Amazon’s Kindle ‘Most Unused’ Christmas Gift

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Kumabjorn

That is the beauty of Alzheimer's, I can read the same book over and over agin and feels just as fresh every single time.

In all seriousness, my memory has become dramatically worse in the last few years, and that's a massive benefit if, like me, you enjoy reading detective fiction.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Synamon

It's a bit intimidating starting from scratch with a device that has no books on it. I loaded a few classics and some of my favorites and set up a news fetch before I handed my husband his new Kindle. It's a shame Amazon doesn't send them out with a few freebies loaded on it, I think that would get people started off on the right foot.

I pre-loaded some of the books she likes to read. There was even the one she had in her hands (I located her place in the paper book and left the K4 open there

No Go

[azazel1024]

Originally Posted by janicew

Working in technology, I encounter a lot of people who want to try an iPad, Android tablet, e-reader, whatever. The biggest thing I tell each and every one of them is that if you aren't willing to spend a bit of time either on your own or with someone to work with the device and discover how it works best for you, then you won't use it effectively (or at all) and don't bother buying it. It takes time to learn something new - tech or otherwise. You could give me a crochet kit for Christmas and it'd go unused because I don't want to spend the time to learn. Same principle. I don't know why people understand they have to practice a non-tech skill to learn something new, but expect tech just to be magical and require no learning on their part.

If people got these things as gifts and the person had no interest, they aren't going to spend the time to get themselves up and running.

I bought my mom a Kindle4NT for Christmas even though she hadn't specifically asked. She had shown some interest in my Kindle, and I knew that I could help her get books loaded and learn how to find books she likes fairly easily. Why? Because she's comfortable with the computer, (pretty good for a 65 year old actually), and she is willing to spend time to learn. I knew that she'd enjoy the portability of the device for reading anywhere, and as she ages and needs larger print, the Kindle can accommodate. If she gets used to it now, she'll read on it when she needs large print later. (At least that's my thinking and she agrees.) So far she loves it.

I also work in IT, though not on the hardware end of things. I am my family's and a number of my friend's technical trouble shooter and help desk, which can be really annoying at times. My mother-in-law got a kindle touch a little before Christmas and I probably spent 2 hours with her walking her through things like loaning an ebook from our state library system (in advance of getting one and later after she did get one), how you return a book early, how to buy and load one up, a few of the functions on the kindle touch, etc.

She falls in to the middle ground. I, my father, brother-in-law and my father-in-law are the "we will teach ourselves and we want to learn type, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law are the "show us how to do it" and my wife and mother are "if it ain't super intuitive, someone else do it for me, don't bother with an explination of how to do it unless I have to do it 5 times a day on my own".

[astrodad]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

Unfortunately, a lot of people in America don't read. I think it's a big part of what is going wrong with this country.

This is probably referring to the e-ink Kindle. I imagine a Kindle Fire would be used right away for Facebook and Angry Birds or whatever.

Wasn't this survey done by a British company? MyVoucherCodes.co.uk? Did the survey say it was a survey of American readers?

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by GreenMonkey

Unfortunately, a lot of people in America don't read. I think it's a big part of what is going wrong with this country.

This is probably referring to the e-ink Kindle. I imagine a Kindle Fire would be used right away for Facebook and Angry Birds or whatever.

Not necessarily. A friend who already had a Kindle Keyboard e-ink and an iPhone got a Kindle Fire for Xmas. She told me she hasn't really figured out a great use for it yet. She reads every night. Listens to audio books while she works.

It may just take her time, or maybe it's just not her kind of device.

If someone had given me one, I'd probably have sold it and put the money towards something I really wanted. The tablet I want will have higher resolution. Buying the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 taught me that even a few more pixels per inch makes a difference as to how comfortably my eyes (which hate LCD) can use a tablet device.

[sbroome]

Reading is a habit, and among those who do read regularly in paper (which I assume is who would get this as a gift) many of them are still making the transition to e-readers.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by theducks

I pre-loaded some of the books she likes to read. There was even the one she had in her hands (I located her place in the paper book and left the K4 open there

No Go

I would say the best approach would be to buy and load some book that is "just out" AND that the person has been "dying to read" but doesn't actually have in their hot little hands yet. Makes for more incentive perhaps to try the e-reader.

Or not. Not everyone is going to like the e-ink experience. Some folks are going to prefer the contrast of a paper page for instance. My eyes actually didn't like the high contrast of paper pages, especially when sun hit them, so e-ink was like made for me, LOL!

[reader22]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Tried giving mine to the local library - they weren't interested.

Yes I had the same issue. The second hand shops - particularly the specialist book places were very grateful.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by astrodad

Wasn't this survey done by a British company? MyVoucherCodes.co.uk? Did the survey say it was a survey of American readers?

It's a bogus survey.

MyVoucherCodes puts out a dozen of these "surveys" a month to catch attention. Most of the time it's SurveyMonkey stuff. Again, see http://www.bitterwallet.com/everythi...-release/40878

[azazel1024]

Originally Posted by graycyn

Not necessarily. A friend who already had a Kindle Keyboard e-ink and an iPhone got a Kindle Fire for Xmas. She told me she hasn't really figured out a great use for it yet. She reads every night. Listens to audio books while she works.

