Who has a Kindle...

dave lackey said:
Ampguy, thanks, that helps with some of the things it can do.

1. What is the cost beyond buying a Kindle unit and purchasing a book? Is there a monthly user fee? Does one have to have a separate account, etc.?
2. Can a photographer place a book or other product with Kindle or anyone else and others can actually see the product and order it?

Ha, ha... something that respects you when you roll over on it in your sleep is okay IMO!:) Once had a yorkie and he wasn't happy!
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Dear Dave,

What is the cost beyond buying a Kindle unit and purchasing a book? Zero. You don't even have to purchase a book.

Is there a monthly user fee? No.

Does one have to have a separate account, etc.? No.

Can a photographer place a book or other product with Kindle or anyone else and others can actually see the product and order it? Yes.

I'd not consider it otherwise.

Cheers,

R.
 
John Camp said:
I have both an iPad and a Nook (Barnes and Nobles' 'Kindle') and was quite enthusiastic about them at first, and now use them only rarely. I've gone back almost exclusively to printed books. And I read a lot.

For me, electronic books are mostly good for reference works, such as travel guides. I also suspect they'd be good for authors who write technical books that need to be frequently updated, as with people who write photography or computer or software guides. If, for example, you wrote a guide for Lightroom 3, you could update it with each new revision, and keep your book absolutely current, where it might otherwise become obsolete. This would be especially useful in small technical niches where not huge numbers of books are sold.

They would be very useful for people who have limited access to good book stores.

The Kindle is somewhat crippled because it isn't yet offered in color, as far as I know. The Nook is, which means that it can reproduce color photographs, which is especially useful with guide books.

Unfortunately, none of the electronic books have put much emphasis on such things. Instead, they emphasize best-selling novels, which I find are more comfortably read in paper. Also, I find it much easier to browse books in bookstores -- there are a lot of visual cues to book quality that you don't see on an electronic book, and I want to browse extensively before I buy a novel. When I do find a book, I then go ahead and buy it on the spot, rather than noting it and buying it later on the Nook or iPad.

I find the greatest use for the iPad is in travel, with the cell-phone hookup for internet browsing. I have been driving across the American southwest, through small towns, have had my girlfriend use the iPad to check Starbucks locations, and had her take me directly to the proper exit, and then straight to the Starbucks. You can also look at maps, attractions, etc., as you travel. I do a lot of travel, and keep the iPad in the car.

I should note that the Nook has a common hack (Google "nook hack") that turns it into a fully functional Android tablet, just like a smart phone...the equivalent of an iPad.

Ctein, the well-known photo printer and photographer and free-lance genius, also recommends the iPad as a photo cache and review platform. I think it would be excellent for that, although I use a MacBook Air.

JC
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Dear John,

Exactly. That's why I'm gambling on its becoming (reasonably) popular with people who can read, rather than hardcore computer nerds.

But it's a gamble.

Cheers,

R.
 
Roger Hicks said:
Dear Dave,

What is the cost beyond buying a Kindle unit and purchasing a book? Zero. You don't even have to purchase a book.

Is there a monthly user fee? No.

Does one have to have a separate account, etc.? No.

Can a photographer place a book or other product with Kindle or anyone else and others can actually see the product and order it? Yes.

I'd not consider it otherwise.

Cheers,

R.
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Cool...now someone can help by explaining how I would go about doing such a thing with my own book, etc. Is Amazon the way to go? Can I use the current link with Adorama? It would certainly be interesting because printing a full photo essay is expensive to say the least.:rolleyes:
 
Folks interested in publishing books with photos on an electronic platform should take a look at the sale figures for iPad, Kindle, Nook, etc., if they are actually available. iPad sales are leapfrogging everything else. HP, for example, introduced it's own iPad-killer in June, only to kill it this weekend.

An iPad is a much, much better platform for image display than a Kindle.

A Kindle app is available for the iPad, which effectively makes it a Kindle with a better screen. Amazon also recently rolled out a Kindle website that offers most of the functionality of the Kindle. If you have a Kindle account, you see the same thing in all three instances.
 
^ I would never read a novel on an iPad screen...ever. It's an LCD screen and thus has a refresh rate. Which definitely gives me a headache if I look at too long without taking a break.

The kindle has E-INK. Which has no refresh rate as it doesn't move once it's set. Even if it's turned "off" the screen will always show the last image it was set to with our without power. Because it's static, this makes reading on a kindle the same as reading printed paper (to our eyes) which means I can read it forever without getting a headache.

I have a kindle. It's amazing FOR NOVELS.
If you read a lot novels this is the only reason to buy a kindle.
Also, I recently moved to Bangkok. English books are not cheap here. It's nice to be able to download my own books for free and read them.

Also, I'm not sure if it was mentioned before or not in the past 7 pages (as I didn't read all of them) but there is a free program that will convert any text/pdf/ebook/mobi document into kindle format. You can get it HERE
 
FalseDigital said:
^ I would never read a novel on an iPad screen...ever. It's an LCD screen and thus has a refresh rate. Which definitely gives me a headache if I look at too long without taking a break.
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I take your point. LCD's don't bother me, but I know they do others. The Kindle is also much easier to use outdoors.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned space constraints. That was a major factor in my decision to buy a Kindle a couple of years ago. I love the physicality of books, but I was running out of room to put them.

Also, when you relocate, it's easier and cheaper to drag 3,500 books along in a Kindle or a Nook or an iPad or whatever than in a truck.
 
When we moved into our house in 2005, I had about 50, 60 boxes of books. It was heavy, and a royal pain. I read a lot, and would keep adding to the pile were it not for ebooks.

