingstill]

On the (perhaps unwarranted) assumption Harry's question about "why a Kindle?" was generally directed, I'd like to answer too.

I wanted an e-reader because I wanted books that weighed nothing and took no space because I already own, at a conservative estimate, 2,000 lbs of books, and have trouble taking enough books with me when I travel.

I wanted an e-Ink device for the long battery life; I'd already tried out reading on the Palm TX, and had discovered a tendency for it to run out of juice just as I was getting to the good part. I stayed up till 3 in the morning finishing _Pride and Prejudice_ in my bathrobe, crouched shivering over the TX because it had just flat out refused to go any further without a recharge, and the cable wouldn't reach from the plug-in to my nice warm bed.

I wanted the Kindle because I didn't need a PC to access the store. I use a Mac and I'm tired of being treated like a second class citizen about it, and while I knew a Kindle wasn't perfect in that regard, I cared a lot more about the books than about Audible.com, and with the Kindle I didn't need a PC to get books. (Yes, there are Baen and Manybooks and Fictionwise books--and the Kindle and other e-Ink devices get them roughly equally well.)

I wanted the Kindle because I wanted to be able to search the content; since a Kindle is the only e-Ink device that allowed text entry (that I knew of), I could only get that with Kindle.

I wanted a Kindle because I wanted to be able to annotate things. I realize an iLiad can do that too, but it costs a lot more, and I didn't think it had text search capability.

At the time I owned no DRM-protected e-books (I now own some Kindle books) so I wasn't constrained by needing something that would play nicely with a particular DRM.

So that's why my result popped up "Kindle" when I finally bought. If one of the other ebook readers had allowed text entry, *and* didn't require a PC, I might have jumped a different way; I *like* the price and selection and convenience of the Amazon Kindle store, but while they somewhat affected my decision, those weren't deal-clinchers for me. [Later edit due to afterthought] And I don't particularly like Kindle DRM; if there was some way to get an e-reader that had Kindle's important (in my view) advantages without the Kindle DRM I would have given it serious consideration. [end later edit]

Of course, now that I have Web access (however constrained) pretty much everywhere I go, I'm going to have a hard time giving that up for my next e-book reader :-)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by dugbug

The only example unavailable to him is purchasing on the fly.

No, it isn't. You can't buy Kindle books at all if you live outside the USA, let alone the Kindle itself. The Kindle store won't sell you books unless you have a credit card with a US billing address.

I very likely will buy a Kindle if and when it's launched in the UK, because it will read all my MobiPocket books (the format I've standardised on). In the mean time, though, although the Kindle does indeed do many nice things (eg annotation, Wiki access, etc) the Gen3 has some nice features that the Kindle doesn't (primarily the ability to load your own fonts and hundreds of different dictionaries to choose from) so I'm very happy with the Gen3.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by catsittingstill

And I don't particularly like Kindle DRM; if there was some way to get an e-reader that had Kindle's important (in my view) advantages without the Kindle DRM I would have given it serious consideration.

If it's legal to do in your country, it's quite trivial to buy books in Microsoft Reader DRM format, use "ConvertLIT" to remove the DRM and convert to OEB, then MobiPocket Creator to convert the OEB to Mobi format for the Kindle. The entire process takes about 30 seconds to do. Virtually every "mainstream" book available for the Kindle can also be bought in Microsoft Reader format from bookstores like Fictionwise.

[Rocketime]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If it's legal to do in your country, it's quite trivial to buy books in Microsoft Reader DRM format, use "ConvertLIT" to remove the DRM and convert to OEB, then MobiPocket Creator to convert the OEB to Mobi format for the Kindle. The entire process takes about 30 seconds to do. Virtually every "mainstream" book available for the Kindle can also be bought in Microsoft Reader format from bookstores like Fictionwise.

30 seconds is the amount of time to dowload my new book to the Kindle after I push one button anywhere I travel in the U.S.. No computer needed.

I love the Kindle for the convenience, Whispernet, convenience, dictionary, convenience, search function, convenience, blogs, and the large buttons. Yes, I love the buttons. They are very convenient once you learn how to hold the Kindle. I am a previous 500 and 505 owner.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

(primarily the ability to load your own fonts and hundreds of different dictionaries to choose from) so I'm very happy with the Gen3.

Why do you think you can have different dictionaries? There are many available for the kindle...

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_ki...rds=dictionary

And I assume any mobi pockect dictionary would work as long as you can get it purchased with the Kindle PID.

BOb

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by HarryT

If it's legal to do in your country, it's quite trivial to buy books in Microsoft Reader DRM format, use "ConvertLIT" to remove the DRM and convert to OEB, then MobiPocket Creator to convert the OEB to Mobi format for the Kindle. The entire process takes about 30 seconds to do. Virtually every "mainstream" book available for the Kindle can also be bought in Microsoft Reader format from bookstores like Fictionwise.

I found it even easier to use mobiperls lit2mobi which also has the advantage of working on Linux/Mac platforms unlike Mobi's software which is all windows only at this point.

BOb

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Why do you think you can have different dictionaries? There are many available for the kindle...

The majority of English Dictionaries that appear in a search on the Kindle Store are currently "not available". The other issue is that only one dictionary at a time can act as the primary.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by HarryT

the Gen3 has some nice features that the Kindle doesn't (primarily the ability to load your own fonts and hundreds of different dictionaries to choose from) so I'm very happy with the Gen3.

Originally Posted by wallcraft

The majority of English Dictionaries that appear in a search on the Kindle Store are currently "not available". The other issue is that only one dictionary at a time can act as the primary.

are you saying that on the Gen3, if you have more than one dictionary installed, an automatic dictionary lookup with provide results from ALL available dictionaries ? i did not realize that was possible (if it is), that's a really brilliant feature.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

are you saying that on the Gen3, if you have more than one dictionary installed, an automatic dictionary lookup with provide results from ALL available dictionaries ?

Yes. In fact the Kindle is the odd one out in only supporting one at a time, see New dictionary and Gen3.

[zelda_pinwheel]

thanks for the reply ! i didn't realize that was possible. hmm... yet another reason to get a Gen3...

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

are you saying that on the Gen3, if you have more than one dictionary installed, an automatic dictionary lookup with provide results from ALL available dictionaries ? i did not realize that was possible (if it is), that's a really brilliant feature.

Yes, if you get more than one "hit" (either from the same, or different dictionaries) you get an intermediate "results" dialog which lets you choose each "match" in turn and see its definition.