Comments on 'Freedom' on a Kindle

• Getting ready for kindle3
• Posted by G P Witteveen , Independent Scholar & Media Producer on September 23, 2010 at 6:45am EDT

• I borrowed a friend's kindle classic (the first version from 2007/8) and read Outliers. I didn't really understand the style of reading with ready reference to Wikipedia, dictionaries and so on, but did take advantage of the annotations tool and excerpt several spots from the book. Since then I have been getting ready to place my order for the current version of the portable device later this fall. Looking forward to how it would fit into my habits and thinking about all the possible uses I could put mine to, I began reading http://kindleworld.blogspot.com and the links to other sources there. The user notes I have gleaned are collected at http://sites.google.com/site/big1file/kindleuse. As a mainly non-fiction reader and someone keen to carry personal docs along, I continue to look to others' experiences for the best ways to extend my own learning powers with this tool.

• Kindle reading
• Posted by Angela , English at IUS on September 23, 2010 at 8:15am EDT

• "Skippy Dies"; "Freedom"; "The Hunger Games"; "I'd Know You Anywhere"; "The Boxer and the Spy"; "Every Man Dies Alone"; "A Foreigner Carrying in the Crook of his Arm a Tiny Bomb"

• Publisher concerns
• Posted by Trellis on September 23, 2010 at 9:15am EDT

• Many of the "wants" you list such as loaning, and bundles, and even price (in many cases) are not something that Amazon has any control of right now. A lot of this has to do with the drm and standards that the publishers set.

  Also, I'm not sure how you were instructed to convert your pdfs, because with the exception of one, I've always found it an extremely easy process without loss of readability (on both the kindle and the sonys). I've heard it's even easier on the DX which makes sense because of the larger screen (thus part of the reason iPad can easily view pdfs).

• Kindle
• Posted by Candace Broughton , Library at Cattaraugus-Little Valley M-H School on September 23, 2010 at 9:30am EDT

• I made the decision to purchase the Kindle 3G somewhat impulsively. It was being released on my birthday and I wanted to treat myself. I, too, splurged and went for a lighted leather cover. Hot pink. I'm enjoying it very much, although some of my friends and relatives have light-heartedly (I think) warned me, since I am a librarian, not to be seen with it in school. Although I live outside Amazon's wireless network, Whispernet, I can always get online through Amazon's next fastest network, Edge. Even with this slower version, books download very quickly; best of all, no computer is needed. I admit I am a sucker for color, so I did wonder if I should have gone for a Nook, but, I'm good for now. I've been trying to limit my purchases to Kindle editions of books without color illustrations. My biggest worry, one that has been with me all my life...keys, cameras, phones, laptops, etc, is misplacing my Kindle in a public place. Fortunately, I live in an area where people are remarkably honest....so far, anyway. I like the suggestions made by the first writer.

  Candybeez

• And what about libraries?
• Posted by Academic librarian on September 23, 2010 at 9:30am EDT

• I agree with this piece, but I ask: what about libraries? Will Bezos (or anyone else) decide that libraries can purchase one copy of a book at the individual purchase price, then lend it to other people--and even other libraries--in the "one user at a time" model you describe? This has been the non-electronic model in lending libraries for many, many years. In fact, libraries can often purchase books at discounted rates due to the high volume of business with the book vendor. But here's my great concern: publishers will see their chance to charge libraries more per book because of the multiple digital uses. That has been the model for both paper and e-journals purchased by libraries--and it has led to exorbitant prices. Will publishers miss their chance to make far more money on book sales to libraries? I'm afraid not--and libraries, the providers of information to all, regardless of ability to pay--could be crippled. As we get closer to the end of "center" book printing, I wish I could see how to build a happy ending for libraries and their support of an educated citizenry....

• Posted by WT on September 23, 2010 at 12:30pm EDT

• I've got both an iPad and a Kindle. Reading on the Kindle is tremendously better, but the iPad is so embedded into my daily life, that I now own both! And a laptop!

  At any rate -- Kindle needs better pdf support, and 100% agree on the "sharing" idea. One other limitation on the Kindle -- I'm in an every-other-week book club, and at first I thought about getting the group's book on a Kindle, but then if someone else referenced "on page 105..." I am not sure how I could get there.

  Great reading experience, great size/weight, right price, but it could use a few more tweaks. Also, highlighting was easier than I thought (though highlighting on the iPad is still easier). If they could get the e-ink with touchscreen -- that'd help!

  Last though - the sharing restriction could be an Amazon limitation, but it could also be a publisher limitation. Lots of copyright controls from the distributors of IP right now.

• Instant Love Affair
• Posted by Mary on September 23, 2010 at 1:45pm EDT

• My kindle was delivered to my door yesterday afternoon - it was an instant love affair. I've been reading for over 40 years and although I love books - the smell of old books, the heft of art books, the dog-eared pages and margin notes of used books -- this kindle thing is very exciting - it feels like a different kind of reading and I love it. It feels like a radical departure but one that fits our lives. I used to read with my books - in the library, in my home. Now, I am here, there, and everywhere and it is impossible to take my books with me - or it was impossible, until I met the kindle ;)

• Kindle app on iPhone
• Posted by Michael Stiffler , Electronic Resources Coordinator at Harrison College on September 23, 2010 at 4:00pm EDT

• the iPhone resides in my front pocket so I don't worry about losing it and it allows me to snatch a few reading minutes here and there. Freedom: A Novel, Interstate 69, The Grand Design.

• Posted by Greg on September 23, 2010 at 5:15pm EDT

• Gee Joshua, I shared your exuberant Kindle experience with a friend, and he said "gee that is nice, but I am blind and cannot access the kindle!" He also wondered if you knew anything about copywrites, royalties or publishers :-)

  Greg

• Libraries are already there
• Posted by Rob , Librarian on September 24, 2010 at 11:15am EDT

• I am a public librarian, and libraries are already embracing this new format, but Amazon is trying to block us. If you look around the country many libraries are already spending tons of money purchasing ebooks for their patrons. They are just not compatible with the Kindle. This is not the libraries fault or the company Overdrive which libraries use to circulate their ebooks, it is Amazon. If you purchase a B&N Nook, a Sony e-reader, or any e-reader that can read DRM epub or pdf documents you can start checking out books from your local library.

  I really don't like Kindle reviews because they never talk about the fact that you are stuck with only purchasing items through Amazon. They never mention how you can not check out a book from your local library. That right there is the biggest flaw and deal breaker for me and everyone I know who has been interested in purchasing an ebook reader.

  Even if Amazon did open up a library lending program, I would still not use it. Why should the libraries have to purchase titles through Amazon which would only be available to one type of ebook reader? When I buy ebooks I want every patron to be able to read them on any device. Amazon needs to open up its devices so their users can receive materials from other sources and stop being so greedy.

• What's better than reading Freedom on your Kindle?
• Posted by Steve on September 25, 2010 at 9:30pm EDT

• Reading it on your iPad. Kindle as a service can't be beat. Kindle as a device doesn't stand a chance in the tablet world we are approaching / living in. Stop hyping Kindle as an amazing device and recognize that it is all about distribution, not about the device.