I've never owned a Kindle. What about you?

sun surfer · 11-04-2013, 12:48 PM

Neither e-ink nor tablet.

When I was first in the market for an e-ink reader years ago (and came here for help, by the way), I decided against a Kindle for two main reasons -

1 - Its DRM scheme. I've never been a tech genius and back then, first starting with e-reading, I had no idea how to strip, convert, etc. books and even if I could learn, I did not want to have to do that, but I also didn't want to be locked into Amazon's bookstore.

2 - I really just didn't like how the Kindles with keyboards looked.

Part of it also may have had to do with my rebel spirit - If the majority were jumping off the Kindle cliff and telling me that I should too, should I have no follow? No! Heh, but that rebellious instinct only kicked in because there were major things I already didn't like about Kindles (I'm perfectly fine with going with the flow if I'm happy with something).

Since then things have evolved of course, and I can use calibre somewhat well enough now, and Kindles no longer have keyboards, and tablets open up a world of bookstore/reading app possibilities, but I've never ended up with a Kindle. I have bought one for someone else, and I came very close to owning one for myself once, and it's not like I've been purposely trying to avoid Kindle (except for arguably that first time) but when I've bought something each time something else always seemed to satisfy my wants better.

So I began to wonder how many others have never owned a Kindle on this site, given how dominant Amazon have been in e-reading. I realise there's quite a few happier with other brands and products, but many of them have also owned Kindles before.

WillAdams · 11-04-2013, 12:59 PM

Back when the Kindle first came out, we got one, along w/ a Sony PRS-505 --- I had my pick of the twain and chose the Sony 'cause it was nicer looking and fit in my (over-sized) shirt pockets.

Eventually replaced it w/ a PRS-600 --- can't see myself getting a unit any larger than that, and have been contemplating an iPod Touch (I'd like to have a nice camera w/ me more often).

patrickt · 11-04-2013, 01:20 PM

When I decided to get an ereader I understood it was about books and not about another device. I checked at the time and the best support for books with me in Mexico was Amazon. Therefore, it was a no brainer and I got a Kindle Keyboard. I have bought others since. I have enough inexpensive books waiting to be read that my children will be able to use the account without buying anything if they enjoy mysteries.

jscarbo · 11-04-2013, 01:21 PM

I became an early adopter of e-books and e-readers when I moved from the US to Central America in 2000 and found it difficult and expensive to feed my reading habit and owned several early devices before Kindles came on the market in 2007. I've owned or used every model except the new 2013 Paperwhite.

Kindles aren't perfect and I've considered other e-ink devices from time to time but have never been convinced it was worth the effort to switch since I'm so heavily invested in the Amazon ecosystem. The biggest advantages to Kindles for me are the content selection and prices, and Amazon's well-deserved reputation for customer service and support.

I'm not a fan of the Kindle Fire tablets with their forked version on Android and restricted content availability. I bought an original Fire when they first came out but switched to a Nexus 7 when they came on the market a few months later. I still use it but bought a 9" Nook HD+ when B&N dropped the price a few months ago. I love the HD+ for videos, PDF's, magazines, etc., and the Kindle app works great on it for buying and reading Kindle books. Even though it also runs a forked version of Android, at least it has an SD card slot which makes it easy to root it or to run a dual boot system and switch back and forth to stock Android whenever I want. However, every book I've considered buying from the Nook Store has been cheaper from Amazon and B&N doesn't have a fraction of the number of daily and monthly promotions that Kindle has.

DreamWriter · 11-04-2013, 01:26 PM

I researched all the well-known ereaders before deciding on Kindle Keyboard. It seemed like the best fit for me, and I'm very happy with it. When the time comes to replace my K3, I'll probably get a Kindle Paperwhite because I love the idea of built-in lighting.

I've never had a Kindle Fire. They're nice, but I prefer more "open" Android devices.

Crusader · 11-04-2013, 01:32 PM

I've never owned a Kindle either. They still insist to add a $2 charge to their ebooks for delivery in my region, so I refuse to support them. Doing some price comparisons Kobo works out 20% cheaper on the ebooks I buy, so I'll stick to ereaders that support ePub.

DiapDealer · 11-04-2013, 01:40 PM

I've never not owned a Kindle in the last four years. But I've also always not NOT owned devices manufactured by companies not Amazon in that time either.

Billi · 11-04-2013, 01:58 PM

I've never owned a Kindle either. Partly because I've always felt there were more capable devices around (sd-card!) when I was in search of a new device, partly because I feel a slight discomfort against the company behind because I dislike monopolists.

