1 Yes, but can it surf porn?

2 Capitalism doesn't work 'n' stuff.

3

I will never understand the ereader or 'buying' an e-book.

or

Get off my Lawn!

4 Geez, Gabe es en fuego!  How many posts has he been able to type with flames shooting out of his fingernails?  You've outdone yourself today, my friend!  You must be simply exhausted!

5

And I just got a new library card. So shiny and sleek.

The sexiness knows no bounds....

6 Quick, someone blame Gabe for starting a flame war over iPads vs. Kindle vs. Nook. It's funemployment that makes me post like an inane moron.

7 I prefer a library that smells of fine leather bindings.

8 ...smells of fine leather bindings. How YOU doin'?

9 I have enjoyed my Kindle2 for over a year.  It rocks and has a real keyboard and the battery lasts for over a week.

10

I don't know much about capitalism, but what we do know is that Amazon acted stupidly.

11 This is all designed to ship the jobs that book shelves do overseas to slave wage workers.

12

What about the Librarians?

What of the Librarians!?!?!

Nooooooooooo...

13 iPad. Do it. Do. It. Dooo. Iiiiitttt.

14 Next thing you tell me, you will be able to get movies streamed right to your TV

15

It's funemployment that makes me post like an inane moron.

 

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that.  What kind of work did you do?

16 Wait for the IPad with wings. More coverage.

17 Darn Red Sock!

18 I like my Nook.  (Except for its battery management -- it runs down pretty quickly, even in standby.)

19

OT

Eleven American battleships and an Israeli one crossed the Suez Canal Friday en route to the Red Sea, the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper reported.  

According to the report, traffic in the canal was halted for several hours in order to allow US Navy vessels, which included an aircraft carrier and carried infantry troops, armored vehicles and ammunition, to pass from the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.

It was further reported that eyewitnesses detected an Israeli warship among the vessels. No confirmation has been received from Egyptian authorities.

 The report also noted that fishing activities in the area were stopped during the ships' passage as well as traffic on the bridges above the canal.

 Retired Egyptian General Amin Radi, chairman of the national security affairs committee, told the paper that "the decision to declare war on Iran is not easy, and Israel, due to its wild nature, may start a war just to remain the sole nuclear power in the region.

http://tinyurl.com/35zy4f6

 

20 You know what makes a dandy present for a foreign head of state, especially a pasty white female British one? A Kindle pre-loaded with both of my fine autobiographies. And maybe some transcripts of my speeches. Burnt into ROM.

21 Which of these are back lit? My wife threatens violence with my booklight.

22 I love my Kindle; I've got over 500 books on there (some of them multi-volume sets).  The Nook is extremely similar, so I wouldn't go for it. 

I've been using the iPod Touch Kindle reader, and it's a little more awkward than the Kindle (the color is good, though--the Kindle is strictly gray-scale).  The Kindle, with cover, is no more awkward to carry than a dayplanner.  I carry mine with me a lot.

The one disadvantage that both eReaders have: you cannot create subfolders.  So I've got 50+ pages of an index, instead of a nice subfolder system where I can store things by category. 

I don't know if the iPad can do any better.  To my mind, it looks like a toy that I'd get bored with in about a month and end up either selling or putting away somewhere. 

23

I think Target just started selling Kindles, Gabe.  Check it out if you want to hold a real live one.

For reading the Kindle > iPad.  E-ink is just a superior medium for regular text.  Kindle's  battery is also superior...I routinely get over a week out of one charge. 

 

24
I am a frequent visitor to Barnes & Noble, but not to gain knowledge or pursue a course of study that would improve my mind, but to simply ogle hooter's and pear shaped butt-tocks in the words of Forrest Gump. 

Forrest was correct, life is nothing but smacking liberal ideology every time it raises its ugly head, and visiting bookstores to seek out future dalliances.

25
Gonna be fun chucking all those kindles and i-whatevers on a pile when it comes time to burn some books.

26 @15 Howdy, runningrn... in advertising, don't want to be more specific than that. An industry larded with the worst kinds of libtards. And in severe cutback mode. Have you noticed advertisers are rerunning TV commercials over a year old, simply with new endings to update matters like dates and prices? Very, very bad out here.

27 The wife and I are desperately trying to clear out our enormous book collection*, so have been looking a eBook readers. We're probably going to end up with an iPad (next generation, if we can wait that long) or two to handle the replacement.

Part of the advantage of the iPad is the Kindle and Nook apps -- you can get books from Apple, Amazon, or B&N on an iPad; but there isn't (so far as I know) a way to cross-pollinate the Kindle and Nook.

*It's so big that we've got boxes of 'em in our garage. We can still fit the cars in it, so we haven't hit critical mass yet; but still ... books? in your garage? That aren't Chilton's manuals or carpentry patterns?

28 Call me old fashioned, but I like getting books for free at the library.

29 Loving my Kindle, too.  Loving the price wars even more.  I'm trying to decide if we really need yet another Kindle.  I think we might.  My kids are sharing one right now.

I haven't read a book on paper in a year, and I've gotten rid of hundreds of paper books - for the first time in my life, I have some empty bookshelves!

30

I will never own a e-read for many reasons.

 

If I drop a book, i can pick it back up. If I drop an e-reader i am out hundreds of dollars.

If someone steals my book I am out ten bucks. If someone steals my e-reader i am out hundres of dollars.

If I spill a drink on my book, I let it dry out and then finish reading it. If I sprill a drink on an e-reader I am out hundreds of dollars.

I can't dog ear or under line pages in an e-reader for quick reference later on.

My bookshelves would become very lonely.

I don't have to worry about a battery dying while reading a book, where as I would have to worry about that with an e-reader.

I can have a book in my european man bag and not worry about it breaking.

