Christmas is coming…
So, is anyone else late to the party and thinking of asking for a Kindle for Christmas? I found some good info on which one to get on Quora: Kindle: Which Kindle should I get? Based on some brief research over the weekend, I think the Touch would be the best Kindle for me, because the e-ink seems like it would be easier to read, but I would love to hear what current Kindle owners think. Also, if you have an iPad and a Kindle, is the Kindle better for reading books?
Book burning in the Kindle age.
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I have a first generation Nook and am thinking of upgrading to the Nook Simple Touch (still with the e-ink screen). My fiance has an iPad and I much prefer e-ink to any other sort of electronic reading.
Good luck with your choice!
I have a Nook (1st Edition 3G+WiFi) and an iPad. I love my iPad about 90% more than my Nook. That last 10% is because iPad TOTALLY fails in the sun. It’s impossible to read in full sunlight. I use my iPad with the Nook, Kindle, and Kobo apps. That makes a huge difference for me. If I had a choice again, I would stick with the iPad.
Look, I’m pretty much against the Kindle because I dislike Amazon’s business model and am very much against DRM. I’ve got an older Sony and think it’s pretty excellent (without having the ability to sneak into my device and delete books from it without my knowledge). I’d look into more than just the Kindle if you’re interested in an eReader, but they’re all reasonably similar these days (and pretty closely priced). Look at formats, look at library availability… all important factors.
Shannon, I’m really late with this comment because I’m just catching up here, but there is no comparing the iPad and the Kindle: it’s apples (pun intended) and oranges. The iPad is a tablet computer and the Kindle (and Nook) is a e-reading device. Both do their jobs excellently.
I love my iPad and can read ANY ebook format on it, as well as do many, many other things. The Kindle app is fine for books; however, I can’t get Kindle magazines or newspapers, for instance, because it’s not an actual Kindle.
As for choosing a Kindle model, I just bought my sister a Kindle Keyboard WiFi (no ads) for Christmas because after researching, I found that 1) the screen is supposed to be better quality on this model, 2) more people said they liked the buttons to turn the page than to swipe the screen, and 3) the extra room at the bottom of the screen is handy for a) holding the Kindle and for b) propping it up in bed, etc. (the bottom of the screen doesn’t get covered up by blankets or pillows; I’ve had that happen with my iPad). The size of the device isn’t that much larger than the Touch now, and the price is the same.
Good luck, and I’m sure you will LOVE whatever you choose!
Thanks, those are really helpful comments. I know you can’t really compare the iPad and the Kindle but I am only going to get one (at least this Christmas), so I was trying to figure out which one I would get more use out of. Still sounds like the Kindle. I appreciate all the feedback on the whole e-reader topic, as I am late to this party (as per usual).
I’ve been thinking about your comment and also similar comments I’ve seen about Amazon. I’ve concluded that it’s simply not going to make that much difference to appeal to individuals based on a sense of what’s right and wrong. You may convert a few people, but most will continue to shop at Amazon. Plenty of people don’t shop at Walmart out of principle (I’m one of them), but Walmart is still the most successful retailer out there. Amazon is a behemoth for a reason–it makes it easy and convenient to shop there, and it’s cheaper. These things will probably always beat out principle for many, many consumers.
If you truly feel that a corporation is evil, then I think you have two options. One is to go at them from a legal standpoint–prove that they are taking unfair advantage in the marketplace, an expensive and time-consuming proposition you are likely to lose. The other is competition on Amazon’s own terms.
I will continue to shop at my local bookstore, because I love it, I love the experience of going there and I want to support it. But to be honest, I will still buy plenty of stuff from Amazon because Amazon makes it very easy and inexpensive to buy certain things. It’s true that I could probably make it my personal mission to only do business with small or local companies that have ethical business practices, but I don’t think it’s very realistic, and my efforts won’t make much difference. Come to think of it, maybe I should do that for a year and get a book deal out of it. (But only if Amazon will carry the e-book, ha ha.)
Anyway, I do appreciate your comments, and it’s true that we should think about who we are doing business with and at least try to shop mindfully as much as we can. Other companies that trouble me are Apple, Google and Barnes & Noble. But trying to be 100% ethical can drive you crazy, and I’m not convinced it will make any difference.