Kindle Books/ ebooks

[dispatcher812]

I am just starting to get into this whole ebook/kindle thing and I have some questions:

Is there a difference between a kindle book and ebook?

Is there a list of books that are available in Kindle/ Ebook only?

I have a kindle but no books, can i purchase and download books from anywhere? ie Simon and Scheuster, Amazon, BN, etc?

Thanks for all the help and sorry if any has been talke about recently. I have been away for a while and I did do a search but did not find what I need. Mostly. I did find a link to a site that has a Library of books but the more I search for ebooks the more I find that are not on that list. Is there a COMPLETE up to date list. Thanks, Kein

 

[Thrawn]

Kindle books are a certain format of eBooks, but it's the only format that the Kindle will read. That means, if you have a Kindle, you can only buy eBooks from Amazon.com or find free ones.

The vast majority of print-published Trek books are available for Kindle. Exceptions are few and far between. (I'm guessing less than a dozen, total, but I'm not completely sure.)

The only eBooks that have never been reprinted in real books are the final 8 entries of the SCE series, and the TNG miniseries Slings & Arrows.

If you're searching in the Amazon store, be careful that some of the Trek eBooks are not listed quite correctly. Many are missing the "Star Trek" part of the title, and many multi-author collections are listed with only one author. My advice is to search the store for the print version, then click the "get this book on the Kindle" button after you find it there. But almost everything should be available.

 

[Ktrek]

Kindle books are a certain format of eBooks, but it's the only format that the Kindle will read. That means, if you have a Kindle, you can only buy eBooks from Amazon.com or find free ones.

This statement is not completely true. The Kindle also supports prc, mobi and pdf files. Some ebook retailers do offer books in prc and/or mobi. Obviously these would need to be sideloaded onto the Kindle. The most popular format is called Epub and Kindle does not support and probably will not support it. Most other reading devices do though. However, the main thing is that you are not fully locked into Amazon but it is the most convenient source for you.

Kevin

 

[Thrawn]

^ Yeah, all that's true, but the vast majority of ebook sales are DRM-ed, and Kindle DRM is the only DRM that will work. So it's still true that if you're buying a book from somewhere that isn't Amazon, you're probably doing it wrong. And either way, as you say, Amazon is the most convenient.

 

[Ktrek]

Ahhh!!! I didn't know that the Kindle will not read DRMed files. The Nook does so I just assumed that if the Kindle supported the file type it would read it even if it had DRM. My bad! All the more reason to own a nook instead of a Kindle in my opinion.

Kevin

 

[JWolf]

The Kindle's AZW format is a Mobipocket with a modified DRM. The Kindle will display DRM-free Mobipocket without a problem. But you do have to load them onto the Kindle via USB from a computer.

 

[ronny]

The Kindle's AZW format is a Mobipocket with a modified DRM. The Kindle will display DRM-free Mobipocket without a problem. But you do have to load them onto the Kindle via USB from a computer.

Trivial point but you can email documents to your kindle. When you register your kindle you get an email address that you can send documents to your kindle. There are certain formats, like html, txt or rtf, that will be converted to AZW format for you. It costs something like fifteen cents a meg.

 

[OmahaStar]

The Kindle's AZW format is a Mobipocket with a modified DRM. The Kindle will display DRM-free Mobipocket without a problem. But you do have to load them onto the Kindle via USB from a computer.

Trivial point but you can email documents to your kindle. When you register your kindle you get an email address that you can send documents to your kindle. There are certain formats, like html, txt or rtf, that will be converted to AZW format for you. It costs something like fifteen cents a meg.

And with the Nook, you can use USB and put them on your Nook directly. It doesn't cost a thing, and it can read every format except Microsoft Word. And since you're doing it directly, you don't have to email it to anyone, and only you can read it. Big Brother - sorry, Amazon - can't reach in and simply delete it, or snoop through your files. Cuz they have done that.

 

[ronny]

The Kindle's AZW format is a Mobipocket with a modified DRM. The Kindle will display DRM-free Mobipocket without a problem. But you do have to load them onto the Kindle via USB from a computer.

Trivial point but you can email documents to your kindle. When you register your kindle you get an email address that you can send documents to your kindle. There are certain formats, like html, txt or rtf, that will be converted to AZW format for you. It costs something like fifteen cents a meg.

And with the Nook, you can use USB and put them on your Nook directly. It doesn't cost a thing, and it can read every format except Microsoft Word. And since you're doing it directly, you don't have to email it to anyone, and only you can read it. Big Brother - sorry, Amazon - can't reach in and simply delete it, or snoop through your files. Cuz they have done that.

I didn't say you couldn't use a USB cable, I said you can mail your docs as an option. People are asking about the Kindle and I'm just throwing in some, probably, pedantic info about its capabilities. The OP has already bought a Kindle and was asking some questions about it so I'm not sure what rambling about your Nook accomplishes here since there's already a comparison thread.

