the kindle e book system

[dogsbody70]

have any of you used Kindle ebook at all?


if you are familiar with the Kindle system i would be interested to know your thoughts on it.


would you recommend it?


Thanks in advance.

[RobinMask]

I haven't used the Kindle system personally . . . I'm rather a purist and a technophobe, and perhaps my literature studies have biased me, but in any case I have no inclination to use it at all, lol.

I've used 'e-books' on the DS system, and I do a lot of reading online too, and personally I think it's just too much of a stress on the eyes, you can't sit for hours and hours like you can with a book, and you can't read whilst travelling like you can with a book because the shaking screen is disorientating. I also have a problem with the cost. E-books may be cheaper, but unless you're an avid and passionate reader it'll take you a very long time to buy enough books to make up for the cost of the console itself. Not to mention for students referencing, highlighting, searching etc. is a right old pain too . . .

It has its upsides. I mean it's easier to take a console on holiday than say three or four books, but ultimately I prefer solid books to e-books. You can lend them out, borrow them, not have to worry about a virus or broken console destroying it . . . you can even throw it at someone and not have to worry about it breaking

In all seriousness though I'd only recomend it to non-students and avid readers. Unless you spend the majority of your spare time reading you'll never recoup the cost of the console, and it won't save you any time/space because you don't read enough for it to be an issue anyways. So yeah, very negative thoughts! I'm sure some will disagree, I know people who swear by them and adore them, Kindle especially for its convienience and cheapness. Bear in mind though a lot of books don't come on Kindle (or any e-reader), such as some of Du Maurier's works and Rowling (I think), although anything out of copyright is free, so you can get all the Shakespeare and Dante you like.

[protheus]

Don't know about Kindle but I tested (preproduction model) for a few weeks a Evolio reader, it's the same thing, but another producer. The screen really is ink like, very "easy" on the eyes.
Battery was charged when I received it, and still had some energy left 3 weeks later, when I took it back.
For reading what can I say, you can't beat it, except with the real paper of course. But for that paper a few trees had to come down, so I prefer something like this, reusable and recyclable.

[xYinniex]

Robinmask makes some good points. it's too much of a strain on eyes and plus, it's not exactly ideal especially when you're trying to find a specific page number, my classmate had one and he would never be able to find the right page in time. See, with a book, it's easily to flip to the right page.

Personally, I don't think I could ever turn to a kindle, because I'm a book freak. I love collecting them, I love going into a bookstore and spend hours flicking and reading excerpts in books. I love the smell of new book pages. (Glue sniffing? Maybe I need to get it checked out...) Kindle kind of takes the romance away from books, y'know.

[dogsbody70]

i love reading books but since i broke my arm it is agony just trying to turn pages--which is why i thought maybe an e book could be useful.

thanks for yr comments. babs. ps how beautiful is spring.it makes me feel so much better--apart from flaming seagulls.

by the way i think it is scandalous that so many of our libraries are closing.

[MMM]

I thought the whole point of ebooks is that it is NOT a strain on the eyes, and is why they are black and white with a matte type screen. I have seen demos, and they look more like looking at a paper page than a computer screen.