Amazon Kindle to free up shelf space

To date the best list of shortcuts, etc. that I've found was on the link that I posted previously. One thing I wasn't aware of before I got my Kindle was that you can have several Kindles registered to the same Amazon account (it's either 5 or 6) if you and members of your family (or friends) want to share each others books. If you include people outside your immediate family you just have some bookkeeping to do as the purchases will all get charged to the one account on file. Each user will be able to download every Kindle book purchased to their individual Kindles by using the Manage My Kindle page on the Amazon website. So couples who like to read many of the same books can actually share their books and you each can read them at the same time! Absolutely love my Kindle!!!
 
BTW, Kindle is now on sale at Tesco.

So what? Tesco Clubcard points, and you might be able to slip it in unnoticed with the wife's groceries.

Belay that. I just nipped down to Tesco's well-known emporium at Purley to have a look at one but they said there has been 'a problem' and they aren't available yet
 
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demonboy said:
Sorry, Charles, but this is completely wrong as the average Kindle book is under 1mb. I think you've got your file types muddled up! :confused:

Also I would argue that audiobooks are not an 'alternative' to e-books. They address two very different markets, IMHO.
Click to expand...
I didn't make myself clear - the memory size of audiobooks is about x3 that of a Kindle, but the physical size is about 5% of the size. If it's volume you wish to save, you have to be very contrary to claim the Kindle as superior.

The average cost of an ex-Amazon "book" is about x3 the price of an audiobook - x.pdf books are about the same price as the audiobooks, but similar in memory size to an audiobook and require a laptop/netbook/tablet to read, with consequential power-demand cost. The worst of both worlds.

It appears the Kindle power requirements are marginally higher than an MP3 player and the audiobook doesn't require light to read, after dark, so the power reuirements are lower again.

The original OP's was a simple question about the Kindle in preference to a printed page - his criterion was volume.
IMHO the MP3 book is a superior volume-efficient device.

Now I love books and I have to agree with the sentiment that the Kindle does not replace the printed page - so if one is going to make changes for the sake of greater efficiency one should look at all the possibilities.

I'm carrying out a detailed experimental analysis and have to say that, increasingly, on grounds of cost, power-utilisation and volume-utilisation the Kindle is a very circumscribed, half-way house.

Whether or not the "markets" are different, I'd not bother to discuss - having been closely involved with marketing all my working life, I prefer to use "hard" criteria and not get sidetracked into all that touchy-feely stuff.
 
My background is also marketing - It would be interesting to see some data regarding the market(s) between the printed page, specific ebook readers like the Kindle, generic reader-capable devices like the iPad - and audio. Obviously, there are fundamental differences between a visual 'reader' and an audio 'listener' but I think there would be overlaps between the media and their markets.
Anecdotally, the market for printed books seems to remain strong in the face of this new stuff. I also suspect the Kindle may be the 'right product' [tangible, intangible features] at the 'right price' and at the 'right time'. Whether it or a version of it, is still around in five/ten years time, is another interesting question.
Personally, I feel very favourably disposed towards the Kindle even though I don't have one, have played only briefly with one and don't yet feel a pressing need to go out (online) and get one. Birthday coming up soon . . I wonder what percentage are bought as presents?
 
As a new Kindle owner I am delighted with the product and foresee it as a great addition to my on-board entertainment.

I have, for years, downloaded many MP3 BBC programmes from radioarchives for listening and have no intention of neglecting that source. I also had a number of audio books but, presumably because of the result file size, some were abridged.

So I consider the Kindle as complementary for when I wish to read and the advantage of having many thousands of books on hand is comforting. There are literally millions of books now out of copyright and free for the downloading, a great source is Project Gutenburg where one can obtain many classics. I have just loaded up with many Joseph Conrad and Joshua Slocum works.

I was sceptical about the Kindle screen but am now a convert. It simulates a white paper page with black text that after the instant formation, is 'painted' onto the screen and needs no further power. This is why the device has such a long battery life between charges and also can be read in bright sunlight so easily. It has exactly the same visual attributes as a printed paper page, which means that in poor light it needs a supplementary light source that the optional folder case delivers.

It is a quality product, well-made, comfortable to hold and to read, a touch on the side buttons will 'turn the page', or more precisely, 'paint' the new - or old, depending on which button is pressed - page onto the screen. If I have a criticism it is that the number of lines to a page is slightly limited by the screen size - a trade-off with the keyboard on the bottom. The overall unit size to hold is perfect - about the size of a paperback but not so thick. Of course, the text size can be adjusted so a smaller text would give more lines to a page but so far the default is optimal. And as the pages can be turned by merely depressing the thumb, whose natural position by holding the device is placed over the key, then there is really no advantage to change anything - rather to get used to it.