DiapDealer · 11-04-2013, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billi

partly because I feel a slight discomfort against the company behind because I dislike monopolists.

You do recognize the irony of so easily making the choice to NOT buy from the "monopolist," right?

AlbertaCowboy · 11-04-2013, 02:03 PM

I've never had a Kindle, but only because in Canada in 2008, they weren't available. I bought my first e-reader, a Sony PRS-505 and was hooked.
I stayed with Sony when they came out with the x650 series because I liked the hardware and firmware.

FacebookVirus · 11-04-2013, 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You do recognize the irony of so easily making the choice to NOT buy from the "monopolist," right?

Every company is a wannabe monopolist. Some are just better at it than others.

That should enjoy it while it lasts, too.

Billi · 11-04-2013, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

You do recognize the irony of so easily making the choice to NOT buy from the "monopolist," right?

I recognise (and appreciate it) that I still have a little bit of a choice here in Europe.

Jessica Lares · 11-04-2013, 02:31 PM

I'm going onto my 3rd Kindle, so that will be four of them in this house. My dad uses my old Kindle Fire, my brother has the HD, and I have the Keyboard and finally moving to a Paperwhite 2.

I have seen the B&N Nooks, but they don't appeal to me, they're too clunky and I never liked the "nook" on the side of them. Plus, there seemed like there were at least 10 models by the time the K3 came out and it was overwhelming.

The Kobos are pretty nice until you see the back of them and the ugly buttons. They look like tech from 10+ years ago.

Plus, everyone seems to have issues with them in general.

And I don't like Sony in general.

EowynCarter · 11-04-2013, 02:40 PM

When i first looked into an e-reader, no kindle in France. The offer in french was close to non existent.

So I went for the cybook and mobipocket. Rather than the way too restricted back then sony (the sony website is geo-resticted this side of the atlantic.)

Sometimes later, the french publishers realize e-books exists. They go ePub, I follow wanting to read books in my own language every now and then.

Sometime later again, amazon finally show up with book in french. But I had no reason to go through the mess of converting my books again, so I just stayed where I am.

Lady Blue · 11-04-2013, 03:35 PM

My first eReader was a Sony 500. I could find many places besides the Sony Reader Store back then to get public domain books. That was perfect for me because I loved the old history and biography books from long ago that were hard (or impossible) to acquire otherwise.

My sister (who lived halfway across the country from me) was always an avid reader as well, but not very technologically inclined. I told her about the Sony Reader and the next thing I knew she had purchased the 505 that had just come out. After awhile the Kindle keyboard came out, and my sister's husband bought her one so she could bypass the computer side loading and download directly from Amazon. She loved it and is still using it, but is finding much she doesn't like about it anymore.

In the meantime, I moved on to the Sony 505, 550, T1, and T2. Sony had been able to read lrf, txt, pdf and epub and at last could download directly from the Reader Store and better yet directly from local libraries via OverDrive. It did pretty much everything I wanted, so I wasn't interested in changing over to Amazon's proprietary format with no easy library access.

When Kindle came out with the paperwhite I was slightly more interested, but not enough to take the plunge.

Meanwhile, my sister and husband moved to within 250 miles of where I live, I was visiting and she showed me all the Amazon books she'd purchased. We both have the same genre interests and she thought it a shame that she couldn't lend me the books she *owned.* Together we stumbled across a way around that inconvenience.

This past Summer I had accumulated $100 in Best Buy cash rewards certificates that would be expiring before long and had no idea how I wanted to use them until we thought of putting them toward the purchase of a Kindle PW (cost be $19 + tax), register it with my sister's Amazon account, and now I can read all the books she purchased, as well as some I've purchased on her account. I wouldn't have purchased a Kindle otherwise, but it's been a win/win for me since I did. I enjoy my Kindle & Sony readers immensely and will never run out of good books to read.

Needless to say, I lucked out in this particular situation. Under normal circumstances I would NOT have purchased a Kindle.

