Amazon Kindle - Serious Piece Of "Kit!"

@Janey1966 (24170)
Carlisle, England
May 16, 2011 6:40pm CST
I found myself reading about the Kindle - where else but the Amazon website as I had seen adverts for them on telly and often wondered what all the fuss was about. At first I thought, "This will never catch on!" but I've been proved wrong on that score. For starters on Amazon UK there have been over 6,000 reviews on it and it's the biggest selling product on their site! My brother's birthday is coming up. All I can afford to buy him is one book voucher from Waterstone's. Because of my generous streak towards others I would dearly love to buy him an Amazon Kindle but, alas I cannot. Why would I love to buy him a Kindle? Because he reads A LOT! I dread to think how many books he's got. A Kindle would be ideal as he could give his books to charity and buy them again on the Kindle perhaps? Not sure how it all works but I know a computer isn't necessary..and the dearer Kindle stores over 3,000 titles. Wow, even Danny (brother) wouldn't get through that many, especially if one of them is "War and Peace!" Do you own a Kindle? Are you finding that you're reading much more than you did before? I do know that it uses real ink so it's like reading a paper book..it's not like looking at an LCD screen like I'm doing now. I've never seen the point of iPads BUT I can see the Kindle taking over from books, eventually. Unfortunately, what would happen to bookshops like Waterstone's? They can't even compete with the books they sell on Amazon so I do have mixed feelings about the Kindle in that respect. I don't know about you but I love bookshops. The smell is amazing!
10 responses
Savvynlady
@Savvynlady (3684)
• United States
3 Jun 11
I just bought a kindle in February, and it is quite interesting; they just pulled the price down on it but you get a bunch of adware on it too from what I hear although the gift card and music download is a plus. What I did, I bought the kindle along with coverage and a $50 gift card which was quite helpful and for the record I am a big readaholic. to be honest, even though I read a lot, I think my reading is the same although I find myself going back to a paper book, but to me the kindle is a great investment and I believe I'll get the Ipad soon. not necessarily for the reading part, but for having something around when I need to and for the music too. that will be my next purchase.
Savvynlady
@Savvynlady (3684)
• United States
6 Jun 11
You can BUT the Ipad has many more purposes than reading a book or reports. you can listen to music, go online, watch movies, download numerous apps etc with the Ipad as opposed to the Kindle. plus you can write on an ipad and take pictures. The Kindle is for READING only which is cool but no problem glad I was able to help you and if you can, if your on Facebook join the Ipad or Kindle club and folks can help you or get to an Apple or Best Buy store where someone can help you further.
Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
5 Jun 11
Can you use an iPad like the Kindle? I'd often thought about what iPads are all about and I'm struggling as I don't know lol.
Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
28 Aug 11
I'm not in Facebook but thanks for the info, it was very interesting.
GreenMoo
@GreenMoo (11834)
•
17 May 11
I never imagined they'd be able to take the place of a book, but i was bought one as a surprise present and I can now see why they are such a hit.
GreenMoo
@GreenMoo (11834)
•
17 May 11
Actually, no. I always seem to be too tired to read in the evening, Kindle or ordinary book. But it's fantastic for travelling as it'll fit easily in a handbag and saves having to carry a couple of paperbacks.
Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
17 May 11
Wow! I'd love one as a present too. I take it you are reading more now? That's what many are saying on Amazon.
derek_a
@derek_a (10874)
•
17 May 11
Hi Janey, Yes. Amazon Kindle's are great and I had one for my birthday last year. The pages are so easy to read even in full sunlight, which is good for when I relax and sit in the garden. I have downloaded a few books from Amazon, but what it great, it that I can cut and past stuff into a word text document and download some free software to be able to put it on to my kindle. I am reading much more than I did before, as I can shut my mind off and read no matter what's going on around me. So if the TV is boring, but my wife wants to watch, I can just get out my Kindle and read.. One of the best little gadgets I have ever got - that is portable that is, as it fits easily into my pocket and I can take it anywhere. _Derek
derek_a
@derek_a (10874)
•
18 May 11
--- Well I guess you could say that I love my gadgets.. Although the Kindle is just saving me lots of shelf space. I don't have the games consoles, just my PC and laptop for when I'm away. I suppose you could say that they are gadgets... _Derek
Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
17 May 11
Wow, I never had you down as a gadget freak Derek! I can tell you love your Kindle though. Does all the downloading happen right there on the device itself. How do you pay for the stuff? All these questions!
