Comments on: Kindle Roundup

By: What is the best ebook reader? | Best Ebook Reader

What is the best ebook reader? | Best Ebook Reader — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:27:07 +0000

[...] comment on kindle roundup by joe sharp – the page turning, search and purchase are superb. the present book choice is useful for popular books, but not cs technical ones. i have added a handy velcro back to better attach to the cover. i also wish the controls and connections … [...]

By: Joe Sharp

Joe Sharp — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 17:04:41 +0000

The page turning, search and purchase are superb. The present book choice is useful for popular books, but not CS technical ones. I have added a handy Velcro back to better attach to the cover. I also wish the controls and connections were attached to the top edge(like the EEE) (not to the bottom edge) so the Tingle could still be connected while standing in a book stand.

By: Michael R. Bernstein

Michael R. Bernstein — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:47:21 +0000

Note that the ‘free toolchain’ is only free-as-in-beer, and for that matter is windows-only (though apparently the command-line mobigen utility can at least be run under Wine).

Given that Amazon owns mobipocket, one of two things needs to happen: Either Amazon frees the format (by releasing the .azw/.mobi/.prc format specs or just opening the source on the existing SW tools), or they need to add support for an open ebook format already supported by Free-as-in-Speech software.

Meanwhile, Amazon also needs to reconsider the idea of taking over 7k free public domain works (from the Gutenberg Project via mobipocket) and selling them for 99 cents each for the privilege of having them wrapped with device-locking DRM.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:26:39 +0000

Like I’m going to spend thousands of dollars buying books in a proprietary Amazon format that I won’t be able to read in 10 years. :-(

I’m perfectly happy to buy and use an eBook reader, and I already buy quite a few books electronically (mostly tech books).

But my basic requirements are simple: HTML or PDF, and no lousy DRM.

That way, I can read the books anywhere, on any device, and will still able to do so in 10-30 years’ time.

By: Dustin Brewer

Dustin Brewer — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:02:14 +0000

I think that for the Kindle to be worth my time to buy it needs to be a full reader, supporting PDF, HTML, RSS and TXT. Not any Amazon proprietary format.

I want it to have wifi and be able to be used around the house or office to read my RSS feeds, browse the web (read articles- maybe write articles too) and read PDFs.

I like the screen technology though, I almost bought the Sony Reader when it came out but changed my mind based on the horrible reviews it got and its lack of features.

By: Jack Baty

Jack Baty — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 04:56:53 +0000

Fair enough point about multiple formats, Evan. I do think that getting many of them onto the Kindle will be possible, but not as convenient as it should be, by converting them to the .mobi or other compatible formats. And it *does* have a basic web browser. Guess many of us may still need 2 readers, and my take is that Kindle does well over half of what I need quite well as one of them. I say this even though mine hasn’t even shipped yet :)

By: Evan

Evan — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:30:40 +0000

Yeah, but there’s such a huge amount of material in electronic format that I want to read, or have to read, like web-pages and technical documents, that if my reader device can’t make it possible to load up and comfortably read it without sitting in front of a computer, then it’s not worth it for me.

In short, I already have heaps to read without 90,000 books being within one minute’s reach – so no hobbled, cup-half-full reader wanted here.

By: Jack Baty

Jack Baty — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 02:18:03 +0000

“…it’s not worth my time.”

90,000 or so books within one minute’s reach means I will run out of time long before I run out of uses for the Kindle. And leave your MP3s out of my books, kthx.

By: Evan

Evan — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:23:00 +0000

“Well, Amazon intentionally nerfed the MP3 playing ability”

Amazing! The deliberately hobbled the device and people still buy it. Until I can find a decent portable reader that will handle text, PDF and HTML at a minimum, it’s not worth my time.

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 22:17:45 +0000

Like the new vehicle I drive, I didn’t buy this model until it had been on the road a few years. Same goes for this. I’ll wait a few years and see how improved it gets. But for someone who has 100s of books in her home, the space saved in future purchases boggles the mind!

By: Brian Carnell

Brian Carnell — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:19:16 +0000

“This idea may have been mentioned somewhere, but I think it would be cool if future versions of this thing could take the ebook file and convert it to an audiobook.”

Well, Amazon intentionally nerfed the MP3 playing ability (you can play MP3s, but they are played *randomly*) specifically to prevent people from using the device as a generic audiobook player. If you want to listen to an audiobook on the device you *have* to buy it from Audible.

So I don’t think they’d go the route you suggest simply for economic reasons.

By: Brian Carnell

Brian Carnell — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:17:41 +0000

I’ve had my Kindle since the day after they went on sale. The basic summary is this — it is the best ebook reader released yet. On the other hand, that’s not necessarily saying a lot.

I love it. But then I know enough to buy book in .LIT format, remove the DRM, convert to non-DRM mobipocket and then transfer to the Kindle.

One thing that the Kindle really gets right is search. Very nice to plug a search term in and see which of the books out of the hundreds I’ve got on there contains the search term, then click a title from there and see all the hits in context. That is something you just can’t do on the Sony Reader which is the Kindle’s main competition at this point.

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:05:52 +0000

I agree tha the Kindle is not without its flaws. The question will be whether these flaws are fatal or not. I still see this being a useful device especially in the education realm. This is very much a first gen product, but Amazon has the resources to make improvements if they want. Some are flippin’ out complaining about this thing, but you can’t have a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th gen product without that 1st gen version. This idea may have been mentioned somewhere, but I think it would be cool if future versions of this thing could take the ebook file and convert it to an audiobook. Then you could read or listen to your book. Text-to-speech tech has a ways to go before this will really be feasible, but I’d love a portable device that does this. I think the Kindle is a good first effort that missed the mark a little. I hope Amazon keeps trying though.