When at a book burning rally I can just toss my books in, whereas with an e-reader I would have to worry about the deadly fumes released by burning plastics and electronics.

31 And when the Commander Communist-in-Chief shuts down the interwebs, what then??

32 Also, I have an iPad and to me the Kindle app is awkward...one-handed use of the Kindle is easy and comfortable, but one-handed use of the iPad to read is a bit awkward. 

33 Eleven American battleships... ...emerged from a time machine after traveling forward in time.

34 Breaking: Steve Jobs unveils the iScroll. It requires no battery power or toxic manufacturing processes, so it's green. Reading in bright sunlight is easy as it is entirely reflective. It is projected to last thousands of years. You can buy dozens of them, as they will be cheap as parchment, one for each book, and piracy will not be an issue as the text is physically part of each iScroll. They can all be literally rolled up into a compact cylinder. Soon to be available at the Library of Alexandria Apple Store.

35

Didn't Kindle delete everyones copy of 1984? Which leads to the point that e-readers have a limited selection. Let's say you want to read a book that isn't the Twilight series, what do you do then? You have to pick from their limited selection

36
I haven't read a book on paper in a year, and I've gotten rid of hundreds of paper books - for the first time in my life, I have some empty bookshelves!

I've doing the same thing. The Hollywood library is happy to take 'em and I'm tired of lugging the damn things around every time I move.

37 I'll let Rosa DeLauro do my talking for me on this one.

38 Clearly, Ben is familiar with: http://xkcd.com/750/ Meanwhile...wait, this is a Gabe post...crap! Someone quick find a way to turn this into a flame war or we'll break the streak!

39 O/T

General Sherman,

We may be marshaling forces, but the question remains, do Obama and the Joint Chiefs have the balls to use the force to protect Israel from attack?

If push comes to shove, Obama will razzle-dazzle the international community with his call for unity of purpose from the UN, and Tel Aviv will be a fucking smoldering mass of hair, teeth, and eyeballs.

PS - Stash will appear on Fox and tell the truth, but a little late.

40

I'd much rather hold in my hands the actual book, as opposed to downloading books that can be taken away at any second if the company so feels like it.

Not to say that I haven't bought ebooks - I have some on my blackberry for a trip where real books were not feasible.  However, I bought the solid versions once I returned home.  I don't like the control over my reading material to extend past my own hands.

41 Ben, actually you can dog and underline passages in an e-reader for quick reference later on.  On the Kindle, you can either go straight to all the passages in that book, or go to a file with all the passages from all the books you've marked, or even go online to see them there.  Nook may have something similar.

And seriously, dude, lose the man bag.

42 Oh, and Gabe? Don't pay attention to us on which machine is better -- if you've made the decision to buy one, go out and handle them. The interface experience is the single most important one.

There's no reason to buy the thing if you're not actually going to use it.

43 You know, "1984" is available on the intertubes. By the torrent, it tumbles in. Not that I would know anything about that, no, not at all.

44 My girlfriend has a Nook.  She's been pretty satisfied with it.  I guess I'd have to ask her why she bought that over a Kindle.

45 You ride the Metro, Gabe? That can't be economical. What you save on gas gets spent getting the stink and vomit cleaned from your clothes.

46
Didn't Kindle delete everyones copy of 1984?

It was Amazon, but yup.  Irony is dead.

47

 Let's say you want to read a book that isn't the Twilight series, what do you do then?

Count your blessings??

48 Being a right-winger, I much prefer real books to e-books. They burn so much more nicely.

49 I'd love a Kindle but the paranoid part of me worries that the bastards will change their format at some later point and make you buy the books you have again. Amazon is not incapable of evil. That said, the price of the Kindle is plunging toward my magic price point, and I should be able to afford one in a little while.

50 You ride the Metro, Gabe? That can't be economical. What you save on gas gets spent getting the stink and vomit cleaned from your clothes.

Heh. Yeah, a dedicated metro rider for two years now. I only end up using my car to move it for street cleaning or to drive to the west side to see friends or go to the beach. And I LOVE IT.

51

1. "Warship" # "Battleship", but "Battleship" = "Warship"

2. Don't overlook the FREE downloadable Kindle software for PC and Mac.  My wife already had an alomost new Acer Notebook and wanted to use Kindle, but didn't need another box to carry on her travels.  Kindle software works good, not slick, just good.

Just sayin'

52

How many books exist for the kindle or e-readers?

thousands? hundreds of thousands?

what about books with pictures of diagrams?

53

Meh.

I do not have an ipod... will never have an ipod, sometimes forget my cell phone (which does nothing but make and recieve calls and hasn't a keyboard!) and happen to like books.

I've something of a collection going.

In fact, I have hordes of paperbacks and use to only buy cheap paperbacks to read.  But I've started buying slightly pricier hardcovers.

54 I despise electronic readers. Give me  hardback or a paperback any day. My only problem is the house is now full of bookcases and they are all overflowing.

55
I will never own a e-read for many reasons.

Posted by: Ben at June 21, 2010 03:53 PM (wuv1c)

I'm with you Ben.  Stick with print, because when the revolution is complete from Obama and Company, we can use the books like Sears & Roebuck Catalogs in our new backyard two-holers.

56  Not that I would know anything about that, no, not at all.

Indeed. And you know about those giant, multi-thousand-book Scifi & Fantasy archives on the internet? Yeah, me neither. Me. Neither.

57

Try reading your nephew a doctor seuss book off of kindle. without the drawings it is terrible.

58

I prefer a library that smells of fine leather bindings.

That would rock, but do you know how much leather-bound books cost? Yikes. I read too much for that.

59

Howdy, runningrn... in advertising, don't want to be more specific than that. An industry larded with the worst kinds of libtards. And in severe cutback mode. Have you noticed advertisers are rerunning TV commercials over a year old, simply with new endings to update matters like dates and prices?

