Thread: Wireless Reading Devices

Does anyone own one of those wireless reading devices such as Amazon's Kindle reader? Whats a good one to get? What do you look for in one? I want one but wanna make sure I only purchase 1. I am leaning towards the Kindle though, I wish I could find a used one for a great price. I would swipe it up!

Billy

I use my iPod touch. I'm sure the experience is better on a Kindle, but my iPod does a ton more than just e-books; that's why I like it so much. It connects to a lot of free e-book sources, but also connects to the same pay sources the Kindle does.

FWIW, I've heard great things about Kindle. If I could afford a Kindle and the books, I'd buy one.

If they had Kindle in Japan, I'D get one in a heartbeat. I use an old Sharp Zaurus PDA as an ebook reader--it's neat, but the software support is iffy and it's kind of hard to read.

Other than that, various cellphones have ebook functionality, but the screens are so small it's a pain. (I'm still going to get one when it's time for a new phone. This one, in fact.

The Kindle is a great piece of kit, but it has some serious downsides.
- Made by Amazon (which means they do what they like to you when they like). Recently they accessed individual Kindle owners' machines and removed copies of a book (George Orwell's 1984) without informing them. It was a big shock because no-one appreciated till then that Amazon have a back door into your Kindle library and can remove titles at will!
- Kindle is a proprietary format. If you ever (1, 5, 10, 20, 50 years from now) decide to shift to a non-Kindle machine for reading ebooks, you'll simply lose your library. All your Kindle books will be useless on whatever new machine you buy.

It's part of my job to move the publishing company I work for into the digital market. We started selling ebooks in 2001. We have more ebooks than any other publisher and are the biggest supplier of titles to Kindle in the world. So it may sound strange when I say it's probably not the time to buy an ebook reader yet.

There's so much consolidation the industry needs to go through first, in terms of formats of ebook (imagine VHS vs. Betamax but with a dozen formats instead of just two), technology, DRM, pricing, etc.

If you have youur heart set on an eReader, the Sony reader has one big advantage over Kindle -- it accepts the new epub format which is an industry standard. All eReaders are now released as epub compatible. All except Kindle! This means you could buy epub format ebooks and port them across to new machines as you upgrade in future years without losing the library you build up. Amazon have so far not given any indication they will move away from their own format.

Of course, next year Google Books will be selling access to individuals. With 9 million titles compared to Kindle's paltry ~300,000, it might be worth waiting to see what hardware is released to optimise reading books wirelessly from Google Book Search. Amazon must be crapping themselves with the forthcoming Google Book Settlement!

Originally Posted by majurey

Of course, next year Google Books will be selling access to individuals. With 9 million titles compared to Kindle's paltry ~300,000, it might be worth waiting to see what hardware is released to optimise reading books wirelessly from Google Book Search. Amazon must be crapping themselves with the forthcoming Google Book Settlement!

This is REALLY cool. I didn't know this. I hope they will have a service with newspapers, etc like the Kindle. Thanks for the inside scoop!

First off, I know little about these, other than what my wife has told me. She wants to purchase the Bebook when the new version comes out:
Ebook Reader, Reader, E-Books Reader, Ereader, Handheld Ebook Reader, Mobipocket Ebook Readers, Kindle Reader, Sony Reader - mybebook.com - Home site but it only shows the Bebook one, not the Bebook 2 that's coming out. Couldn't find a site quickly for the Bebook two info.

@majurey, what do you think of this one? Or would you suggest the Sony still? Or wait for the Google book?

I have a Kindle and my wife has a Barnes and Noble Nook. Really not much difference, but we both think we like the Kinle better.I just love the thing.

I also red a lot on the iPad, but the Kindle has a better and more convenient size, and it's easier to read outdoors In daylight.