# Kindle 2.0: Still too expensive **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146 "2009-02-09T23:18:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/81 "2009-02-11T20:22:41Z")
For the elderly a key advantage of a Kindle (or other device with similar functionality) is that it immediately turns every book into a large-print book. I know it has been 30 years but my great grandmother would have loved it back in the day for saving her from spending her life reading through a magnifying glass. I use the font sizing feature myself for reading in dimly lit movie theaters while waiting for things to start. As things get darker I just up the font size. The Sony Reader is nice (better looking and more comfortable than the Kindle, in my opinion). But the direct download ability of the Kindle is what sent me in that direction. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/82 "2009-02-11T20:59:18Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > I never denied that Kindle downloads are less flexible in some respects. Some people (like me) feel this is outweighed by the advantages - i.e. being able to buy the book instantly from anywhere, the fact that each additional book requires zero physical space in your bag or on your bookshelf, text search, etc. > > Also, I believe you _can_ share a Kindle book with family members by registering multiple Kindle devices under the same Amazon account. That’s true. Both of my parents have Kindles, registered to one account. They can buy one Kindle book, and download it to both Kindles. Ed ---
**Author:** ![ethelbert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ethelbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ethelbert)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/83 "2009-02-11T21:08:41Z")
As ebooks become more popular (and they will), you could loan out your Kindle in return for a friend’s Kindle. Imagine being able to borrow a friend’s entire library! I would love that. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/84 "2009-02-11T21:25:23Z")
> [@ethelbert](#): > > As ebooks become more popular (and they will), you could loan out your Kindle in return for a friend’s Kindle. Imagine being able to borrow a friend’s entire library! I would love that. I can’t imagine why this would be all that great, unless it were an extended loan type thing and you really trust the other person to not drop your Kindle into, say, a bathtub or something. This seems a lazy question, but since I’m here, are there scholarly texts in Kindle-appropriate formats, or just Eng-lang novels and popular non-fiction? I’d spring for a Kindle in a second if I could buy, like, Meinong’s or Husserl’s or Ingarden’s works in German, but I have doubts that (a) they’re available and (b) their purchase price would be much more affordable than the print versions of similar texts (which are already not, at least for most scholars, affordable)? And texts and commentaries in the classics (Greek and Latin)? ---
**Author:** ![jkusters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/fbc32d/32.png) [@jkusters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkusters)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/85 "2009-02-11T23:41:17Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > This seems a lazy question, but since I’m here, are there scholarly texts in Kindle-appropriate formats, or just Eng-lang novels and popular non-fiction? I’d spring for a Kindle in a second if I could buy, like, Meinong’s or Husserl’s or Ingarden’s works in German, but I have doubts that (a) they’re available and (b) their purchase price would be much more affordable than the print versions of similar texts (which are already not, at least for most scholars, affordable)? And texts and commentaries in the classics (Greek and Latin)? Since I’d have no idea what you’ve find interesting to read, you might want to look for books yourself. That way you’d know how much they cost if they are available… [Kindle Book Store](http://www.amazon.com/Books-Kindle/b/ref=sv_kinh_1?ie=UTF8&node=154606011) (I hope that link works… 😃 ) ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/86 "2009-02-12T01:58:42Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > Just want to point out that Sony has already made a Reader. I have one and I love it! The Sony Reader supports a lot of formats - BBeB Book, TXT, RTF, Adobe® PDF, Microsoft® Word, MP3 and unsecured AAC files. It can also display images - JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP! Yes but. Yes Sony makes a nice reader, but they lack Amazon’s supply of books. Amazon makes an acceptable reader, but has a buttload of books. Ideally Amazon would provide the books to any reader that meet certain technical requirements. ---
**Author:** ![SeanArenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/87 "2009-02-12T02:35:23Z")
From my bit of research, it looks like when you buy an e-book from Amazon, it’s delivered wirelessly to your Kindle. It doesn’t seem to download to your computer, although since I don’t have a Kindle, I’m not doing the purchase to find out if there’s a method to do that. Perhaps a Kindle owner can clue us in. But, it doesn’t seem there’s a way to take that file and read it on a Sony reader. As per Wikipedia, it’s a proprietary format. Comparing prices of books (not readers) … Cruel Zinc Melodies by Glen Cook: amazon: $6.39 / sony: $7.19 Heir of Stone by S.L. Farrell Neither had it available. It’s the book I’m reading. In fact, Sony has a book from a different series for $17.46, and amazon does not have that same book. Amazon does have yet another book for $9.99. George R. R. Martin Amazon: $6.39 / Sony: $7.19 Seems like Amazon is cheaper per title on average, just as they are for .mp3 compared to many others ($0.89 / $0.99). But their .mp3 are DRM free, and .AMZ appears to be proprietary. I think the e-book market needs to mature a bit before I venture in. I have enough paper books in my queue to last until Kindle 3. Unless they end up cheap on eBay I will probably stay paper for a while. