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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle
2008-05-08, 7:32 PM #1
I'm wondering if anyone has this and is it worth the $400?
Back again
2008-05-08, 7:48 PM #2
I want it, but I decided to use my old PDA instead.

Might want to tell people what it is.
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2008-05-08, 7:56 PM #3
If it's 400$, it'd better make me go "holy **** awesome". The kindle does not.
2008-05-08, 8:25 PM #4
Who the hell still uses a PDA?
2008-05-08, 11:24 PM #5
I'd wait till version 2.0, it will probably be a lot better.
2008-05-08, 11:25 PM #6
I like books. :argh:
2008-05-09, 6:43 AM #7
Originally posted by Brian:
I'd wait till version 2.0, it will probably be a lot better.


This. And it will probably be cheaper. I've heard that its form factor isn't great and that you have to hold it very odd as to not randomly skip forward pages.
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2008-05-09, 7:05 AM #8
Without proper support for PDFs it seems somewhat useless to me. PDF is one of the most popular release formats and is fairly difficult to convert to text properly.

It's still very much in its infancy so, given time, the prices will come down and ebooks will gain in popularity to make them worthwhile. And before you know it, the publishing companies will be cracking down on ebook piracy. :P
2008-05-09, 7:24 AM #9
Originally posted by Wuss:
I like books. :argh:

:argh:
nope.
2008-05-09, 10:29 AM #10
It's one of those things that if you cant use it daily... its probably not worth having for the price its at.
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2008-05-09, 11:54 AM #11
I'd use this if it wasn't $400...half my books are falling apart.
COUCHMAN IS BACK BABY
2008-05-11, 8:17 AM #12
Originally posted by Recusant:
Without proper support for PDFs it seems somewhat useless to me. PDF is one of the most popular release formats and is fairly difficult to convert to text properly.

It's still very much in its infancy so, given time, the prices will come down and ebooks will gain in popularity to make them worthwhile. And before you know it, the publishing companies will be cracking down on ebook piracy. :P


look up pdftotext, or even pdftohtml. Free linux programs that do a pretty dang good job of converting a pdf to text...
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2008-05-11, 9:28 AM #13
I like everything about books and nothing about this. I like the way the pages feel between my fingers, I like the way a new book smells, I like the way an old one smells more, I like the way the corners crinkle, I like the way the spines of my paperbacks crack, I like the way they look sitting on my bookshelf. Most of all I like how a matte finish is so much easier to read on than a ****ing reflective lcd screen.
2008-05-11, 9:50 AM #14
The kindle does not use a reflective LCD screen.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2008-05-11, 10:07 AM #15
Hahahaha; yeah, JM, you've kind of completely missed the entire point of the kindle, which is that it uses an e-ink display instead of LCD. I actually saw someone on the bus the other day using one (or something similar); it was the first time I'd actually seen e-ink in person. It looked pretty awesome (though the half-second or so it takes to refresh might get kind of annoying after a while).
Stuff
2008-05-11, 10:08 AM #16
Originally posted by Wookie06:
The kindle does not use a reflective LCD screen.


When have you used an LCD screen that didn't reflect SOMETHING. Even if it was just a blob of light?
"In the beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." - Douglas Adams
Are you finding Ling-Ling's head?
Last Stand
2008-05-11, 11:56 AM #17
Originally posted by phoenix_9286:
When have you used an LCD screen that didn't reflect SOMETHING. Even if it was just a blob of light?

It doesn't use an LCD screen at all.
2008-05-11, 12:16 PM #18
Come now. Knowing what you're talking about has never been a prerequisite for posting in threads on Massassi.
"I would rather claim to be an uneducated man than be mal-educated and claim to be otherwise." - Wookie 03:16

2008-05-11, 1:04 PM #19
Originally posted by phoenix_9286:
When have you used an LCD screen that didn't reflect SOMETHING. Even if it was just a blob of light?

...

To be fair, never (though the TFT's have come a long way) but that is wholly irrelevant to the topic.

I'm holding out for a US release of the Libre before I drop anything on an eBook reader.
D E A T H
2008-05-11, 1:12 PM #20
Yeah, that was posted while I was writing mine up. Didn't feel like editing or deleting it. =/
"In the beginning, the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move." - Douglas Adams
Are you finding Ling-Ling's head?
Last Stand
2008-05-11, 3:21 PM #21
The e-ink displays probably reflect a lot less light than magazine pages, which people read outdoors all the time.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2008-05-11, 7:26 PM #22
I was playing with an e-ink reader by sony or something at costco. I literally thought it was a piece of paper taped to the front of the screen just to demo it (like they do with clocks that aren't plugged in). After pressing some buttons and watching it refresh with different words, I was simply stunned at how awesome it was. The annoying thing about them is the black/white flash between every refresh, it looks really annoying.
2008-05-11, 7:44 PM #23
Did they release the libre in the US already? Hrm...

Not yet, but I'd get this before the amazon reader personally
D E A T H
2008-05-11, 9:21 PM #24
Originally posted by Wuss:
I like books. :argh:

This.
It's just special to feel 13 year old paper in your hand as you travel to that Galaxy far far away and watch as Thrawn dies.
:argh:
2008-05-11, 9:40 PM #25
Books are nice, sure, but I also like the novelty of reading on an electronic device. It would be especially nice for reading in bed, while laying on my back or on my side, when managing a book would be cumbersome.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2008-05-11, 9:41 PM #26
Originally posted by kyle90:
Hahahaha; yeah, JM, you've kind of completely missed the entire point of the kindle, which is that it uses an e-ink display instead of LCD.

You also can't just throw 50 books in your backpack.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2008-05-11, 9:45 PM #27
Originally posted by Emon:
You also can't just throw 50 books in your backpack.

This would be my main qualm. Imagine you have to take a bus somewhere, and you only have so much room for books. On a 48 hour trip, you're gonna do a LOT of reading, and trust me, carrying 25 pounds of books gets old after so long.
D E A T H
2008-05-11, 9:51 PM #28
The main problem with the Kindle, aside from the price, is that it suffers from some of the most terrible industrial design I've ever seen.
Bassoon, n. A brazen instrument into which a fool blows out his brains.
2008-05-11, 9:51 PM #29
Originally posted by Emon:
You also can't just throw 50 books in your backpack.

Can if you're careful.
Page me when this thing is less then 100$.
2008-05-11, 10:01 PM #30
Originally posted by Tiberium_Empire:
Can if you're careful.
Page me when this thing is less then 100$.


to be fair, the sorts of books you read are somewhat thinner than the books we read.

also they have larger type.

and pictures.
2008-05-11, 10:04 PM #31
joncy wins
gbk is 50 probably

MB IS FAT
2008-05-11, 10:08 PM #32
Originally posted by Jon`C:
to be fair, the sorts of books you read are somewhat thinner than the books we read.

also they have larger type.

and pictures.

I applaud you sir, that burn is un-reversable.
2008-05-12, 12:31 AM #33
I think the coolest feature of the Kindle is wireless access to their full catalog so you can buy books immediately. Also free access to wikipedia, that is nice. The whole PDF thing is a huge bust, though. I've been downloading Tor.com pdfs for weeks now and if I ever do get an e-reader, it would be cool to read them.
2008-05-12, 7:47 AM #34
Originally posted by Brian:
The annoying thing about them is the black/white flash between every refresh, it looks really annoying.


I haven't personally seen this, so I'm not really qualified to comment, but I imagine it's the sort of thing that you'd get used to after a few hundred page turns.

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