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Posted

Wmcmanus: When I got my Kindle (DX), I was just planning to use it to keep all the papers I would ever need for research (in pdf format) so I would have them at my disposal wherever I might be. However, I found that the Kindle is really nice for reading actual leisure books... much better than a real book for me. I tend to read at night before I go to bed. I would always fall asleep while reading, losing my place. Now the Kindle turns itself off and remembers what page I was reading. Also, it is really nice to be able to change the font size (on Kindle books) especially as one gets older. It would be hard to go back to those old paperbacks now. :P

I just wish I could make the font bigger on pdfs and I would be a happy (er happier) person.

Posted
Wmcmanus: When I got my Kindle (DX), I was just planning to use it to keep all the papers I would ever need for research (in pdf format) so I would have them at my disposal wherever I might be. However, I found that the Kindle is really nice for reading actual leisure books... much better than a real book for me. I tend to read at night before I go to bed. I would always fall asleep while reading, losing my place. Now the Kindle turns itself off and remembers what page I was reading. Also, it is really nice to be able to change the font size (on Kindle books) especially as one gets older. It would be hard to go back to those old paperbacks now. :P

I just wish I could make the font bigger on pdfs and I would be a happy (er happier) person.

Oh, I'll get one too. I don't doubt that one bit. I guess that was my point. While I do at least attempt to resist, it's a basic truism that technological advances do indeed create new needs. At first, those needs may seem a bit contrived (because you can still roll your car windows up by hand, or use a phone booth when you're not at home or work) but it doesn't take long before the impact and influence of technological advances permeate society, and (like it or not, and sometimes not), I'm a member of society, so I shouldn't resist needlessly. If for no other reason, I'll get a Kindle for trips to Little Cayman, where there is absolutely nothing else to do but read. An amazing place if you like doing nothing all day, and I sure do!

Posted
I'm waiting for the waterproof eink reader. Nothing better than reading in the tub.

I have a swimming dry bag that my iPhone pops right into and stays dry, with eBook readers on my iPhone I occasionally read in the hot tub. It has a headphone port so I can listen to music too. My son got it as a prize for selling popcorn and gave it to me last year for our trip to hawaii. Great kid!

Posted

That, and pretty much anything we now know and use or have used in the past.

Ok, so I'm ready to order my Kindle 2, and have been puzzled as to which cover to buy for it. I've read Amazon reviews for seemingly hours, trying to find one cover that isn't objectionable on one level or another (doesn't fit, causes the Kindle case to crack, made of poor quality, costs too much, has a terrible smell, has parts that falls off or obscure the Kindle's buttons, you name it).

So finally, I stumbled across a seemingly perfect case, and have decided to order one! Only problem: color. Being a black and white kind of guy, I've narrowed it down to White Stone and Black Stone.

Amazon.com: (9 Color Option) Mivizu Amazon Kindle 2 2nd Generation Leather Book Cover Case accessory travel package with reading book light: Clothing

Pro white - it blends in and is less likely to be a distraction while reading with the Kindle in the case.

Con white - easier to get dirty, kind of girly, more attention drawing (in terms of theft), and most of the other stuff I carry around is black.

Pro black - more of a manly look and goes well with my other travel gadgets.

Con black - will it be distracting while reading with Kindle in case?

I'm leaning toward black but would hate to be pulling the Kindle out all of the time to "go naked" in the event that the cover is distracting. For those who have Kindles or other eReaders, do you think the black case would be distracting, given that it wraps around everything?

Posted

Seems that a hugely logical application for this kind of tech is for university textbooks. I would have loved to have something like this when I was a student! Have any universities started to adopt any of these formats? This would turn the new/used textbook business on its ear.

How about libraries? No more going to the B&M building to check out a book from my town library.

It also seems logical that the reader devices themselves eventually become ultra-cheap, or even free, with subscription services. This would drive the market much faster, similiar to how it drove the cellphone business to the point of ubiquity.

Maybe all of this will happen after the basic tech is ironed out, again similiar to the cellular industry.

Posted

Wayne, if you end up not liking your, I order this one in blue and really like it. The Kindle locks in place. I take it out most times when reading, but it's good for lugging it around, and you can get a light which secures into the cover, and I've been using it at night.

i_Kindle2ExLColors1.jpg

M-Edge-e-Luminator2.jpg

Posted
Seems that a hugely logical application for this kind of tech is for university textbooks. I would have loved to have something like this when I was a student! Have any universities started to adopt any of these formats? This would turn the new/used textbook business on its ear.