It may just take her time, or maybe it's just not her kind of device.

If someone had given me one, I'd probably have sold it and put the money towards something I really wanted. The tablet I want will have higher resolution. Buying the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 taught me that even a few more pixels per inch makes a difference as to how comfortably my eyes (which hate LCD) can use a tablet device.

I am sort of in that boat. I got an iPad 2 last May and I've used it a lot since then. However, since I got my nook ST my iPad use has plummeted. Before I was using my ipad to do a lot of reading, now I use my nook ST. I still use my ipad a fair amount, but depending on the day I might only use it for 10 minutes in the evenings to do a few words with friends moves, check my email, check a couple of app review webpages to see what new might have come out in the last 24hrs and see if there are updates to any of my apps.

Occasionally I'll play a game on it for an hour or two or watch a movie or do some other websurfing. However, at work I am sitting in a cube with internet access 8 1/2hrs a day (minus meetings) so I pretty much do all of the surfing I care to during most work days and I prefer to spend my free time reading mostly.

Enter in two (almost 3) very young children and I don't have a lot of free time. I probably went from 15hrs a week on my ipad to 2-3hrs a week now and it'll probably drop again once I get a smart phone/iphone. Now if I did have a lot more free time I'd probably spend a lot more of it on my ipad playing games and watching movies, but I just don't have the time.

So I can see how some people might get a device and not figure out a real use for it, especially a tablet. If you already have an ereader and like to read, the tablet is unlikely to surplant that (and might not even really supplement it). If you don't watch a lot of movies on the go, a tab isn't going to add anything, unless you only have 1 TV and your sig other is monopolizing it (that happens to me sometimes, but we have 2 TVs, I just like keeping her company in the same room, so I'll watch a movie on my ipad with headphones on while she watches something on the TV). laptops let alone full PCs are much better content creation devices, so if you have one of those you aren't likely to use a tab much for that sort of thing. Web browing might be more convenient on a tab depending on what/how you are doing it. That leaves mostly casual gaming that benifits from touch input and wanting to recline on a couch for some of the above activities.

That and for "anywhere" computing.

[FatDog]

I bought a Sony 505 off of eBay and tried to get my wife to read a book on it - but she was not interested. "I dont think I like those things." She said in December. (I had 2 Kindles in Christmas Wrap in the closet).

But I gave her one anyway. It took her a while to work down her pile of paperbacks and magazines - then she wanted to read the next book after "Mistress of the Art of Death". I went to Amazon and got it. I told my wife it was on her Kindle. "Cool" was her response.

A month later she admitted to me that she really likes her Kindle and was just being grumpy back in December.

So readers often have a back-log of tree-books to get through BEFORE they start looking for their next 'fix'. Then the Kindle starts to shine.

It's kind of like a Tivo/DVR - you dont realize how cool it is until you start using it.

[CazMar]

One of the big problems is that using a Kindle (or any ebook reader) requires a basic (and I do mean VERY basic) understanding of computers. And many people just baulk at anything to do with computers past turning them on and getting into a browser and then Facebook (or whatever). Even this simple task is beyond most as I am always being asked "how to get Facebook on my computer". When I say "just open the browser (what!!!?) and Google 'Facebook' " they look at me like I have just asked them to check a formula for quantum mechanics. I am not young so it's not an age thing, but many people find any sort of technology overwhelming.
As a very mature age student at university I spend a lot of time explaining how to download and print PDF files (!) and do similar very basic computing tasks to people 1/3 of my age. It's worrying as more and more of our lives are spent interacting with technology, how do they cope?

[Indio777]

Some interesting experiences people have had trying to get friends/family into ebooks.....

None of my family/friends are particularly interested in ebooks, even the more tech savvy ones.

They either do not read that much or prefer to have a tangible object in hand when it comes to books. Hard copy books are seen as having greater value.

And for those who do read, many like books in categories that might be better-suited for reading in hard copy format. I am thinking of books in some non-fiction categories. I myself feel that way. For example, I would not usually consider getting an art or photography book in ebook format.

And as others have pointed out, it does take some tech knowledge (or a learning curve) to get free books. And even if many free "classics" can be downloaded via Amazon, B&N etc., lots of people are not that interested in them. They want the latest bestseller and may get turned off when they see some of the prices.

I do suspect that many people have bought ereaders as gifts simply because they read about how popular they are and thought they would be a nice present. But for some recipients, an ebook reader might be the electronic equivalent of getting a reindeer sweater.

Plus it may also be a simple question of "gadget overload."

[Kevin2960]

Well PROBLEM solved Anyone with a currently UNUSED KF just package it up and send it to my address ... I PROMISE most sincerely it will NOT go unused for much longer !!!

[Kevin2960]

Well PROBLEM solved Anyone with a currently UNUSED KF just package it up and send it to my address ... I PROMISE most sincerely it will NOT go unused for much longer !!!

Originally Posted by HarryT

In all seriousness, my memory has become dramatically worse in the last few years, and that's a massive benefit if, like me, you enjoy reading detective fiction.

Me too Harry ... And even if I haven't forgotten reading a book before there is always something NEW to find within!