The Buy:
I bought the Wifi model. I don't find any compelling purpose for 3G as you get charged for transfers whenever you purchase a book or send one using the 3G network. 802.11 Wifi transfers are free, and you can use whispernet, which is basically like an integrated email system that relays pdf's or ebook formatted books to your device.
cover-
I've been tracking moleskine for the kindle 3 cover release. The existing kindle covers are convenient for writing only for left handed people, this is because of the hinge locking mechanism on the left side of the kindle, and no one (that i know of) has developed a decent system of securing it without that. Well moleskine has with those straps. That method works and apparently it fits the kindle 3, but not extremely well.
So if they release a new one I'll probably get that. Tracking now by moleskine newsletter.
Use:
input & responsiveness-
To be honest the keyboard isn't very useful, it could learn from cell phone keyboards. As a person used to devices being very responsive, this device isn't as quick as a heavy user might like. Typing in my wireless account information on campus sucks ass.
audio-
The audio sound coming from the integrated speakers is actually pretty good, but the computing power isn't all that, which makes the responsiveness suffer again. Sometimes the songs will skip momentarily.
reading-
I've used it and read one full book and I use it to read articles on the bus and in downtime.
I have to say that this is the best reading experience I've had on any electronic device. I've tried to read on led screens and it's doable, but you're stuck inside and indoors, tethered to power. I suppose you could take your laptop/ipad outside but then you'd deal with glare, and battery life time-limits, oh and the worst part: other distractions from them being multipurpose devices.
I know I didn't address the screen exactly when I said it's the best reading experience, but yeah, the e-ink technology makes reading things amazing. Especially in direct sunlight. Yes!
It's nice to be able to exit a book, and switch to an article, it always saves your position and you can always see the progress of your reading. The dictionary feature is pretty nice, as you can just place your cursor over a word and get the definition. I like this because I read philosophy and there are usually philosophical terms I need to investigate. I'm going to look into putting a phil. dictionary package on there, which I think one can do.
The battery lasts so long. I like listening to my music so it doesn't last a full month on battery, and I turn on wifi on occasion to pull my emailed daily articles.
doc management-
I read quite a bit of articles these days for school and for myself. I have been using instapaper to save my documents and shoot them off to my kindle email. It's a bit annoying though because the script that sends it hasn't been working or somesuch, so I have to manually make it send. I'm going to look for another option to auto email my articles.
I use some software called calibre to manage my library and book formatting. I try to convert most to mobi if it's in other formats. I like pdfs though generally, although rendering some of them is annoying, the way it sizes the document is based on pdf assumptions about screen sizes I think. So in some pdf documents you need to zoom to see it correctly, and it sucks. You can't change font sizes with them typically, and then navigating with the cursor can be excruciating. Overall I think mobi is where it's at. I haven't tried epub really. Oh yeah, and calibre does mass conversions between formats. It's really convenient. You can also subscribe to and bundle articles with calibre to deliver nicely to your kindle in mobi format with an index (like what instapaper does).
The kindle software on the PC is very basic with a reader, and access to your amazon purchased books for the kindle.
It has a lot of faults. Mostly because of the processor and input design, but seriously this is a $139 device, and it executes on the primary function well for its price.
Suggested improvements:
*Larger storage capacity, or removable storage.
*Remove browser, or enhance it sufficiently for decent use.
*Put hinge locking mechanism on the right hand side of the device, so that case manufacturers can make cases that make sense for right handed people who want to take notes.
*Develop the social media platform that exists in its infancy on the device currently.
*Use gesture based touch capabilities (everyone tries swiping pages).
*Make a premium version with a beastly processor that can tear up pdf's the size of Jeff Bezos' or your mom.
*Develop the kindle (pc/mac/ipad/etc.)clients on the various devices to be useful to readers that are connected to the net.
*Bridge the quoting and note-taking divide that exists on the independent devices and amazon cloud for social sharing purposes. Or otherwise make the notes and quotes useful, broadly editable, printable, etc.
