My Kindle birthday is approaching... some thoughts

[twowheels]

Sunday will be my 1st Kindle birthday, so I've been reflecting on my experiences.

I'm not new to e-reading, but this has been my first experience with eInk. If you look just under my avatar you'll see that in the past I've read on a variety of different devices. Prior to the Kindle my favorite was the grayscale Palm III, which I still sometimes miss. I'd given it up and gone through a few generations of backlit LCD screens, and now I never want to read on backlit LCD again (though that's what I'm doing at this very moment! )

Some thoughts:

• I'm getting used to going back to page based reading. I really liked the automatic scrolling on the Palm... I'd set the reading rate and just sit and read as the words went by. Page based reading felt like a step backwards at first, but it'll do. I'm curious if the Jetbook would be able to recreate the scrolling experience.
  
• I love the Kindle form factor. A bit smaller would be nice, but I don't want to give up the keyboard to get it. I've carried it almost everywhere with me for the last year. I'd go to a smaller screen, but ONLY if I got the scrolling based reading back.
  
• eInk is AWESOME! :-) Second best would be non backlit LCD screens.
  
• Amazon's integration/cloud/user experience is slick... I've been very happy with their customer service and otherwise...
  

So... how has it affected my reading?

Well... first, I read MUCH more. I didn't manage the 100 books that some here are working on for 2011, but I did manage over 30 and I've averaged more than 25 paperback equivalent pages per day (been grabbing the numbers from Amazon's trade paperback descriptions for my reading log), for about 9300 pages (I should stack up the equivalent number of pages in pbooks and take a picture). That might not seem like much to many of you, but for working more than 40 hrs per week and spending my weekends busy as can be, that's quite an accomplishment to me! My TBR list started shrinking, but now is growing faster than I can keep up!

As for content... I used to read almost exclusively non-fiction content related to my profession [and life-long love]. I still read a lot of that, though more and more from the experts' blogs as books are out of date before they're even printed. :-) I've found that I read a lot more fiction than I ever did before. I've read a lot more science fiction, which I've always loved, I've read a few popular books, such as the Millennium series and the Hunger Games (at the prodding of my daughter), but also some of the classics that I somehow missed while I school...

Overall I'm loving the Kindle experience, and hope that year two brings even more pages per day. :-)

As a side note... since buying my Kindle I've bought more for family members and to give away and have personally purchased 8 Kindles and 1 non Kindle ebook reader...in one year!

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by twowheels

Sunday will be my 1st Kindle birthday, so I've been reflecting on my experiences.

I'm not new to e-reading, but this has been my first experience with eInk. If you look just under my avatar you'll see that in the past I've read on a variety of different devices. Prior to the Kindle my favorite was the grayscale Palm III, which I still sometimes miss. I'd given it up and gone through a few generations of backlit LCD screens, and now I never want to read on backlit LCD again (though that's what I'm doing at this very moment! )

Some thoughts:

• I'm getting used to going back to page based reading. I really liked the automatic scrolling on the Palm... I'd set the reading rate and just sit and read as the words went by. Page based reading felt like a step backwards at first, but it'll do. I'm curious if the Jetbook would be able to recreate the scrolling experience.
  
• I love the Kindle form factor. A bit smaller would be nice, but I don't want to give up the keyboard to get it. I've carried it almost everywhere with me for the last year. I'd go to a smaller screen, but ONLY if I got the scrolling based reading back.
  
• eInk is AWESOME! :-) Second best would be non backlit LCD screens.
  
• Amazon's integration/cloud/user experience is slick... I've been very happy with their customer service and otherwise...
  

So... how has it affected my reading?

Well... first, I read MUCH more. I didn't manage the 100 books that some here are working on for 2011, but I did manage over 30 and I've averaged more than 25 paperback equivalent pages per day (been grabbing the numbers from Amazon's trade paperback descriptions for my reading log), for about 9300 pages (I should stack up the equivalent number of pages in pbooks and take a picture). That might not seem like much to many of you, but for working more than 40 hrs per week and spending my weekends busy as can be, that's quite an accomplishment to me! My TBR list started shrinking, but now is growing faster than I can keep up!

As for content... I used to read almost exclusively non-fiction content related to my profession [and life-long love]. I still read a lot of that, though more and more from the experts' blogs as books are out of date before they're even printed. :-) I've found that I read a lot more fiction than I ever did before. I've read a lot more science fiction, which I've always loved, I've read a few popular books, such as the Millennium series and the Hunger Games (at the prodding of my daughter), but also some of the classics that I somehow missed while I school...

Overall I'm loving the Kindle experience, and hope that year two brings even more pages per day. :-)

As a side note... since buying my Kindle I've bought more for family members and to give away and have personally purchased 8 Kindles and 1 non Kindle ebook reader...in one year!

My Kindle 3 is coming up on it's Bday too within the next two weeks. I started out with a Netbook using Foxit Reader and MS Reader then switch to Mobipocket Reader. My first eReader was an Astak Pocket Pro which I will always be fond of. I read many books on it and it suited me well till Pearl came out. I upgraded to the Kindle 3 and immediately fell in love with the pearl screen and on screen dictionary not to mention the ability to send books to my Kindle via email.

The Kindle 4 is the perfect eReader for me. I only wish mine had better contrast and the page buttons were easier to push but I love that tiny reader. I have read more since I got it then with any of the previous two.

