Is this the end of Kindle?

[thelawnet]

Kindles are much better than tablets for their purpose, because they are unlikely to be stolen, the battery lasts for months, and they don't contain any distractions from the job at hand. Plus they are lighter, cheaper, and better for reading on.

They aren't going anywhere, but they are now a mature category with little room for innovation or selling people a new one every 12 months.

[mort.g2jl]

I have one, (bottom of the range, too ! - I'm a cheapskate) & I think it's excellent. I have "Downloaded" (I think the term is) scores of books, free. (I cringe at "for free" ! I can't imagine any reader regretting getting it.

I want to post messages, but can't see how 2 do it. I am old & dim. I live in Greece half the year. It's as cycle-friendly as the Sultan of Bokhara's snake-pit was user-friendly. One learns defensive riding, or gets squashed ! Best wishes ! - Mort

[Heltor Chasca]

Kindles are much better than tablets for their purpose, because they are unlikely to be stolen, the battery lasts for months, and they don't contain any distractions from the job at hand. Plus they are lighter, cheaper, and better for reading on.

They aren't going anywhere, but they are now a mature category with little room for innovation or selling people a new one every 12 months.

All good points. I almost bought one. I saved for ages then realised that an iPad would be way more advantageous as its my 'one stop shop' and does everything. I take your point about reading but I am pretty comfortable reading on my iPad now and of course it supports kindle AND all my free downloads from the library.

iPad for me...b

[Flinders]

Personally I don't have one.

I have illustrated books, and a few years ago wrote one and illustrated it for a publisher. The publisher also did it as an e-book (using specialists to do a proper job of it for the various platforms). Given that it was a large format technical book, and relied a lot on the illustrations, I didn't think they'd sell many that way. When I got the following year's returns (you get these because of royalties etc.) I was surprised to see that they had sold quite a few that way - many fewer than hard copies, but still more than I had expected.

I'm lucky in that my publisher believes that authors should be paid the same for an e-book as a hard copy, but sadly some publishers don't, and Amazon's aggressive discounting doesn't help publishers or authors (or us as taxpayers). It's nice for readers in the short term, but it's now nearly impossible to make even the most modest living as a writer unless you're a bestseller. With technical books, where a lot of research is necessary, it simply isn't economic to do it. So in the end, there will be fewer such books being written.

( I collect books, real books, on my own subject, many of them pretty old (the oldest I have is from the 1700s) though not valuable in the conventional sense, and I also like 'minor' Victorian novels that will never get scanned, and I'm not sure I could get used to being without the 'touch' of paper.
I really really hate Print-on-Demand, BTW. I've never bought one that wasn't completely horrible in quality, and now won't buy them at all.)

[mort.g2jl]

Kindles are much better than tablets for their purpose, because they are unlikely to be stolen, the battery lasts for months, and they don't contain any distractions from the job at hand. Plus they are lighter, cheaper, and better for reading on.

They aren't going anywhere, but they are now a mature category with little room for innovation or selling people a new one every 12 months.

All good points. I almost bought one. I saved for ages then realised that an iPad would be way more advantageous as its my 'one stop shop' and does everything. I take your point about reading but I am pretty comfortable reading on my iPad now and of course it supports kindle AND all my free downloads from the library.

iPad for me...b

Chacun á son gout ! (Actual French for "I prefer Araldite") How does one post a new. original message, please ?

[Bicycler]

How does one post a new. original message, please ?

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[Tangled Metal]

I got the first kindle touch a while ago. Used it a lot for awhile but went back to reading some books I'd bought before getting it that I'd never got round to reading. Then went through a spell of not reading books of any kind. Then I re-found my kindle. It had been stored in a cheapo case and now it won't turn off. It goes to the greyscale drawing but it seems to last a week. Also charging is temperamental. Charging cables that I use on tabloids and smartphones need to be plugged in just right for it to charge.

I'm considering another one but which ereader is good and also a bargain? I've got a kindle library so I think I'm likely to be tied to kindle now. Kobo look ok to me and about £10-20 cheaper than equivalent kindle version. Who are kobo? Aren't they an American bookstore or the bookstore's own brand ereader? Whsmith sell them but where do you buy ebooks for them from? Kindle IMHO work best because they are part of an established ecosystem.

[Bill Reynolds]

Kindles are the best thing invented! If your reading a library book which is part of a series and you just so happen to read the first of the series then you will no doubt find that the second book in the series is always out borrowed by someone else. I found this out when reading the sea stories by Patrick O'Brian...the next one that is needed is always 'out'! Now I am working my way through the series AGAIN as I have them all on my Kindle! I also have other series. One can 'carry' many books via a Kindle that would otherwise weigh a ton if they were real books!!

[Psamathe]

...
I'm considering another one ...? I've got a kindle library so I think I'm likely to be tied to kindle now....