1 person likes this
p1kef1sh
@p1kef1sh (45681)
•
17 May 11
The arguments against the Kindle are encapsulated im your final sentence Janey. You get no smell with a Kindle. Books are more than just a read to me. They have a tactile and sensual value. I own an iPod Touch and have a few books on that but reading from it is not the same experience as holding paper. The Kindle has convenience and novelty in its favour. I have used one and whilst the screen is easy to read I don't hanker after one. I used to read a lot in the bath. Drop your book in there and you've lost about a tenner. Drop tge Kindle and you've lost more than 10 times that amoumt plus your entire book collection. Not for me thanks but each to their own.
p1kef1sh
@p1kef1sh (45681)
•
17 May 11
I think that it's OK to hold and you get used to it quickly. It's no heavier then a thick paperback. Coincidentally the Boss belonged to World Books and left. She was inundated with come back calls. A woman came to work for me and said that her "other" job was at World Books responsible for getting back former members. I persuaded her to take the Boss's name off of their database and the irritating phone calls stopped instantly!
Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
17 May 11
I used to be in World Books, the book club before the internet came along. I always looked forward to a new book (or books) arriving! Our old door used to have a huge letterbox in it (long story) so the postman had no problems at all delivering ANY book, no matter how big it was. The old-style, massive Yellow Pages..well, no problem at all. How Mum misses her old door! You're right though, the smell of books is quite intoxicating. With a Kindle no-one knows what you're reading either, which is a shame really. Is a Kindle awkward to hold? It looks quite cumbersome to me.
RawBill AKA MrAusAdventure
@RawBill1 (8531)
• Gold Coast, Australia
27 Aug 11
I only heard about Kindles for the first time about 5 months ago. I was initially horrified that people would be using these devices instead of reading real books. Then my friend who has 3 or 4 of them said that he takes his travelling as it is light weight, he can read it anywhere and has multiple books stored on it so that he does not have to take loads books which are heavy. While overseas for 3 months earlier this year, his 11 year old daughter started reading loads of books while away on the kindle that he had bought for her. She was never a huge reader beforehand, they had always had to push her to read for her school work, but now she is reading like mad on this thing! So, I guess it does have it's benefits, but I do prefer real books myself.
Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
28 Aug 11
Yes, I've been hearing stories like this myself. Good for travellers and good for kids who wouldn't normally pick up a book and read it. Expensive though, aren't they, these Kindles! Has your friend told you how much it is per book? I take it you have to download them onto the Kindle. I really wish I knew how the thing worked because they fascinate me, that's for sure!
changjiangzhibin89
@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
17 May 11
To be honest,It is pretty good,the Kindle,which can store more than 3000 titles.However I am afraid I couldn't take the plunge.To start with,if it is as safety as the paper books ,for instance, hurting eyes and radiation .In the second place,I have liked to buy book since I was young , up to now ,my three large bookcases fill with books.I was engaged in Traditional Chinese medicine work before I was retired,even though I have been retired,I hate to part with those books,moreover most of them are famous work such as Compendium of Materia Medica.
Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
17 May 11
Whoa you've got your new avatar up and running. How cute! Wow, that's some book collection you have there. Good for you!
changjiangzhibin89
@changjiangzhibin89 (16533)
• China
18 May 11
She is my granddaughter who is five.Thanks a lot!
TheRealDawn
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
16 May 11
resisting... paper books... none of this new fangled stuff... one of these years maybe.
Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
17 May 11
The price is a bit of a let-down too...£111 for the cheapest!
Bonnie
@yoyo1198 (3641)
• United States
17 May 11
Janey...there are some of us book nuts that don't want to use a Kindle. We still love the smell and feel of new books, well, any book really. There is something about having and holding a book that can never be replaced by an e-Reader. Perhaps your brother is one of these too. Right now, I say I will never replace my books with any of the electronic gadgets whether I can afford one or not.
hardworkinggurl
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
17 May 11
Maybe someday someone will gift it to me, lol because I really like paper books. Something about the feel, smell of the book and a cup of coffee allows me to enjoy the book more. I must admit though I have been lazy lately and have not taken the time to read.
Janey1966
@Janey1966 (24170)
• Carlisle, England
17 May 11
For me, the internet has taken over from my book-reading. I cannot remember the last time I read a good book, it's been so long ago. Danny, on the other hand, works in the opposite way to me. He doesn't use computers so reads books constantly. Even when he drank a lot he still managed to read. Nowadays, the reading keeps him occupied if he isn't working (usually at night-time) and a Kindle would probably stop him from going to bed!
inertia4
@inertia4 (27961)
• United States
3 Jun 11
I know that the kindle tried to make fun of the iPad. But, I think reading a book or from a device is totally up to the person that reads alot. SOme people prefer the book itself because it is personal to them. Others, like me, prefer the use of a device because I love all this technology. I for one would but an iPad over a kindle because you can do so much more wit it. I know they are not cheap, thats why I am saving for it. But if your brother just likes to read and nothing else, then the kindle would be a good gift for him. I do not know much about it but I think you can just download a book onto it. You might need a wifi connection at least. I am also sure that you could download book from a computer and connect the kindle. But, in any case, I think it would be a good gift for a reader.