I didn't set a goal for 100 books this year just 50 but I'm like 3 away from my goal so I'm very happy about that.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I didn't set a goal for 100 books this year just 50 but I'm like 3 away from my goal so I'm very happy about that.

How many pages would that be? I remember a discussion where some people were saying they counted 100 pages as a book... if I'd read a bunch of those I'd be near the 100 mark. :-)

Here's an equivalent stack of pbooks books next to the Kindle:

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by twowheels

How many pages would that be? I remember a discussion where some people were saying they counted 100 pages as a book... if I'd read a bunch of those I'd be near the 100 mark. :-)

Here's an equivalent stack of pbooks books next to the Kindle:

According to Goodreads it's 12,411 pages so far this year. Not including the books I am currently reading. I'm not sure how accurate it is though some book details don't have page info however I don't see me doing the math right now.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by Blossom

According to Goodreads it's 12,411 pages so far this year. Not including the books I am currently reading. I'm not sure how accurate it is though some book details don't have page info however I don't see me doing the math right now.

Wow...good job. You're definitely ahead of me. If I count audiobooks from all of my weekend driving, maybe I'll catch up. :-)

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by twowheels

Wow...good job. You're definitely ahead of me. If I count audiobooks from all of my weekend driving, maybe I'll catch up. :-)

Thanks. I have no life so reading is pretty much it. I am not a TV watcher so if I am not on this PC I am reading a book unless I am cleaning or cooking. Well this week I haven't read much due to being ill but I usually read 3 to 5 hours during the afternoon then 1 to 2 hours before bed. It helps me sleep I tell hubby.

[RainingLemur]

Make sure you give your Kindle a nice cake (free ebook would suffice) and sing it a song. And keep on into the 2nd year!

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by RainingLemur

Make sure you give your Kindle a nice cake (free ebook would suffice) and sing it a song. And keep on into the 2nd year!

Hrm... cake and Kindle Keyboard don't seem like they'd go together very well...

[ATDrake]

Give it a picture of a cake as a custom screensaver, then?

[soulfuldog]

Give the Kindle a cake?! Are you mad.......




..... unless you give it a cake and then eat it on behalf of the Kindle?

[JonB]

Hmmm. Hate to come in on a downer, but I despise the Kindle Store. It's full of crappy books from unknown authors, or copyright free books that are being sold on the cheap. The ones I actually want to read don't cost that much less than print, if they are avialable as ebooks in the first place..

I have no problems with the device itself (apart from its sticky power button) and thank God it allows you to side load ebooks - other wise it'd be consigned to eBay. The eInk "Pearl" display is fab (I had a Sony PRS-505 before with the previous eInk generation screen - no contest!) and it's much more snappy than the Sony was. For the money, the hardware is good.

The Kindle's other saving grace is Calibre. I could go on for hours about this program, but I suspect most people have it and know what I mean. If you don't, Google is your friend!

[RainingLemur]

Originally Posted by l_macd

Give the Kindle a cake?! Are you mad.......




..... unless you give it a cake and then eat it on behalf of the Kindle?

Well, yeah. Sometimes you gotta take one for the team. The Kindle needs to maintain its trim figure. A cake would all but ruin that. It needs to remain on a diet of books since it takes 4GB worth for it to even gain a billionth of a billionth of a gram. Imagine what a slice of cake would do to it!

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by JonB

Hmmm. Hate to come in on a downer, but I despise the Kindle Store. It's full of crappy books from unknown authors, or copyright free books that are being sold on the cheap. The ones I actually want to read don't cost that much less than print, if they are avialable as ebooks in the first place..

I have no problems with the device itself (apart from its sticky power button) and thank God it allows you to side load ebooks - other wise it'd be consigned to eBay. The eInk "Pearl" display is fab (I had a Sony PRS-505 before with the previous eInk generation screen - no contest!) and it's much more snappy than the Sony was. For the money, the hardware is good.

The Kindle's other saving grace is Calibre. I could go on for hours about this program, but I suspect most people have it and know what I mean. If you don't, Google is your friend!

Not me I love the Kindle Store. I get free books from various publishers and now they have daily deals and discounted agency books. I've been buying more. I can return a book no questions asks in 7 days for a full refund if I decide I don't want it. You can't get that from any other ebook store.

[alansplace]

Hmmm. Hate to come in on a downer, but I despise the Kindle Store. It's full of crappy books from unknown authors, or copyright free books that are being sold on the cheap. The ones I actually want to read don't cost that much less than print, if they are avialable as ebooks in the first place..

I have no problems with the device itself (apart from its sticky power button) and thank God it allows you to side load ebooks - other wise it'd be consigned to eBay. The eInk "Pearl" display is fab (I had a Sony PRS-505 before with the previous eInk generation screen - no contest!) and it's much more snappy than the Sony was. For the money, the hardware is good.

The Kindle's other saving grace is Calibre. I could go on for hours about this program, but I suspect most people have it and know what I mean. If you don't, Google is your friend!

[Loosheesh]

Originally Posted by JonB

Hmmm. Hate to come in on a downer, but I despise the Kindle Store. It's full of crappy books from unknown authors, or copyright free books that are being sold on the cheap. The ones I actually want to read don't cost that much less than print, if they are avialable as ebooks in the first place..

For some weird reason, this ^ brought Tourette syndrome to mind