Very, very bad out here.

 

Shoot, that really sucks.  It is ironic, though, that an industry "larded with the worst kinds of libtards" is being hit so hard.  I'm sure though, that the idiots this affects who are still swooning over Obama, bitterly blame George Bush.  Anecdotally in my neck of the woods, it seems like there are a lot of unemployed architects running around.  That too, is an industry that seemed to be rife with Obamabots.

I hope you can find some work soon! 

60 Have they dropped the prices on e-book content yet, or are those fucking scam artists still charging the same price as a physical book?

61 part of me worries that the bastards will change their format at some later point I'm unlikely to buy any eBook of any kind unless I can control the format. I only keep .pdf or .txt copies of books, unencrypted, for just your very reason. It also makes it simple to accomplish text-to-speech conversion.

62
It is ironic, though, that an industry "larded with the worst kinds of libtards" is being hit so hard.

I would call it 'justice'.

63 Ben, limited selection?  Hells, I'm rereading the Rex Stouts and Agatha Christies again, and those are hardly flavor of the month.    S. S. van Dine and Earl Derr Biggers haven't turned out anything new in a while, and yet, their books are on my Kindle.

It sounds like maybe you have slightly researched the Sony store or something, and have extrapolated from there.  Amazon and Barnes & Noble have hundreds of thousands of books available, and thousands more public domain books are available through them or elsewhere for free.

64 Indeed. And you know about those giant, multi-thousand-book Scifi & Fantasy archives on the internet? Yeah, me neither. Me. Neither. Ignorance is Truth. I wrote that a long time ago.

65 I finally saw a Kindle in person recently and was impressed with how much it looks like a book page instead of a screen, so I'm tempted. A remaning stumbling block is the cost of the e-books versus paperbacks. When I've paid attention at Amazon the Kindle edition prices were higher than the paperback prices and I'm not (yet) convinced the convenience is worth committing to paying higher prices.

66

Call me old fashioned, but I don't give a damn about these gizmos. I like the feel of paper in my hands. I like to underline passages, fold back the pages, use it as a spacer under my whiskey still. I like real honest to God books!

Don't like cellphones much either. The cellphone I have is turned off right now, as is usual. When I went into Radio Shack to get it I told the kid behind the counter I wanted a phone that talked, I didn't want a phone that surfed the web, took pictures, sent text messages, etc. because I didn't want to learn all that crap. He said "that's the trouble with you older people, you don't get technology".

I said "well who do you think came up with all this technology? Let me tell you who it wasn't. It wasn't some shot nosed 20 year old kid standing behind the counter at Radio Shack."

67 e-readers = razor content = razorblades. Soon, they will give you the e-reader.

68


Buy a kindle!

69 I simply don't understand Kindle. What the hell are you supposed to put on your bookshelves? Bowling trophies?

70

I would call it 'justice'.

 

Speaking of justice, I'm trying to eat my post-lunch Hershey Bar, and it won't break nice and evenly on the score lines.  Who can I sue for this outrage?

71 I feel the same way about ebooks as I do about soccer.

72

I will never understand the ereader or 'buying' an e-book.

or

Get off my Lawn!

Exactly. While I use my pootur for smart typewriting, and blogs and research, and online banking, and buying and selling, and "pron", I still want to read a real papery book thingy. Call me cranky.

73

I said "well who do you think came up with all this technology? Let me tell you who it wasn't. It wasn't some shot nosed 20 year old kid standing behind the counter at Radio Shack."

 

Heh! Heh!  I looove grumpy old men--they're sooo cute!

74

For reading from, I actually greatly prefer a paperback, which are also dirt cheap.

But I started tossing out a bit more cash for hardbacks because it turns out books actually retain their value somewhat, and it looks nice on my shelf.

75 Soon, they will give you implant the e-reader telescreen.

76

i'm not a luddit and i don't own a shack in Montana. I just don't see myself giving up on  paper back books for e-readers.

 

 

77 I'm sure though, that the idiots this affects who are still swooning over Obama, bitterly blame George Bush. You got that 100% correct. And oddly, after Earflaps McBaritone was emaculated into Godhood, the libtards in advertising stopped, overnight, blaming the lousy economy on government. In fact, they severely cut back on discussing the economy at all. When they did, suddenly the reasons for a bad economy were vague, unspoken reasons, never hinting that the government is complicit. The president is never mentioned. Farking tools.

78 I like books, the young chicks think it's cool when they see you reading one. It's like driving a vintage Bugatti

79 let me know when the Amazon- B&N conflict turns hot.

80 I bought a Kindle for my 10 year old grand daughter and it is wonderful.  Download a book in less than 60 seconds, thousands of books free or a nominal cost of .99.  She currently has over 200 books on it and there is no way that she could store that many books at home or even afford to buy that many books (parents are poor neo hippies).  It is back lit for night reading, no glare screen and you can highlight and/or underline passages and make notes in the margins.

Thinking of buying one for myself ditching a large part of my library.

81 I like books on computer.  I object to all this protection for text files and charging exhorbitant amounts for tiny text text files.  E-books should be something like $.40@.  When I heard that college e-textbooks were running upwards of $70, that was it for me.

I also think it's creepy to have to have the files sent to you, with control over the personal copy still maintained by the seller.

82 Love my Kindle.  Love having the WSJ arrive magically every am.  The one major short coming of the Kindle is the slight "click" the buttons make as you advance pages.  Drives the wife nuts and she can't fall asleep if I stay up and read in bed after she goes lights out.  Next version should have silent buttons.

83 They said it was going to be great when Franco-American relations broke down, but all we got was more expensive canned spaghetti

84 Don't ditch your paper libraries. When the rolling brownouts start, you'll be glad for them.

85

Way off topic, but USA Today is reporting the following:

WASHINGTON — The number of doctors refusing new Medicare patients because of low government payment rates is setting a new high, just six months before millions of Baby Boomers begin enrolling in the government health care program.

