has anyone used or owned a kindle?

[EdipisReks]

i've been reading a lot of books on my iPhone (i've read a couple thousand pages on it, by now, since i started using Stanza), and while it's a pretty good experience and is very convenient, i wouldn't mind having a dedicated device. i love the design of the Sony's eReaders (especially the new one that is coming out), but their store looks like it kinda sucks. the Kindle has a much larger selection of books, and the thing is Mac compatible out of the box. the design isn't as good, but i can overlook that if the reading experience is really good. anyone know if it's really good? if Amazon releases a 2.0 that fixes the design issue that'd be great, but it doesn't look like a new one is coming out anytime soon...

[thrice]

Yeah it sucks. I doubt they will release a new model before Christmas, especially after that Oprah infomercial about it a few weeks ago. There are rumors and pics of what 2.0 might look like. I'd like one too, but I think I'll just wait for 2.0.

[EdipisReks]

i didn't know there was an Oprah infomercial.

[n_maher]

Oprah Kindle Effect = Kindle Out Of Stock, 2-3 weeks delay. Amazon Kindle, Books, Kindle Reader 2.0 - the Kindle Review

[JBLoudG20]

I've been interested in ebook readers for a long time now, but I just can't seem to pull the trigger.

I know Micaela has a Kindle, if you want to contact her.

[archosman]

Brother in Law has one. I got a chance to look at it a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was pretty cool and had an easy to read screen. He got it 3 or 4 months ago and uses it quite a bit.

[EdipisReks]

was there anything particularly wonky about it that you noticed, archosman?

[laxx]

A good friend of mine has a Kindle and loves it to death. I tried it out for a bit and it's pretty awesome. It's great on your eyes and there's no fatigue at all.

My ex-coworker had the Sony e-reader and he loved it, but that's also because he read chinese books, which I don't think the Kindle supports.

I'd love a color Kindle so that I can read comics on them.

[ojnihs]

i've used my friend's kindle quite a few times, and I can't get past the next page button on the right side, it's way too easy to accidentally push. if they fix the design, i'd probably get one.

[EdipisReks]

i think color eInk is a ways away.

is that the only thing you don't like, oj? if it weren't for that, you would just get one instead of waiting for the next revision?

[JBLoudG20]

DEW EAT NOW

[EdipisReks]

DEW EAT NOW

give me $359 for that 6SN7W and i will.

[blessingx]

Hard to get excited about the hardware. Like the scenerio of paying more for an albums MP3s than a CD, I'm waiting for the price of new release electronic books to come way down. Well that and I've got some incredible libraries near me I can use for free.

[wavoman]

I have a Kindle and use it all the time. Good but not great -- however it does allow me to bring a huge reference library with me when I travel, and that has been very, very helpful.

It is poor for technical books with lots of diagrams and formulas, since you can't flip back and forth between the pages quickly, as in (with a real book) keeping your thumb on page 141 (with the key chart) while you are reading page 144 and doing that quick flip. But I still have a lot of math, comp sci, and stats books on it ... love having them with me.

Also excellent for fiction, taking 20 books on a summer vacation for instance -- no issues there. My wife's stepmom stole mine from me on a 2-week vacation this summer and read every spy and mystery book I had on it.

It takes an iGo A00 tip, in case you are in to iGo (as I am).

The absolutely instant availability of books is fantastic. Someone mentions a book, and bang! I am reading it.

Very nice first effort all-in-all. Of course it will get better. But I never regret owning v.1 of anything. I bought the third IBM PC sold retail in Illinois -- dual 180K floppies, no other storage, 640 RAM maximum, Visicalc and BASIC, that's about it -- in the early '80s (they were sold only at Sears Business Centers, and only the one in Arlington near O'Hare got the first allocation ... I drove hours from Ann Arbor Michigan and the salesguy told me I was buyer 3). Loved it, and made my career.

If you read books on your iPhone you will love a Kindle.

[EdipisReks]

now that's the kinda shit i was wantin' to hear

[archosman]

was there anything particularly wonky about it that you noticed, archosman?

My brother in law says sometimes it doesn't navigate easily or as rapidly as a real book. In other words if you want to go back a couple of pages it takes a little to go back. It's also a little slow when you're online and doing multiple things... but it's not really designed to truly surf the net. It's basically a cell phone built into it that allows you to go online and download books.

Other than that he still loves his and uses it all the time. It's got a great screen.

[ojnihs]

i think color eInk is a ways away.

is that the only thing you don't like, oj? if it weren't for that, you would just get one instead of waiting for the next revision?

well, it's not a perfect device, but damn is it convenient. the page next button really, really bothers me though, I feel like I can't hold it like a normal book and that does it for me. if it wasn't for that, then yeah, i'd probably get the current version because it does what it's supposed to do and it does it pretty damn well. i tried to read e-books on my iPhone, but I definitely didn't like it as much as the kindle.

[Sherwood]

I own a Mac and the Sony, and I recommend against it unless you wanna use parallels all the effing time.

I absolutely love the device, but it should be noted that it doesn't do everything well. Think of the screen as a fixed size piece of paper, and you're golden. Anything that fits on that paper, like text or very small charts, looks beautiful. PDFs designed for 8 1/2 x 11 paper look ghastly. If you want to use it for recreational reading or review of standard-sized source material without a lot of graphs, charts, or illustrations it's really a handy device.

[tkam]

I see in Amazon's feature-list for the Kindle it talks about auto delivery of popular newspapers like the ny times, wsj, etc. Is there subscription fees associated with that or is just pulling the free stuff off their websites?

[EdipisReks]

i believe there are subscription fees.