Anybody have a Kindle?

Ouch- $300 for the device... and then you still pay $10 per book?

Looks like a great idea... but I'm not surprised they aren't big sellers.

Your wife will be lucky to get one!

Aren't?  are you kidding.....seems like they've flown out of Amazon? We first got one for our boss for xmas, and got it early enough but when others wanted to get one last November they were on back order till February. 

I have one, my co worker has one, and my boss has one and we LOVE it, I mean absolutely LOVE it.  I'm a big reader ...of many books at one time.  It's always a struggle when I go away, even for a weekend of "what to take, what to take" 

I also just LOVE the "green" aspect to it.  $9.99 for almost every best seller, but the fact I'm not using more trees.

Most complaints I see about "Oh, I like the feel of a book" blah blah blah, seem to all come from folks who don't actually own one.  Maybe a few here or there, but overwhelmingly, book lovers really like it. 

Far superior to other e-readers in that you can download books, magazines, newspapers on the spot.  I was boarding a plane and was all like "oops, what do I feel like?"  Within  seconds walking down the jetway, had the NY Times.

No back lighting = easy on the eyes.  Adjustable font means no glasses for bedtime reading with these aging eyes.

And it's very lightweight to carry around anytime you think you'd be stuck in line somewhere.  The battery life lasts forever. 

I will say "fluff" books I read, I still check out from the library, but anything of substance I really don't have problems using the Kindle.  And the magazine selections are growing, and that's what I love. 

I wonder if there's any being offloaded on Craig's List yet?
(can you tell I really like it? :-)

Edited by travljini 2009-07-28 3:12 PM

I would LOVE to have one.  It was on the top of my list until I caught this tri bug and now I think I need a Garmin instead.

My husband has one.  I bought the first generation kindle for him shortly after it came out.  He really likes it.  It's easier to read over long periods of time because it doesn't strain your eyes like a computer screen.  You can load a lot onto it.  You can get free books from certain authors and websites like Project Gutenburg. 

I have one and will never go back!!!  I was just showing my boss this morning.  I have had mine since mid May and have about 50 books downloaded so far and I love the fact that I can be anywhere and buy a book and have it download within the minute and be ready to read.

I travel for work and now I don't have to carry so many books to cover my flights and if I run out I don't have to pay airport prices.  Prices range from 0 -$15.00 bucks depending on the book and how new it is.  I also like the "green" aspect of it, no trees cut down, no shipping, so no emmissions, no pollution in the printing process, etc

I read at least three paperbacks a week so this feeds my habit...

Other features.. internet access, dictionary (look up words as you read), ability to annotate, I read it at the pool all the time with no problems (glare etc). 






Edited by SGriepsma 2009-07-28 3:26 PM

On average I pay about $6.00 per book, I have even gotten free ones, since I read so much and buy all the bestsellers in hardback, I save about ~$7 a book (off the Costco price).  At that rate, 40 books and I am at break even...which I am, since I read at a very fast pace. 

My mom has one and LOVES it.  I was skeptical untill I saw it.  It's as easy on the eyes as a real book (unlike they old PDA's and other digital media sources).

If I read more, I would look into it for myself for sure.

Ehh, I borrowed a friends for a few days, and I didn't like it. Generally, my comprehension of material isn't as great on a computer screen vs. on paper, especially in regards to journal articles. I've been reading some pretty obscure stuff lately in preparation for a conference, and I don't know if I'd be able to get it on there. Plus I'm a marker-upper. I know the kindle has the markup function, but I like my own shorthand/diagramming. Plus my art books usually have a LOT of images, that, of course being an art book, are pretty essential, and I need to be able to see in pretty high-def detail . I didn't think it handled them that well.

And I will cop to the "I like the feel/smell of a book" and also to liking a bit of quiet time away from technology.

I can see where it'd be really awesome for a long trip...especially if you're a voracious reader and just crank through books, would be pretty nice to not have to bring 3 different books with you. The friend has an hour+ commute each way to work on the bus and so she gets a lot of use out of it, but she generally reads fiction w/o pictures.

I'm totally in LOVE with the idea of e-readers, so I bought a 2nd generation Kindle.  But sadly I ended up returning it.  I found the screen background to be too dark and the text just not vivid enough -- so much so that my eyes started to hurt after reading it for anything longer than 15 minutes.

However, I may have had a defective unit.  Or maybe I'm just way more sensitive to visual presentation than others.

Most people seem to love them.

Gosh, all the great replies... I think I'm sold on getting one!

I just figured they weren't selling because I have NEVER seen one out in public, that's all. I figured if they were all the rage, I would have seen ONE in an airport, on the plane, etc.

OOO, OOO, OOO, I forgot that one, the dictionary lookup!!!  I admit it, I'm the dork that writes down every word I don't understand and look them up and with the Kindle, it's voila, right there for ya.  Unfreakingamazing to me.

I think I might have to stop this BT addiction and get back to the Kindle

 

Arizona State University will be using them in select programs this fall. These forsure are the future of text books for all levels of education.

Edited by Mirg 2009-07-28 8:43 PM

I have a Kindle...a Sergio Kindle on my Longhorns football team and he is going to terrorize offenses this season!

I was an English major, and some semesters would be buying as many as 10-12 books PER CLASS. Something like the Kindle would have been WONDERFUL to have (of course, so would the internet. And not having to WALK to the actual LIBRARY and use the...gasp, CARD CATALOG :D).

I htink that's a brilliant use of technology.