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/88 "2009-02-12T13:23:29Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > This seems a lazy question, but since I’m here, are there scholarly texts in Kindle-appropriate formats, or just Eng-lang novels and popular non-fiction? I’d spring for a Kindle in a second if I could buy, like, Meinong’s or Husserl’s or Ingarden’s works in German, but I have doubts that (a) they’re available and (b) their purchase price would be much more affordable than the print versions of similar texts (which are already not, at least for most scholars, affordable)? And texts and commentaries in the classics (Greek and Latin)? I’ve had good luck with classics and the Kindle. Project Gutenberg has lots & lots of out-of-copyright texts that you can download for free and put on the Kindle. [QUOTE=SeanArenas] From my bit of research, it looks like when you buy an e-book from Amazon, it’s delivered wirelessly to your Kindle. It doesn’t seem to download to your computer, although since I don’t have a Kindle, I’m not doing the purchase to find out if there’s a method to do that. Perhaps a Kindle owner can clue us in. [/QUOTE] Yes, you can choose to download the text to your computer. I don’t live in Whispernet range, so that’s how I get 100% of my content to my Kindle. I download it locally, then copy it over using a USB cable. Really not any more difficult than moving files from one folder to another on your computer. The only thing not available for non-Whispernet download is the preview chapter feature. If you’re in Whispernet range, you can get the first chapter of any book for free for 30 days or something like that. For whatever reason, probably copyright, they don’t allow that feature via download. Which is kind of a bummer. What I’ve done is save up lists of books I’d like to try, then when I go out of town I get all those free first chapters downloaded. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/89 "2009-02-12T19:43:45Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > My 70-year old mother has a Kindle (I got it for her for a gift) which she uses all the time. She found a cool use of one feature. She reads a lot of long, involved historical novels with many characters. She showed me how whenever a new character is introduced, she makes an electronic note in the Kindle indicating who this character is (e.g. “Lord Nesmith is the son of Duke High-and-Mighty.”) Then if that character comes back into the plot some hundreds of pages later, she can look up her notes to see who he was and where he was introduced. > Ed Wait, so the Kindle _does_ include a text editor? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/90 "2009-02-12T20:06:13Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > Wait, so the Kindle _does_ include a text editor? > > -FrL- Not really a text editor, but you can create notes while you’re reading. They’re attached to the book and the page, if I’m remembering right. You can’t, for example, create a new file and start typing away. Though I suppose you could do something like copy a blank text file to your Kindle, and put notes on that, and it would be like a note file. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/91 "2009-02-12T21:50:08Z")
> [@Athena](#): > > Not really a text editor, but you can create notes while you’re reading. They’re attached to the book and the page, if I’m remembering right. > > You can’t, for example, create a new file and start typing away. Though I suppose you could do something like copy a blank text file to your Kindle, and put notes on that, and it would be like a note file. Notes are attached to a particular line in a particular book, and they go into a notes file, which you can search just like any other book. Ed ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/92 "2009-02-12T22:09:13Z")
Anybody know anything about or tried some of the OTHER ereaders on the market besides Sony and Amazon? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/93 "2009-02-12T22:15:11Z")
I saw an article today that said that Amazon’s getting some flak about the text-to-speech feature, as it may be infringing on audiobooks, which are different entities, copyright-wise, IIRC. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. You’d think this would’ve occurred to Amazon’s legal eagles, but I’ve see stupider stuff happen… ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/94 "2009-02-12T22:46:06Z")
> [@An\_Arky](#): > > I saw an article today that said that Amazon’s getting some flak about the text-to-speech feature, as it may be infringing on audiobooks, which are different entities, copyright-wise, IIRC. It will be interesting to see how that plays out. You’d think this would’ve occurred to Amazon’s legal eagles, but I’ve see stupider stuff happen… Well maybe it did occur to them and they regarded it as nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/95 "2009-02-12T23:07:34Z")
Author Neil Gaiman [discussed the Text-to-Speech debate with his agent](http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/02/quick-argument-summary.html). Frankly it seems like a ridiculous claim to me. It is not a stored and distributed reading of it. Unless simply reading something out loud is a copyright infringement. And there are already existing devices for converting any text to speech. ---
**Author:** ![SeanArenas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146/96 "2009-02-13T00:12:55Z")
Since people can already convert the stuff, it seems to me that Amazon is a well of money that they decided to tap over the issue. They can say that Amazon is putting it all into one place so it’s easy, whereas before people would have to have gotten the pieces separately. Mainly it’s that Amazon has money. When you think about it, listening to Microsoft Narrator read an e-text to you is totally different than having the original author or a paid voice (who’s talent is normally huge) read it are different experiences. I don’t listen to audio books, personally, but I’ve worked with screen and text readers before and am familiar with that voice. And I watch narrated shows and listen to their voices. I don’t think a software robot can compare to David Attenborough. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kindle-2-0-still-too-expensive/485146.md?page=4)