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The only book series I've pirated is because I can't buy it: Harry Potter. If you make it as easy or easier to buy than to pirate, people will mostly buy. There's still some who'll pirate, but nothing like what happened to the music industry as people say. I suspect you'll see piracy pick up if you start seeing reader-exclusivity deals like Amazon was trying for a while. Apple was trying it too, I think, since I did see books in the iBook store that weren't on Amazon, but that was also right around when the whole "agency" thing was playing out, so it might have just been part of that confusion. (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)
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Nov 22, 2010 02:45
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Samurai Sanders posted:Also, why HAVE they been so slow to implement PDF support? It seems like the most natural thing in the world. Is Adobe developing their own portable PDF reader and trying to keep the others from beating them to the punch or something? Because PDF is a horrible ereading format. It's designed to replicate a formatted printed page portably and accurately (which it does fairly well), whereas ereading is less about format and more about content. If your screen isn't at least the same size as the page the PDF is designed for, you end up with some serious compromises. The ereader has to guess from the formatting what's a column vs a text box, where to stick figures and drawings, etc. The PDF format was modified to provide metadata about the reading order for sections of text and such using what are called "tags," but I rarely see them used in PDFs I've checked in the wild. Now readers that have roughly page-sized screens, like the Kindle DX or the iPad, handle PDF fairly well. But trying to reformat/reflow a PDF tends to be a crapshoot, especially with the CPUs you see in your typical ereaders.
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Dec 1, 2010 19:19
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benisntfunny posted:Oh I see. Since Amazon is the biggest eBook seller they should just dictate what everyone else uses. But are they? Hasn't iPad/iBooks outsold Kindle already? They will soon if they haven't. Book format doesn't matter. They're all just ways of putting a bunch of HTML files together in a way a simple reader can process them, and flipping back and forth between formats is trivial and as far as I can tell, lossless. DRM matters, and what you should be bitching about. Adobe has their Adept format used by a couple of ereaders using ePub. Apple has their Fairplay DRM used on their ePubs. And Amazon has their DRM, based on the original Mobi DRM. None of which are open or a standard. So using iBooks as a argument for  ePUB SUPERIORITY is a bit weak since Apple uses its own DRM and you can't move a nook book into iBooks without breaking the DMCA in the US by stripping the DRM. Also, the news stories talking about the iPad being the most popular reader don't talk about what is being used to read the books. There's iBooks, the iPad Kindle app, the B&N nook app, Goodreader, Stanza, etc.Unless, of course, you're just trolling. Which is seeming more and more likely.
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Dec 9, 2010 15:47
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:"Book" ones: The con that had me switch to a sleeve: extra weight and bulk while holding the device and reading. I started out with the official folder style holder for my Kindle 2, but found I kept taking the Kindle out to use naked since it was lighter and easier to use the buttons while holding it up to read.
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Dec 17, 2010 13:39
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sirbeefalot posted:Here's a couple shots of your PDF on a Kindle 3 Alt-Shift-G drops a screenshot into the documents folder of the Kindle so you can show it in actual resolution if you wanted.
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Dec 18, 2010 05:59
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The biggest thing a good PDF reader needs is a big screen, one that comes close to matching the size of the page the PDF uses. The Kindle DX is good, the iPad is good. Everything else is a major compromise. Reflowing PDFs is challenging, especially when the author uses lots of graphic elements, columns, text boxes, etc. The other alternative is scrolling and zooming, unsatisfying as well, especially on a slow e-ink screen. So if you want to read, use a better format like ePub or mobi (or html, or rtf), and not a page description language like PDF. If you have to read PDFs, use a device that does that well, and they won't be small. Much of the CCNA study materials are available in "real" ebook formats, including Sybex and Cisco Press.
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Dec 18, 2010 18:28
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CrazyLittle posted:Well yeah. The thing is that I already own this book, dead tree edition with CD (and free PDF on disk). If I'm going to get an eReader I'd rather not have to REBUY that book and several others just to get the kindle-friendly version when I already have many of these books as PDFs/dead trees I paid for. Understandable. I will point out that if I remember correctly the Sybex books come with PDFs that are heavily DRMed, and most of the PDF DRM doesn't work well/at all with mobile devices, only Adobe Reader. I will say I'm very happy with my iPad for PDF reading and light Kindle app or iBooks reading, although I'll grab my Kindle 2 for serious reading sessions or trips where the battery life is a killer feature.