Princeton Students in Kindle DX Pilot Program Sure Hate the Kindle DX - Kindle pilot program - Gizmodo

Doesnt seem like its going too well :)

"I hate to sound like a Luddite, but this technology is a poor excuse of an academic tool. It's clunky, slow and a real pain to operate. Much of my learning comes from a physical interaction with the text: bookmarks, highlights, page-tearing, sticky notes and other marks representing the importance of certain passages - not to mention margin notes, where most of my paper ideas come from and interaction with the material occurs. All these things have been lost, and if not lost they're too slow to keep up with my thinking, and the
Posted
"I hate to sound like a Luddite, but this technology is a poor excuse of an academic tool. It's clunky, slow and a real pain to operate. Much of my learning comes from a physical interaction with the text: bookmarks, highlights, page-tearing, sticky notes and other marks representing the importance of certain passages - not to mention margin notes, where most of my paper ideas come from and interaction with the material occurs. All these things have been lost, and if not lost they're too slow to keep up with my thinking, and the
Posted
Fuck it, I ordered the black one. If I change my mind once I get it, I'll order a white one and then pass the black one along to someone at a good price.

LOL I could definitely see this coming after your "resist technology" post.

Posted

Why the hell would black be "distracting"? I think you just wanted something to put in the "con" column, I don't think there really is any cons to black. Other than it gets dirty fairly easily too. Not as easily as white, but easier than say, paisley or marble or camo or anything else that already looks "splotchy". Especially shiny solid black (e.g. piano black, or in your case, "black smooth").

Posted
Why the hell would black be "distracting"? I think you just wanted something to put in the "con" column, I don't think there really is any cons to black. Other than it gets dirty fairly easily too. Not as easily as white, but easier than say, paisley or marble or camo or anything else that already looks "splotchy". Especially shiny solid black (e.g. piano black, or in your case, "black smooth").

Ya, that's pretty much what I realized after converting my loose thoughts on the matter into a long, useless post. So I then immediately start clicking my way through the checkout process and promised to never doubt myself again in terms of being committed to black gadget holders. Black iPod with black case, black sleeve for my laptop, black case for my cell phone, black CD carrying cases, black camera and camcorder bags, etc., etc. So why not a black eReader cover?

Posted
Wayne, if you end up not liking your, I order this one in blue and really like it. The Kindle locks in place. I take it out most times when reading, but it's good for lugging it around, and you can get a light which secures into the cover, and I've been using it at night.

i_Kindle2ExLColors1.jpg

M-Edge-e-Luminator2.jpg

Be careful with that one, because it can easily cause your Kindle's plastic case/housing to crack. There are several folks who have had this problem and apparently you don't need to put too terribly much pressure on it for the Kindle to crack. Then it becomes an issue of whether Amazon will stand behind their product or blame it on a "user error" and that seems to be a random function of who you get on the other end of the customer service call and how polished your Dale Carnegie skills are.

Posted

oooh. That's not good. Thanks for the heads up. I still like the case. I'll just be careful. I think people are bending back the front cover like a paperback to make it comfy to hold. I started to do that, but wondered it if was pulling on the connection dohickies too much, so stopped, and just take it out of the case, except when using the light at night in bed.

Posted
oooh. That's not good. Thanks for the heads up. I still like the case. I'll just be careful. I think people are bending back the front cover like a paperback to make it comfy to hold. I started to do that, but wondered it if was pulling on the connection dohickies too much, so stopped, and just take it out of the case, except when using the light at night in bed.

I think it's more of a matter of being carful when traveling with it to make sure it doesn't get shoved in a bag underneath something else. Can't really take much weight. Don't let someone accidentally sit on it in your car, don't drop it, etc., because the case of the Kindle itself is affixed to those tabs which in turn creates a leverage effect . Odd design; those metal tabs all but guarantee that the first thing to absorb the shock is the thing that the case was supposedly designed to protect.

But no big deal so long as you're aware of the possibility. Even knowing this, I was set to buy one myself until I stumbled upon the other one.

  • 2 weeks later...

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