Refs:
kindle 2
https://www.thinktankforums.com/thread.php?thread_id=1938
going digital
https://www.thinktankforums.com/thread.php?thread_id=1093
sony reader touch
https://www.thinktankforums.com/thread.php?thread_id=2251
moleskine released covers for kindle 2, ipads, iphones a couple months ago:
http://www.moleskine.com/about_us/news/molesk … d_ipad.php
I bought the Wifi model. I don't find any compelling purpose for 3G as you get charged for transfers whenever you purchase a book or send one using the 3G network. 802.11 Wifi transfers are free, and you can use whispernet, which is basically like an integrated email system that relays pdf's or ebook formatted books to your device.
cover-
I've been tracking moleskine for the kindle 3 cover release. The existing kindle covers are convenient for writing only for left handed people, this is because of the hinge locking mechanism on the left side of the kindle, and no one (that i know of) has developed a decent system of securing it without that. Well moleskine has with those straps. That method works and apparently it fits the kindle 3, but not extremely well.
So if they release a new one I'll probably get that. Tracking now by moleskine newsletter.
Use:
input & responsiveness-
To be honest the keyboard isn't very useful, it could learn from cell phone keyboards. As a person used to devices being very responsive, this device isn't as quick as a heavy user might like. Typing in my wireless account information on campus sucks ass.
audio-
The audio sound coming from the integrated speakers is actually pretty good, but the computing power isn't all that, which makes the responsiveness suffer again. Sometimes the songs will skip momentarily.
reading-
I've used it and read one full book and I use it to read articles on the bus and in downtime.
I have to say that this is the best reading experience I've had on any electronic device. I've tried to read on led screens and it's doable, but you're stuck inside and indoors, tethered to power. I suppose you could take your laptop/ipad outside but then you'd deal with glare, and battery life time-limits, oh and the worst part: other distractions from them being multipurpose devices.
I know I didn't address the screen exactly when I said it's the best reading experience, but yeah, the e-ink technology makes reading things amazing. Especially in direct sunlight. Yes!
It's nice to be able to exit a book, and switch to an article, it always saves your position and you can always see the progress of your reading. The dictionary feature is pretty nice, as you can just place your cursor over a word and get the definition. I like this because I read philosophy and there are usually philosophical terms I need to investigate. I'm going to look into putting a phil. dictionary package on there, which I think one can do.
The battery lasts so long. I like listening to my music so it doesn't last a full month on battery, and I turn on wifi on occasion to pull my emailed daily articles.
doc management-
I read quite a bit of articles these days for school and for myself. I have been using instapaper to save my documents and shoot them off to my kindle email. It's a bit annoying though because the script that sends it hasn't been working or somesuch, so I have to manually make it send. I'm going to look for another option to auto email my articles.
I use some software called calibre to manage my library and book formatting. I try to convert most to mobi if it's in other formats. I like pdfs though generally, although rendering some of them is annoying, the way it sizes the document is based on pdf assumptions about screen sizes I think. So in some pdf documents you need to zoom to see it correctly, and it sucks. You can't change font sizes with them typically, and then navigating with the cursor can be excruciating. Overall I think mobi is where it's at. I haven't tried epub really. Oh yeah, and calibre does mass conversions between formats. It's really convenient. You can also subscribe to and bundle articles with calibre to deliver nicely to your kindle in mobi format with an index (like what instapaper does).
The kindle software on the PC is very basic with a reader, and access to your amazon purchased books for the kindle.
It has a lot of faults. Mostly because of the processor and input design, but seriously this is a $139 device, and it executes on the primary function well for its price.
Suggested improvements:
*Larger storage capacity, or removable storage.
*Remove browser, or enhance it sufficiently for decent use.
*Put hinge locking mechanism on the right hand side of the device, so that case manufacturers can make cases that make sense for right handed people who want to take notes.
*Develop the social media platform that exists in its infancy on the device currently.
*Use gesture based touch capabilities (everyone tries swiping pages).
