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Kindle is OK

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Re: Kindle is OK

#101

Post by jk8 »

tedunangst wrote: post #85
jk8 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My only issue with reading on kindle like devices is the way it changes the page. I don't think I can stand that. I feel like that would bother my eyes. EDIT: That is the only thing stopping me from buying one.

You quickly learn not to stare at the screen, much like you learned long long ago not to stare at the page as you're turning it. Physical books have an even slower response time, but nobody complains about that.

True, I agree that it will take a while. Turning physical pages is fun :-)

Re: Kindle is OK

#102

Post by jacquesm »

pilif wrote: post #16

Three reasons why I personally think the Kindle is superior to the iPad as a reading device: 1) It's lighter and smaller and thus easier on your hands to hold it. My hands begin to hurt after holding the iPad for more than two hours. Reading is something I can do for hours without interruption. 2) I thought that an advantage of the ipad would be that I can read with the lights already out. I was wrong - staring at th…

If you're getting eye-strain when reading high-contrast text in an otherwise dark room you might be at the border of needing glasses. Plenty of eye trouble manifests itself as head-aches or eye-strain.

Re: Kindle is OK

#103

Post by jonah »

jacquesm wrote: post #102
pilif wrote: post #16

Three reasons why I personally think the Kindle is superior to the iPad as a reading device: 1) It's lighter and smaller and thus easier on your hands to hold it. My hands begin to hurt after holding the iPad for more than two hours. Reading is something I can do for hours without interruption. 2) I thought that an advantage of the ipad would be that I can read with the lights already out. I was wrong - staring at th…

If you're getting eye-strain when reading high-contrast text in an otherwise dark room you might be at the border of needing glasses. Plenty of eye trouble manifests itself as head-aches or eye-strain.

If you must read on your pc at night: http://stereopsis.com/flux/

Re: Kindle is OK

#104

Post by wazoox »

kenjackson wrote: post #80
wazoox wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't say about the Kindle, but I have a Sony PRS and it's pretty good. PDF are usually better seen in landscape. However you may want to convert them to ePub for better readability. BTW, I won't EVER buy any DRM-laden book, music or anything else. It seems that the Kindle pretty much propose only that...

I haven't thought about the Sony readers, although I also don't want DRMed books. How would you compare the ease of getting content on the Sony reader vs the Kindle (given that I have the PDF already on my desktop).

I only read public domain books from gutenberg.org (more than enough great material to read 20 hours a day until you die), and PDFs I download here and there.

I simply copied them the the PRS using it as USB storage, usually, though now I'm using Calibre to keep a list of what's on my reader and organize it.

Re: Kindle is OK

#105

Post by CamperBob »

brilliant wrote: post #14
far33d wrote: post #8

Rough anecdotal polling from my experience on the Boston-area commuter rail in from the suburbs: I see more iPhones than Kindles, but way more Kindles than iPads. People on iPhones are often playing games, not reading. Kindles are surprisingly popular with older women. I suspect it's because it does its one task really well and is much less technically intimidating for non-savvy users. I own one and use it periodical…

Go to the park or beach. You won't see too many people using tablets or phones with backlit screens because they don't work in sunlight.

People love to keep saying that, but it's horseshit. The iPhone screen is perfectly usable in the brightest sunlight if you crank up the brightness to the max.

Re: Kindle is OK

#106

Post by swombat »

brilliant wrote: post #14
far33d wrote: post #8

Rough anecdotal polling from my experience on the Boston-area commuter rail in from the suburbs: I see more iPhones than Kindles, but way more Kindles than iPads. People on iPhones are often playing games, not reading. Kindles are surprisingly popular with older women. I suspect it's because it does its one task really well and is much less technically intimidating for non-savvy users. I own one and use it periodical…

Go to the park or beach. You won't see too many people using tablets or phones with backlit screens because they don't work in sunlight.

I've never had any issue using my iPhone in sunlight. Granted, I live in London, where bright sunlight is like a rare delicacy, even in the summer (glances out the window... yeah..), but still, the point remains - I have never had any trouble reading my iPhone even with direct sunlight on it.

Re: Kindle is OK

#107

Post by camiller »

johnyzee wrote: post #76
Xurinos wrote: post #26

I guess I am in the minority. I found that the eInk displays of these readers made for a poorer reading experience than reading straight off my iPhone with the help of Stanza. (1) I can read with the lights off. (2) The default font is not as grating. (3) I can adjust the brightness. Without giving my preference, I had an older gentleman compare the experience of trying to read with both devices. He usually needs to…

What DRM? You can copy a Kindle book around as much as you want to.

So if I want to read it on my old Palm TX I can? No of course not because the DRM won't let me convert it into a format any of the eBook readers for the old Palm OS support.

Re: Kindle is OK

#108

Post by camiller »

mechanical_fish wrote: post #31
pragmatic wrote: post #10

I don't think it's a zero sum game. It's not either/or. For most it's both. You will have a smart (brilliant) phone and if you read a lot, a dedicated reader. The 2 form factors just don't overlap enough to do both well.

At this point the Kindle is so cheap that if I actually commit to buying any quantity of Kindle books, I might try one.

Don't rule out the nook. Since the nook supports ePub(with DRM) you can probably check out eBooks from your local library. Since the Kindle is a closed ecosystem that does not support ePub that channel is cut off from you.

Re: Kindle is OK

#109

Post by Xurinos »

2mur wrote: post #54
Xurinos wrote: post #26

I guess I am in the minority. I found that the eInk displays of these readers made for a poorer reading experience than reading straight off my iPhone with the help of Stanza. (1) I can read with the lights off. (2) The default font is not as grating. (3) I can adjust the brightness. Without giving my preference, I had an older gentleman compare the experience of trying to read with both devices. He usually needs to…

Yes, but did the older gentleman get to adjust the Kindle's text size. That's a killer feature that has sold Kindles to 6 of my older relatives who have used mine for more than a minute or so. I read at the 2nd to smallest font (probably about 10pt) but you can adjust it up to what seems like 32 pts or more. Older readers really love that.

To be fair, the iPhone readers can also change the font size, the background and foreground colors, and so forth. We experimented. The real killer feature should have been the ease on the eyes of the eInk for long-term reading.
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