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Using a Kindle

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12467…11

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    #92
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    The one with the keyboard is handier if you buy a lot of books via the device.

    But it's easier to buy on Amazon on a PC and have the books delivered wirelessly next time you switch on and sync.

    My suggestion is don't bother with the keyboard or 3G.


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    #93
    Elevelyn
    Registered Users Posts: 337 ✭✭Elevelyn


    I got one last week and I LOVE it too, didn't think I would but its great, no more messing about with massive books in my bag, freezing hands holding the book in bed is a thing of the past thank god and losing my page falling asleep will never happen again!! After getting about 70+ books already and cant wait to read them all


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    #94
    mickoregan
    Registered Users Posts: 157 ✭✭mickoregan


    The next thing we know they'll come up with some way to watch films on a plastic disc, without any need for film and a projector.
    :p


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    #95
    MagicMarker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    I see the European Commission is launching an investigation into possible ebook price fixing. It's about time really, the fact that an ebook costs the same as a hardcopy is beyond ridiculous.

    I've been wanting a few books recently but they were priced at around $11-$12 which imo is too much, needless to say I acquired those books by other means. I think a maximum of $7 would be more than enough tbh and I would gladly pay as much.

    However, this has to take the biscuit. Insane! :eek:


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    #96
    sudzs
    Registered Users Posts: 8,721 ✭✭✭sudzs


    Dades wrote: »
    The one with the keyboard is handier if you buy a lot of books via the device.

    But it's easier to buy on Amazon on a PC and have the books delivered wirelessly next time you switch on and sync.

    My suggestion is don't bother with the keyboard or 3G.

    +1


    I bought the 3G with the keyboard a few months ago. I've only ever used the keyboard and 3G a couple of times and that was when I got it first.

    I am desperately wanting the new Kindle!! :o


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    #97
    Brian017
    Registered Users Posts: 2,911 ✭✭✭Brian017


    MagicMarker wrote: »

    However, this has to take the biscuit. Insane! :eek:

    oh really? How about this? :p Seriously who would pay that kinda money for a book? :confused:


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    #98
    syklops
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,966 ✭✭✭✭syklops


    Brian017 wrote: »
    oh really? How about this? :p Seriously who would pay that kinda money for a book? :confused:

    Its common for professional technical books to cost a lot of money. They are usually expensed or billed to the client. If your a nuclear engineer, 10,000 for a book is nothing compared to the 30 million dollar reactor you might be working on.


    EDIT:
    I remember when I was about 12 I was watching, I think it was "The hunt for Red October", and the main character Jack Ryan had a book called Janes Submarine spec book. Janes is a famous series of books on military hardware, and I thought it would be cool to have it, so I scoured the internet and found it, and it cost $7000 :(.

    Just googled it now, and this years edition of Janes Armour and Artillery is $6728.


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    #99
    The Swordsman
    Registered Users Posts: 363 ✭✭The Swordsman


    MagicMarker wrote: »
    I see the European Commission is launching an investigation into possible ebook price fixing. It's about time really, the fact that an ebook costs the same as a hardcopy is beyond ridiculous.

    I've been wanting a few books recently but they were priced at around $11-$12 which imo is too much, needless to say I acquired those books by other means. I think a maximum of $7 would be more than enough tbh and I would gladly pay as much.

    However, this has to take the biscuit. Insane! :eek:

    I don't know if this changes but currently 'Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought'


    Impurities and Defects in Group IV-IV and III-V Com... by T. Dalibor
    5.0 out of 5 stars (1)
    $3,307.86

    Electronic, Transport, Optical and Other Properties... by U. Rössler
    $3,638.74

    and:


    The Dirty Parts of the Bible -- A Novel by Sam Torode
    4.4 out of 5 stars (149)
    $1.16

    Varied tastes, these Nuclear scientists.


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    #100
    The Swordsman
    Registered Users Posts: 363 ✭✭The Swordsman


    Got one as a gift last week and I must say I love it. Was one of those who was resistant to the idea, but I have been totally won over.

    Great thing are the free books available. Most of the classic old books are included. (Though no Agatha Christie, not old enough, I assume)

    Reading Tom Sawyer at the moment


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    #101
    flyaway.
    Registered Users Posts: 519 ✭✭✭flyaway.


    The Swordsman wrote: »
    Got one as a gift last week and I must say I love it. Was one of those who was resistant to the idea, but I have been totally won over.

    Great thing are the free books available. Most of the classic old books are included. (Though no Agatha Christie, not old enough, I assume)

    Reading Tom Sawyer at the moment

    Actually, Agatha Christie's ''The Mysterious Affair at Styles'' and ''Secret Adversary'' are both in the Public Domain. The Kindle Store doesn't have many of the public domain books but you can get thousands of them on Project Gutenberg, all free, all legal out-of-copyright books:

    http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

    You do have to transfer the books to your Kindle via your computer, though.


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    #102
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    Brian017 wrote: »
    oh really? How about this? :p Seriously who would pay that kinda money for a book? :confused:
    Bloody hell! And I thought Stephen King's new book was pricy. :p
    (Also you can buy that Nuclear book with "one click" - yikes!)