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Dec 18, 2010 20:03
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Telex posted:And I think Wired actually clued everyone in that it's essentially lovely in-cockpit communications that they have an issue with, or did in the past. That whole FCC warning on every device you own that says "this must just deal with any kind of crosstalk, tough poo poo kid" applies to the consumer-grade poo poo they stuff into planes too apparently and wireless things sometimes (probably not anymore at higher bands and digital communication) caused some crosstalk and pilots might in rare circumstances not be able to hear takeoff instructions and whatnot. Obviously once in-air, not a huge deal. While getting up and out, it's probably nice to not hear an intermittent clicking sound from someone's cellphone. Except that airliners use radios in the same frequency band to navigate with (VORs) and to keep them on known obstacle-free paths when weather prevents them from doing so visually. So interfering with radios is a big deal, especially when near the ground. So I don't have a huge issue with the requirement to turn off electronic devices on takeoff and landing. Don't forget many airliners with designed and built in the 70s, before the massive surge in consumer electronics. And before GPS for that matter. Anyways, I've seen it go both ways with ebook readers. I've seen people asked to turn them off, and in one case, I saw a flight attendant continue to use her Kindle through takeoff and early climb. I think ebook readers are probably among the safer devices, assuming any wireless on them is turned off.
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Dec 28, 2010 13:36
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Fats posted:My grandparents bought Kindle 2s last year and were astounded by the battery life -- he's currently in the Helmand province of Afghanistan with MSF, she's still in Chad. Oddly, electricity doesn't abound in either location. An edge case for sure, but it does make a difference. Absolutely. I was in Fiji a year or so ago with my Kindle 2. We had power 3 or so hours a day when they switched the generator that provided power to the next door village to provide power to the dive lodge. And I burned out two power supplies before realizing that I should probably not trust the generator very much. The Kindle provided me with entertainment on the flight out, all week, and the flight back without needing a recharge. Plus lots of books without a lot of weight, an important consideration when traveling someplace they make you get on a scale with your luggage before boarding the plane. So yes, maybe edge, but there's more edge cases out there than you might think.
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Jan 5, 2011 15:31
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Duckman2008 posted:I found this cool and pretty drat funny, adding it to the OP. Because hey, if it's good enough for Jeff Bezos' Kindle...
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Jan 6, 2011 01:22
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Ara posted:Have you ever used a Kindle? I'm sure it generates some amount of heat, but it's such a small amount that you'd probably need a special device to detect it. Try downloading a Wheel-of-Time-sized book or two and have the Kindle index them. You'll be able to feel it warm. You'll also be able to watch the battery indicator drop. (tip for Kindle owners: if you transfer a lot of books over from your computer, take it out of disk mode and leave it plugged in for a bit afterwards to give it a chance to index the books while powered from your computer.)
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Jan 6, 2011 14:43
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Sad Panda posted:Someone a few pages back mentioned that their US kindle couldn't get 3G in Germany which surprised me. The original Kindle 2 used CDMA on Sprint's network in the US and didn't work overseas at all. For later versions of the Kindle 2 and the Kindle 3 Amazon changed the Kindle to use GSM which does work overseas. There should be no difference in a new Kindle 3 purchased in the US vs outside the US.
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Jan 20, 2011 07:07
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Kilometers Davis posted:I tried that but it still wouldn't let me past that screen. No big deal, it's fully charged now and that should last me a good 500 years. Windows 7? You need to eject it from the computer screen, not the taskbar hardware icon. Or charge it from the Amazon power adapter. Or switch to Mac. 
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Jan 25, 2011 14:57
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Neurosis posted:As a superlative student of Australian intellectual property law I understand the vague reasons why things are as they are but it still enrages me when people don't want to take my money! Clearly the answer is to pretend to be an American. You'll have to put up with Americanized (Americanised?) spelling, but you get the best selection. A little googling should show you the steps needed to create an Amazon US account and fund it from Australia. edit: Damnit, my preorder for Towers of Midnight just went through for $14.99. Price for the ebook at release: $12.99. gently caress pre-ordering Kindle books, and gently caress the agency model. fordan fucked around with this message at 15:14 on Jan 31, 2011 |
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Jan 31, 2011 14:40
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Gravy Jones posted:Can you buy Kindles from stores in the US? If so is it is it the sort of thing some tax/duty-free stores at airports might have? Given it's only certain retailers selling them in the US, I doubt they'd be in a duty-free store. I was going to suggest having Amazon ship to the hotel since Amazon doesn't generally have to collect sales tax if they don't have a legal presence in the state, but New York is one of the states that Amazon does have to collect tax for. If they bought it in the city, there's a sales tax in NYC of 8.875%. You wouldn't be paying anything other than sales tax for purchases in the US (no VAT or the like). If they're visiting places other than NYC you can look here to find the cheapest place. Delaware's a wonderful place to visit!
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Feb 24, 2011 16:05
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CrashCat posted:But I guess I'll still have a better selection of other stuff available thanks to Kindle's stubborn format war. There is no ebook format war. All ebook formats can be easily converted between if they don't have DRM applied; essentially they're all just slightly different containers for HTML text. DRM'ed ebooks are more tied to DRM than to formats; you can't move a iBooks ePub book onto a Nook for example.
