I downloaded PJ O’Rourke’s new book (a compilation of essays) from Amazon last night and downloaded it into my Kindle. I enjoyed it an the New York Times at the office today.
I got back home and plugged the thing into the computer to get today’s paper. Nothing happened. Soft reset, hard reset, nothing. Nada.
So I will not be home for six weeks. I cannot easily get a replacement shipped here in time. Six weeks with no newspaper.
Did I mention this is the third Kindle i have go through?
I heard about this yesterday. Apparently first gen Kindles have a lifespan only a little longer than a year, and second gen Kindles appear to be even less solidly built.
Even worse. I seem to have fixed it. After trying everything else, I plugged into the charger and it fired right up. That can’t be right. The batteries in these things last forever.
Kindle #1 Bought on the first day. It broke for no good reason.
Kindle #2 replacement for #1, provided free by Amazon. Dropped it in Saudi Arabia.
Kindle #3 bought while I was in Saudi, then I sent in #2 for possible repair. I am now using #3.
Kindle #4 provided free by Amazon to replace #2. i gave it to my niece.
I cannot understand why we are running out of landfill space.
Most battery-level indicators do not work like people expect them to. That is because they almost always indicate the energy left in the battery by measuring the battery’s voltage. Unfortunately, the relationship between a battery’s voltage and energy expended is non-linear. This is because as a battery is expended, the voltage drops relatively slowly, and then drops sharply near the end. So more often than not, if a battery shows that it is half-charged (or less), it is almost always nearly dead.
(Complicating the picture even more is the fact the total energy available in a battery is dependent on the rate of discharge. Also, if you rapidly discharge a battery until it is “dead,” then allow it to “rest,” the chemicals in the battery will continue to reach equilibrium, often resulting in renewed life for the battery.)
Reason number one why books are better than a Kindle: a book can’t fucking DIE. I have books that I’ve thrown against the wall or smashed against a table or desk in frustration; they still read just as well as they did when they were brand new. Other than a fire or flood, there are very few ways to damage a book.
One thing about the Kindle - the content can be redownloaded to it. And in addition to Amazon keeping tabs of what you purchase from them and allowing redownload at any time, content from other providers can be backed up and stored offsite via readily available means. This is particularly easy when it comes to ebooks since the files are so small.
Incidentally, I downloaded the O’Rourke book, finished it, and moved it from Kindle memory to the SD card. No issues were noted.
One thing that caused mine to die - the SD card. Once I took it out, everything came back up fine. Granted, I pushed with an unsupported 8G card, so it was my fault. It works fine with the 2G, and I can use the 8 in my camera, so no loss.
Just by the way, yesterday I finally filled up my Kindle. So yesterday zI moved a couple of month’s worth of New York Times to the SD card. I bet that used the battery power more than usual.
I tried that too. What causes power drain there is anything over 2G will constantly reindex and consume power. A 2G card will just index the card and Kindle memory once and then won’t do anything until new content arrives.
Is this still an issue with newer models? Also, is there anywhere I could try a Kindle hands on and see if I like it (besides borrowing from a friend)?