Tuesday, July 26, 2011
eBook Readers
I just last week ordered my first Amazon Kindle ebook reader. I've had Sony Readers for a few years and bought my first of them about the time the first Kindle (the one I have coming is the Kindle 3, new this spring) came out. I decided on the Sony then mainly because my brother had one he had been using for a year or so and could give me guidance on using it. The Sony is a good system but I think the Kindle is becoming the 800 pound gorilla in the ebook arena so I finally decided to join their ranks. I ordered it a week ago tomorrow (Wed July 20) and hoped they would ship out of Seattle as I'd get it right away, but instead it was shipped Fri from Kentucky. It arrived in Kent, WA yesterday via FedEx but they transfer it to US Mail which was done this morning. It think (hope) it will arrive tomorrow.
I've already bought some books from Amazon for it's format that are on the Amazon.com site and I will be able to download them right away when it arrives. I decided to pay the piper and buy the third in the series of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" which I had been holding out for the paperback version due out this fall. It was $12.99 from Amazon in Kindle format vs something like $28 as a regular hardback book. I've read the first two in this series and really look forward to this final installment. I'd love to read more as it is a fascinating series but the author, a Swedish gentleman, died from a heart attack shortly after he sent the manuscripts for the first three stories to a publisher, I think in 2004, so there won't be any more in the series.
Many of the books that I had bought for the Sony were from a source called Fictionwise.com which is now owned by Barnes & Noble. I had bought those books in their Multi Format category, which means they can be downloaded in different formats to fit different ereaders. For the Sony, I used .epub but .mobi is also available and that is a format the Kindle can read, so I've downloaded those in .mobi format and they are sitting on my computer hard drive, ready to move to the Kindle after it arrives.
Amazon also has Kindle reading software that can be downloaded for computers, laptops, tablets and even smart phones, so these books can be taken with you almost wherever you go. Amazon says the Kindle will hold about 3500 books in its memory and you can move them on and off the device as you read them, so it really is virtually unlimited. You can also create collections so that you have, say, all your mysteries in one collection, making them easier to sort and find.
Needless to say, I am hyped up waiting for this new toy to arrive and looking forward to playing with it. I just hope the date Amazon told me for shipping the book cover I've ordered isn't right. They said between Aug 31 and Oct 31. That is a long time to wait, although I sure can use the device in the meantime but will just have to be extra careful with it. Pat liked the idea so well that she also ordered a Kindle the day after I did and hers seems to be arriving at the same time. Her book cover will be purple, mine blue, whenever they come.
I've already bought some books from Amazon for it's format that are on the Amazon.com site and I will be able to download them right away when it arrives. I decided to pay the piper and buy the third in the series of "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" which I had been holding out for the paperback version due out this fall. It was $12.99 from Amazon in Kindle format vs something like $28 as a regular hardback book. I've read the first two in this series and really look forward to this final installment. I'd love to read more as it is a fascinating series but the author, a Swedish gentleman, died from a heart attack shortly after he sent the manuscripts for the first three stories to a publisher, I think in 2004, so there won't be any more in the series.
Many of the books that I had bought for the Sony were from a source called Fictionwise.com which is now owned by Barnes & Noble. I had bought those books in their Multi Format category, which means they can be downloaded in different formats to fit different ereaders. For the Sony, I used .epub but .mobi is also available and that is a format the Kindle can read, so I've downloaded those in .mobi format and they are sitting on my computer hard drive, ready to move to the Kindle after it arrives.
Amazon also has Kindle reading software that can be downloaded for computers, laptops, tablets and even smart phones, so these books can be taken with you almost wherever you go. Amazon says the Kindle will hold about 3500 books in its memory and you can move them on and off the device as you read them, so it really is virtually unlimited. You can also create collections so that you have, say, all your mysteries in one collection, making them easier to sort and find.
Needless to say, I am hyped up waiting for this new toy to arrive and looking forward to playing with it. I just hope the date Amazon told me for shipping the book cover I've ordered isn't right. They said between Aug 31 and Oct 31. That is a long time to wait, although I sure can use the device in the meantime but will just have to be extra careful with it. Pat liked the idea so well that she also ordered a Kindle the day after I did and hers seems to be arriving at the same time. Her book cover will be purple, mine blue, whenever they come.
Labels: Books, Computers, eBooks, Internet, Software
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This was interesting. I am also going to get a Kindle and only have waited until I got a $25 coupon from Staples to apply to it after I had bought the Nook. My husband really likes reading with the Nook and since I have been doing a lot of work on the computer, I haven't minded his being the one to use it. We have bought some collections by authors from awhile back where we liked their work. The Nook does have the backlighting allowing him to read in bed when we have the lights off. It can also check email and go online when out although it's a tiny screen.
I have the kindle 2 and have had it for over two years. I LOVE it. I probably have 70 books in my home page and over 400 archived. I love all the free books i can get too. I'm jealous that you get to have to ccool new version 3. Enjoy1
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