I am faced with a dilemma. I have mentioned it before. It isn't a real pressing dilemma, and really not that important, but I think about it nonetheless. I would like to buy an electronic reader. I can't decide if I want a kindle, nook, sony reader or if I should hold out for the ipad, in a few years, when the price is better and the kinks are worked out.
I think I want a kindle but my biggest concern is that it won't allow me to download books from my library. Other electronic readers will. BUT other electronic readers do not get as good of reviews. And believe me, I have read MANY reviews. They just make me more confused.
So you, my readers, please chime in. If you have any of these readers PLEASE leave a comment. I need to know. I have been saving money and hope to buy one before our two week roadtrip this summer. I just can't decide!
4 comments:
Ryan has the Kindle and loves it! I told him to come leave you a comment about it because he can tell you better than I can all the reasons why he loves it! I would tell you all the reasons why I love it, but I'm not allowed to use it! Not fair! Maybe you should talk to him about that! :)
So, my reputation precedes me! Amy’s right, I LOVE my Kindle (and, yes, she can’t use it because she’d love it too and then I’d never get it back!). Here are a couple of reasons why I really like it.
1) It is easy on the eyes. With the “e-ink” it is actually more comfortable to read for long periods of time than even a regular (old-school) paper book. Compared to reading on a computer screen (such as on an iPad) there is no contest! “E-ink” is far and away superior.
2) The easy access to books I want. Amazon’s library is growing exponentially, and with the built in (and no cost) Wi-Fi on board the Kindle, I can get any of those books on my Kindle in seconds. No downloading them to my computer and then transferring them to my device. If I want a book, I just go to Amazon and order it. I love that! This is one of the big advantages I see with the Kindle, as compared to other e-readers. Amazon already has the entire support structure in place with their massive online bookstore. They already have a huge library of books I want to read, they already do a great job of making sure those books are extremely competitively priced, and they already try to get them to you as quick as possible. The Kindle just takes it to the next level. I really think they are still ahead of the curve in this area.
I also enjoy that I can get a “sample” copy of a book I’m interested in, so that I can read a chapter and find out if it is something I truly want to purchase. In addition to sample copies, publishers like Crossway are giving away free copies of different titles monthly. Also authors like John Piper (who makes many of his books available in PDF) are essential doing the same thing, since you can take any PDF of a book and put it on your Kindle. I’m not sure what books from your library you aren’t able to download, but if a book is public domain, you can usually find it in a PDF somewhere, or somebody has put it on Amazon for either 25 cents or for free.
3) The advantages over an “old school” book. I love that the Kindle has a dictionary linked right in (I use it all the time). I also love that, because of the WiFi (did I mention it’s free?), I can search on any topic that I come across in my reading. This has been extremely helpful when reading historical or theological works. I also appreciate that I can make lengthy notes (never limited by the size of the book’s margin), that I can view my notes and highlighted text in a separate file, and even download it to my computer. This helps me in reviewing books, putting quotes into sermons, or just having something clever to “tweet” from time to time. I could go on and on about the advantages over reading on an “old school” book, but I’ll just put it this way- I am bummed out now when I have to read something in paper format.
There is a lot more I could say, Dee, but I’ve already written more than I was planning! :) The first two points are why I would choose the Kindle over the other e-readers: they don’t have the support system the Kindle does and the iPad is still just reading on a computer screen. Hope this is helpful.
PAPER!!!!
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