This is exactly what is holding me back from starting down the e-reader route (something I feel must be superior). And I bet exactly the same applied to books purchased through Apple, etc.

Ian

[simonineaston]

and I'm not sure I could get used to being without the 'touch' of paper...

Another example of this shift to digitisation is the way we experience recorded music. To be honest, it's all the same to me whether I listen to, say, Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on my iPhone or through my hard disc based 'hi-fi', or on a CD in the car, but on the very rare occasion I get out the old vinyl album, it will probably be to admire the cover, and read all the words, admire that group portrait in the gatefold and look at the included cutouts - an entirely different event from listening to the recording.

On the set, in B&W

Note this is not an invitation for folks to resurrect the debate over that old chestnut - which sounds better - vinyl or CD... let alone its modern counterpart Why MP3s aren't Good Enough
The point of this post is to remark that the media which we use to consume both text and sound shifts gently over the years, and is in a way, irrelevant, but the core experience doesn't change much at all...

[horizon]

Kindles are the best thing invented! If your reading a library book which is part of a series and you just so happen to read the first of the series then you will no doubt find that the second book in the series is always out borrowed by someone else. I found this out when reading the sea stories by Patrick O'Brian...the next one that is needed is always 'out'! Now I am working my way through the series AGAIN as I have them all on my Kindle! I also have other series.

I'm a bit confused because according to this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_in_-2_ ... =535007031

and this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Nutmeg-of ... 5b1612a97f

you could have got the real thing more cheaply than getting it for your Kindle. Why did it have to come from the library or not at all?

[georgew]

Kindles are the best thing invented! If your reading a library book which is part of a series and you just so happen to read the first of the series then you will no doubt find that the second book in the series is always out borrowed by someone else. I found this out when reading the sea stories by Patrick O'Brian...the next one that is needed is always 'out'! Now I am working my way through the series AGAIN as I have them all on my Kindle! I also have other series.

I'm a bit confused because according to this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_in_-2_ ... =535007031

and this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Nutmeg-of ... 5b1612a97f


you could have got the real thing more cheaply than getting it for your Kindle. Why did it have to come from the library or not at all?

While it's true that one can buy the Aubrey/Maturin series in Paperback more cheaply than the e-book version the sheer bulk of these has to be considered. I had them all in Paperback form but cleared my groaning book shelves of these and others after buying my Kindle and the e-book series.
I repeat again to those who fear to be tied to Kindle or to Amazon that this need not be the case. By using the free book management software "Calibre" it is possible to read all formats on the Kindle as it translates these, it doesn't do well with PDF though I admit.

[LollyKat]

I got the first kindle touch a while ago. Used it a lot for awhile but went back to reading some books I'd bought before getting it that I'd never got round to reading. Then went through a spell of not reading books of any kind. Then I re-found my kindle. It had been stored in a cheapo case and now it won't turn off. It goes to the greyscale drawing but it seems to last a week. Also charging is temperamental. Charging cables that I use on tabloids and smartphones need to be plugged in just right for it to charge.

Have you tried doing a reset? Google it for you model. Resetting cleared a problem on my Kindle 4 a while ago. You won't lose any books you have on it.

[Psamathe]

Kindles are the best thing invented! If your reading a library book which is part of a series and you just so happen to read the first of the series then you will no doubt find that the second book in the series is always out borrowed by someone else. I found this out when reading the sea stories by Patrick O'Brian...the next one that is needed is always 'out'! Now I am working my way through the series AGAIN as I have them all on my Kindle! I also have other series.

I'm a bit confused because according to this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_in_-2_ ... =535007031

and this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/The-Nutmeg-of ... 5b1612a97f


you could have got the real thing more cheaply than getting it for your Kindle. Why did it have to come from the library or not at all?

While it's true that one can buy the Aubrey/Maturin series in Paperback more cheaply than the e-book version the sheer bulk of these has to be considered. I had them all in Paperback form but cleared my groaning book shelves of these and others after buying my Kindle and the e-book series.
I repeat again to those who fear to be tied to Kindle or to Amazon that this need not be the case. By using the free book management software "Calibre" it is possible to read all formats on the Kindle as it translates these, it doesn't do well with PDF though I admit.

Say on tour, Kindle broken/stolen so you switch to whatever is available (e.g. Kobo - whatever that is). So will different manufacturers eReaders happily download all those books you've purchased from Amazon ?

Ian

[kwackers]

Say on tour, Kindle broken/stolen so you switch to whatever is available (e.g. Kobo - whatever that is). So will different manufacturers eReaders happily download all those books you've purchased from Amazon ?

You could convert books to/from Kobo but strictly speaking if you've got a Kindle why bother buying something else?
If you wanted you can read Amazon books on your phone or pad or computer just by installing the Kindle software. Amazon want to sell books not hardware, they sell Kindles so they can sell books and hence why they port the Kindle software to as many devices as possible.