Recent surveys by national and state medical societies have found more doctors limiting Medicare patients, partly because Congress has failed to stop an automatic 21% cut in payments that doctors already regard as too low. The cut went into effect Friday, even as the Senate approved a six-month reprieve. The House has approved a different bill.

Well, duh!  (And I had a libtard argue with me just last week that Obamacare is going to improve healthcare for all!)

86 You can't use kindles as a booster seat.  Or combine an iphone with duct tape as body armor in a gladitorial jail fight.

The old ways are still the best.

87

Heh! Heh!  I looove grumpy old men--they're sooo cute!

Posted by: runningrn at June 21, 2010 04:08 PM (CfmlF)

You are obviously a woman of discerning taste and refined intellect

88 Question.

The Kindle or the Kindle DX?

It's my birthday present for me.

89 > 2. Don't overlook the FREE downloadable Kindle software for PC and Mac. My wife already had an alomost new Acer Notebook and wanted to use Kindle, but didn't need another box to carry on her travels. Kindle software works good, not slick, just good. Posted by: sherlock And not only is the PC Kindle free FREE but their are tons of FREE kindle books on Amazon. Yes, old stuff. But come on - Memoirs of U.S. Grant? Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Art of War... FREE! Lots and lots of out of copyright stuff is on Amazon (kindle edition) for nothing.

90 It will totally improve healthcare for those who can't or won't pay for healthcare foe themselves

91 80 let me know when the Amazon- B&N conflict turns hot.

Posted by: Ben at June 21, 2010 04:10 PM (wuv1c)

We'd rather not talk about a nuclear Barnes and Noble.

92 OT:

"A White House spokesman says the United States benefits when President Barack Obama takes time to go golfing and 'clear his mind.' "

LOL. That is one mind that doesn't need any clearing.  It's been empty from day one.

93

Next version should have silent buttons.

 

Don't you worry about that!  All e-Readers will have silent buttons in the future!  They will silence all kinds of "fishy notions and anti-gubamint speech." 

94 "A White House spokesman says the United States benefits when President Barack Obama takes time to go golfing and 'clear his mind.' "

Yeah.  How's that workin' out for ya?

95

"A White House spokesman says the United States benefits when President Barack Obama takes time to go golfing and 'clear his mind.' "

 

Rush made fun of that this a.m.  He said the spokesman is basically admitting that the country is in better shape when Obama is absent from doing his job.

96 Back to the Future!

97 "A White House spokesman says the United States benefits when President Barack Obama takes time to go golfing and 'clear his mind.' "

We endorse this.

98 And not only is the PC Kindle free FREE but their are tons of FREE kindle books on Amazon. Yes, old stuff. But come on - Memoirs of U.S. Grant? Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Art of War... FREE! Lots and lots of out of copyright stuff is on Amazon (kindle edition) for nothing.

Posted by: Comrade Arthur at June 21, 2010 04:15 PM (aHiMU)

Most of those (if not all) are available free as plain text files.  The problem with the Kindle is that there is always control kept.  When they surreptitiously erased/replaced copies of some book on people's Kindles, that was too much for me.

99

I'm kind of down on the whole digital content ownership thing altogether. Which is probably why my respect for copyright has always been lax. I tend to steal shit. At least when 'shit' is a bunch of 0's and 1's.

Which is why I'll buy books and CD's and DVD's as long as their sold. I feel the same way about software... If I'm going to pay for it, I want a hard copy on CD that comes in a nice box. If you're just going to let me download the program... that's what bittorrent and crackers are for. I ain't paying you for that. Screw you.

If I chuck over real money I want something material for it. Something that can't just be deleted, forceably 'updated', or have it's EULA changed. Something I can hold and maybe even resell.

I've no qualms about "stealing" music really.. if I like it alot, I'll go out and buy the CD, to have the material  copy, nicely manufactured, with a neat booklet and cover art, etc., support the band etc. But I ain't buying no itunes mp3s.

Same thing with DVDs. I bought a couple I saw for free on TV, because I liked them and wanted to have a copy.

And a great thing about books is they work when the power is out. They're paranoid-survivalist-ready.

100

i'm not a luddit and i don't own a shack in Montana. I just don't see myself giving up on  paper back books for e-readers.

 

Geez, a shack in Montana?  I could only dream!

101 I despise electronic readers. Give me  hardback or a paperback any day. My only problem is the house is now full of bookcases and they are all overflowing.

Same with my house -- in fact, it's starting to overflow into off-site storage.

But I got an iPad last month (hey, I program for a living, and developing for one of those is a new field), and I've picked up the PDF versions of a couple of technical books.

It's actually quite nice. I've got physical copies of the books (except for one that's still in beta), but they stay at home. I drop the PDFs into a directory managed by the "DropBox" program, and then they're available on every machine I use. I can get to the books at home, at work, and with the iPad. If I want to check on something, or read up on something I'm about to try for myself, they're Just There.

OTOH, there are still so many books that AREN'T available electronically. I want to read Gerrold's "War Against the Chtorr" series from the begining, but of course they're only available in hard copy. But they're out of print. So I ordered them from used book stores. But one of the stores -- the one with the first book, natch -- is taking WEEKS to actually ship it.

I think this reinforces my idea that copyrights should be lost if the copyright holder is not attempting to distribute the material.

102 "A White House spokesman says the United States benefits when President Barack Obama gets schtupped by the First Wookie takes time to go golfing and 'clear his mind lower intestinal tract.' " Not to put an unwelcome image in your head or anything.

103 Books on genealogy and maps I will definitely still buy hardcover for reasearch purposes. The other stuff  I'll just go ebook.

