I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books...

[wizkid]

I am going to give that thing a go. I think it would help reduce the number of shelves I have devoted to ST: TNG pocket books. I will report back on my joy or displeasure with the device when it comes in. I am expecting it to arrive according to Amazon.com around the 6th of December. I am also curious to see if it downloads the three books I purchased in advance like Amazon claims. If this is true, I get saved a 45 minute trip to the nearest bookstore or the wait of ordering online and creating more garbage than necessary (according to my wife).

I do not want an arguement over what a real book is but we can discuss Star Trek's influence on the Kindle itself. Let's face it, Picard uses them all the time in TNG, just have a few hundred years of time to get better looking.

I do think the arguments over what constitutes a book are funny in a forum where the people are devoted to reading about a society that uses a thin computer pad to read reports, write reports, and a host of other things.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

I'm waiting for them to come down in price. I can't see spending as much for a Kindle (with what, 512mb of memory) as I spent for my iPod Touch with 16gb of memory.

I already went through losing the first 24 (yes, 24) SCE ebooks when I upgraded my desktop machine several years ago. I had only read the first dozen or so, too. I'm waiting for something that is backwards compatible with my existing library (which now consists of the Mere Anarchy series -- in PDF format -- purchased last summer) before I commit to a reader.

I secretly hope that once Apple opens up the OS on the Touch, I'll be able to download some reader software and, possibly, be able to read the ebooks I already own on the Touch. It might not happen, but that dream, and the price, are what's keeping me from dropping $400 on the Kindle.

 

[Amy Sisson]

I'm really interested to hear what you think of it once you've given it a go. So please keep us posted!

 

[wizkid]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

I will definitely write up a detailed review of it. I read quite a bit for fun and work. Engineer by default means I had to order two books regarding work and I am waiting for more reference manuals to become available with equations and such. Don't worry though, I am going to put it through it's paces.

So far, I don't like that everything is purchased with one-click. You have to set which credit card you want to use. I swap back and forth between my work card and personal card quite a bit. That is a bummer so far.

 

[Lee]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

I actually ordered it but then cancelled my order when I realized that I live two miles outside a covered zone, so I would have had no wireless connectivity.

I still could have used it by buying and downloading books on my PC and transferring it to the Kindle. But it annoyed me to think about how other people are paying the same cost and getting wireless, while I couldn't have it. I also liked the idea of being able to access Wikipedia wirelessly.

Deciding whether or not to buy it was an agonizing procedure. There were a lot of pros and cons. I really love the idea of a dedicated ebook reader. But the lack of wireless coverage pushed me over into the "con" column. So I've decided to wait it out for a year or two, wait until things settle down a bit. I'm hoping that they either increase the coverage, or else offer a downsized, cheaper model that doesn't use wireless. I'd also like to see their available content improve.

 

[Christopher]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

By the way, here's a good in-depth article from Newsweek about the Kindle and the future of reading:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983

 

[Julio Angel Ortiz]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

I love the idea of the device, but no backlight, DRM, small storage space, and lack of format compatibility kills it for me. Maybe a future version.

 

[rafterman1701]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

I'm not happy with the looks of it or the price, but it would be cool to have one. Let us know what you think.

 

[exalted one]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

Don't worry about Kindle, it is just a step in totally wrong direction. Overpriced, unefficient, clumsy device.
Just wait a few more months. Once there are enough cracked e-books available on p2p networks to justify the mass production of reader devices, you will be able to choose from two dozens various highly functional, DRM-ignoring, cost-efficient readers of chinese and taiwanese provenance.

When the time comes, Kindle might be indeed useful... as a paperweight.

 

[T'Bonz]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

^
Let's keep discussion of illegalities out of here, please.

 

[JWolf]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

Daddy Todd said:
I'm waiting for them to come down in price. I can't see spending as much for a Kindle (with what, 512mb of memory) as I spent for my iPod Touch with 16gb of memory.

I already went through losing the first 24 (yes, 24) SCE ebooks when I upgraded my desktop machine several years ago. I had only read the first dozen or so, too. I'm waiting for something that is backwards compatible with my existing library (which now consists of the Mere Anarchy series -- in PDF format -- purchased last summer) before I commit to a reader.