*Make a premium version with a beastly processor that can tear up pdf's the size of Jeff Bezos' or your mom.
*Develop the kindle (pc/mac/ipad/etc.)clients on the various devices to be useful to readers that are connected to the net.
*Bridge the quoting and note-taking divide that exists on the independent devices and amazon cloud for social sharing purposes. Or otherwise make the notes and quotes useful, broadly editable, printable, etc.
Refs:
kindle 2
https://www.thinktankforums.com/thread.php?thread_id=1938
going digital
https://www.thinktankforums.com/thread.php?thread_id=1093
sony reader touch
https://www.thinktankforums.com/thread.php?thread_id=2251
moleskine released covers for kindle 2, ipads, iphones a couple months ago:
http://www.moleskine.com/about_us/news/molesk … d_ipad.php
can you explain the annotation features and how they are (or could be) archived?
thanks!
thanks!
I have considered getting an e-reader specifically for technical reference. I still prefer hard books to e-books for a myriad of reasons.. but for technical reference e-readers do make sense. I don't care about the longevity of the material and the cost savings are high... plus having a library of large books available in a svelte package would be nice.
However the new nook does seem to have hackability on its side. That being said... I had hoped by now someone would have included a GPS on their e-reader. Maps would be so very nice on one.
Oh well.
However the new nook does seem to have hackability on its side. That being said... I had hoped by now someone would have included a GPS on their e-reader. Maps would be so very nice on one.
Oh well.
*still waiting for color e-ink*
Annotation:
highlighting & notes-
1. Use the d-pad to move the cursor to the desired start position.
2. Press the center button on the d-pad to turn on highlighting.
3. Use the d-pad to move the cursor to the desired end position.
At this point you have two options:
a. Press the center button on the d-pad to stop highlighting and this will save your highlight mark.
b. Press Alt+Enter to share.
Your highlight mark and/or note will be saved. There is a text file on the kindle called: "My Clippings.txt" which contains a big list of notes, highlights, and bookmarks from all your books and articles. The content of that text file is structured like this:
There is also a feature to backup your annotations to Amazon, which works whenever it's connected via wifi, and it also works when your kindle software is up on your computer during a usb connection.
I haven't done much testing to see how the annotations are propagated across kindle client software though. I only have the PC software and don't really like using it much. I would probably use it a lot more if I actually purchased kindle books on Amazon.
sharing-
There's a website that you get to use once you have a kindle: http://kindle.amazon.com It's pretty basic but it has some useful things. The downside to this site is that it only absorbs information from books you have purchased through Amazon. Here's how it looks:
1. Daily Refresh: Flashcard View · Book View
2. Browse: Your Books · Your Highlights · Popular Highlights
Holy shit I just saw something. You know how Amazon asks you what books you own? It lists that data in "All Books". Wow. Here are the attributes that are listed for each book entry:
TITLE, AUTHOR, STATUS, YOUR RATING, AVG. CUST. REVIEW, CONTENT
The interesting one here is Content, which shows all public shared highlights and notes associated with that book that you bought on Amazon.
It doesn't list your ebooks that you acquired elsewhere though.
If you choose to setup twitter & facebook to your kindle it looks kind of like this when you post:
Here are examples of test posts I did:
http://kindle.amazon.com/post/11YU49HLDUK45
http://kindle.amazon.com/post/see_more/2QPDHZBFIATG6
You can't actually click any link on the kindle site to get to your twitter posted links, so the only way you see all other posts I have is when you click on the shortened url from my twitter. I'm sure this will change in the future as the kindle site is in beta.
highlighting & notes-
1. Use the d-pad to move the cursor to the desired start position.
2. Press the center button on the d-pad to turn on highlighting.
3. Use the d-pad to move the cursor to the desired end position.
At this point you have two options:
a. Press the center button on the d-pad to stop highlighting and this will save your highlight mark.
b. Press Alt+Enter to share.