104

I'm considering an e-reader...and I am doing my own pollingI have to fly a lot for my job..and whenever I see someone in the airport lounge or on the plane with a Kindle or Nook I just come out and ask them how they like it...the e-reader, I mean..not IT...if I just came out and asked them how the liked IT...well that would be weird

..anyhoo..to a person..every one said they liked it..the e-reader...not IT

But they could just be lying like big old bunch of fucking Obamas..

..and if ya start thinking about it...those who don't like their e-readers wouldn't be lugging them around

So, now I have to go around asking everyone I see reading a book if they really have an e-reader at home and just don't care for it..

Fuck

105
So, now I have to go around asking everyone I see reading a book if they really have an e-reader at home and just don't care for it..

Well, there's always voluntary commitment.

Weirdo question guy.

106 Love love love my Kindle!!!!

107 BeckoningChasm:  The new 2.5 update from Amazon lets you create 'collections', which are basically subfolders on your Kindle. It will be automatically pushed out over the coming weeks, but if you want, you can <a href=" http://amzn.to/dDAuZz">manually download it now from Amazon.</a>

108 i'm going to laugh when one of you drops your e-reader in the john while reading it in the morning.

109 Link for the 2.5 update should be:   http://amzn.to/dDAuZz

110

 It's not like if you get an e-book reader you are never allowed to read a regular book again in your life. Nobody is going to come take all your books away. I still go to the library and the bookstore. I still have lots of books in my house. I love the feel and the smell and the comfort of physical books.

 

If you like your paper books, you can keep your paper books...

111 110 i'm going to laugh when one of you drops your e-reader in the john while reading it in the morning.

Posted by: Ben at June 21, 2010 04:29 PM (wuv1c)

Not only that, but can you take your e-reader and swat a pesky horse fly with it? I dare say it would be good for about ONE good smash against the wall.

112 Okay Gabe.  I just bought the Kindle as a birthday present to myself.  If this doesn't take the place of sex, rid me of crows feet and make 10 lbs magically disappear I'm coming for you pal and it won't be pretty.

113 I just bought an iPad last week and so far I'm liking it. I mainly bought it as an e-reader since I've been doing a lot of traveling recently and hate to have to lug books around with me. But I also wanted to be able to check email, surf the web, watch movies, play games, etc. bla bla bla. So rather than carry around two devices, for me it made sense to combine everything into one.

So far my only complaint about the ipad is that it's a little heavier than your average book so if you're reading while lying in bed, your arms get tired after a while. But I'm sure someone will come out with a stand to make this easier.

And as people have pointed out an e-reader is not going to replace books. Trust me - I've got bookshelves and bookshelves of books and expect to get more in the future. But I've also got tons of books in pdf format so it's nice to be able to read them away from the computer without having to print them out. Especially for technical documents that are only distributed in electronic form.

114

Not only that, but can you take your e-reader and swat a pesky horse fly with it? I dare say it would be good for about ONE good smash against the wall.

Posted by: maddogg

I have indoor plumbing not an outhouse in my household.

115 ask yourself this... why does the Nook cost a significant amount less than the Kindle when it does nearly the exact same thing? What is the justification for the extra cost of the Kindle? I happen to have a connection inside Amazon, and they are scrambling trying to figure out what to do to combat the ipad... I'd put my money on the ipad... the kindle, nook and all these other ereaders are going to be e-waste very soon...

116 Bought 1st Gen Kindle when it came down to covering another room in my house with floor to ceiling bookcases for a few thou, or trying the Kindle for a few hundred.  I was so concerned I would miss the feel of reading a book.  That was 3 or 4 years ago.  I've read about three actual books in that period of time.  I've read over 400 Kindle books in that period of time. 

No longer is my luggage overweight on flights because it's jam packed full of reading material.  No longer is every flat surface in my living room stacked with books I'm waiting to read.  No longer are my arms uncomfortable holding a three-pound book while lying in my back reading in bed. 

Downside?  I do miss book covers.  Forgettable books are even more forgettable because there isn't a cover to remember them by.  And, if you like pictures in your books (and you know who you are), I wouldn't recommend a Kindle. 

As far as costs, my Kindles have paid for themselves in savings on hardcover.  I gave my 1G Kindle to a friend when I bought the 2G.  I also bought a 2G for my cousin who has macular degeneration.  Instead of buying her $30 large print books (which are also heavy), she can download most anything recent onto her kindle and increase the print size.  It is well worth the money.

117 I saw the question posted but not an answer: Kindle DX?

118 I have indoor plumbing not an outhouse in my household.

Posted by: mpfs at June 21, 2010 04:39 PM (iYbLN)

You have become far too dependant on technology. To shit in the woods is to taste freedom!

119 The iPad as a book reader would be shit.  The whole point is that the Nook and Kindle look like printed text...

120 Love my sony e-reader. The best part? If need a new book, I simply browse, click, and I have it. No waiting. I still like books, but I don't want to store them or haul them around and I get immediate gratification with the e-reader.

I got the old sony version and they upgraded it for free to be compatible so all in all it cost me $50 to get started and the ebooks are cheaper than the real thing AND I don' t have to store them or haul them away.

121

if you're reading while lying in bed, your arms get tired after a while.

Ix-nay on the pr0n talk

122 Oh yeah, I can make the print bigger and bigger as my eyes tire.

123 Have they dropped the prices on e-book content yet, or are those [redacted] scam artists still charging the same price as a physical book?

Paper isn't expensive -- book stores throw books away instead of shipping them back.

Seriously: the cost of printing a book is only 10% of the cost of producing one.

124 117 why does the Nook cost a significant amount less than the Kindle when it does nearly the exact same thing?

But the nook costs $199, and the Kindle costs $189.  What are you talking about?

125 DX vs Kindle 2?  I'd go K2.  However, you can try them out at home, and send back the one you don't like better within 30 days.