Did you do what a lot of people do and reformat your system drive without backing up the data you actually want to keep? As far as PDF goes, there will come a time when you will not be able to read them. Acrobat 8 is already incompatible. And I can foresee a time when you have to choose features of Acrobat reader vs. your PDF books.

I secretly hope that once Apple opens up the OS on the Touch, I'll be able to download some reader software and, possibly, be able to read the ebooks I already own on the Touch. It might not happen, but that dream, and the price, are what's keeping me from dropping $400 on the Kindle.

I've seen the screen of the touch. Way too small to read ebooks.

 

[JWolf]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

Amy Sisson said:
I'm really interested to hear what you think of it once you've given it a go. So please keep us posted!

I do have a Sony Reader PRS-505 and I really do like it. The eink screen is quite nice. And it lets you not have to be tied to the computer. The screen is a good size so you are not getting eye strain looking at tiny print. The battery life is better then the Kindle. Same screen as the Kindle. I do read all the SCE with it. I was going to get Sky's the Limit today, but simonsay.com is not working for ebooks today. I find ebooks work very well eith the 2nd generation eink screen. Plus, eventually, all your Star trek ebooks will save you money in the long run as they are cheaper then the paper editions.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

JWolf said:
Did you do what a lot of people do and reformat your system drive without backing up the data you actually want to keep?

No, I bought a new box, and when I tried to move them to the new hard drive, I learned their DRM was somehow keyed to my old drive; I was unable to open them after the move, even though I was pretty sure I'd correctly installed the reader software. I'd purchased them through the Palm store (Palm Reader format, which is now dead, IIRC) which had since stopped selling e-books, and they would offer me no support in unlocking or re-downloading them.

I've seen the screen of the Touch. Way too small to read ebooks.

Turn it sideways and it would be adequate.

 

[JWolf]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

Daddy Todd said:

JWolf said:
Did you do what a lot of people do and reformat your system drive without backing up the data you actually want to keep?

No, I bought a new box, and when I tried to move them to the new hard drive, I learned their DRM was somehow keyed to my old drive; I was unable to open them after the move, even though I was pretty sure I'd correctly installed the reader software. I'd purchased them through the Palm store (Palm Reader format, which is now dead, IIRC) which had since stopped selling e-books, and they would offer me no support in unlocking or re-downloading them.

Palm format has since become eReader format. eReader format uses your personal info (credit card & name) to allow you to read it. MobiPocket uses a PID. I'm not sure how to keep the same PID when you move to a new computer. I will try to find out. MS Reader you just activate again and it'll work supposedly.

I've seen the screen of the Touch. Way too small to read ebooks.

Turn it sideways and it would be adequate.

Still, not many lines sideways.

 

[ATimson]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

Daddy Todd said:
I'd purchased them through the Palm store (Palm Reader format, which is now dead, IIRC) which had since stopped selling e-books, and they would offer me no support in unlocking or re-downloading them.

eReader was spun off from Palm; try your old login there. It might well work.

 

[TK421]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

I like the idea of the kindle but the thing is unforgivably butt ugly, and the memory size, considering the price, is a joke.

Now if Apple come out with some gorgeous variation, I'll be there.

 

[Daddy Todd]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

Holy cow, that worked! I got back 18 books (Foundations through Collective Hindsight) that I've been locked out of since February, 2004.

I had no idea they'd spun their store off; I thought they just shut it down.

Thanks, Andrew! You ROCK!

 

[T'Bonz]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

I just read an article on the Kindle last night and was intrigued. Eventually, I'd be interested in getting one (once bugs are worked out, prices drop a bit, etc.)

 

[ATimson]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

Daddy Todd said:
Thanks, Andrew! You ROCK!

You're welcome.

 

[JWolf]

Re: I just bought a Kindle and the first three Titan books..

The Vizplex version of the eink screen is quite nice. It is very easy on the eyes. The Sony Reader PRS-505 uses it and so does the Amazon Kindle.