11-04-2013, 12:48 PM	#1
sun surfer languorous autodidact ✦ Posts: 4,235 Karma: 44667380 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: smiling with the rising sun Device: onyx boox poke 2 colour, kindle voyage	I've never owned a Kindle. What about you? Neither e-ink nor tablet. When I was first in the market for an e-ink reader years ago (and came here for help, by the way), I decided against a Kindle for two main reasons - 1 - Its DRM scheme. I've never been a tech genius and back then, first starting with e-reading, I had no idea how to strip, convert, etc. books and even if I could learn, I did not want to have to do that, but I also didn't want to be locked into Amazon's bookstore. 2 - I really just didn't like how the Kindles with keyboards looked. Part of it also may have had to do with my rebel spirit - If the majority were jumping off the Kindle cliff and telling me that I should too, should I have no follow? No! Heh, but that rebellious instinct only kicked in because there were major things I already didn't like about Kindles (I'm perfectly fine with going with the flow if I'm happy with something). Since then things have evolved of course, and I can use calibre somewhat well enough now, and Kindles no longer have keyboards, and tablets open up a world of bookstore/reading app possibilities, but I've never ended up with a Kindle. I have bought one for someone else, and I came very close to owning one for myself once, and it's not like I've been purposely trying to avoid Kindle (except for arguably that first time) but when I've bought something each time something else always seemed to satisfy my wants better. So I began to wonder how many others have never owned a Kindle on this site, given how dominant Amazon have been in e-reading. I realise there's quite a few happier with other brands and products, but many of them have also owned Kindles before.

11-04-2013, 01:21 PM	#4
jscarbo Addict Posts: 220 Karma: 1075434 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Costa Rica Device: Kindle Voyage, Kindle PW2, Nook HD+, Nexus 7	I became an early adopter of e-books and e-readers when I moved from the US to Central America in 2000 and found it difficult and expensive to feed my reading habit and owned several early devices before Kindles came on the market in 2007. I've owned or used every model except the new 2013 Paperwhite. Kindles aren't perfect and I've considered other e-ink devices from time to time but have never been convinced it was worth the effort to switch since I'm so heavily invested in the Amazon ecosystem. The biggest advantages to Kindles for me are the content selection and prices, and Amazon's well-deserved reputation for customer service and support. I'm not a fan of the Kindle Fire tablets with their forked version on Android and restricted content availability. I bought an original Fire when they first came out but switched to a Nexus 7 when they came on the market a few months later. I still use it but bought a 9" Nook HD+ when B&N dropped the price a few months ago. I love the HD+ for videos, PDF's, magazines, etc., and the Kindle app works great on it for buying and reading Kindle books. Even though it also runs a forked version of Android, at least it has an SD card slot which makes it easy to root it or to run a dual boot system and switch back and forth to stock Android whenever I want. However, every book I've considered buying from the Nook Store has been cheaper from Amazon and B&N doesn't have a fraction of the number of daily and monthly promotions that Kindle has. Last edited by jscarbo; 11-04-2013 at 01:26 PM.

11-04-2013, 02:31 PM	#13
Jessica Lares Wizard Posts: 2,240 Karma: 5759170 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Near Dallas, Texas, USA Device: iPad Mini, iPod Touch (5th gen)	I'm going onto my 3rd Kindle, so that will be four of them in this house. My dad uses my old Kindle Fire, my brother has the HD, and I have the Keyboard and finally moving to a Paperwhite 2. I have seen the B&N Nooks, but they don't appeal to me, they're too clunky and I never liked the "nook" on the side of them. Plus, there seemed like there were at least 10 models by the time the K3 came out and it was overwhelming. The Kobos are pretty nice until you see the back of them and the ugly buttons. They look like tech from 10+ years ago. Plus, everyone seems to have issues with them in general. And I don't like Sony in general. Last edited by Jessica Lares; 11-04-2013 at 02:50 PM. Reason: Typos

11-04-2013, 02:40 PM	#14
EowynCarter Wizard Posts: 4,337 Karma: 4000000 Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Paris Device: Cybooks; Sony PRS-T1	When i first looked into an e-reader, no kindle in France. The offer in french was close to non existent. So I went for the cybook and mobipocket. Rather than the way too restricted back then sony (the sony website is geo-resticted this side of the atlantic.) Sometimes later, the french publishers realize e-books exists. They go ePub, I follow wanting to read books in my own language every now and then. Sometime later again, amazon finally show up with book in french. But I had no reason to go through the mess of converting my books again, so I just stayed where I am. Last edited by EowynCarter; 11-06-2013 at 04:33 PM.

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11-04-2013, 12:59 PM	#2
WillAdams Wizard Posts: 1,258 Karma: 3439432 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (300ppi), Samsung Galaxy Book 12	Back when the Kindle first came out, we got one, along w/ a Sony PRS-505 --- I had my pick of the twain and chose the Sony 'cause it was nicer looking and fit in my (over-sized) shirt pockets. Eventually replaced it w/ a PRS-600 --- can't see myself getting a unit any larger than that, and have been contemplating an iPod Touch (I'd like to have a nice camera w/ me more often).