126 120 I have indoor plumbing not an outhouse in my household.

Posted by: mpfs at June 21, 2010 04:39 PM (iYbLN)

You have become far too dependant on technology. To shit in the woods is to taste freedom!

Posted by: maddogg

Let's just say I won't be inviting you over to my place anytime soon for dinner.

127 Did Gabe really say he'd never pay for Nooky?

128 121 The iPad as a book reader would be shit.  The whole point is that the Nook and Kindle look like printed text...

Posted by: DaveS at June 21, 2010 04:44 PM (vy1Up)

Not in my experience. You can adjust the fonts, text size, and contrast to however you like. And so far I haven't noticed any extra eye fatigue or other effects from reading on it for extended periods.

129

Let's just say I won't be inviting you over to my place anytime soon for dinner.

I'm as crushed as a horse fly hit with an original edition of "War and Peace".

130 The gizmos are here to stay, like it or not. I've decided to like it. Like many others here, I'm just so damn tired of lugging these things around. Also, I've purchased more than a few disposable titles and hate having to deal with the cheap paperbacks once they've' been read. Not coincidentally, I've also noticed that I'm now able to be far more selective about which books I actually buy for the shelves.

It's not like books are going away any time too soon, but soon enough to scare book fetishists. The market has made that crucial shift to the point of no return.

Go to any large bookstore. See anything different on the floor? The books are still there. But all of the sections have been compressed to make room for non-downloadable product. The tale is more apparent in the music/movie section. CDs are pretty much gone. Movies have only another couple of years to go before they go the same road as CDs.

The way I see it, if books don't disappear as quickly as CDs and DVDs it's only because they've been around much longer and have generations of tradition behind them, but the cultural momentum to keep the market that produces physical books, at least the kind that can be easily reproduced in paperback, is losing steam. Ditto magazines and newspapers.

There's no way in hell I would have said any of this a couple of years ago, but I work at a B&N and I've been watching it happen.

Go for the Nook.

That's a phrase that sounds good any day of the week.

131 Because, Gabe, a real book won't stop working on you, and take your entire collection with it, and then you have to send it back for repair or replacement.

132

I'm as crushed as a horse fly hit with an original edition of "War and Peace".

Do you know how much an original edition of "War and Peace" costs??

Besides, first English edition? Wouldn't the original be in Russian?

Do you read cyrillic?

Semi-rare/collectable books are very expensive.

133 The iPad might not be as good reading outside.  I'd think you'd have to turn the brightness way up, which would suck the battery dry.  Haven't used one, but I have seen a Kindle and it looks really nice and works in bright light (both have adjustable fonts).  It really looks like print on paper.  Of course the iPad does a lot more.

The Kindle can support pictures, do they just not include them in the eBooks?

134

Semi-rare/collectable books are very expensive.

Expensive books crush horse flys just as well as the cheap ones. They're flexible like that.

135

If you're crushing flies with an original War and Peace I demand you send it to me right now.

Or... Or... I'll be absolutely aghast about it!

I'll send you a paperback copies of Atlas Shrugged/The Stand/The Great Book of Amber/The Count of Monte Cristo/the Bible.

136 139

If you're crushing flies with an original War and Peace I demand you send it to me right now.

Or... Or... I'll be absolutely aghast about it!

You should be thankful. You know what we do with paper in Arkansas.....

137 I have all versions of the Kindle, and an iPad. Of the 4 I own, I use the iPad and it's Kindle App almost exclusively. I love it. Plus I can browse the web if I need some info. I like the iPad because I can read it in low light, like on a plane, or in bed. The battery lasts plenty. Reading it in bright sun can be bad, mainly because of reflection off the iPad glass screen. But I regularly read it out back at the pool with no problem. The iPad 3G is a bit of a waste. Get a wifi version, and spend the extra dough on an MiFI (Verizon) you can share internet with other devices/people with. Alas, I suspect this is above your ImpulseBuy (tm) level. I don't know if you are married, or if that maters, but pretty girls always stop and talk to me when I read my iPad. I give them a tour of it. Alas, my wife's picture is the iPad desktop background, so there goes that opportunity (-: Good luck!

138 I'm getting the iphone 4 to satisfy my ebook reading needs whlie I wait for the next ipad version. The higher pixel per inch in iphone 4 makes the ipad redundant

139

I shall purchase absolutely nothing that's proper noun starts with a lower case i followed by a capital consonant.

I bought an mp3 player.. I think it's a Sony. Definetly not an ipod.

140 @141 Ken Nelson:

The smiley after mentioning your wife looks like an anchor.

141 Great.  I spent $289 on one for my wifes birthday, and I am now outside the 30 day price match window. 

142 We have a Kindle 2 (GSM) and an iPod Touch. I find myself using the latter more often - it's always within reach, where the Kindle is not - but my wife prefers the Kindle because it's easier on her eyes. I wouldn't mind a slightly larger device, but as pretty as the iPad is, I'd rather spend the money elsewhere or wait for the iPad 2 with 4G networking.

143 At the reduced price, go for the Kindle now. I have one, and I've plowed through more books in the past 18 months than in the 10 years prior to that. I consider it in my top of 5 prized possessions.

144 I have a monthly subscription to goodereader.com and you can download as many books as you want. You are limited to how many requests you can make, and their books are mostly recent, but I have not needed to make any requests yet as I haven't yet run out of books that I have been dying to read. Works out to about $10 a month. Since you can't browse the library before you sign up, I was pretty leary, but I have been pretty happy with it. If you want more obscure books, I am not sure this would be the best site.

145 I love my Kindle, absolutely love love my Kindle. I have the first one. The e ink is THE BEST the closest to an actual printed page. The ipad is backlit, buzz-fail! If you read for several hours a day every day a backlit 'book' is terrible for your eyes.
In addition you cannot go sit outside and read on your clunky ipad, but you can with the kindle e ink. it fits in one hand like a book. I adapted to the button to turn pages quickly and it is no more annoying than turning the page of a book, ie it isnt.