I've tried a bunch of ebook readers, reviewed some for a magazine I write for, and have settled on the Kindle app on an iPad. If the LCD refresh doesn't bug you, it's great. Batteries last a long time, no need for random other lights to read by, holds a ton, it's easy. I've read dozens of books on it.

Plus the iPad has some great multimedia books, like a wonderful edition of Alice in Wonderland that my daughters love. I'm reading the Mongoliad, a website by Neal Stephenson and Greg Bear which is sort of a serial novel, plus random art and such. There's an app for the iPad that makes reading on that a bit nicer than using the web browser.

When an iPad weighs as little as it does, and replaces hundreds of pounds of paper books (especially when traveling, where I can leave the big hardbacks at home), I see that as nothing but a good thing.
 
i have a book and paper fetish. i love books. i love loving books. but, i HATE moving and storing books. i got a kindle about two months ago and i'm going to read down my Big Ol Pile o' Books in the house and then go kindle as much as possible. some books, like the wonderful _sea of poppies_, which have lots of foreign words and dialect slang and notes all bound up in a glossary in the back, suck on a kindle. they require you to flip to the back a lot. but books you can read in linear fashion are wonderful.
 
My daughter bought one to take on some long flights, and she seemed not to like it, mostly because it didn't do anything else, and because it was hard to navigate. Now, she's published in ebook form, and is interested in the concept. (Disclaimer: she does own a large independant book store.) I think she likes the idea of reading on her iPad more.
Roger, have you investigated (or been contacted by) http://www.subtext.com/ ?
 
Roger Hicks said:
Dear Dave,

Bear in mind it's a miserably small 9x12cm format. Will try to call soon to discuss the idea.

Cheers,

R.
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Had you been talking about celluloid then you'd not use the words miserably small I'd suspect ;)

I've bought two Kindles, one for my mum and one for my wife. Personally I use an iPad with Kindle being the most used app by far. I would consider a dedicated Kindle for three reasons (over an iPad). Size, battery and screen. The latter is a feat of engineering. yes you require light to read the Kindle, but the reflective screen is so good for reading, its a joke and not half bad for B+W imaging (considering size, price etc). I commend Amazon for their novel approach to energi effective screen technology, at the same time achieving such a wonderful result.
 
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I have the oiginal Kindle, waited 6 months for them to clear the backlog. IMO the kindle is the best for reading. I have used an ipad and laptop but the backlit screen kills your eyes when reading for an hour. I can't speak for the new ones but the kindle I have has only limited grayscale and isn't really suited for photographs. As for text it is the best and has the best battery life, it only uses power when you are changing pages or hooked up online.
 
Apple's been known to replace iPhones gratis at its stores, even out of warranty. Don't know about iPads. But, it's in their interest to spread a little good will and keep unhappy customers from posting online rants.
 
Okay, let me get a couple of things straight in my feeble mind.:p Since I am not thinking of just reading books with a lot of text...

If one has a Kindle, one can view a book in the form of a photo essay but it would be in black and white only. But how is the quality of the images?

If one were to move up to an iPad, one could use the Kindle app and do the same thing but would also be able to view color photos at a good resolution, correct? Plus all the other things an iPad can do...

And finally, for now :rolleyes:, Best Buy has a lot of options for iPad purchases. What is the best, meaning better than adequate at the most reasonable price, or is it the same ol same ol about the more the better (wifi, 64gb, etc.)?
 
It's E-ink and and therefore cannot render images very well. Yes, they will render but it's not the same as a black and white tv rendering you might picture in your head.

I DO NOT recommend the kindle for viewing photos. Yes it can view them but definitely not in quality resolution,contrast, etc. It's more for reading novels. It can also read newspapers well too where images are there more as an aid to the story rather than a focal point.

dave lackey said:
Okay, let me get a couple of things straight in my feeble mind.:p Since I am not thinking of just reading books with a lot of text...

If one has a Kindle, one can view a book in the form of a photo essay but it would be in black and white only. But how is the quality of the images?

If one were to move up to an iPad, one could use the Kindle app and do the same thing but would also be able to view color photos at a good resolution, correct? Plus all the other things an iPad can do...

And finally, for now :rolleyes:, Best Buy has a lot of options for iPad purchases. What is the best, meaning better than adequate at the most reasonable price, or is it the same ol same ol about the more the better (wifi, 64gb, etc.)?
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FalseDigital said:
It's E-ink and and therefore cannot render images very well. Yes, they will render but it's not the same as a black and white tv rendering you might picture in your head.

I DO NOT recommend the kindle for viewing photos. Yes it can view them but definitely not in quality resolution,contrast, etc. It's more for reading novels. It can also read newspapers well too where images are there more as an aid to the story rather than a focal point.
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Agree. The Kindle display is made to display text. The iPad uses the same kind of LCD display Apple uses in its other products. Photos viewed on my iPad look the same as on my desktop Mac.
 
I love my Kindle for reading. It really excels at that. The e-Ink technology is easy on the eyes and the interface gets out of your way for reading. As far as photography, I've found that PDF's display much better than jpegs or any other format I've tried - much better tonal range, resolution, everything - much better! I've produced multi-page PDF documents from my photographs that display pretty damn good on the Kindle.

Ultimately, the Kindle is perfect for reading. That's what I use it for and it performs very well for that - exactly what it's intended for. Just because it can do a few other things doesn't mean it's very good at them too. It's not an iPad, but then it doesn't cost what an iPad does either.
 
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