Amazon Kindle

[Elton]

How come the Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002Y27P46 - is so popular? I'm really struggling to see what the attraction is. According to Amazon, "Since the introduction of the new generation of Kindles, customers ordered more Kindle devices on Amazon.co.uk than any other product."

 

I could get a notepad for that money, so am hoping that somebody who owns one can tell me what it is that's so great about them.

 

I'm not knocking the, by the way, I just don't yet understand how they're so popular.

[DavyR]

I'm not knocking the, by the way, I just don't yet understand how they're so popular.

 

Um, novelty value pure & simple, I should think. If you already own an iPod containing 1,000s of tunes you never listen to, it must seem logical to buy a Kindle containing the text of 100s of books you'll never read.

 

There's just something satisfying about a good, old-fashioned book with pages made of paper which is never going to go out of fashion.

 

But then I would say that, I'm a librarian.

[Elton]

I wonder if it's got more people reading, Davy, or whether they're ditching paper books when they buy the Kindle?

[DavyR]

PC World certainly doesn't sound very impressed with Amazon's claims:

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/208835/amaz...y_wanna_be.html

 

It would be interesting to know exactly how many people these days ever reads a book of any description. Most people I know either don't read books at all, or only read "airport novels" when they go on holiday.

 

I suspect that most Kindle owners weren't avid readers before acquiring the device and aren't going to be converted by their new purchase.

[Steve Walker]

There was a piece on radio 4 the other day about e-book readers - it is being suggested that this Xmas may be the breakthrough point for them. They spoke to a librarian in somewhere like Slough - London commuterville anyway - where they are now providing an electronic lending service to e-book owners. The librarian was saying that it is very popular with commuters wanting something to read on the train, and from their point of view the fact that the document can be made to expire in 14 or 21 days makes it a very simple lending format!

 

I guess the attraction for me would be that you can fit an entire holiday's reading onto something the size of one paperback. On the other hand, I like hoarding books. Maybe book-hoarders are not the target, though - I know other people who read a book once and then trade it in it at one of these book swapping schemes, and for them it would be fine.

 

I think it's something I would maybe use if I had an iPad, but not something I would buy a dedicated device for. Incidentally, Elton, you can get iBooks for your iPhone if you want to try it - I think the format is a bit on the small side and could get irritating, but I might try reading something on it:

 

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ibooks/id364709193?mt=8

[Cranfield]

PC World certainly doesn't sound very impressed with Amazon's claims:

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/208835/amaz...y_wanna_be.html

 

It would be interesting to know exactly how many people these days ever reads a book of any description. Most people I know either don't read books at all, or only read "airport novels" when they go on holiday.

 

I suspect that most Kindle owners weren't avid readers before acquiring the device and aren't going to be converted by their new purchase.

 

You might be surprised how many people do read books throughout the year.

Looking back I have purchased 26 books so far this year (between my wife and I) and go to the Library on a monthly basis and always take out 4 or 5 books.

Both our daughters are avid readers and many of our friends.

 

All those I have spoken to have no interest in the Kindle concept and prefer to read/own/lend/borrow a real book.

[Elton]

Cheers, Steve. I may well add that for 'odd' occasion use.

 

I can see the advantages of having all my books on one device (and the disadvantages, when you lose it or it crashes), but the Kindle just seems so dear for a one-trick pony.

[RobStubbs]

I think one key thing is it's another gadget for us gadget fans Also the ability to store lots of books on it. That said I only read one at a time and my current book has lasted me a few months without the pages moving very much. Not sure I like the idea myself though, but I fancy trying one to see what it 'feels' like reading from a gadget.

 

Rob.

[Elton]

I think one key thing is it's another gadget for us gadget fans

 

Now , that bit, I can relate to

[Ken L]

I had a look at them when they came out and although they're a relativly compact way of carrying a lot of material, they are way bigger than a pocket sized paperback. They're also VERY expensive compared to books because the software isn't that much cheaper than paper and there's a big outlay at the start. The Kindle in particular is very restricted in terms of what it will display (No PDF's or Word documents from the net) but they are relativly easy to read and have great battery life.

When they get the size right and colour e-paper comes on line in a few years I might concider one.