I wanted a Kindle - such a neat and clever device, but I'm not reading a great deal right now, since I'm finishing my fourth novel, and have no time. I don't do holidays, and thank goodness, I'm no longer hanging around for hours in the fracture clinic at the Royal London Hospital (what a godsend it would have been last year) so it was hard to justify the expense.But Wednesday an unexpected parcel arrived; an early birthday present from my insanely generous sister, and there it was; my own Kindle 3G!
It's a nifty bit of design. I like the graphite colour, so classy, and its lightness in the hand; the instructions are right there on the machine, clearly written, and I can imagine I will quickly get used to reading on screen so the Kindle disappears. It's a one-trick pony, and the better for it; a dedicated e-reader.
I can now see for myself why people are so enthusiastic about their Kindles, and get so fond of them. I believe they will, sooner than we think, take over from paperbacks.
It is an excellent device. As a writer I also use it to edit my work and see how it will look on the device. I also let it read to me when I don't feel like reading.
ReplyDeleteI do have to disagree with it being a one trick pony. The longer you play with it the more you'll discover (for instance you can search the web on it). That comes in handy sometimes.
That's true, Bakari. My daughter has a friend who copies his Physics notes on to his Kindle.
ReplyDeleteI must explore its full capabilities forthwith :o)
I LOVE MY KINDLE!! Yes, I use some of the other features, but I would be happy with just the books. My friend has the IPAD, and although I get a little jealous when I play with her IPAD it isn't to read. I watch movies, play games, etc. The reading disappears when I have the other stuff to distract me.
ReplyDeleteJamais!!!! :-)
ReplyDeleteNow why can't I have an insanely generous sister too and not just an insane one?!!??!?! :-)
Enjoy your Kindle!!! Take care
x
Jane, every Kindle owner I know seems in love with his/her Kindle.
ReplyDeleteKitty, you made me laugh out loud. Lucky your sister almost certainly isn't reading this...
Welcome to the kindle club! I don't think you understand until you have one of your very own just how fab they are.
ReplyDeleteHi TC, you're right, it's one of those things like having an electric blanket or children that you just have to experience to know what it's like.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a club that will eventually encompass most of the population...
I have an iPad with the Kindle app, but I wouldn't recommend the iPad if you'll mainly be using it for reading. As much as I love my other apps, I get sore eyes reading from the iPad's backlit screen, and it's significantly heavier than the best eBook readers.
ReplyDeleteI would like BOTH! (I'm lazy AND greedy.)
Lazy and greedy? Nonsense, Stace.
ReplyDeleteStart dropping hints in the right quarters now re presents - or save small change in bottles; 760 x 20ps add up to one Kindle...
I personally love the highlight feature. I'm writing an article on the Pilgrims and purchased (free) several books for my Kindle. I highlighted as I went through and then went to "my notes" to see what I had marked. The article practically wrote itself.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Lexi. Read it in good health.
Margaret Lake
Congrats, Lexi: I recommend a Tuff Luz Kindle cover.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/4usa4az
The best feature is no hands reading. You can put it on the table and eat and drink or sprawl out on the sofa with the device on your belly and only have to touch it to turn the page.
The highlight feature - very handy, Margaret, and also fascinating for the author.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, my US page shows that 19 people have highlighted my website address, which is at the end of Remix. Before that, three readers highlighted Caz's bon mot about modern art.
Eric, I considered that cover, but thought it might be bulky for a handbag. I've gone for this: http://tinyurl.com/6y5v77f which looks neat and is cheap. I'll see how I get on with it when it arrives.
Stacey, as a fellow iPad reader, have you tried making the print white on a black background, you can do that in the kindle app. I find I can read for a long time with no eye strain in that mode. I turn the brightness down a bit as well.
ReplyDeletewhatever device, ebooks have to be a good thing, saving all those trees and making reading material so much easier to carry around.
I just wish the 'intelligent' text thing on my iPad would stop changing ebook to snook.
Rod, aren't the trees used for paper production grown in managed forests? Those forests won't be there if they are not needed as a crop, thus resulting in fewer trees.
ReplyDeleteThe energy used in over-producing books then pulping them is a waste of energy, but that's a side effect of the ridiculous system of returns used in the publishing industry. Apart from that, a paper book has a long life for the economic and environmental cost of producing it, I'd have thought.
Ahh yes I understand, my dear Uber editor got one last year and except for the unfortunate time I stuffed the screen(very very fast replacement) it as been next to her all day and night either for reading or playing books she downloaded off audible.com. We've just got my father one and we are in the process of loading him up. Overall it is a very versatile piece of technology, one as far as I am concerned it scores 10/10 for design, appearance and simple user functions. When we can afford it we'll get a second, then maybe even I can get to finish your book on it.
ReplyDeleteGregory, I take it you are talking about the iPad rather than the Kindle?