    I agree with MagicMarker, though, there's something wrong with the pricing for some books.


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    #103
    flyaway.
    Registered Users Posts: 519 ✭✭✭flyaway.


    Yeah, the pricing sucks for some books but it's not Amazon's fault. Amazon would love to discount their ebooks and sell them for good prices like they do with their regular books but it's the publishers- most of the big publishers will not allow the prices to be marked down. It's sad really but I expect it will change within the next few years. It's just the publishing industry fighting ebooks like the music industry fought mp3s.

    If you look on the Stephen King link above, it says Price set by publisher. It's the publishers asking for ridiculous money not Amazon.

    Hopefully it will change soon. :)


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    #104
    Turtwig
    Registered Users Posts: 26,578 ✭✭✭✭Turtwig


    flyaway. wrote: »
    Yeah, the pricing sucks for some books but it's not Amazon's fault. Amazon would love to discount their ebooks and sell them for good prices like they do with their regular books but it's the publishers- most of the big publishers will not allow the prices to be marked down. It's sad really but I expect it will change within the next few years. It's just the publishing industry fighting ebooks like the music industry fought mp3s.

    If you look on the Stephen King link above, it says Price set by publisher. It's the publishers asking for ridiculous money not Amazon.

    Hopefully it will change soon. :)

    I seriously have to ask, because of the general tone and content of your posts in this thread, are you a representative of Amazon or something? Or just a general fan? How do you know they'd love to discount their books?:)


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    #105
    flyaway.
    Registered Users Posts: 519 ✭✭✭flyaway.


    Malty_T wrote: »
    I seriously have to ask, because of the general tone and content of your posts in this thread, are you a representative of Amazon or something? Or just a general fan? How do you know they'd love to discount their books?:)

    No not at all I'm not even getting my Kindle until Christmas. :confused: I am a fan of ereaders (we have a Sony one at the moment) and think they're a great thing. And was just trying to help people out about the Public Domain books...

    I know they'd love to because they used to sell all their ebooks for much cheaper and the publishers have put a stop to it. It's well known that there was some publishers agreement (I don't even know the ins and outs of it, it all goes over my head!) which means if they want the books they can't discount them and the publishers have to be the ones to set the prices. Was just making the point that Amazon aren't the ones choosing the prices! I'm pretty sure there's a law-suit going on at the moment to override whatever agreement was made a while back and lots of Kindle users are boycotting 'The Big Six' publishers until they agree to bring their prices down. Here's a bit of info... http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/class-action-suit-targets-apple-and-five-publishers-for-price-fixing.ars

    Not an expert by any means or some die-hard Amazon fan, was just giving my input from what I know. :)


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    #106
    DjFlin
    Registered Users Posts: 1,089 ✭✭✭DjFlin


    MagicMarker wrote: »
    However, this has to take the biscuit. Insane! :eek:

    Thats not a bad price, given that the same book starts at $46 in paperback


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    #107
    MagicMarker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    flyaway. wrote: »
    Yeah, the pricing sucks for some books but it's not Amazon's fault. Amazon would love to discount their ebooks and sell them for good prices like they do with their regular books but it's the publishers- most of the big publishers will not allow the prices to be marked down. It's sad really but I expect it will change within the next few years. It's just the publishing industry fighting ebooks like the music industry fought mp3s.

    If you look on the Stephen King link above, it says Price set by publisher. It's the publishers asking for ridiculous money not Amazon.

    Hopefully it will change soon. :)

    I have no issue with Amazon, imo Amazon are one of the best companies in the world. They oppose how things are currently done and even go so far as to sell some ebooks below wholesale cost.


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    #108
    Lawros Tache
    Registered Users Posts: 321 ✭✭Lawros Tache


    mickoregan wrote: »
    Perhaps I'm a bit of Luddite (I've been called worse) but can anyone actually give me a good reason why anyone would want to read a book on one of these, as opposed to just reading from a book. (...snip..)
    The only possible advantage I can think of might be for large unwieldy text books for students.

    I have a kindle, it's got 2377 books on, all of which i actually want to read, no fillers. Contains a mix of old & new releases & is basically an electronic version of my amazon wishlist.

    They didn't cost me one cent...

    Even at the conservative (especially for new releases) price of €10, that's quite a saving.

    And quite an advantage...


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    #109
    ixoy
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 17,992 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    Malty_T wrote: »
    I seriously have to ask, because of the general tone and content of your posts in this thread, are you a representative of Amazon or something? Or just a general fan? How do you know they'd love to discount their books?:)
    Funny pricing structure going on - it's possible for a publisher to make less money on a Kindle title, despite it being higher priced, than the equivalent "dead tree" edition.
    Amazon can buy "dead tree" copies in bulk and then sell at a price of their choosing - which could include heavy discounts.
    For Kindle titles, the publisher (or author for self published) sets the price and Amazon takes a cut of that (the % of which depends on the price being set).
    Lawros Tache wrote:
    And quite an advantage...
    Except for the author... With e-books the author has a much better idea of their sales figures. Authors, to my mind, are generally not rich bar a few. I'd feel guilty of robbing them as they're not going to make as much money as a TV or movie star would for the large part (especially in genre fields).


