The text-to-speech function on the Kindle is configurable by the publisher on a title-by-title basis, it wasn’t a blanket disabling of the function.
Of the last 10 Kindle edition titles I’ve bought it was only disabled on one of them.
Actually I’ve been surprised at how much use I’ve made of the text-to-speech feature over the last few months. Driving to/from work, I often let it read to me. (This week it’s been “A Study in Scarlet”) When I get home, I can bring the reader in and pick up reading normally from wherever I was when I stopped driving.
Kindle still has the text to speech function. Like ChordedZither, I find it very useful while driving.
They Amazon website claims the 3G does work in Australia.
I’d be interested to see who the 3G provider is, in that case. I’m surprised it’s not being advertised properly (ie at all), especially with Borders pushing their e-Reader and several other models from various manufacturers currently on the market, not the least of which is the iPad.
So, I reiterate my earlier point that someone at Amazon doesn’t like Australia that much. 
The Kindle International version uses AT&T international roaming for delivering books wirelessly. So whoever AT&T uses for roaming in Australia would be the 3G source (or possibly the device just connects to whichever 3G provider signal is strongest).
Using international roaming might also be another reason for the additional cost of books in Australia.
$50, and the books would have to be in the $5 or less range.
But really I have an iPod Touch and I could be reading on that, I just don’t.
You’re not the only one who’s said this, so please don’t think I’m singling you out, but I can’t imagine anyone reading a book on that tiny screen. How could that possibly be good for your eyes?
I guess I’d say don’t knock it till you try it. The screen is very crisp and clear. I read e-mail, web pages, notes, all sorts of things on the iTouch, why not books? The reader I have (forget the name), lets you change the text size and read in portrait or landscape orientation. You can even turn the “page” by sliding your finger right to left on the screen, it’s pretty impressive. I think the main reason I don’t read books on the iTouch is I don’t read much altogether these days, unless it’s web sites online.
Hey there, that was 3 extra books for the flight not the whole trip. We typically travel 2.5-3 months at a time. In the past I’ve come home with pounds and pounds of books that I couldn’t possibly live without, hee. I got pulled out of line for extra scrutiny at Heathrow once because of the book density in my suitcase.
And I’m a she. 
Count me as another who has no desire for a Kindle. I like the feel of curling up with a book in my lap, the feel of the pages, the smell of books, and going browsing in my library. (And you can find a LOT of books at the library that you CAN’T find at Amazon – a lot of old, out of print books)
Screw e-books. I mean, if you like them, fine. But you’ll get MY book-books when you pry them from my cold, ink-stained hands. 
And I LOVE going to a book store – Half-Price Books is my favorite place in the world. I like just browsing for any old book, not trying to find something specific.
So whatever floats your boat – but I’m keeping my books.
I love my Kindle. I really don’t mind spending 9.99 for an ebook. I’d spend 20 on a new hardcover.
I’ve never liked libraries but I love going to bookstores and just browsing. If I find something I like I take a picture of the cover with my phone and it automatically finds the book on amazon. If they have it in ebook form I just download it to my phone and my kindle and it’s right there.
I’da killed to have one of these when I was in the military. If I had to travel somewhere, especially when deploying, I had to decide which books to take and leave because of weight issues and space. Not anymore. If there’s a book I may even remotely want to read sometime in the future it’s on there, ready to go.
To me, a major enticement towards getting a Kindle was that it would give me a good way to read all those old, out-of-print books that are available from Project Gutenberg or manybooks.com.
(It doesn’t really help with all those intermediately-old books that are out of print but not out of copyright; that’s where the library or used book store is your friend. But I suspect, and hope, that more of those will become available as e-books, as the copyright holders realize it might not be worth their while to have the books reprinted and marketed, but there’s not much to lose by making them available electronically.)
I’m just glad I don’t have to choose. I have a Kindle but still read plenty of paper-and-ink books.
No more than $30. However, I’m going to skip it and spend a little more for something that will do more. Either an IPad, the Samsung or other versions that will be coming out soon. I’d like one device to let me get online, watch a movie or read rather than have to suffle devices.
I’ve been going over all the pros and cons of a Kindle versus a tablet, and eventually I decided on a Kindle for book reading for two basic reasons:
Battery life. A Kindle lasts for weeks, whereas I guess you wouldn’t get more than a day with a tablet. I use the Kindle app on my smartphone, and I’m amazed how battery depleting it is.
Readability. A tablet’s never going to be as easy to read - or as easy on the eyes - as a Kindle.
We’re coming into the multiplicity of devices dance at the moment. Whether to have all or some of a smartphone, an ereader, a tablet and a PC/Mac - that is the question.
I’d like to buy a cheap intermodal reader like one of those, scrolled, pull apart Holographic “LCD Interactive Paper Pads” (LCDIPP) for reading newspapers as seen in the Motion Picture, Minority Report or as an all around map and computer interface as in the movie Red Planet
I suppose I want something that doesn’t exist. I’m still miffed over the beta format. Hopefully, with the last 30 years worth of integration and progress we have evolved beyond proprietary and delved into the “Publican Format”. So many people are holding on for dear life, that they overlook the Billions made in progress.
I suppose I would go with an I-Pad… that is what I am really talking about. But maybe a 6th generation Ipad.
I wouldn’t buy it for any price unless the books were free. I have access to a great library system, I don’t need to spend money to read new books.
What would you pay if the books were free?