Anyone heard about the Kindle?

http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Readi.../dp/B0015TG12Q

I've been reading up on it and it seems like something I'd really like to have. The price seems reasonable considering the fact that you don't pay monthly for it.

The only thing I'm wondering is, does anyone know if you would be able to get free (illegal) books downloaded to this thing? The same way people do for their iPods?
I mean the device sounds great until I think about paying about 9.99 for each book (which is a great deal for some books, but I'd really only be able to afford a few... which wouldn't make the device worth it to me). I could see myself spending the money on textbooks for school if they were available, since it would be really convenient to carry around. Also I like the feature that people can email you documents or you can have all your pdf lecture notes on it.

Because when you buy an iPod that can hold 80,000+ songs, it sounds great until you think about legally buying that many songs, and it becomes way too expensive. The cheaper Kindle holds about 1500 books, that's great and all, but I can't afford those.

Anyone's thoughts on this? I know I'll totally get grilled for asking about stealing books.

Thanks

I've done a lot of research into it, I'm not 100% sure if I'll be buying it or not after the publishing spat. Although, I was planning on not buying most books anyway, its still an issue for me.

Anyway. Yes, you can get pirated books on it. You can upload them directly from your computer, or transfer via WhisperNet (which charges you though). You have to download them, but you're pretty unlikely to get a virus via book downloads (just make sure the size seems right).

You can also get copyright expired books for free on it legally. So if you tend to read classic lit, its a good solution.

So in your research did you come accross any major downfalls that make you unsure of buying it?

Yeah, that's why I held out this long instead of buying the day it was released. I actually think I'm going to order it soon though, right now I'm on the side of buying again. But these were my main qualms:

-The international version sucks compared to the US one. The delay in it coming to Canada was because Amazon was trying to get a Canadian wireless provider. Negotiations broke down, so now we are on the AT&T global network. Which isn't that great. We also don't get a browser, and pay $2 more per book. Those are all big downfalls.

-Its looking like soon Amazon won't get to set their prices, and the publishers will. Which is stupid. Right now they can charge Amazon whatever, and Amazon can charge whatever to us. They want to set their own prices and give Amazon a %. They feel that by Amazon keeping prices low its devaluing the books, or some junk like that.

-The price is pretty high, but worse after imports. The six inch is about $311 American, and the DX is $551. We pay about $50 in duties and shipping. That's going through FedEx though, I would never trust Canada post with a purchase like this.

However, looking at the changes since I last considered buying, I'll probably order my Kindle soon. I definitely want if for the summer. It now supports PDFs, which is a big deal for me. That means I can put class notes on it. I'm still unsure if I want the DX or not though.

Originally Posted by Melanieee

Anyone heard about the Kindle?

no I have not, I have been living under a rock for the past 3 years.

Originally Posted by FireDragoonX

no I have not, I have been living under a rock for the past 3 years.

is this sarcasm lol

i like the idea of it and i think i would use it, especially if i were able to get free books, i guess im strapped for cash like most students and its probably a luxury item i can wait for, maybe the price will go down?

I'd personally stay away from it, e-Readers are essentially betweener technology that's popping up to fill a need nothing else can really fill in the same way right now, but give it a few more years and you'll be able to buy a tablet PC with an OLED screen that has most of the benefits of kindle, considerably more features, and doesn't suffer from a lot of the issues the kindle has.

If you can't wait the kindle is still the best e-reader on the market and I would recommend it over any other one at the moment.

Probably never gonna buy it. I don't like reading things on a screen. Simple as that, lol.

I don't really see the price going down much further. We'll probably get a new version in a year or two, but that one is likely to be US only for the first 6 months at least. If the new one is a direct replacement for the Kindle 2/International/6"/ whatever they're currently calling it, they'll take the older model off the market first.

I kindof disagree about eReaders. Admittedly they're a niche market, but I wouldn't be buying a tablet instead. The ultra portability is what I find most attractive, and a tablet will probably be too big. The DX is borderline too big for it to be useful for me, and its under 10 inches, and less than a centimetre thick. There's no way we'll get a tablet will match the sizing any time soon. And battery charges that last for weeks is also a bit distant on the tablet front, and pretty important for reading.

Everyone knows the iPad is obviously the only solution to this problem.

...

All joking aside, if you plan on illegally downloading all your textbooks, you don't really need a Kindle. Yes, the Kindle seems to have the most third-party support, but most downloaded books are in PDF format and most other readers can display them. Sony's Reader seems relatively affordable at $199 for the 5" non-colour touchscreen, and $299 for the 6" colour touchscreen model.

Granted, e-readers aren't necessarily my area of expertise, but if all you're looking for is a portable PDF reader and price is a concern and you don't plan on purchasing many books legally, then try exploring your other options.

Sony's Reader does have its own proprietary book format, but again, I can't really tell you anything about it and its popularity. Don't expect many textbooks to pop up for it though. =\

There's also a 7" model is you can manage to shop in the US.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...e _comparison

^
Obviously biased, but it's still somewhat of a comparison.

Wikipedia > textbooks :p

eReaders all actually kindof suck with PDFs right now. You can view them with the Kindle and the Sony ones, but not very well. The Kindle doesn't let you resize the text, so its pretty small. Turning it to landscape mode helps. Sony lets you resize the text, but unless you have it on the smallest setting it loses all its formatting.

The Kindle DX is much better for PDFs, but is way more expensive. =/

if you want a book reader, you could try this mp3. 4.3" screen compared to a 5" of a kindle, but its colour screen, 8GB, touch screen, and only $80.

as far as books, i just torrent pdfs

Originally Posted by A.Marlowe

I don't really see the price going down much further. We'll probably get a new version in a year or two, but that one is likely to be US only for the first 6 months at least. If the new one is a direct replacement for the Kindle 2/International/6"/ whatever they're currently calling it, they'll take the older model off the market first.

I kindof disagree about eReaders. Admittedly they're a niche market, but I wouldn't be buying a tablet instead. The ultra portability is what I find most attractive, and a tablet will probably be too big. The DX is borderline too big for it to be useful for me, and its under 10 inches, and less than a centimetre thick. There's no way we'll get a tablet will match the sizing any time soon. And battery charges that last for weeks is also a bit distant on the tablet front, and pretty important for reading.

There may always be a place for dedicated readers, but with better power management and apple shaking up the tablet market with the iPad. We should see some more efficient tablets with better touch OSes in the near future, when you're in the realm of 10+ hour battery life the kindle's battery advantage becomes far less pronounced (though the kindle's battery will always be an advantage). We're going to see device convergence like we see in every other market (consoles becoming DVD players/media centers, Phones becoming cameras/camcorders/GPS devices/MP3 players, etc), it won't kill the eReader market, but it'll likely shrink it.

Yeah, I could see it holding a position similar to mp3 players I guess. Except obviously less popular, since few people care about reading enough to spend $200+ on it.

you guys do know that ereaders use E Ink technology, the screen looks like you're reading off of actual paper rather than looking at a typical LCD screen

I don't have one, but it might be useful if you do a lot of reading and don't like staring at a LCD/computer screen for long periods.