Penguin is dixcking we bookworms around thanks to Apples IPAD frakking up the ebook pricing. AMN had the model at 9.99 for new releases and then Steve Jobs MR DRM himself, came along offering the publishers the ability to set their own prices on the ebooks, so now Penguin new releases are HIGHER than some hardcover books on AMZN, The stoopid it burns!

Since I have no shelf space left, no storage space, no room for another box of books, I am bitterly, clinging, heh, and fighting Penguin. I will not enable them to gouge me on these prices on ebooks for Charlaine Harris and Laurell K Hamilton. Many of we Kindle readers are waiting them out, when the paperbacks release the Kindle version price will come down :0) see AMZN for our 9.99 Kindle Penguin Charlaine Harris price wars threads!

I reccomend the Kindle.

146
" Did Gabe really say he'd never pay for Nooky?"

I thought everyone knew that.

Posted by: right at June 21, 2010 04:53 PM (EquV1)

***cymbal crash***

147 I saw the question posted but not an answer: Kindle DX?

I got the DX.  I like the size better.  The good thing about the Kindle vs. the IPad is that it isn't back-lit.  A LOT less eye strain, and as folks have said, the battery charge lasts forever in comparison.  Most of the content on Amazon is $9.99 a pop, and it's bound to get cheaper.   Like others have said, I'm running out of room for books, so I had to do something.  My basic rule of thumb is that if I consider it to be an important book, something I want to keep long-term and read more than once, I'll go hard-copy.   If I suspect it's a read-once-and-toss mass-market flavor of the month, I go hard copy.

Plus, as someone mentioned above, Newspapers and magazines are dirt cheap on the kindle, my local fish-wrapper (Philadelphia Inquirer) is 6 bucks a month.  Granted, you don't get all the content, but still...

148 Not in my experience. You can adjust the fonts, text size, and contrast to however you like. And so far I haven't noticed any extra eye fatigue or other effects from reading on it for extended periods.

The eyestrain thing is repeated endlessly, but never actually been demonstrated by anyone, as far as I can tell.

Put it this way: I sit in front of a back-lit monitor at home, then at work all day, then at home again. None of that's ever bothered me and I love being able to adjust font size to be comfortable on all of 'em. A back-lit eReader isn't going to make any difference...and hasn't. As I said, I've been using the iPod Touch as a reader for a year now. Love it.

149 Ipods/pads/phones are multifunctional but the one thing that makes it worth owning the Kindle separately to me is that the screen is not illuminated.  This means that it can be used in broad daylight without the screen washing out.  I like to sit on the porch or lay on the glider and read sometimes so this is big for me.  The downside is that you can't read it in bed at night if you are married without a book light.

150 I luvs me my Kindle.

I have 20,133 ebooks on my desktop and load a dozen at a time on my Kindle to last me a week or so.  Not only does the Kindle accept several formats, but almost any available format can be remade into Kindle format by Caliber.  You can download books, use usb to transfer books, or email yourself books (it has it's own email address).  Amazon will convert anything to Kindle format and send them to the device for a tiny charge...if you buy a book on Amazon they will send it to the Kindle for free.  Amazon even has a free conversion service, but they require you to load the converted book yourself via usb or email.

It has a web browser so yes, you can get porn.

The battery lasts a week at least.

It is not backlit, so you need ambient light.  The reading surface is amazing and comfortable to the eyes.  It's easy to carry.

This is hands-down the best gadget I've seen of it's type.

151 I'm hoping they come out with one that you can backlight if you want to. Hubby has gotten used to sleeping with a pillow over his face but I wonder if prolonged oxygen deprivation is making him stupider.

152 Have they dropped the prices on e-book content yet, or are those fucking scam artists still charging the same price as a physical book?

What leads you think that producing an e-book is all that much cheaper than a tree book?

153 Not quite as awesome as you may believe; it means the deflationary spiral is worsening. We'll continue to get great deals--until the bottom drops out and we're eating grass.

154 What leads you think that producing an e-book is all that much cheaper than a tree book?

Posted by: Deety at June 21, 2010 06:48 PM (aVzyR)

Reduced warehousing and transportation costs, to start?

155

Reduced warehousing and transportation costs, to start?

Posted by: progressoverpeace at June 21, 2010 06:53 PM (Qp4DT)

Yeah, but how much of the total cost of production does that entail?  I mean, I can see the clear advantages and all but I'm unclear what percentage of the production cost of say, your average paperback novel, printing and binding and transporting it is.

156

Reduced warehousing and transportation costs, to start?

Posted by: progressoverpeace at June 21, 2010 06:53 PM (Qp4DT)

Yeah, but how much of the total cost of production does that entail?  I mean, I can see the clear advantages and all but I'm unclear what percentage of the production cost of say, your average paperback novel, printing and binding and transporting it is.

Posted by: Deety at June 21, 2010 07:49 PM (aVzyR)

You don't have to *print* the book, which saves you the costs of paper and printing. You don't have to hire people to order the book, stock the book or sell the book. That is on top ot the warehousing and transportation costs

157 I guess I'm just wondering how much saving the costs of printing actually shaves off of the price of a new release? $3.00? $8.00? $12.00? $18.00?

I'm going to have to disagree somewhat with not needing to pay someone to order, stock or sell the books. 

I mean yeah, no one has to actually deal with the physical books but there will still be a need for someone to "set up shop" even if it's only on the internet where readers can select from a much winnowed down mass of possibly available titles from a vendor whose reputation for quality and selection they trust.

I'm also not too convinced that the $1.00 a song, i-Tunes model would work for whole, you know, books.  Sometimes I'm not too clear on how that works for songs, too be honest.