As e-books have outstripped conventional paper book sales in the US market and from my own positive experience I expect a revolution in book reading over the next few years - [reminder to self - buy Amazon shares].
 
charles_reed said:
The original OP's was a simple question about the Kindle in preference to a printed page - his criterion was volume.
Click to expand...

That's a rather partial interpretation of the OP's question. SHUG certainly wasn't asking how the Kindle rated for volume efficiency versus other forms of electronic media, he spoke about "freeing up shelf space". There can't be many boats on which the odd half litre of space makes much difference (and I live on a 32-footer, so that's from the heart).

I agree that the Kindle is some sort of halfway house. I've mused on this thread, for instance, about the possibility of some sort of hybrid backlit/e-ink display somewhere in the future. On the other hand, so what? What technology isn't "halfway house"? Didn't do the Model T any harm. If we all waited for the fully-developed thing, none of us would buy anything.

Like Charles I love books (I used to write them) which was the source of my greatest reservation about the Kindle. Then I tried one and regarded it highly enough to buy one -- whilst still expecting the reading experience to be a shadow of the real thing. To my surprise I find that's not so. It's utterly natural and comfortable. And (a small point, but welcome) unlike a paperback it doesn't try to close when you take your hands off it. You can read hands-free whilst, for instance, eating. Whether it packs as much memory per cc as an MP3 player matters to me not one bit.
 
I'm loving my new Kindle, and I was a BIG sceptic before. It will never replace books, but the convenience of holding hundreds of them in a tiny pocket sized unit is superb, and it's readability is excellent.

However, having just bought one of the "10,000" books cds from e-bay I was rather disappointed. 9500 of them are dross, how to avoid parking fines or about dogs and cats, or catching American fish. The rest are often badly scanned, dud words etc and some with much of the punctuation missing - esp quotation marks which makes speech difficult to read, and then lots in PDF which the Kindle is not good on.

Is there a converter to turn PDFs into something the Kindle can deal with?

Otherwise, brilliant!
 
macd said:
That's a rather partial interpretation of the OP's question. SHUG certainly wasn't asking how the Kindle rated for volume efficiency versus other forms of electronic media, he spoke about "freeing up shelf space". There can't be many boats on which the odd half litre of space makes much difference (and I live on a 32-footer, so that's from the heart).

I agree that the Kindle is some sort of halfway house. I've mused on this thread, for instance, about the possibility of some sort of hybrid backlit/e-ink display somewhere in the future. On the other hand, so what? What technology isn't "halfway house"? Didn't do the Model T any harm. If we all waited for the fully-developed thing, none of us would buy anything.

Like Charles I love books (I used to write them) which was the source of my greatest reservation about the Kindle. Then I tried one and regarded it highly enough to buy one -- whilst still expecting the reading experience to be a shadow of the real thing. To my surprise I find that's not so. It's utterly natural and comfortable. And (a small point, but welcome) unlike a paperback it doesn't try to close when you take your hands off it. You can read hands-free whilst, for instance, eating. Whether it packs as much memory per cc as an MP3 player matters to me not one bit.
Click to expand...
Just think of all the carbon we'll be saving, no need to cut down trees, pulp paper, print and distribute books - we're definitely standing at an exciting crossroads.

But rather than being herded into the one means of "reading" we have a range of alternatives.
Some of these alternatives are vastly superior to the printed page - Shakespeare, the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Bible are, IMHO, are ideally spoken to be heard.
Trollope & Bronte s are far superior in print - where Dan Brown stands I hesitate to say.
I personally think that we'll use all of these media.

My experience was with one of the first Kindles - I was not favourably impressed.

PS *.pdf still have a very real part to play when you look at manuals and handbooks - the *.mobi is good for narrative text, but pretty useless if you're trying to produce stuff on DTP, with line drawing, photos, footnotes et al.
 
Kindle bought from outside UK??

I've heard that if one is outside the UK then Kindles & Kindle Books must be bought from Amazon.com which is the US Amazon not the UK.

Can anyone confirm if this is correct and if so has it caused any difficulties?

John
 
Not sure what rules amazon enforce now but my first Kindle was from when they only sold them in the US - and therefore my Kindle account was US. LAst year they forced me to move it to a co.uk account. Buying books in USD was a lot cheaper, and sometimes books are available in the US store but not the UK store. Therefore if you have the option my choice would be to get a US account. you'll pay in USD though so obviously use a card that's good for that purpose.
 
Dont forget Kindle reader software

macd said:
I've mused on this thread, for instance, about the possibility of some sort of hybrid backlit/e-ink display somewhere in the future.
Click to expand...

