After receiving a Kindle for Mother's Day, I promised I'd tell our GWO friends what I think. I've now read two novels on the e-book and I'm happy to report that I LOVE the device. The pros far outweigh the cons, but see for yourself:
Pro
1. You can order a book at any time, any where. I downloaded a book in our Little League parking lot.
2. Free sample chapters! Perhaps my favorite pro. I'm a picky reader and I can download a chapter with the press of a button and see if I want to buy the book.
3. Portability--at less than 1/2 an inch thick, and 8"x 5", it fits very easily into my purse.
4. One device holds 1500 books. Never again will I have to wonder how many books to take on vacation or utilize valuable suitcase space for them.
5. You control the size of the text. Very handy once a person reaches 40. :-(
6. Ease of use. Press a button to flip a page. Open a book and it opens automatically to the last page you were on. It wasn't necessary to read a manual to figure it out.
7. Quick downloads. Never took more than 30 seconds to download a book.
9. Kindle books are cheaper. I downloaded a book that's only available in hard cover at the moment for $9.99. A book that released a few years ago was only 4.99. Some of the classics are 99 cents.
8. Long battery life--enough to read an entire book without charging.
10. Although I haven't used this feature, you can add a bookmark, note, or highlight a section and save it in your files.
11. Text-to-speech capabilities--another a feature I haven't used, but could be very cool when driving.
12. You can read select magazines and newspapers on the Kindle.
Con
1. Cost. The Kindle isn't cheap at $359.00, but if you buy a lot of books, it will pay for itself eventually.
2. Screen could be a bit larger. If you need larger text, it will be annoying to have to turn the page so often. Or you could spring for the Kindle DX, but be prepared for the $489.00 price tag.
3. Ease of ordering books (did I mention anytime, anywhere?) could be detrimental to your budget!
4. It's not a book. I thought the hard device would interfere with my reading experience, but it turned out I forget what I'm reading on. However, this might be a con for some readers.
5. On/Off button has to be held for 4 seconds, otherwise it just goes to sleep mode. A very minor annoyance.
So there you have it, my take on the Kindle. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a book to download.
After receiving a Kindle for Mother's Day, I promised I'd tell our GWO friends what I think. I've now read two novels on the e-book and I'm happy to report that I LOVE the device. The pros far outweigh the cons, but see for yourself:
Delicious
7 Comments:
Yes, I love my Kindle too, Denise! And I just found out that Amazon has this tool where you can view your highlights from your books online at Amazon! So if you need to see those quotes and don't have your Kindle with you . . . WOW! Very cool!
I love the convenience of it, and I'm hoping it will cut down on the clutter of books in my house. *g*
I should've listed that under Pro, Di! More room on the bookshelf . . .
I'd thought it might cut down on my clutter and as a trial I went to see which of the research books I could buy for the Kindle. I had ten books in my stack. Not one of them were available on the Kindle. :(
One other con. I can't borrow books from you girls! LOL
Since you are writers, and I'm completely ignorant; does the price of the book affect how much money you make? Would the Kindle sell more copies, at a smaller price, even-ing everything out in that respect, or does it even matter?
Thank you for taking the time to let us know how it's working! I can see in certain situations that this would be ideal. My problem is that every electronic device I touch seems to melt. And my kids, ages 2 and 4, can run them more profficiently than I before that catastrophe happens. It's humiliating.
Yeah, that's true C.
Farmer's wife, authors collect a certain percentage of the book or e-book price once, but not until that title or the whole series has earned out.
Does that answer your question?
I've always been a kind of 'whatever floats your boat' person, lol. My dh loves kindle...me, I'm a lover of the feel of a paper book in my hands....searching for a bookmark and seeing what I can use as one...old receipt, appt card, postcard, paint chip......cramped fingers from holding a book open for hours.....I'll go kicking and screaming into the electronic future..... :)
cheryl
Denise,
Thank you SO much - this was very helpful! I don't think I'll ever give up "real" books altogether, but I am a gadget person and I'm confident that the price will start to come down, so I'll be patient and I'll get one as soon as it's reasonable - thanks to your endorsement.
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