An author I like has written a book I’d like to read. But it’s apparently only available in Kindle format. And I don’t have a Kindle (or any other ebook reader).
If I buy a Kindle ebook, can I download and read it on a regular PC?
Yes, you can download Kindle for PC for free. You can also use Calibre to change to a different format, like if you want to read on a smartphone or tablet.
Is it sold in the Kindle store, or downloaded somewhere else ‘in Kindle format’?
If it’s sold in the Kindle store, then I doubt Calibre will convert it, because the Kindle store uses DRM. But you may not need to either. Amazon has Kindle software for iPhone/iPad, Android, Mac, Blackberry, and Windows Phone 7 as well as PC. And I have to say, the iPhone version is pretty nifty. 
The book I’m looking at is being sold by Amazon. (It’s Castro’s Bomb by Robert Conroy. I’m a big AH fan.)
So I can buy the book and then download Amazon’s Kindle for PC for free to read it? Are there any catches to this?
What happens if later on I buy a Kindle? Can I upload the book to the Kindle from my PC at that time?
I’m not trying to do anything illegal or underhanded here. I’m just trying to make sure nothing underhanded is done to me.
Nope, no catch. I started using the “Kindle for PC” app before I bought my Kindle, as a way of getting my feet wet and seeing what all the fuss was about (and “bought” a few of the free e-books Amazon had available).
Any Kindle book you get from Amazon should be available to you on any Kindle, or any device running their Kindle App, that’s registered to your account. When you buy the e-book, you specify where you want it “delivered,” but you can always re-send it to a different device.
You should also be able to read Kindle books on pretty much any smartphone.
I think there’s a limit to how many times you can register devices (PCs, phones, kindles etc) to your Amazon account, but I’ve never had trouble with that, reading books on my Kindle, my phone, and 3 different PCs.
If there is a limit I haven’t found it, with 4 kindles, 5 PCs and 3 smartphones so far on the same account.
You can also download the Kindle app for the iPod Touch, if you have one of those. Works fine.
I think I now have 6 different ereader apps on my touch. :dubious:
Along with the apps you can download from Amazon to read on a million devices, you can also read Amazon books with your browser using Cloud Reader.
The book is yours and Amazon stores it for you in their cloud. It can be downloaded later to a Kindle or any of the apps. Because there is usually DRM protecting the file, you have to download from Amazon directly instead of copying the file from your PC anywhere.
So this kindle on PC thing, will it also work for Amazon’s new Kindle lending library for Prime? I found out that a couple of books I’m interested in (Mammoth ghost stories) are available for free loan to those of us with Prime accounts, and I don’t have a kindle, so…
I don’t think so. Amazon’s website indicates that you need the actual Kindle device for this.
As for OP, yes, just download the free program from Amazon. I’ve got Kindle for PC, iPad, and iPhone and have read dozens of books this way. The trick is to keep yourself from blowing too much money!
Nope, it’s only for people who own Kindles. I am a disgruntled Nook-owning Prime member.
Well, I went ahead and downloaded the Kindle for PC program and bought the book I was looking at. I figured it was worth the risk of $6.75 to try it out. I even bought a second book for ninety-nine cents.
That makes sense. As I understand it, an iPod touch is close to the same device as an iPhone, without voice call or 3g data capabilities - and e-book readers are a good example of iPhone apps that don’t require constant access to the internet.
Mind if I ask which 6? As it happens, I have six e-book reader apps on my iPhone:
Kindle
ereader.com
Bluefire (which supports Adobe Digital Editions epub books)
iSilo (For books I ‘made’ myself using iSilo’s HTML converter program.)
Kobo
I’m curious what you think of these and which you think are the best. I also have Stanza, which I heard doesn’t work with IOS 5, but is working fine on my device(which I did update).
I currently only have Kindle, Stanza, and Ibooks.
I use Kindle the most.
Yup, that pretty much describes the iPod Touch. It DOES have wi-fi, so I can access the internet at home or wherever there’s free wi-fi.
I have these reading apps:
eReader (for my legacy pdb files from Palm)
Kobo
Kindle
Stanza
iBooks (the Apple reading app)
Bluefire
Nook
Diesel (which is essentially Bluefire, I think)
Stanza INITIALLY didn’t work with IOS 5, but they did an update on the app, and now it works fine. Which is good, because honestly Stanza appears to be the most flexible in terms of formatting your reading experience. You have lots of options for fonts, text size, etc. And I seriously love that their “night” theme has stars in the background. (I read in bed with the lights off quite a bit.) I just wish it supported DRM books.
Most of the other ebook apps lock you more or less into their version of what they think the book should look like. I particularly hate that the Kindle app ALWAYS justifies the text. On a larger device it might not matter so much, but on something as small as an iTouch screen, those gaps between words created to justify the text annoy the heck out of me. And you can’t change fonts in the Kindle app. (I like sans serif fonts, dunno why.)
The iBooks app from Apple is surprisingly (to me) decent. You have a few font options, only two text size options, and it takes FOREVER to load, for some reason. But the reading experience (layout, amount of text vs amount of page, etc) is actually kinda nice.
Kobo’s “social reading experience” annoys me. And I hate Barnes & Noble with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns. I have the app because I bought a few books there before they managed to alienate me so thoroughly. Never again.
(Yes, I have strong opinions on ebook readers. :D)
Just out of curiosity, can you watch Amazon instant videos that come free with your prime membership on your Nook? I read somewhere that you could, but wanted to check with someone who really owned it.
To the OP, yes, I’ve downloaded the free PC app and read Kindle books before. Are you enjoying the book you bought?
Yes, Conroy is kind of a guilty pleasure. He’s not a great writer (although he has improved over his career) but I like the kind of alternate history thrillers he writes.
Another question. Are the kindle books I’ve purchased a file that’s been downloaded into my computer? Or did my purchase just give me access to a file that’s stored somewhere else?
To put it another way, if I decided to disconnect my internet access completely, would I still be able to read my kindle books on my PC? I know I can read them when I’m not actively online but I have a cable connection and I think I’m never really completely offline with that. (As you can see, I’m not really up on these tech issues.)