What I Learned Today…

Web 2.0 and programming tips from a library technology enthusiast, What I Learned Today… covers blogs, rss, wikis and more as they relate to libraries.

Kindling My Interest

December 1st, 2007

I wrote about Amazon Kindle last week and thought that it sounded like a neat tool. Since then I’ve read many reviews from colleagues and experts and I’m still not sure where I stand. I do have to say that Mary’s post has pushed me more toward the pro side than any other.

I’m trying out an AMAZON KINDLE. Love it.

It’s clearly designed by people who READ. Delightful to read the newspaper, magazines, books, your own documents. You can read for hours comfortably. In fact, I believe that in many scenarios, I’d PREFER this, yes you read that right, I’d prefer the KINDLE to a real book or magazine. That surprises me, even though I was looking for the convenience of an ebook reader (dozens or hundreds of titles), I always expected to say, “of course the paper book is a better reading experience.” That may be changing. This not only rivals the paper experience, it surpasses it in many ways. It’s EASIER to hold than a hardback, easier to turn pages with one hand than a paperback or newspaper, and that’s all before the extra features.

Yes, I know about the DRM and privacy complaints, and I hear you. But you don’t have to use Amazon as your source of content. I’ve emailed myself open documents that I want to read (10 cents a document). I’ve also gone to manybooks.net to get a bunch of mobipocket (or .txt) titles for free and transferred by cable – free. No tracking of my reading there.

Sounds like a pretty darn cool toy – my only problem is the price – I’m not sure I want to pay $400 for a tool to allow me to read books and then buy the book as well – when I could just buy the book for $15 … in short, this is a technology I’m going to keep my eyes on and will probably give in to once its price lowers just a bit :)

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Comments

9 Comments

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  • JanieH says on: December 4, 2007 at 10:18 pm

     

    Hey Nicole,
    I just ordered one for the Gadget Garage at PPL. Drop by during lunch one day and we can play with it together. I will let you know when it comes… we can get lunch at the library cafe.
    Janie

  • JanieH says on: December 4, 2007 at 11:18 pm

     

    Hey Nicole,
    I just ordered one for the Gadget Garage at PPL. Drop by during lunch one day and we can play with it together. I will let you know when it comes… we can get lunch at the library cafe.
    Janie

  • Nicole says on: December 5, 2007 at 10:53 am

     

    Oooo – you’re bribing me to walk down there in the freezing cold!! :) and it’s working!

  • Nicole says on: December 5, 2007 at 11:53 am

     

    Oooo – you’re bribing me to walk down there in the freezing cold!! :) and it’s working!

  • Nicole says on: December 7, 2007 at 5:48 am

     

    PS. Mary found a way to transfer multiple documents to her Kindle.

  • Nicole says on: December 7, 2007 at 6:48 am

     

    PS. Mary found a way to transfer multiple documents to her Kindle.

  • Nicole says on: December 7, 2007 at 12:19 pm

     

    Another reason to wait for version 2 of the Kindle – maybe it will be more open!

  • Nicole says on: December 7, 2007 at 1:19 pm

     

    Another reason to wait for version 2 of the Kindle – maybe it will be more open!

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