Your highlight mark and/or note will be saved. There is a text file on the kindle called: "My Clippings.txt" which contains a big list of notes, highlights, and bookmarks from all your books and articles. The content of that text file is structured like this:
==========
Thus Spake Zarathustra (Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche)
- Highlight Loc. 4877-78 | Added on Wednesday, November 03, 2010, 10:22 PM
Thus spoke Zarathustra and left his cave, glowing and strong, like a morning sun coming out of gloomy mountains.
==========
There is also a feature to backup your annotations to Amazon, which works whenever it's connected via wifi, and it also works when your kindle software is up on your computer during a usb connection.
I haven't done much testing to see how the annotations are propagated across kindle client software though. I only have the PC software and don't really like using it much. I would probably use it a lot more if I actually purchased kindle books on Amazon.
sharing-
There's a website that you get to use once you have a kindle: http://kindle.amazon.com It's pretty basic but it has some useful things. The downside to this site is that it only absorbs information from books you have purchased through Amazon. Here's how it looks:
1. Daily Refresh: Flashcard View · Book View
2. Browse: Your Books · Your Highlights · Popular Highlights
Daily Refresh is a tool to help you review and over time to remember the most significant ideas from your books.
Each day in Daily Refresh we will show you the highlights and notes that you added in up to 4 of your books. By default we show the highlights or notes one at a time, like flashcards (Flashcard View). Alternatively, you can choose to view them in Book View, which shows you all of your highlights and notes from one book, before you advance to the next book.
Holy shit I just saw something. You know how Amazon asks you what books you own? It lists that data in "All Books". Wow. Here are the attributes that are listed for each book entry:
TITLE, AUTHOR, STATUS, YOUR RATING, AVG. CUST. REVIEW, CONTENT
The interesting one here is Content, which shows all public shared highlights and notes associated with that book that you bought on Amazon.
It doesn't list your ebooks that you acquired elsewhere though.
If you choose to setup twitter & facebook to your kindle it looks kind of like this when you post:
Nice clip from Vonnegut http://amzn.com/k/11YU49HLDUK45 #Kindle
Here are examples of test posts I did:
http://kindle.amazon.com/post/11YU49HLDUK45
http://kindle.amazon.com/post/see_more/2QPDHZBFIATG6
You can't actually click any link on the kindle site to get to your twitter posted links, so the only way you see all other posts I have is when you click on the shortened url from my twitter. I'm sure this will change in the future as the kindle site is in beta.
lr:
Hope that's helpful. I think I'll have some more to say in the future.
nny:
For technical reference I'd suggest using Sumatra PDF, or Foxit Reader on a USB stick with your reference documents. Why? Because you can search for what you need more effectively with a mouse, keyboard and PDF search functionality. You'd probably be typing a lot more notes. Also you'd probably want to google things quite a bit more often.
Yeah if you're in the field and you need some specific data you can load up a bunch of good sheets. I probably will put a default passwords list for various manufacturer's routers or some such. Or if you want to read some technical manuals for machines you've purchased it's a great way to digest those.
andre:
Don't think you'll be satisfied for several years out. If you want some pretty colors to look at, get a tablet :D
---
One last thing: Saving paper
I wondered how well this device would be for barcode scanning. It turns out, it's fucking amazing.
I went to a Sharks hockey game and used pdf copies of my ticket. The handheld scanner picked it up instantly (this first time I had a paper backup). The second time I purchased a ticket for a movie online and sent it to the kindle. I got in the movie in no time :D The third time I used coupons for some food deal at the cash register, worked great!
At work I did some testing with our barcode scanner. I could be at fairly diverse zoom levels before the contrast would make the barcode unreadable.
It's easy to do too:
1. Get ticket
2. Print to PDF
3. email PDF to kindle
4. hit sync on kindle
Oh yeah, and I also send google maps directions to my kindle. I would suggest changing the kindle orientation view and zooming in so you can just page down through the directions easily. No it's not a GPS enabled device nny, so this is the best I can do :)
I don't think you can do this (barcode scanning) from your oled or lcd very successfully. Try it.
