It's a Kindle, not Kindling

WoodWrangler · 05-07-2008, 10:32 PM

Today I received my Kindle from Amazon ... and WOW -- this thing is neat!

Haven't heard of the Kindle yet? Check out Amazon's website for information on it. In short it's a device more than a cell phone but less than a computer with a unique, easy-to-read screen for reading books that you download from Amazon.com (which cost less than the printed book), magazines and newspapers. When you want a book, mag, or newspaper you can just use it's built-in wireless (at no charge) to find & buy the book and within a minute it's downloaded and ready to read.

It's a beautiful little package with some neat features. As you read you can "save" text to later reference, search the dictionary on-the-fly on any word you don't know the meaning to, and bookmark pages to later reference. Overall ... pretty slick! Can't wait to get more books on it!

It also has a built in "experimental" web browser (yeah, I already tried it with North Carolina Woodworker's website).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B000FI73MA

nelsone · 05-07-2008, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by WoodWrangler

It also has a built in "experimental" web browser (yeah, I already tried it with North Carolina Woodworker's website).

Did it work? Looks like a neat little gadget.

WoodWrangler · 05-07-2008, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by nelsone

Did it work? Looks like a neat little gadget.

It worked and it was free. The only downside is how intensive forums are with links, pictures and such and it would work better with a less aggressive format ... however, it DID work.

AndyBarnhart · 05-07-2008, 10:53 PM

A coworker got one for his wife for Christmas. She loves it! It connects to Amazon via their wireless router for purchases, which are much less than paper books and immediate. It keeps a few on it, so it doesn't have to be connected all the time. The quality is excellent - they are made explicitly for this purpose. It keeps her place and detects when being viewed pretty well (sometimes she has to override the automatic shutoff, but usually not). Battery life is good; she says she recharges fairly often out of habit but almost never runs low. It's cable for readers with some extra coin.

SteveColes · 05-08-2008, 06:53 AM

I've been lthinking about that for a while. After you read something, is there a way to save a book on another device and reload again later without going back to Amazon?

AndyBarnhart · 05-08-2008, 07:10 AM

I will ask my coworker. BTW - just poking around, I think I was wrong about the WiFi but I could have sworn he said something about that. It looks like they use a cell technology (and they pay the fees).

cskipper · 05-08-2008, 07:57 AM

You can buy memory cards and have books downloaded to your pc and then to this unit. The first review posted at the bottom of the page lists both some pros and cons. I love gadgets, but figure this will have to go on my "someday" list. I do like the idea of being able to download documents from you pc to it. I love the fact that you can change the font size - might be a great gift for my mom! Thanks for sharing the info.

PeteM · 05-08-2008, 08:22 AM

Cool device, but with a shop full of tools, a long list of projects, a bunch of WW'ing DVD's you have yet to watch, a new son, 2 dogs, etc. etc. etc. when are you going to have time to read !?!?!?

Just kidding .. .. ..
Enjoy
pete

AndyBarnhart · 05-08-2008, 09:36 AM

OK, I talked to my coworker just now. I was wrong about the wireless - it does use the Sprint net thing and that has worked fine for his wife. She is still very pleased. Amazon keeps track of everything you buy from them and you can pull it down again later. There is also some way to use a USB interface to treat it more like an iPod and transfer stuff from your PC but his wife has never used that. While I was talking to him another coworker walked in and chimed in about a buddy of his (so now this is 3rd or 4th hand) who is a bit of a techno geek and is trying to use his more as an outboard computer and is less happy because it is kind of a pain to transfer stuff that way and not all "non book" content works like he wants it to.

What I got out of this is that if you read a lot and want an electronic replacement for books to read in the normal linear fashion, it fits the bill.

WoodWrangler · 05-08-2008, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by PeteM

Cool device, but with a shop full of tools, a long list of projects, a bunch of WW'ing DVD's you have yet to watch, a new son, 2 dogs, etc. etc. etc. when are you going to have time to read !?!?!?

LoL ... this is why shop time gets limited so much. Actually, I'm a fairly active reader with everything from tech books (not as much anymore) to business books (most of what I read now) ...

As for the Kindle and to straighten out some of the "facts" ... it doesn't need "your" network to download stuff. Amazon Whispernet (that's what they call it) actually does it. The short of how that works is it uses the mobile phone towers (Sprint's, I believe) to let you browse for books, buy them with Amazon "one click", and automatically downloads them.

As for battery life, my partner at work has had his for a couple months and is averaging 20-22 hours with the wireless off most of the time (this helps battery life tremendously).

As for the books you've purchased ... they are stored on Amazon and on the Kindle. You can, as mentioned above, add a memory card (I put a 2GB SD card in mine) to store even more. There is a USB cable included and it works just like your digital camera ... plug it in and you see the folder structure. Drop your stuff on it and you're set.

As for creating custom content ... I think there is a way via tools from Amazon, but I haven't gotten that far yet. We'll see.

Another cool feature ... you can put MP3's on it and has background music play while you read.

So far I am highly impressed (my expectations were a little low as I saw it as a gadget, but now I see how useful it will be for my lifestyle and reading habits)

AndyBarnhart · 05-08-2008, 10:09 AM

Just to further clarify a couple of points...

When I said I was wrong, I meant my earlier comment about the home network. My coworker had confused me by talking about ordering books using his LAN which was completely irrelavent as far as connecting to the the Kindle. The Kindle does not require that you have an Internet connection.

When I said the second guy was less happy, I didn't say unhappy. The first guy's wife is extremely pleased and the guy trying to do more things than just read books wishes it did some things differently/better. I am not knocking it. And I am just some guy on the Internet giving you second (I know the coworker and his wife) and third (never met the other coworker's buddy) hand information.

WoodWrangler · 05-08-2008, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by AndyBarnhart

Just to further clarify a couple of points...

When I said I was wrong, I meant my earlier comment about the home network. My coworker had confused me by talking about ordering books using his LAN which was completely irrelavent as far as connecting to the the Kindle. The Kindle does not require that you have an Internet connection.

When I said the second guy was less happy, I didn't say unhappy. The first guy's wife is extremely pleased and the guy trying to do more things than just read books wishes it did some things differently/better. I am not knocking it. And I am just some guy on the Internet giving you second (I know the coworker and his wife) and third (never met the other coworker's buddy) hand information.

I think we were writing at the same time ... I just took longer. I didn't see your post until mine was sent ... sorry 'bout that!

AndyBarnhart · 05-08-2008, 01:31 PM

no worries; I just posted again in hopes of clearing any confusion my earlier posts might cause some readers. Your rep is still intact - you always post positive comments.

DavidF · 05-09-2008, 02:59 PM

I understand that the real technology is in the screen; it is supposed to be like looking at real paper; is that the case? It would be great for me travelling as I like to take a few books for the plane and hotel rooms etc, but the bulk of real books is often too much. For the average beach holiday I take 6 books and that takes a lot of room. How many "average" novels does it hold?

Thanks for taking the time to talk about it.

WoodWrangler · 05-09-2008, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by DavidF

It is supposed to be like looking at real paper; is that the case?

Very much so. The screen is what is special, for sure. It's a special digital ink and not really like a computer screen. It's MUCH easier on the eyes. Actually better than paper (for me) because you can increase the font size!

Originally Posted by DavidF

How many "average" novels does it hold?

Without an additional memory card, about 200. With up to 8GB of additional memory I think I read somewhere around 7600 (aka three lifetime's of reading)

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