ReplyDeleteWith regard to paper publishing and trees, I don't want to oversimplify, but not all books come from managed forests, maybe they all will in the future, after all, it takes a long time to make a forest. The big unknown is the disposal of ereaders, will that be a problem, create pollution, bigger carbon footprint etc. I have only been able to find a few papers on the subject, but they appeared to come down in favor of ereaders.
ReplyDeleteI still love books but I love some more than others, the term pulp fiction Is no accident and you can only pulp it so many times before the stuff is useless.
I'm pleased to say I'm with Lightning Source:
ReplyDeleteEffective with books manufactured on or after January 18, 2011, Lightning Source certifies the following:
All wood product components used in black & white paperback books, utilizing either cream or white bookblock paper, that are manufactured in the Milton Keynes UK Production Center are Forest Stewardship Council™ or (FSC®) certified.
I expect ereaders, like mobiles, use all sorts of damaging minerals in their manufacture.
Sorry Lexi forgot to mention it was a kindle I was talking about. We've found the electric ink screen is much better in the bright light of the Antipodes. As for embedded energy in manufacture as one of your viewers pointed out , one has to take into account the enourmous cost of transporting timber and processing it into paper. Australian gums are internationally preferred due to their pulping characteristics. I'd prefer if they wheren't, since too much good quality timber is taken in the forest culls not to mention other environmental damage. The other problem is that we are nowhere near the prophecied paperless office. However since my Uber editor has over two hundred and fifty books on her kindle that's that much less paper and transport plus the ever important shelf space. So although I haven't done the embedded energy chart instinct tells me its weighing in favour of the kindle even with the use of potentially, polluting electronic components.
ReplyDeleteGratz on the Kindle, Lexi. I have to agree with you on the points you made. Before I got mine, I didn't really believe in the technology. I think you have to have one in your hands to understand.
ReplyDeleteNow, I'm hooked and so are my kids. It wouldn't surprise me if a decade from now, all classroom texts were downloaded rather than printed. I also expect to see a lot of kids using these as multipurpose devices. The internet accessibility is mediocre now, but give it a few years and kids won't even know what paper is. One e-reader can store their favorite books and magazines, their homework assignments and textbooks, and their library downloads.
Gregory, using audible.com downloads with a Kindle, do you still get the not brilliant Kindle voice? (Forgive my newbie ignorance.)
ReplyDeleteJamie, I'm sure you are right about the coming ubiquity of the Kindle or something similar. Just as long as civilisation doesn't collapse...
Ok as you've found out some kindle download books have an audible function only marginally better than Stephen Hawking. The audible.com however comes through crystal clear, similar quality to a talking book on CDs even better with set of mini plug in speakers like they use for laptops. The other useful feature is that you can also download them to your computer and play them throught there. Lately we drift off at night listening to either Terry Prachett's novels or Bill Bryson telling us how much we don't know about Shakespeare. Or maybe something by Stephen Fry. Talk about an eclectic selection.
ReplyDeleteHope that helps
Thanks, Gregory, I'll check them out.
ReplyDeleteLucky you, Lexi!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I've always wanted to know about Kindles is can you use them to search for specific words/phrases in a book the way you can with a Word doc?
Great interview too (lasting posting). Hope the sales continue to soar upwards!
Guy
Hi Guy!
ReplyDeleteYes, you can search for words - you can also highlight passages, and there is a built-in dictionary.
It's a nifty gadget.
I am oh-so-in-love with my Kindle...I think I have started reading more since getting it - and my reading has been far more varied.
ReplyDeleteOne of my 'reasons to be cheerful' is going to be my Kindle ;)
People on the Kindle forums I frequent say they are reading more, too - just what a writer wants to hear :o)
ReplyDeleteCongrats. It's about time, seeing as how Remix is snuggled in nicely on so many thousands of Kindles around the globe!
ReplyDelete'Snuggled in' - I like it, sounds cosy :o)
ReplyDeleteLexi, got my Kindle a month ago and am surprised that I like it so much being a book and paper person. But I did laugh in bed the first night when my hands reached for the top corner of the Kindle to turn the page.
ReplyDeleteBeing in Australia, it's summer and I have been going to the beach with the Kindle and am able to read it perfectly despite the glare and also don't have to take my reading glasses. I just up the font-size.
Even better is the article I read on Kindles for people with macular degeneration. My 85 year old mother is having injections in her eyes every week to slow macular degeneration and to watch her reading easily with my Kindle is a pleasure. Needless to say, we would like to purchase one for her. It's merely a matter of training her to use one successfully!
Hi mesmered!
ReplyDeleteKindles are a boon for an ageing population - just one reason why I think they are the future.
I'm sure your mother would learn how to work one in no time :o)
I read your book on a Kindle - great fun. But now that I've seen the color nook, I'm thinking I should have waited.
ReplyDeleteKJ, I've just rescued your comment - no doubt because of your enthusiastic endorsement of the Nook, they thought you were a spammer.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure ereaders can only get better. But they're still pretty good now - colour would be nice for book covers, but one can do without.