More on the Kindle

[jennythereader]

The Kindle is better than paper books because:
- easier to carry
- completely searchable
- get more titles instantly
- add your own footnotes and highlights, which are as searchable as the text itself
- 2G of memory, which translates to approx 1500 books

Paper books are better than the Kindle (or other ebooks) because:
- you can't get an ebook autographed
- you can't loan a friend an ebook
- you can't sell an ebook to a used bookstore when you're done with it

(cross-posted to my review blog.)

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

You also can't (at least shouldn't) read a Kindle in the bathtub :)

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I don't even take new paper books into the tub. Only cheap paperbacks I bought at garage sales and the like. I've ruined one too many library books.

[stefka.livejournal.com]

I think that's actually a tradition, though, at least with copies of Good Omens.

[seawasp]

You left out "A paper book won't break if you step on it, it falls off that high shelf, etc, and it doesn't cost $400 to replace if you forget it on the bus."

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

This - I really, really like the *idea* of the Kindle but I have a hard time justifying the price, especially when I doubt it has a lifetime warranty. If it breaks down in three years (through no fault of my own), am I stuck with a very expensive piece of electronic junk?

But I enjoy reading the reviews!

[curlyeric.livejournal.com]

Amazon has been extraordinarily generous in replacements from the few threads I've read. Replacing units with cracked screens that the owner admits to putting in a backpack are replaced.

That said it's a captive market and they should be doing much more to bring the price down on either the unit or the books themselves to make it more attractive to the general public.

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

That's good to know - I suspect my only concern would be, however, the point at which they might stop being so generous.

If the unit comes down in price, I'd consider purchasing one, but at the moment it just doesn't make financial sense for me (especially as I'm doing so much library reading instead of book purchasing at the moment).

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're prone to doing that sort of thing you probably shouldn't be buying any expensive gadgets anyway.

Personally, I keep it in a safe place when it's not actively in use, and don't forget books on buses even if they're only $0.50 garage sale paperbacks.

[argonel.livejournal.com]

I love reading e-books, but I won't buy a kindle for several reasons. Instead I read on my computer and on my Nokia internet tablet. I won't touch DRM encumbered ebooks so if I lose, break, or simply replace my reader I can just transfer my library to my new device.

I don't even want to think about the money I have spent buying e-books from Baen over the years.

[seawasp]

But we authors love thinking of the money you've spent, and we all thank you. :)

[argonel.livejournal.com]

I'm patiently waiting for Threshold so I can see how much more you cna torment Joe Buckley without killing him. I'll also take a look at Grand Central Arena when it hit's webscriptions, but I'm not promising to buy it at this point.

[seawasp]

You will see Grand Central Arena before you see Threshold, unless Toni in doing a final read-through of GCA runs into a deal-breaker problem that makes me have to rewrite from scratch.

[slrose.livejournal.com]

Grand Central Arena is the best thing he's done.

So far.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

Amazon keeps a list of the ebooks you buy through them and will let you re-download them for free. I'm not sure if there's a limit on the number of times you can do that.

There are also non-DRM ebooks out there that are already in the proper format for the Kindle, so all you have to do is transfer the file over. I'm not sure if Amazon adds DRM to stuff that it converts for you.

[magik0556.livejournal.com]

DRM sucks