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Apr 20, 2011 16:35
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Centipeed posted:Basically the self-publishing revolution can't come quick enough. Do you really want books that aren't professionally edited, or with no vetting for quality? I know I don't; I like what the publishers add to the process. I think they need to figure out what the hell they're doing in terms of pricing and that the agency model was a huge mistake, but that doesn't mean I want to see publishing houses go away.
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May 7, 2011 15:47
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Space Fish posted:It was marketed as having a superlong battery, I observe it as not being so superlong. On a battery-related note, I am holding out for the inevitable redesign of the 3DS that will have a better battery than a 3-hour charge. Is the nook like the Kindle in that it indexes books for search in the background when they are first installed on the device? I know that some people when they first got their Kindle were unhappy with the battery life, but it ended up being that they had dumped a large number of books onto the Kindle and immediately disconnected from power, so the CPU burned through the battery trying to index all the new books.
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Jun 14, 2011 14:50
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bull3964 posted:So, all the information about Pottermore is coming out now and it's mentioned that it will be the exclusive location to buy the Harry Potter eBooks. They don't give any details beyond that though so we really don't know what formats they will be in, what DRM they will have, or even if they will be files that can be downloaded to ereaders. Given her past stance, I'm sure it'll require a special ebook reader with an iris scanner to prevent piracy.
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Jun 23, 2011 15:50
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Quantify! posted:Lest anyone think there's ugly watermarks on the page. I think the watermarking should be the name of a minor character being changed into your name, or maybe an anagram of your name. Actually, I may have to buy these, if only to support the DRM-free approach. Even though I've already paid her for the print books. And the audiobooks. And the movie tickets. And the DVDs... Oh god, I'm a fanboy, aren't I?  At least I haven't gone to Universal Studios (yet).
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Jun 24, 2011 12:43
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Quantify! posted:Yes, especially in the urban fantasy magical cop story genre. There's not ten million authors self-publishing stuff just like that for a couple of bucks! So what constitues being a mainstream book? Topping the NYT Bestseller list? (Used the last book in the series since the one in question came out yesterday. Also, I'm apparently whiteknighting the author of White Night. ) I really don't think ebook pricing is going to be particularly nimble as long as the agency model is in place. Gosh, I'm glad Apple jumped into the ebook market to save us all from Amazon's tyranny!Going with indie authors is one solution, but there's also a huge number of absolute crap indie authors out there too, and I haven't found a good method of separating the wheat from the chaff.
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Jul 27, 2011 17:16
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I don't see Steve Jobs really interested in getting heavily into any book market, e or otherwise. Remember this fun quote from him about the Kindle (pre-iPad release and iBookstore):quote:It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore. Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.
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Jul 30, 2011 13:49
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particle409 posted:My boss sent me a contract with some pages signed, so they decided to scan the entire thing as image pages (no text). It's almost 200 pages long. Unfortunately it's shrunk down, and I have to zoom in a lot to read it on my pc. Is there anyway to convert so it will be visible on my 1st generation Kindle? I have huge margins and tiny text. Since you actually interact with the people involved, perhaps you could ask for a copy of the contract in Word or whatever format it came out of originally? That'd probably be a lot more useful and easy to convert unless knowing what was signed is important.
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Aug 4, 2011 15:23
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FlamingLiberal posted:I've owned the non-special offer version for over a year and it's great. My only complaint is that it doesn't have an 'off' switch really. It constantly loses battery because it just has a sort of sleep mode, and nothing else. If you hold the power switch for seven seconds and release, it'll fully power off.
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Nov 22, 2011 15:01
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Totally TWISTED posted:Apple would launch something textbook related after the semester starts. Well, if they announce it now, textbook makers might actually have something for Fall.
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Jan 14, 2012 02:10
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Cartoon Man posted:Cool, I hope the keyboard 3G gets the update too. As do I. If it doesn't, I'm probably getting the new touch though. My Kindle 2 has started having battery issues so it's time to upgrade. I was scared they weren't going to upgrade the e-ink stuff and focus on the fire but it looks like they aren't abandoning it yet.
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Sep 3, 2012 14:18
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Zwabu posted:For those who've read books on a dedicated eInk reader like a Kindle or Nook, and read them with eReader apps on an iPad or similar, how does the experience compare in your opinion? How far off was the experience of reading on a tablet in comparison? Similar with subtle differences? Much worse? I have and use both. I generally have my iPad or iPhone with me, and so short reading sessions I usually do on the iPad or iPhone. It works. If I'm planning ahead to read, like a plane ride or am really into a book, I'll use my Kindle. It's easier and more comfortable to read off of for me.