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    #110
    eclectichoney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,291 ✭✭✭eclectichoney


    Lawros Tache wrote: »

    They didn't cost me one cent...
    .


    How would you feel if you didn't get paid for your work?


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    #111
    mickoregan
    Registered Users Posts: 157 ✭✭mickoregan


    eclectichoney wrote: »
    How would you feel if you didn't get paid for your work?

    I absolutely agree.
    I have to deal with this all the time with my music. People think they're outsmarting the big labels by illegally downloading; they're killing the smaller artists.
    Pay for your books.


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    #112
    DjFlin
    Registered Users Posts: 1,089 ✭✭✭DjFlin


    eclectichoney wrote: »
    How would you feel if you didn't get paid for your work?

    Like an intern. :pac:




    For reals though, piracy is bad.


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    #113
    MagicMarker
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 32,865 ✭✭✭✭MagicMarker


    It's simple economics, set the price too high and demand will drop. It would have to be something I really want to read for me to pay a high price.

    As a musician, I'd rather 1000 people download my music for free than 100 people buy it.


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    #114
    Jopari87
    Registered Users Posts: 65 ✭✭Jopari87


    There is something wrong when a hardback costs less than an ebook.

    http://www.amazon.com/Better-Angels-Our-Nature-ebook/dp/B005HHSYMW/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1323809465&sr=8-12

    http://www.amazon.com/Better-Angels-Our-Nature-Violence/dp/0670022950/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323809465&sr=8-1

    I don't know much about ebooks, but surely the margins for a publisher are higher with ebooks than a physical book. Makes you wonder why they don't embrace the technology more.


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    #115
    eclectichoney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,291 ✭✭✭eclectichoney


    Jopari87 wrote: »

    I don't know much about ebooks, but surely the margins for a publisher are higher with ebooks than a physical book. Makes you wonder why they don't embrace the technology more.

    You would be surprised - the major costs involved are the same: editing, production and design, marketing. The transport and storage costs are the only real savings and in many cases, it is the retailer who is cutting the margin with print books rather than the publisher taking the hit - so say if a publisher gets 40% of the rrp of a print book and an ebook, amazon might discount the RRP of a print book to 60% reducing their mark-up, but there is a licence agreement that they can't discount the ebook price, so amazon are probably making more on it. (I'm not sure on this though tbh). Too many people think lashing together a pdf costs nothing, when the behind the scenes costs which are still substantial.

    It's a complicated issue tbh!


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    #116
    akonobi
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6 ✭akonobi


    People, I think the e-reader phenomenon may be the most important development for better education that has come about since the personal computer. Imagine if every child had a library at his or her fingertips. We could possibly overtake the world in the pace and quality of educating our children. Just a thought. We shouldn't resist the future.


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    #117
    DjFlin
    Registered Users Posts: 1,089 ✭✭✭DjFlin


    People (Both for and against eReaders) seem to have a very "One or the other" attitude toward Kindles.

    Personally, I freaking LOVE the Kindle. That said, I have no plans to throw away the collection of books I've gathered over the years.

    Its just like every medium, I dont use a CD player very often, I generally use my MP3 player, that doesnt mean I dont buy the occasional physical CD's any more. The same goes for movies, I've still got a few DVD's and VHS tapes kicking about, even though I mostly watch HD content now.

    Just because there's a new way to read books, doesn't mean the old way is going to go away. Look at Audiobooks, they've been around for years and have happily co-existed with regular books.


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    #118
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    eclectichoney wrote: »
    How would you feel if you didn't get paid for your work?
    Maybe they're all free classics? :pac:


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    #119
    eclectichoney
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,291 ✭✭✭eclectichoney


    Dades wrote: »
    Maybe they're all free classics? :pac:

    He said "Contains a mix of old & new releases" - I doubt he is referring to newly-reissued out of copyright books!


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    #120
    Daisy03
    Registered Users Posts: 326 ✭✭Daisy03


    I'm thinking of getting a Kindle for Christmas but one of the main things turning me off it is that I have quite poor eyesight. I work on a computer all day and my eyes can get very tired so Im not sure if I would want to read something on a screen. Does anyone in a similar position have a kindle and would recommend it or not?


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    #121
    Brian017
    Registered Users Posts: 2,911 ✭✭✭Brian017


    Daisy03 wrote: »
    I'm thinking of getting a Kindle for Christmas but one of the main things turning me off it is that I have quite poor eyesight. I work on a computer all day and my eyes can get very tired so Im not sure if I would want to read something on a screen. Does anyone in a similar position have a kindle and would recommend it or not?

    its an eINK display as opposed to a LCD one like on a computer. This gets rid of the eye strain and you can read comfortably hours on end. You forget you're reading from a screen at times


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