It was a fun discovery to know that I want one, though! :-) I have NOT adopted the ipod because I can't stand ear plugs and I don't like the teenage-like isolation of listening to music privately anyway (I did plenty of that in the "Walkman era" ages ago). I'm an "ambient music" kind of gal and I'm trying to infuse that on my sons as well (they already have access to ipods, though and use them once in a while, but generally they prefer music blaring from the stereo and I don't mind one bit!).* And I don't care for smart phones either, but I think I'd really enjoy having a kindle.
How I found out about this newly discovered wish? I had never checked it out, but I get periodic emails from Amazon and they just sent one telling us that now the Kindle can download books wirelessly all over the world. Isn't that exciting? So I went on to read more about it and was fascinated by all its capacities.
Some random questions for any readers that have one (I know Anjali does, I don't know about anyone else):
- The Amazon description mentions that one can read blogs in the kindle -- how so? (I know they have a bare bones browser) I suppose it's only the most famous blogs... I wonder how one could make one's blog content available to Kindle.... Can one read any other sites? Is the content of newspapers and magazines paid? How so?
- Doesn't it feel kind of "wasteful" having to purchase every single book you want to read instead of borrowing it from the library or a friend? I don't think this is a concern just yet because only a very small and privileged portion of the population is adopting Kindle anyway (or maybe I'm wrong about that). I make this comment because I enjoy buying used books, for example, and there can't be such a thing with Kindle. UNLESS one were allowed to share a book with someone. I bet that's not the case. Booo.
I think that what pisses me off the most about Kindle is that if I already have a book (and I do have lots of books), I'd have to purchase it again to have in Kindle, right? That alone would deter me from wanting it. Unless older books were to be slightly cheaper.
- As an academic in a literary field who has to do close analysis of books and texts in general I can see endless possibilities in the use of Kindle -- I mean, you read the book and then if you can't remember a passage to read to your class you just search for it, it's fantastic!! Now, do they even give teacher's complimentary copies for professors who use Kindle? Probably not, although they should. Has anyone out there used Kindle for teaching?
- I wonder how much translated literature (into English) they have available for Kindle (probably next to nothing, particularly from Brazil). Given that this was the topic of my dissertation, I'd be very interesting in investigating that!
- Oh, and most importantly, do they have books for Kindle in other languages??
* K did give me a small portable loudspeaker/player for the ipod for my birthday, but it does not charge the player, which actually is attached inside the thing, so if you want to listen to something else you've got to get it out, oh, and it uses regular batteries. Needless to say I'm not using that either. :-) I need a real pluggable stereo with an ipod dock. I know we can't afford that either... blah. You know, I sound really really whiny (and I'm a terrible awful whiner) -- my sincere apologies for that -- but this not affording things IS getting on my nerves. I should be working, not staying home with the boys although I love it so much. BLAH!!!
I don't have a kindle and I don't work for amazon, but the best thing about them from my point of view is that you can download hundreds of books that are out of copyright for free, from project gutenberg and other sources.
ReplyDeleteBarnes & Noble is coming out with an e-reader soon called the "nook" that also has a book borrowing feature--you can have a book on it for two weeks, or something? I haven't seen it yet so don't know exactly how it works.
I desperately wanted a kindle before we traveled last summer but decided it was not a good use of resources yet. They're getting better, supposedly...so maybe soon? But probably not. They are still awfully pricey.
Yes, I love my Kindle, but here are the three main reasons why:
ReplyDelete1.) Accessibility to my library: The closest library to me is a 10-15 minute drive from my house in a direction I never have reason to drive in. So a trip to the library is always a thirty minute trip out of my way. When I got my Kindle, my baby was still screaming in the car for every car ride. Thirty minutes of screaming to get books from the library was totally not worth it. As a result, I was raking up fines left and right. My last library bill was $35.
2. Accessibility to specific books: I tend to want to read books that aren't in the libraries here. And if it wasn't in my county's library system, I would request it from outside the system. My library would claim that it ordered it, but the book would somehow never arrive. So I would always end up purchasing the book used, online. When you added in shipping, I was usually paying about $10 per book (the cost of a new book on Kindle).
3.) Travel: I love reading multiple books at once on one small apparatus. I imagine you'd love the Kindle for plane rides to Brazil!
Kindle is really a convenience thing for me. And I LOVE it for that.
If you happen to need a new cell phone, you could always get an iPhone. You can download the Kindle app to iPhone and read Kindle books there. Personally, I don't do this because I think the screen is too small. But a lot of people do this just fine.
I am totally with you on the earphones but we love our iPods. We got one of the "big" ones and have downloaded more than half our CDs and counting. This has allowed us to pack away the original CDs and just keep the iPod plugged in to the speakers down here. I also love it for listening to This American Life and Wait Wait Don't Tell Me podcasts.
ReplyDeleteI hate the earbuds so much too I don't even use mine at the gym, which I know is why most people love them. But I'd say 80-90% of the time, we're listening to the music on speakers.
Not to add to your consumerist desires! But it was a joy to move all those jewel cases to an out-of-the-way spot since I struggle with clutter so much to begin with.
I have mixed feelings about my Kindle. There are lots of books that I would rather own, and be able to pass long to others. I feel decadent buying books that I could borrow at the library. It's a little hard to justify the expense.
ReplyDeleteI do like my Kindle for
(1) Book club books, which are usually good but not "I'll treasure this forever" books
(2) The big collections of Dickens, Trollope, etc. that sell for less than $5
(3) Searchable -- very nice
I think you have to pay a subscription for blogs, and I don't know how they decide who to include. There's an internet function somewhere that allows you to check e-mail, though, so perhaps there's a workaround for regular blog reading. I haven't used mine that way, so I don't know.
There's a way to load any PDF file onto the Kindle, which is a nice feature I haven't used yet.
I expect that someday, Amazon will come up with a Netflix-style borrowing ability for the Kindle. Probably I would have waited to buy mine until that was available (but Calder was out of other gift ideas, I guess).