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Sep 12, 2012 06:35
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Zwabu posted:One more question - will the older models still be offered? I decided last weekend to go get a Kindle Touch Wifi but everyplace around me were out of stock. Will I still be able to order a device like this if I decide I'd rather have it than a newer device? Nope. It's gone from Amazon's page, although you could find some places with old stock. If you have a smartphone though, you probably have a much superior audiobook platform. The only Kindle that does audiobooks well is the Fire tablet with it's simultaneous reading option, but I wouldn't be shocked to see that hit the iOS/Android apps too eventually. Kindles keep being supported to some degree after being discontinued. My current Kindle 2 doesn't get X-Ray for example, but the 3G on it (and it's old enough that the 3G is the US-only Sprint CDMA and not the worldwide GSM) still works. Probably will care less about that once my Paperwhite shows up in a few weeks.
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Sep 12, 2012 14:26
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Don't have access to wifi and NEED to order that book RIGHT loving NOW?!?!?!!!! Get the 3g kindle (any version). Also useful when you want to switch from a kindle device to a kindle app when not around wifi and you want to keep reading positions sync'ed.
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Nov 30, 2012 13:45
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Did you register the Kindle with an Amazon account? I thought I remember reading that the collections feature didn't turn on without doing that.
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Dec 27, 2012 14:28
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Guitarchitect posted:I emailed a book publisher and was like "Hey, can I get a cheap copy of the ebook? I just bought the physical copy" and they were all "Noooope, sorry, we have nothing to do with it, the sellers of ebooks are totally independent from us". So then I talked to Indigo, asking the same question, and they were like "Nooooope, that's totally up to the publishers and authors, they're the ones that have to make it available in this manner." So one guy says it's up to the other guy, and vice versa. In other words, no one knows what the gently caress. I guess this a problem that won't be solved any time soon! You mean something like Kindle Matchbook will presumably be? http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1001373341
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Sep 16, 2013 13:08
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sirbeefalot posted:Somebody just won the auction for my used Aura HD on eBay for over MSRP. Are these really hard to find or something? It looks like I can just order one right from Kobo if I want. Just be aware of the various eBay scams, like "oops, I sent you a payment for too much money by mistake, could you ship me the item and send me a payment for the difference?" where their initial payment proves to be fraudulent and gets pulled back/not honored.
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Nov 18, 2013 13:58
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Duckman2008 posted:I loved my keyboard simply because it had page turn buttons. Can't quantify why it's that important. I thought they were important too. Than I got a Paperwhite and found out I was wrong; tapping the screen isn't as bad as I thought (though as I make my way through my reread of the Discworld series the footnote handling near the screen edge could use some work).
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Feb 10, 2014 16:34
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Is there a way to update the Goodreads percentage from the Paperwhite? I'm liking the update to my 1st gen Paperwhite that just came out since I'm normally too lazy to update Goodreads that often.
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Mar 10, 2014 03:47
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thecallahan posted:Didn't even know this was coming and got 26.78 from this, sweet! I do find it odd that I'm getting credit for overpriced books but it seems to me that Kindle books are more expensive now than they've ever been (for the most part). $43.82 here. And they sent out a notice like a year ago saying this was happening but without much in the way of details.
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Mar 26, 2014 15:33
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Endless Mike posted:Refurbished Paperwhites are $69 today. http://www.amazon.com/gp/goldbox?tag=kinjasocial-20ref=kods_ld_pop_pwwf Lighting deal, so dead already. The 3G Paperwhite is now up for $119 for the next 3 hours.
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Apr 30, 2014 18:47
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frozenpeas posted:Ask yourself two questions before buying a 3G Kindle. Alternatively "Do you switch Kindle devices often when not at home and want to stay in sync?" or "Do I like buying or downloading previously bought books when not near wifi?" There are good reasons to get the 3G version even if they don't apply to you.
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May 30, 2014 01:38
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noirstronaut posted:Is there a very simple, bare basic eReader out there with a decent battery? I honestly just need it to hold me over until September or whenever Amazon announces a new Paperwhite. I don't want to spend $50 on one since that's pretty much half the price of the Paperwhite I'd end up buying. Am I being cheap? Probably. But honestly, I just need something for a month or so. Why not just cope with a reading app on your phone (or tablet if you have one)? Not eink, but should tide you over and if you're invested in the Amazon ecosystem it'll keep you synced for your eventual Kindle purchase.
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Aug 10, 2014 16:09
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Javid posted:If it can handle downloading over http, you can probably teach them the motions to run something like http://www.hoagieshouse.com/apps/webserve.html to grab files out of their download folder or whatever. Calibre can run a web server as well as I recall.
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Aug 22, 2014 23:08
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noirstronaut posted:I thought about the 3G, but then I remembered my phone has tethering and the most I'd do on a Kindle is download a book. There is something to be said for being able to close your kindle and have it sync your reading position immediately without wondering if you have it tethered to your phone.
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Sep 18, 2014 14:41
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