Would anyone like to talk about their Kindle?

[aceplace57]

I’ve thought about a Kindle.

As a programmer I’m forced to deal with documentation in digital form all the time. But, I’ve never learned as much reading from a computer. I get distracted too easily. You have to scroll around, and you have touch the keyboard etc. My eyes glaze over and I get sleepy. If I really need to learn a new script language or operating system I buy a book or print out the documentation. After 20 plus years of computers I still concentrate better reading paper.

I’m worried a kindle would be the same. I’d start a novel and wouldn’t ever finish it.

I’d love to get rid of the clutter of paperbacks. I have boxes and boxes of them.

[Richard_Pearse]

I’ve found it just as easy to read novels on the Kindle compared to a book, and much easier than reading on a computer because there’s no screen refresh and no back-lighting which are the two big eyestrain issues with reading from a computer screen.

I have one big issue with my Kindle. I bought it mainly to put PDF manuals on and to safe significant weight in my work bag which has to carry various manuals. Unfortunately their PDF implementation is poor, mainly because it won’t recognise PDF bookmarks. This makes it difficult to navigate a PDF reference document. If a PDF has searchable text rather than scanned images then you can search the document for what you want, but you need to know the right search terms so if you’re memory is a bit fuzzy on what exactly you’re looking for it can be difficult. Also if the PDF has a table of contents that references page numbers that directly represent the actual PDF page numbers you can look up the ToC and then go directly to the appropriate page using Kindle’s “goto” function. These are ultimately clumsy workarounds though that wouldn’t be necessary if it would just recognise bookmarks properly.

The end result is that I primarily use the Kindle for reading novels and I use my iPhone for PDFs.

@Isamu

The dictionary is useless. If you don’t know what the word means, the dictionary won’t either. (But you can make marginalia to refer back to when you have access to a proper dictionary)

I’ve found the dictionary to be pretty useful actually but that’s probably a reflection of my existing knowledge of words. If you don’t like the dictionary that comes with it, you can download other dictionaries and set them to be Kindle’s default dictionary. Check the Amazon website.

[Vision_of_Love]

I just ordered this on backorder a few days ago and I am expecting it to arrive in the next couple of weeks.

I am really excited at the prospect of buying books again as I have slowed down the book purchases due to lack of shelf space.

The Kindle book selection seems to be pretty good; I just wish that the last two books of the Hunger Games trilogy were available.

[OpalCat]

@PunditLisa

However, the downside is that it’s not great for traveling. Aside from the fact that it got itself broke, I love to read poolside. However, I never felt comfortable just leaving my Kindle on the chair, or even in a bag, while I went for a dip in the ocean or pool. With a paperbook, theft was never an issue with me. But with a Kindle, I worried about it.

They make a Kindle-sized aquapac. I have one and you can read the book just fine while it’s in the aquapac. I don’t know where I PUT it, however, so I haven’t been able to use it this summer. Arg.