I plopped down on Robin's couch in her home office. “I want to talk to you about a decision,” I said. “I'm leaving town for three weeks.”
“You want to open up the relationship. No.”
“Well, kinda.”
“Tell me more.”
“There's all these books I carry to read when I travel. I really want to take the new Atwood, but it's hardcover. I'm thinking of a Kindle.”
“So you're ready to drink the poison.”
“OK with you?”
“I don't care, sure. Look at our living room. It might be time.”
Have you considered getting an iPad instead of a Kindle?
Posted by: Jeff H | April 03, 2010 at 01:46 AM
I did, but went with the Kindle for several reasons, cost, weight and size being primary. Also, I distrust the first version of anything. What I would use the Ipad for is what I use my iPhone and laptop for now. The Kindle fulfills a function the others don't. Of course, I've been out of touch about these things before, and Robin is counting on me falling for an iPad so that she gets the Kindle.
Posted by: Doug Plummer | April 03, 2010 at 08:49 AM
Having a major book fetish, I resisted the Kindle until a 11 day business trip to the pac-rim left me with the choice of buying a Kindle or checking lugagge because of all the books. I went with Kindle, and have been shocked to find that I've not read a physical book since. What I love is that reading is just reading, and being able to download samples on a whim and buy only after reading a bit has been wonderful.
Posted by: Joe Sawicki | April 03, 2010 at 02:41 PM
I've been doin the e-book thing for years with a series of Palm Pilots (currently Palm TX!) I use iSilo, and admittedly the choice of new books is slim, but public domain and internet stuff is abundant. At night it's backlit. I find a way for each to be propped up on a desktop. iSilo features variable speed scrolling (like a teleprompter) and I can use both hands to eat lunch! The Sony Clie used lithium AAA batteries, and I'm beginning to think that's the way to go for small electronic devices on long flights or where power outlets for recharging may not be found. I also take a regular book or two for when the electronic reader is out of juice.
Posted by: Bob G | April 03, 2010 at 06:45 PM
While I didn't drink the poison - yet - it is on the shelf tempting me. I downloaded Kindle for the Mac on the MacBook - maybe the laptop is aptly named?
Posted by: Bruce Nall | April 04, 2010 at 12:12 PM
I'm first in line for your Aperture collection when you decide to unload all your print media, er, books.
Posted by: Geoff | April 06, 2010 at 01:02 PM
Get a Windows netbook with good battery life and download "Kindle for PC" -- it's free and works fine. You can also run Adobe Digital Edition on the same device, for those "e-Pub only" items.
You get colour, better navigation and quicker response, who cares about "reading in direct sunlight"? Sit in the shade...
Mike
Posted by: Mike C. | April 07, 2010 at 11:09 AM
What I forgot to say: it's well worth carrying out a search for a representative sample of the sort of books you'd want to have on an e-reader. It can be very disappointing. You may even find that your reading choices end up being driven by what is available, not by what you actually wanted to read...
Mike
Posted by: Mike C. | April 08, 2010 at 01:03 AM
Well, I did buy the Kindle, though after I did I found that the iPad had a piano app (w/ full size keys) that would have been sweet. The best thing is the size. The thing is weightless, and the reading area is about the size of a small paperback. The interface is slow and kludgy, and yes, my book group's next pick is not in the Kindle store.
Posted by: Doug Plummer | April 08, 2010 at 07:07 AM