 

[JWolf]

Amazon should add ePub to the Kindle. But the reason they don't is because Jeff Bezos will not give up any control of the Kindle.

 

[T'Ressa Dax]

Knew there was more than one good reason I wasn't bothering with the Kindle...

 

[juanm]

Other than hating on Kindle for what I perceive are ideological reasons (the person who mentioned Amazon is Big Brother), which book or item did they prevent you from owning and viewing? I do have a Kindle and it by no means meets my idea of perfection, but then again I am sure I would say the same about a Nook or a Sony ereader if I owned one.

 

[Smitty]

Amazon should add ePub to the Kindle. But the reason they don't is because Jeff Bezos will not give up any control of the Kindle.

Sort of sounds like the "coolest" company on the planet, Apple eh?

 

[Smitty]

Other than hating on Kindle for what I perceive are ideological reasons (the person who mentioned Amazon is Big Brother), which book or item did they prevent you from owning and viewing? I do have a Kindle and it by no means meets my idea of perfection, but then again I am sure I would say the same about a Nook or a Sony ereader if I owned one.

I do not have a ereader unfortunately. However, I have use a Kindle, iPad, Nook and Sony reader via friends who have them. If I could buy one today it would be a kindle. I think I would like the freedom of reading my book on the kindle, PC and smartphones and have it sync across platform as to where bookmark is.

 

[garoo1980]

I have Kobo, which is very similar to the Nook or the Sony ones, and I love it. It does require you to use USB/Bluetooth to get data on it but it reads every format around. Although I suppose the sync is a pain I loaded 6 books in there when I first did it and haven't finished those yet, so its not like I need to sync often. I suppose the wireless would be easier but its not a big deal to use the cable.

 

[Xenu Cruise]

I just downloaded and started reading my first ebook last night on the Kindle. I'm not impressed so far. The kindle is ok, but I wish there were more of a contrast between the words and the screen. Its like the actual "page" is a shade of grey. I would like it if the actual text could pop more.

Also the format for the book I'm reading (the first Vanguard book) is wonky. There are no left indentations at all so every paragraph is completely left justified. That can be difficult when reading dialogue. Also, the separations in paragraphs are off. When there should be at least a double or four spaces after a paragraph to let the reader know we are probably going to have a scene change, there is nothing. The next "scene" starts on the very next line. It is obnoxious. I don't know if these problems are exclusive to this book, but I may just go back to the actual hard books.

 

[Mysterio]

Ihave aKoboand Ifindthe formattingisvery poor.Manyof thewordsarestucktogether anditmakes for verydifficultreading.

 

[EmperorKalan]

I just downloaded and started reading my first ebook last night on the Kindle. I'm not impressed so far. The kindle is ok, but I wish there were more of a contrast between the words and the screen. Its like the actual "page" is a shade of grey. I would like it if the actual text could pop more.

Also the format for the book I'm reading (the first Vanguard book) is wonky. There are no left indentations at all so every paragraph is completely left justified. That can be difficult when reading dialogue. Also, the separations in paragraphs are off. When there should be at least a double or four spaces after a paragraph to let the reader know we are probably going to have a scene change, there is nothing. The next "scene" starts on the very next line. It is obnoxious. I don't know if these problems are exclusive to this book, but I may just go back to the actual hard books.

I'm looking at my Kindle version of Harbinger right now, and I don't see any of those problems. Left indents: check. Gap space to indicate "scene" change: check.

Check with tech support. My WAG* is that either something glitched when the file was sent to you, or someone updated the source file badly and it needs to be fixed so that users can re-download a good version.

(*WAG: wild-ass guess)

Can't help the screen appearance. That was just the state of the tech when it was developed. It's in keeping with other "electronic ink" ereaders I've seen, though.

 

[Ktrek]

The trick with eink is having good lightling. I think if you try better lighting and maybe up the font size you will have a better reading experience. I like eink a lot. I think it's much more comfortable than computer or even paper.

Kevin

 

[JWolf]

I just downloaded and started reading my first ebook last night on the Kindle. I'm not impressed so far. The kindle is ok, but I wish there were more of a contrast between the words and the screen. Its like the actual "page" is a shade of grey. I would like it if the actual text could pop more.

Also the format for the book I'm reading (the first Vanguard book) is wonky. There are no left indentations at all so every paragraph is completely left justified. That can be difficult when reading dialogue. Also, the separations in paragraphs are off. When there should be at least a double or four spaces after a paragraph to let the reader know we are probably going to have a scene change, there is nothing. The next "scene" starts on the very next line. It is obnoxious. I don't know if these problems are exclusive to this book, but I may just go back to the actual hard books.

I just took a look at the sample for Harbinger and it has no indents and no spaces between paragraphs. And yes, it is very difficult to read.

Can you please turn on private messages?

Ihave aKoboand Ifindthe formattingisvery poor.Manyof thewordsarestucktogether anditmakes for verydifficultreading.

The book you are reading with the run-on words... where did you get it and what book is it?

It's not the fault of the Kobo but of the book you are trying to read.