Philosophy Now Forum

Hello

I love the feel of books. Never been tempted by the machine.
Now considering a Kindle purchase; but already have so many books on shelves still to be read. The agonies of indecision.

Anyone here delighted with an e-reader, and what makes it better than the book ?
I am open to persuasion...

I downloaded the Kindle app to my PC to try it out. The other day I purchased my first book. I like it. I don't know if I'll ever buy a machine, though.

I got a kindle at Christmas and to be honest my intent was to use it for convenience with certain types of books and not to have it replace the experience of reading from a traditional paper book. However, once I got it and used it for a short time I had changed my mind as I found that I enjoyed the experience a lot more than I'd expected to.

The convenience of buying a book and being able to start reading it straight away is pretty good (plus the option to download a sample before you buy) but one downside is the inability to share books with others which is something I used to do a lot but haven't done so much for a while anyway so it's not a major problem for me.

One last thing, I don't find the experience of reading on a Kindle device to be particularly comparable to reading on a PC with the Kindle app as the screen on the device is a lot easier on the eyes and much closer to the experience of reading on paper.

tbieter wrote:I downloaded the Kindle app to my PC to try it out. The other day I purchased my first book. I like it. I don't know if I'll ever buy a machine, though.

Thanks for that; I had no idea that you could do so such a thing. The free Amazon application was easy to download. I registered, as per my Amazon account, and up popped 3 'new' books - Treasure Island, Aesop's Fables, and Pride and Prejudice !

As you say, a great way to try it out before splurging on the actual machine. I see that you can take notes and append them wherever. Time to experiment...

John :

I got a kindle at Christmas and to be honest my intent was to use it for convenience with certain types of books and not to have it replace the experience of reading from a traditional paper book.

What a great present ! What 'certain types of books' is it better for ?

... I don't find the experience of reading on a Kindle device to be particularly comparable to reading on a PC with the Kindle app as the screen on the device is a lot easier on the eyes and much closer to the experience of reading on paper.

Thanks for all of of your thoughts on this. I admit that I was worried about eye-strain.
They seem to have brought a new version out, with sharing facilities - but perhaps that is limited.

The Kindle is the one to have at present. Has a great look and feel, very page-like and can be read in most lighting conditions, heads and shoulders above the others. Pity it hasn't got the smell and texture tho'

Arising_uk wrote:The Kindle is the one to have at present. Has a great look and feel, very page-like and can be read in most lighting conditions, heads and shoulders above the others. Pity it hasn't got the smell and texture tho'

It's the 'at present' that stops me from buying, that and the £110; they seem to be continually improving the reader's experience - a 3D version might not be far off. Now that plus a holodeck...hmmm...we should have all this by now !!

I have to say I am impressed with the 'Kindle for PC' application; the display options enough to achieve easy reading; full screen with a sepia background, and a dictionary - wow !

Now, the question is : any free philosophy books...?

mhoraine wrote:John :

I got a kindle at Christmas and to be honest my intent was to use it for convenience with certain types of books and not to have it replace the experience of reading from a traditional paper book.

What a great present ! What 'certain types of books' is it better for ?

In my experience so far it's great for reading novels as the ability to resize text is particularly useful. My eyesight is actually fine but I find it easier to read in reduced light with a slightly larger font. I'm not so sure how easy it would be to read text books or anything with images and diagrams in them but I've not actually tried.

Also, if you want to read books that are out of copyright, and that obviously includes many of the classic works of philosophy, it's provides a very good way of reading them.

mhoraine wrote:

... I don't find the experience of reading on a Kindle device to be particularly comparable to reading on a PC with the Kindle app as the screen on the device is a lot easier on the eyes and much closer to the experience of reading on paper.

Thanks for all of of your thoughts on this. I admit that I was worried about eye-strain.
They seem to have brought a new version out, with sharing facilities - but perhaps that is limited.

As far as I'm aware the ability to share is restricted to the USA at the moment and you're also limited on how many times and for how long you can lend an ebook. The situation might have changed since I last bothered to look though and it may be something that will develop over time.

One final word of advice, get a cover for it to protect it but there are cheaper options than the official Amazon ones.

John, thanks again; and yes, my eyes boggled at the price of the protective cover - you could get a quarter of a Kindle for that !

I have been looking at the top 100 free books - fascinating to compare with the 'paid for' list.

Coming in at no.71 - Goethe's 'Erotica Romana' ; a Hume lowdown 'History of England' at no.87. However, wishing to be That Domestic Goddess, no.92 beckons with Beeton's ' Book of Household Management'.

Oh God, it has to be Goethe...

mhoraine wrote:

tbieter wrote:I downloaded the Kindle app to my PC to try it out. The other day I purchased my first book. I like it. I don't know if I'll ever buy a machine, though.

Thanks for that; I had no idea that you could do so such a thing. The free Amazon application was easy to download. I registered, as per my Amazon account, and up popped 3 'new' books - Treasure Island, Aesop's Fables, and Pride and Prejudice !

As you say, a great way to try it out before splurging on the actual machine. I see that you can take notes and append them wherever. Time to experiment...

I have just downloaded the PC app for the Nook reader by Barnes and Noble. I'm going to try it.

The kindle looks like a good idea for reading fiction, where you start at page 1 and go straight through.
Is there an e-book that has a link capability for numbered notes in text books? What about book-marks? Indices? Anyone know?

Thundril wrote:The kindle looks like a good idea for reading fiction, where you start at page 1 and go straight through.
Is there an e-book that has a link capability for numbered notes in text books? What about book-marks? Indices? Anyone know?

I have a nook and it does have the link capability for numbered notes, bookmarks, and a way to write notes and highlight passages or words.

I wrote many notes when I was reading 'The True Believer' by Eric Hoffer, and lost them all when I went to show someone how it worked....meh. But then it went on the blink and I could not go online for some reason....meh. Somehow, it self corrected and I can go online again! Yea! But alas, I tried to log into the philosophy now forum...which I used to be able to do...and it wouldn't let me...meh. $#@(^)&^$$%#@#

I am waiting for a reader with a voice.
Like with MP 3 but in a quality of BOSE.

So that you press a button and a voice reads to you. And if you wish to read with your eyes then you find the place easily on a display.

It could also be called an e-reader. And even more so: a device reading to you and displaying the text on demand.

How many years will I have to wait for such an invention ?

duszek wrote:I am waiting for a reader with a voice.
Like with MP 3 but in a quality of BOSE.

So that you press a button and a voice reads to you. And if you wish to read with your eyes then you find the place easily on a display.

It could also be called an e-reader. And even more so: a device reading to you and displaying the text on demand.

How many years will I have to wait for such an invention ?

My nook has that...at least with some books. I will find out if I can download other books that read to you. There were only 2 that came with my nook that had that ability and both were children's books.

Thundril wrote:The kindle looks like a good idea for reading fiction, where you start at page 1 and go straight through.
Is there an e-book that has a link capability for numbered notes in text books? What about book-marks? Indices? Anyone know?

You can create bookmarks and make notes on a Kindle at least on the keyboard version which i have. Not sure how it works on the other versions though. I found it quite handy being able to read in bed and make notes that I could then also access from the Kindle app on my PC while I was writing an essay though whether it's better than the traditional method of note taking is probably a matter of individual preference.