11-04-2013, 01:20 PM	#3
patrickt Wizard Posts: 1,221 Karma: 8381518 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Oaxaca, Mexico Device: Paperwhite 4 X 2	When I decided to get an ereader I understood it was about books and not about another device. I checked at the time and the best support for books with me in Mexico was Amazon. Therefore, it was a no brainer and I got a Kindle Keyboard. I have bought others since. I have enough inexpensive books waiting to be read that my children will be able to use the account without buying anything if they enjoy mysteries.

11-04-2013, 01:26 PM	#5
DreamWriter Books are brain food. Posts: 2,950 Karma: 4836916 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: U.S. Device: Paperwhite · Fire HD6/HD8/HD10 · Galaxy Tab A7	I researched all the well-known ereaders before deciding on Kindle Keyboard. It seemed like the best fit for me, and I'm very happy with it. When the time comes to replace my K3, I'll probably get a Kindle Paperwhite because I love the idea of built-in lighting. I've never had a Kindle Fire. They're nice, but I prefer more "open" Android devices.

11-04-2013, 01:32 PM	#6
Crusader Space Cadet Posts: 1,180 Karma: 4030536 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: South Africa Device: Sony PRS-T1, Cybook Opus, Kobo Glo	I've never owned a Kindle either. They still insist to add a $2 charge to their ebooks for delivery in my region, so I refuse to support them. Doing some price comparisons Kobo works out 20% cheaper on the ebooks I buy, so I'll stick to ereaders that support ePub.

11-04-2013, 01:40 PM	#7
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,569 Karma: 204127028 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	I've never not owned a Kindle in the last four years. But I've also always not NOT owned devices manufactured by companies not Amazon in that time either.

11-04-2013, 01:58 PM	#8
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	I've never owned a Kindle either. Partly because I've always felt there were more capable devices around (sd-card!) when I was in search of a new device, partly because I feel a slight discomfort against the company behind because I dislike monopolists.

11-04-2013, 02:03 PM	#10
AlbertaCowboy Guru Posts: 819 Karma: 171672846 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Alberta, Canada Device: PRS-350, PRS-650, iPhone 6, NVIDIA Shield K1	I've never had a Kindle, but only because in Canada in 2008, they weren't available. I bought my first e-reader, a Sony PRS-505 and was hooked. I stayed with Sony when they came out with the x650 series because I liked the hardware and firmware.

11-04-2013, 03:35 PM	#15
Lady Blue the snarky blue one Posts: 6,001 Karma: 3877825 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: deep in the heart Device: PRS500, 505 & 600, PRST1 & T2, Kindle PW, Moto Razr, Galaxy Tab 2-10"	My first eReader was a Sony 500. I could find many places besides the Sony Reader Store back then to get public domain books. That was perfect for me because I loved the old history and biography books from long ago that were hard (or impossible) to acquire otherwise. My sister (who lived halfway across the country from me) was always an avid reader as well, but not very technologically inclined. I told her about the Sony Reader and the next thing I knew she had purchased the 505 that had just come out. After awhile the Kindle keyboard came out, and my sister's husband bought her one so she could bypass the computer side loading and download directly from Amazon. She loved it and is still using it, but is finding much she doesn't like about it anymore. In the meantime, I moved on to the Sony 505, 550, T1, and T2. Sony had been able to read lrf, txt, pdf and epub and at last could download directly from the Reader Store and better yet directly from local libraries via OverDrive. It did pretty much everything I wanted, so I wasn't interested in changing over to Amazon's proprietary format with no easy library access. When Kindle came out with the paperwhite I was slightly more interested, but not enough to take the plunge. Meanwhile, my sister and husband moved to within 250 miles of where I live, I was visiting and she showed me all the Amazon books she'd purchased. We both have the same genre interests and she thought it a shame that she couldn't lend me the books she owned. Together we stumbled across a way around that inconvenience. This past Summer I had accumulated $100 in Best Buy cash rewards certificates that would be expiring before long and had no idea how I wanted to use them until we thought of putting them toward the purchase of a Kindle PW (cost be $19 + tax), register it with my sister's Amazon account, and now I can read all the books she purchased, as well as some I've purchased on her account. I wouldn't have purchased a Kindle otherwise, but it's been a win/win for me since I did. I enjoy my Kindle & Sony readers immensely and will never run out of good books to read. Needless to say, I lucked out in this particular situation. Under normal circumstances I would NOT have purchased a Kindle.

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