Any Kindle Users Here?
-
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
-
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
There are several users here on CP, who will no doubt correct me if I am wrong. My understanding is that provided your books were obtained legitimately, they will still be there (or at least the record of your purchase will) on the Amazon Servers so you should be able to recover. What the situation is for things like *.pdf files you copy from your PC, I don't know, except I would keep them on the PC as well so it shouldn't be a problem.
Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.” I wouldn't let CG touch my Abacus! When you're wrestling a gorilla, you don't stop when you're tired, you stop when the gorilla is.
-
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
Best thing since sliced bacon: have now gievn all our paper based books to the charity store. Who needs to keep all that crap when I can keep up to 3500 on the machine. BTW: I have no idea if I've read 3500 books yet but even at 2 a week thats about 100 a year that will be 35 years worth. By the end I won't rememeber what I read at the start, and so on, so I thing that is more ha sufficient. You can also store them on your account so the limit doesn't matter. I have a pc interface and just copy the books from my Kindle on to my PC though you can download them form your account. My wife and I share the account (you can share with, I think, 5 other Kindles) and most books are pretty cheap so I'm reading more than I used to as it's so easy. Bought mine at John Lewis so if it fails just take it back. Woudl not go book to paper books, that's for sure.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair. nils illegitimus carborundum me, me, me
-
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
I got a kindle about 5 months ago. As mentioned if you buy your books from Amazon they will be stored there for download if you lose your kindle. The Amazon download facility is very easy - you buy the book on Amazon, select connect to wifi on the kindle, select synchronize and any new books you have purchased are donwloaded for you. I have to say that it is one of the best gadgets I have ever bought. Since buying it I have read many more novels than I did previously. I don't think the 3G is worth the extra - the kindle is not really an internet machine - all you will really want to do is to download books and nowadays most cafes/hotels etc have hotspots. Just load up you kindle before you go on holiday or even at the hotel and the 3G is not needed. There is so much that is good about them - the search facilities, the abiliy to categorise books under multiple categories, the ability to change font size and also the print is as good as reading from paper. The battery lasts ages(4 weeks on standby I heard) as it is only used when you turn a page + it is very light in weight. I can't recommend it enough!
Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.(Winston Churchill)
-
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
I don't have a kindle but have been using the PC kindle application for some time now and I've recently got myself an Android mobile, installed the kindle app on it and it gives me the choice to download the books I've already bought into it (just the ones I want). It even synchronizes the furthest reading position between devices.
-
I got a kindle about 5 months ago. As mentioned if you buy your books from Amazon they will be stored there for download if you lose your kindle. The Amazon download facility is very easy - you buy the book on Amazon, select connect to wifi on the kindle, select synchronize and any new books you have purchased are donwloaded for you. I have to say that it is one of the best gadgets I have ever bought. Since buying it I have read many more novels than I did previously. I don't think the 3G is worth the extra - the kindle is not really an internet machine - all you will really want to do is to download books and nowadays most cafes/hotels etc have hotspots. Just load up you kindle before you go on holiday or even at the hotel and the 3G is not needed. There is so much that is good about them - the search facilities, the abiliy to categorise books under multiple categories, the ability to change font size and also the print is as good as reading from paper. The battery lasts ages(4 weeks on standby I heard) as it is only used when you turn a page + it is very light in weight. I can't recommend it enough!
Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.(Winston Churchill)
GuyThiebaut wrote:
I don't think the 3G is worth the extra - the kindle is not really an internet machine
I have a Kindle 3G but no smart phone, so for me it's usefull if I want to check my emails (with the crappy experimental webbrowser, which works quite well with the mobile version of gmail ( m.gmail.com iirc)). and +1 for the recommendation
Stephane "Facebook is like prison - sitting, wasting time, writing on walls and being poked by people you don'k even know."
-
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
Wouldn't be without it. Think about the weight of books you would bring for a 2 week holiday. The kindle weighs the same as a boiled egg and sits in a jacket pocket, so doesn't hurt the allowance.