If you want backlit etc. then you can get a Kindle client to the IPAD, and probably in the future (if not now as I've not checked) Android tablets. I have Kindle reader in IPAD, IPhone, and Windows Phone 7.... (yeah I know too many gadgets!)
 
@ JFowler - this does seem to be the case. A cursory search on google found a few forums that discuss this matter. I guess it's an international copyright thing. It shouldn't matter though - I can't imagine there are many books available on the US Amazon site that aren't available on the UK website (and vise versa).

@ macd - Thumbs up to Calibre.

@ Grehan - I bought our Kindle for Liz as a present. She can't put it down.

@ Charles - what on earth are you talking about? :confused:
 
JFowler said:
I've heard that if one is outside the UK then Kindles & Kindle Books must be bought from Amazon.com which is the US Amazon not the UK.

Can anyone confirm if this is correct and if so has it caused any difficulties?
Click to expand...

It's both correct and incorrect and doesn't cause difficulties.

I may have referred to this earlier in this long thread, but to clarify:
I bought my Kindle whilst in Spain, using a credit card with an Isle of Man address (UK so far as Amazon are concerned).
The Amazon UK site referred me to Amazon.com, from whom I bought the device.
The package arrived in two days, from Germany. On arrival the Kindle was pre-registered with Amazon.co.uk, presumable on basis of credit card.

Incidentally Amazon.com and its underlings are registered in Luxembourg. And requiring an EU resident to buy from the US when the item is freely sold in the EU would be very, very naughty.

The wallies at Amazon could do themselves a favour by spelling out the above.
 
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MBullock said:
If you want backlit etc. then you can get a Kindle client to the IPAD, and probably in the future (if not now as I've not checked) Android tablets. I have Kindle reader in IPAD, IPhone, and Windows Phone 7.... (yeah I know too many gadgets!)
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I don't want backlit. I like my e-ink but it would occasionally be better if it glowed a little.
And yes, you have too many gadgets. Enjoy them :)
 
Probs for EU residents

macd said:
It's both correct and incorrect and doesn't cause difficulties.

I may have referred to this earlier in this long thread, but to clarify:
I bought my Kindle whilst in Spain, using a credit card with an Isle of Man address (UK so far as Amazon are concerned).
The Amazon UK site referred me to Amazon.com, from whom I bought the device.
The package arrived in two days, from Germany. On arrival the Kindle was pre-registered with Amazon.co.uk, presumable on basis of credit card.

Incidentally Amazon.com and its underlings are registered in Luxembourg. And requiring an EU resident to buy from the US when the item is freely sold in the EU would be very, very naughty.

The wallies at Amazon could do themselves a favour by spelling out the above.
Click to expand...

As a UK citizen resident in Belgistan, was obliged to buy from the US. Followed Goosie's suggestion and re-registered with amazon uk, providing a semi-fictitious address, and got an invitation back to call them (in utmost confidentiality) to prove that I was entitled to use UK (billing address is Belgistan). Didn't call them, but bought ebooks no prob - until today, when :

"You attempted to purchase an item while in a different country than listed on your Amazon account.

Are you traveling outside your country?

Please contact customer service in order to continue purchasing Kindle items.

Did you recently move to a new country?

You can easily update your country for your Amazon account."

Grrrrr
 
Oliveoyl said:
Grrrrr
Click to expand...

Indeed. That would make anyone spit feathers.

Within EU there seems to be no problem, other than their slightly high-handed way of condescending to sell to you at all. (To add insult to injury, they insist my IoM home's in the the UK, but then so do British Airways who you'd hope had some grasp of geography.)

I've searched Amazon's site(s) at length, and the one thing that's conspicuously missing is any means of complaining, except regarding an extant order.
 
JFowler said:
I've heard that if one is outside the UK then Kindles & Kindle Books must be bought from Amazon.com which is the US Amazon not the UK.

Can anyone confirm if this is correct and if so has it caused any difficulties?

John
Click to expand...

I live in France and have to buy via Amazon.com - there do not seem to be any issues except perhaps working out what the $ is against the €

Michael
 
e-books: the down-side

Just a thought (one that e-readers may already have had):

One noticeable effect of the boom in e-publishing is a direct parallel to the explosion in TV channels over the past couple of decades. When books were hard copy, most of them had to have at least some merits (not always obvious, I grant you) to go through the expensive process of reaching print. That's no longer the case. Since a book can now be published in digital form for almost nothing, there's even more tosh out there than hitherto, usually at the cheap (but not free) end of the spectrum. Buy a Kindle (or any other e-book reader) and you're probably going to start reading a lot more books than you finish. Maybe we need a forum for 'bargains worth reading'?
 
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