Hope that's helpful. I think I'll have some more to say in the future.
nny:
For technical reference I'd suggest using Sumatra PDF, or Foxit Reader on a USB stick with your reference documents. Why? Because you can search for what you need more effectively with a mouse, keyboard and PDF search functionality. You'd probably be typing a lot more notes. Also you'd probably want to google things quite a bit more often.
Yeah if you're in the field and you need some specific data you can load up a bunch of good sheets. I probably will put a default passwords list for various manufacturer's routers or some such. Or if you want to read some technical manuals for machines you've purchased it's a great way to digest those.
andre:
Don't think you'll be satisfied for several years out. If you want some pretty colors to look at, get a tablet :D
---
One last thing: Saving paper
I wondered how well this device would be for barcode scanning. It turns out, it's fucking amazing.
I went to a Sharks hockey game and used pdf copies of my ticket. The handheld scanner picked it up instantly (this first time I had a paper backup). The second time I purchased a ticket for a movie online and sent it to the kindle. I got in the movie in no time :D The third time I used coupons for some food deal at the cash register, worked great!
At work I did some testing with our barcode scanner. I could be at fairly diverse zoom levels before the contrast would make the barcode unreadable.
It's easy to do too:
1. Get ticket
2. Print to PDF
3. email PDF to kindle
4. hit sync on kindle
Oh yeah, and I also send google maps directions to my kindle. I would suggest changing the kindle orientation view and zooming in so you can just page down through the directions easily. No it's not a GPS enabled device nny, so this is the best I can do :)
I don't think you can do this (barcode scanning) from your oled or lcd very successfully. Try it.
Well, apparently there is technology for color e-ink, though probably not ready for market yet (eg. http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/19/pvis-proto … h-for-kin/ )
The reason I want color is because I read lots of papers and often you see captions in plots like "the red line corresponds to foo". That would suck in B&W.
The reason I want color is because I read lots of papers and often you see captions in plots like "the red line corresponds to foo". That would suck in B&W.
DannyP where I work, using usb keys is a serious risk.
andre: looks good, yeah bezos says no color eink in kindles for 'a couple years'. maybe he was saying that glossing over the idea but you might get it sooner. Also i'm not discounting tablet competitors, there are some really good ones for reading, i just really like eink!
nny: then an ereader might be a good option :D
nny: then an ereader might be a good option :D
nny:
i suppose you could also load up sugarsync/dropbox/goog docs with documents and use an in-browser reader, or one on the computer already
i suppose you could also load up sugarsync/dropbox/goog docs with documents and use an in-browser reader, or one on the computer already
I like to assume no internet access. Cause sometimes that's the case.
> I went to a Sharks hockey game and used pdf copies of my ticket. The handheld scanner picked it up instantly
Holy crap, I didn't know it could do that. Badass.
Holy crap, I didn't know it could do that. Badass.
andre: B & N released a colour Nook.
I too am waiting for a colour version, but not as expensive as the latest Nook. B & N is selling refurbished Nooks (B & W) for $99 on ebay. But I read that they're slower than Kindle. Waiting for black friday deals.
I too am waiting for a colour version, but not as expensive as the latest Nook. B & N is selling refurbished Nooks (B & W) for $99 on ebay. But I read that they're slower than Kindle. Waiting for black friday deals.
I think the color Nooks are LCD devices, not e-ink.
I bought the BeBook Neo. Should arrive next week.
what's the word on the best reader? want one with a good screen and one that's reasonably power-user friendly for pdfs etc
just ordered the kindle 3g
i am really happy with it so far.
i have already read more fiction in the last five days than i did in the previous two months.
i have already read more fiction in the last five days than i did in the previous two months.
don't worry, your enthusiasm will deteriorate
kinda like when books still shipped with unopened pages, then, suddenly, books arrived with cut pages
kinda like when books still shipped with unopened pages, then, suddenly, books arrived with cut pages
interesting revisions
i'm learning