I mean, it's always amazed me that there are people who are masochistic enough to spend a year or two or three producing an excellent book that I will just burn through in 3-10 hours. 

I should pay them and their publisher less than I might flip into the case of a subway busker?

158 Yay!!! Another technological advance that has the potential to put tens of thousands of people across the US and the world out of work.

What a great world we're living in!!

159 Yeah, e-books may be nice, but how are they at nice big photos of vintage cars and airplanes and other cool stuff that are visual knockouts?  And I still get a kick out of scoring an old aviation book that I'm never, ever gonna find electronically and that doesn't have the same history that the book does (like a book of vignettes about the RAF in action written, published and printed in 1941, before the US got engaged in WWII and given to me as a young sprout by a Sgt. in the RAF; a Kindle version just doesn't have the gravitas that a book like that has.And I have books that my late father put his name in... E-books are nice and convenient, but the real thing has soul. That is not enough to stop me from considering an e-reader, but i will always love the real books over their electronic counterparts.

160 I received a Kindle as a gift from my husband last Christmas.  I would never have bought it for myself,  because I am one who likes real books.

HOWEVER,  I find that I am using it more because I discovered how many free books are available.   Once in a while I download a 9..99 book,  but most of the items in my library are Wodehouse,  Austin,  Chesterton,  Christie, etc.  It's given me a chance to catch up on books I haven't read in years, or classics I never got around to reading.   I also like the fact that I can switch between two books without much trouble.  

I still buy books with pictures,  because Kindle is really only good for text and some black and white photos and diagrams.   Garden books,  photography books,  art books,  etc. are only good in the traditional format.  I also like having books around for reference,  and perhaps I am older I find it easier to go to a book and look something up than searching through the Kindle.  

But for free books,  Kindle is a great gadget!  And I do take mine to the pool.  I just make sure my chair is not too close to the water.

161 I went with the eee pc with flip touch screen and windows 7 (occationally ubuntu linux). The machine does everything my core 2 do desktop does, it's just a bit slower and requires a recharge after 4 hours of multimedia internet browsing, (very lightweight) gaming and running openoffice. I would assume it can handle reading ebooks for longer than that.

162

I got an Astak Probook, it works pretty good. Most of what I read is the public domain stuff from Google Books.

You may want to wait for the Asus 950 ebook reader comes out (which should be real soon). It has a 9 in. display.

163 Love my Nook. I never thought I would want an ereader, but since I read more than one book at a time, I can't carry them all in my purse. With my nook, I have all of them along with audiobooks that I am listening to and my mp3's.  Love it.

164 I was given a Nook for one of those imaginary holidays that Hallmark or FTD invented.  I like it for what it is although I'm not fond of having to throw bidnezz to B&N.  My daughter has a Kindle, and I think the Nook is a bit better reader.  The chess app for the Nook is a somewhat cumbersome to use, but I've gotten the hang of it..  My daughter has been able to download college required reading so her Kindle is pretty close to paying for itself.  The loaner function of the Nook looks to be half-nice; allows the book to be loaned but then evaporates after a couple of weeks.

165 Love our kindle but I feel the books are a bit pricey given the price of the device. Used books from alibris or something can be dirt cheap. It saves a lot of weight on long trips though.

166 I have a Kindle & love it.  Take dozens of books anywhere.  Easy to read.  I just can't read for pleasure on a CRT or LCD.  I did just warn my Dad off 1 because of the upcoming Pixel Qi screens though.  They may be eye easy enough to do both e-reader & general puter and wipe the e-ink readers out.

Try 1 you'll like it.

167

I am thinking to buy Kindle, but 50% of my reading is in Russian and I don't know if I could load Russian book in pdf format on Kindle.

168 Is there an accidental damage warranty available for the Kindle?  There's one for the Nook - it was I think $79 for a two-year plan when the Nook was $250.  Dunno if they've lowered the price on it since the price has come down.

The Kindle doesn't read epub, which was a turn-off for me (although it doesn't matter much given how well Calibre works), as well as the shenanigans Amazon has pulled with yanking back books.  B&N hasn't been active enough to screw up like that yet.

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned using Calibre yet for managing their ebooks.  It does ebook format conversions well too.

169 Due to an accident of non-returnable clauses, I have both a Nook and a Kindle 2. My wife has the Kindle, I the Nook.

My comparison in 2 easy sentences: For 90% of what you'll be doing with it, either device will work and work well. I recommend the Kindle.

- The long version -
Advantage Kindle: 1) Better book selection, 2) hard keyboard, 3) better battery life, 4) faster turning pages, 5) thinner, 6) lighter, 7) portrait mode

Advantage Nook: 1) Cheaper books, 2) accepts more formats, 3) shopping from device is better, 4) better music player, 5) better web browser, 6) Can view book covers on touchscreen.

170 this is just a test

171 another test

172 This thread is long dead, but what the hell:  bought a Sony 505 two years ago, I get very anxious when it is more than five feet away from me.  I thought it would just be for travel, but I can't imagine going back to carrying two books, because I'm almost done with the first book, and what if I run out during lunch...oh, and it's pretty damned sturdy, too.  Me drop stuff.

Most of my books I get for free--first from the Baen site (first book in the series is free, kid!), then gutenberg.org (remember to check out the Canada and Australia sites!), and manybooks.net.  If the Baen free library hasn't sated your thirst for exploding spaceships, google "Baen cd Joe Buckley" and you'll find lots more free stuff.

And yes, Calibre is wonderful. 

Re screens that are bad for your eyes: I spend all damn day on the computer.  When I was off for ten days, I barely turned it on--and my near vision had improved, in spite of having my e-reader grafted to my left hand.  If you're reading e-books on your iPhone or iPad, happy squinting.

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