------------------------------------ I will never again mention that I was the poster of the One Millionth Lounge Post, nor that it was complete drivel. Dalek Dave CCC Link[^] Trolls[^]
-
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
I don't own a Kindle, although I do have the app for both my Android phone and my iPod Touch 4. I downloaded a few free books from Amazon to get a feel for the experience, and for straight up text reading it's just fine even on a cell phone (I understand that there are sometimes formatting issues for books on Kindle, Nook, etc. when the layout is more demanding / relevant). The reason I haven't embraced the eBook world yet is this nagging sense of impermanence. I'm used to buying books, owning them, loaning them to friends. I have a bookshelf with titles I've had for over 30 years. And yes, I still occasionally go back to them (philosophy and such). Given the rate of change in technology along with the rise and fall of companies, can you really imagine being able to access that eBook you bought a couple of decades (or even 5 years) from now? Where I do think it would be useful is for technology books, which have a practical lifespan of about 15 minutes anyway. I've thrown out or donated a ton of books in that category as I really can't see myself being in a bind because I didn't hold on to that copy of Undocumented DOS. Anyway, if you don't mind the notion of your books going away (and there can be more than one way this happens - remember the Amazon 1984 thing?), they seem like great little gizmos. I'll probably get one myself eventually, but only for books that I deem disposable.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer
-
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
Books you've purchased through amazon can be "removed from device", and are listed under "Archived Items" from where they can be downloaded again. Just tried it, it works. [edit] Oh now c'mon and get your kindle already, there's no reason to resist anyway. Remember when someone enters Picard's office, and he puts aside his data pad thingie? That's how you will feel.
FILETIME to time_t
| FoldWithUs! | sighist | WhoIncludes - Analyzing C++ include file hierarchy -
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
roger the books you buy are logged against your amazon account so you can download them for any device you own that is compatible (ie, a kindle, an smartphone with the kindle app, etc) so backups are automatic i won't buy ebooks because of the DRM and high prices but if those issues don't bother you then they are great :)
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
-
I don't own a Kindle, although I do have the app for both my Android phone and my iPod Touch 4. I downloaded a few free books from Amazon to get a feel for the experience, and for straight up text reading it's just fine even on a cell phone (I understand that there are sometimes formatting issues for books on Kindle, Nook, etc. when the layout is more demanding / relevant). The reason I haven't embraced the eBook world yet is this nagging sense of impermanence. I'm used to buying books, owning them, loaning them to friends. I have a bookshelf with titles I've had for over 30 years. And yes, I still occasionally go back to them (philosophy and such). Given the rate of change in technology along with the rise and fall of companies, can you really imagine being able to access that eBook you bought a couple of decades (or even 5 years) from now? Where I do think it would be useful is for technology books, which have a practical lifespan of about 15 minutes anyway. I've thrown out or donated a ton of books in that category as I really can't see myself being in a bind because I didn't hold on to that copy of Undocumented DOS. Anyway, if you don't mind the notion of your books going away (and there can be more than one way this happens - remember the Amazon 1984 thing?), they seem like great little gizmos. I'll probably get one myself eventually, but only for books that I deem disposable.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer
Christopher Duncan wrote:
I didn't hold on to that copy of Undocumented DOS
Didn't I just see someone offering a small fortune for that book? [/joke] :)
-
I've been looking at a Kindle - the middle-sized one with free WiFi and 3G access - and I'm certainly tempted. But all models will hold only 3500 books. What happens when I run out of room? And what happens when it fails? Do I have to buy all my books over again? None of the feature lists mention being able to download its contents to a PC for backup, or possibly viewing on a larger monitor. Do they have any PC interface at all?
Will Rogers never met me.
I like the smell of paper books and since I look at a computer monitor all day, surely damaging my eyes and giving me cancer, I like to spend my free time with physical books. Call me old fashioned.
"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson