Kindle questions

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

babetoo

Chef Extraordinaire
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Messages
14,336
Location
escondido, calif. near san diego
i have been checking them out on line. so far i don't see the advantage. i read many, many books. the initial cost is high. i understand you have to pay for the books. is this true?

i am just thinking i like the feel of a book in my hands. i can get them delivered free to my house from the local library.

if you think the kindle is wonderful, please tell me why. other than just another gadget is it worth the expense?
 
There are many many reasons I think the Kindle is better than DTB (dead tree books).

1. Instant access to books, magazines, newspapers. Yes you can get these things delivered to your house from the local library, but how long do you have to wait for that to happen? What if the book is out? What if you finish a book and they library is closed and can't get the book to you for a few days? Granted, most people are not in urgent need to have a book delivered within seconds, but it is a nice perk. As soon as I finish a book I can get a new one.

2. It is much easier to hold than a DTB. Next time you are starting or finishing a 700 page book think of how awkward the book feels with 20 pages on one side and 680 on the other. Opps whats that? You dropped the book and were not sure your exact page? Have fun spending 15 minutes trying to figure out where you were. That won't happen on a Kindle. I can read one handed with my Kindle. I can hold it on one hand and changed pages with the same hand. For anyone who likes to read in bed with a hand behind their head they can instantly tell how great a feature that is.

3. I can put it in a ziplock bag and read in the pool or bath.

4. Books are cheaper than buying the DTB versions.

5. They are better for the environment. OK this one is actually up for debate. I can't honestly say they are better for the environment because they do use chemicals and batteries that are not the best things in the world. They do save the need to cut down so many trees though and save on gas and trucking of DTB to get them to from printers to distributors to stores to you.

6. I used to have rooms filled with nothing, but books. When I would move I would dread packing and lugging those heavy boxes. When my basement flooded it was the books that got soaked that were the biggest pain in the butt. My Kindle can store 3,500 books at a time and Amazon will store an unlimited amount so your virtual library can be as large as the Library of Congress and take up the amount of space that your Kindle takes up.

7. When I travel it is so much easier to take a Kindle than to pack books. What if you are going on vacation and are not sure what you will be in the mood to read. What if you have limited suitcase space? The Kindle takes care of all of those problems.

8. The Gutenberg Project is a place where you can download 33,000 books for free (legally). And these are not unknown books. Things like Pride and Prejudice, A Tale of Two Cities, The Bible, Moby Dick, The Divine Comedy, and many others are there.

9. For those with failing eyesight, the text can be adjusted to fit your needs. If can be made smaller or larger just like in a word.doc. The Kindle will even read to you if you want. Personally I do not like or use that option. The voice is robotic sounding. But if you have trouble seeing then this could be a feature that comes in very handy.

If you are an avid reader than IMO you would be crazy not to at least check one out.
 
How much would you have to pay for a best seller? For instance Tami Hoag's recent Deeper Than Dead?

I've pretty much worn out Gutenberg as well as other free online books over the years. I'd be interested in the prices of newer novels.

I'd like the features of larger type and being light weight, especially as I prefer the longest books I can find.

After watching some commercials, I'd worry about sitting on it, or putting something heavy on it. How sturdy is it? I mean it looks like the screen of a laptop without any cover or protection.

Talk me into it, GB. I really would like to buy one.
 
Last edited:
The preceding message was brought to you by the folks at KINDLE.:LOL:
 
Last edited:
Um...all of the above!

I have two nursing reference books stored on mine. One is a drug book and the other is a medical encyclopedia, now I don't need to lug both books around, close to 7 pounds worth of books. The best thing, when I need to look something up, I don't have to search anymore. The drug book, I just type the name into the search function and it finds it for me. The generic name or the brand name! Love it!

And I have instant access to three of my most favorite books (novels) of all time. And a few other books I like having around.

I think it's worth it, Babe!
 
How much would you have to pay for a best seller? For instance Tami Hoag's recent Deeper Than Dead?

I've pretty much worn out Gutenberg as well as other free online books over the years. I'd be interested in the prices of newer novels.

I'd like the features of larger type and being light weight, especially as I prefer the longest books I can find.

After watching some commercials, I'd worry about sitting on it, or putting something heavy on it. How sturdy is it? I mean it looks like the screen of a laptop without any cover or protection.

Talk me into it, GB. I really would like to buy one.

Many of the books you are spending $10 on you can get for $8 or less. You don't have to leave your house/apartment and you can go book shopping 24 hours a day, seven days a week.:LOL:

My $50 medical book was $27...and it's right there, any time I want it. I've been hauling it, my drug book and a novel back and forth to work for almost 11 years. Now I just carry my Kindle...I have more room in my nursing bag for LUNCH!:)

I would buy the cover for it, worth the extra for the protection it provides.
 
The preceding message was brought to you by the folks at KINDLE.:LOL:

:LOL:
I didn't even know there was a phrase dead tree books that we needed another acronym for :LOL:

I bought one for my sister. She likes it. I might get one myself because I used to like to read, but it doesn't agree with my eyes anymore (not enough lighting ever. I too feel I would miss the feeling of a book in my hands, but I got used to a laptop in my lap.
 
:LOL:
I didn't even know there was a phrase dead tree books that we needed another acronym for :LOL:

I bought one for my sister. She likes it. I might get one myself because I used to like to read, but it doesn't agree with my eyes anymore (not enough lighting ever. I too feel I would miss the feeling of a book in my hands, but I got used to a laptop in my lap.

I thought the same, but turns out, I just feel the loss when I don't have something to read in my hand.

I was just watching Shrek reading his Kindle, he reached up to turn the page, then looked to see if I noticed he did it.:ROFLMAO:
 
I'd say Amazon should be giving us some consideration for our enthusiastic endorsement!:rolleyes:


Yeah, you should at least get one free book.

I checked Amazon, and sadly, they are more expensive, not by very much after I add tax, but then I wouldn't be able to let my neighbor read them too before I put them on a bookshelf. Maybe after all the shelves are filled. I'm still decorating and anything that absorbs sound is good. (Echo-y apt.)

Because I'm retired, I don't need to carry it with me like you do. So maybe it's not for me. There are a few readers here that I'd like to trade books with for now, so maybe later on.

I know what you mean about the big books. I'm just starting Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I'm ticked that because of the recent movie ads, I thought it was a new book only to find I've already read it, or so I think. The beginning seemed the same, but I thought what I was reading was from The DaVinci Code. I'll definitely read it again (?) This one is 702 pages!
 
Last edited:
... I'm just starting Angels and Demons by Dan Brown. I'm ticked that because of the recent movie ads, I thought it was a new book only to find I've already read it, or so I think. The beginning seemed the same, but I thought what I was reading was from The DaVinci Code. I'll definitely read it again (?) This one is 702 pages!


Actually Dan Brown wrote Angels and Demons before The DaVinci Code. The movies were made 'out of order'.
 
Actually Dan Brown wrote Angels and Demons before The DaVinci Code. The movies were made 'out of order'.

Then I must have read it before.

It's sneaky the way they come out with a book you've already read and just change the cover. I almost always check the publication date before buying a book by a favorite author because I've made that mistake a few times.

I didn't check this time, because of the new cover, and from thinking it was later than DaVinci code because of the order of the movies.

It has probably been long enough since I read it that I will be able to enjoy it without always knowing what is going to happen next.
 
I thought the same, but turns out, I just feel the loss when I don't have something to read in my hand.

I was just watching Shrek reading his Kindle, he reached up to turn the page, then looked to see if I noticed he did it.:ROFLMAO:

Old habits are hard to die :LOL:
 
Amazon just quietly launched the ability to share Kindle books with other Kindle users. You can "lend" a book for 2 weeks. It does not work with every book though.
 
Amazon just quietly launched the ability to share Kindle books with other Kindle users. You can "lend" a book for 2 weeks. It does not work with every book though.

Exactly what we were looking for...but I guess Shrek and I can just switch Kindles back and forth!

We both downloaded and paid for a couple of books we wanted all the time on our Kindles. Science-Fiction classics. :LOL:
 
Another thing you and Shrek can do is register and deregister on each others accounts. You can have 5 or 6 devices on each account and you can register and deregister as often as you want. The only thing you won't be able to do is read the same thing at the same time.
 
Another thing you and Shrek can do is register and deregister on each others accounts. You can have 5 or 6 devices on each account and you can register and deregister as often as you want. The only thing you won't be able to do is read the same thing at the same time.

Thank you for that info...this is the perfect fix for us.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom