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New Kindle

There’s a new Kindle out, which I just ordered. I love the Kindle — even more than the iPhone 4. On my iPhone I do the same stuff I do on my computer, just mobile. The Kindle helps me to read and my life has been more enhanced by books than any other medium I’ve experienced. I’ve bought probably 10 since they came out for me, friends, and family, and sold 100+ to other people. (Before the Kindle came out I randomly got a demo of it from Jeff Bezos at the EG Conference, and it was love at first sight.)

62 replies on “New Kindle”

If you have a 6 inch version already, how do you find it for reading programming and other technical books? I really want a Kindle instead of carrying around a few programming books. When buying book from someone like Sitepoint, you always have the option of just buying a PDF. But a PDF seems really large, and I know it will look fine on a Kindle, but will the text be too small etc? Sorry if this sounds like a daft question!

I bought the DX for just that reason and I really enjoy the larger format. The DX has some annoyances such as the weight and negative battery effect because of the constant auto-rotation (which can be turned off), but all of that is offset for me because of the reading format. I enjoyed it more than my 6″ Kindle 2 and have since sold off the Kindle 2.

You’re probably the most vocal proponent of the Kindle I know of online. For me, the Kindle just isn’t enough. I bought an iPad back in April and love that it has the Kindle Reader, iBooks, B&N reader, etc. in addition to all of the other app offerings.

I have zero interest in having my digital library spread across several services, especially when I suspect they might go out of business (B&N). Amazon has built up more trust with me than Apple because of how they store every purchase forever and let you download it as many times as you like.

Another issue with B&N is that you can’t download internationally. I tried to buy an ebook once and they rejected my order because of that.

I’ve never been quite swung by the Kindle (or the Sony eReader). There’s always been something not quite right about reading books on a device that isn’t a book.

I love physical books, and I think it’ll be a long time before art or architecture books get replaced (if ever), but for me the Kindle just disappears after a few pages and I just focus on the text.

I work for a publishing company and we also love the Kindle. It’s a great device. The only gripe I have with Amazon is their Digital Text Platform which we use to upload our articles. There is no API and bulk uploading is nearly impossible.

I have to say it still surprises me that someone who pushes and loves Open Source as much as you do clings to these products that are closed and proprietary.

Perhaps you can share why you are an avid iPhone fan, and not an Android user? Same with the Kindle, why not use an Android based reader like the Nook?

Sure — I used Android as my primary phone (Nexus, then HTC Incredible) for about 6 months. I was able to switch, but was annoyed daily by the interface. Ultimately the battery life and music functionality, as well as the iPhone 4 coming out, drove me away.

I don’t consider either OS fully open or fully closed, though Android is based on Open Source software the project doesn’t function like most people expect OS projects to. The Apple app store stories make me cringe when I read them, but don’t really have an effect on me. The horrible experience of the Android Market, though, is felt every time you launch the app. I don’t think we have a fully open mobile OS yet, and I’m not sure that we will.

For the Kindle / Nook, as a purpose-built device I don’t think a ton about the underlying OS as the service integration and physical form factor are far more important for use.

Just as a point of interest, the Kindle actually uses linux, which uses the Das U-Boot bootloader to initialize, so it may be a proprietary, but it is actually based an a Open Source OS at least, at least as much as the Nook is.

What makes the Kindle a better option than iBooks on the iPhone? I’ve got iOS4 and have been enjoying a few books on it over the past few weeks. I wasn’t sure I’d like it at first, but it is mighty convenient to have all that reading at my fingertips.

I’ve never owned a Kindle and really had no desire to own one (one more thing I have to keep track of). Just curious what your main reasons are for using the Kindle over the iPhone for reading. Thanks.

I find the Kindle much easier for reading long-form writing, less distracting, and it works beautifully in sunny situations (beach, porch, etc) where I enjoy leisure reading. It doesn’t buzz, beep, or check my email.

You’ve sold 100 Kindles to other people, or books?

Still planning on getting one eventually. My mom just brought me six hardcover books that I ordered and they took up almost all the space in her suitcase.

Oh man I just saw that there is a $139 version out…ah!

HAve you had any issues trying to download books from other countries?

As in my post, I use the iPad like the iPhone, to do stuff I already do on my computer. The Kindle encourages a new behaviour for me, and one that I covet.

Curious which books you’re reading stand out as worth a mention, especially since not everything (yet) is available on Kindle.

I’ve fallen behind in my own reading logs, so I understand the problem, but just some encouragement from one of your readers. 😉

I still order dead-tree books when something isn’t on the Kindle, but I find that pretty rare, and those books take me much longer to get to.

Sometimes I will order a hardback copy of a book I really enjoy for my library and to be able to give it to someone visiting my home if it comes up in conversation.

I was about ready to count the Kindle (device, not store) out, since the iPad has the Kindle app and was a much better total value. But $139 for the Wi-Fi Kindle is an insanely good deal. That’s less than the cost of 5 new hardcover books. And considering that you pay about $10 for new titles compared to $30 in a bookstore, the Kindle pays for itself after your seventh new title purchase. For the target demo (people who read 10+ books a year), this is a no-brainer.

And I agree, there is something to be said for a cheap, light, small device that is incapable of playing Angry Birds HD. Because face it, if I pick up my iPad, that’s what I usually end up doing.

Exactly. 🙂

I love their cross-platform approach as well. My Mom, though she has a Kindle, now reads more on iPad because she can read it in the dark without turning on a light. But using the Kindle app her entire digital library is there.

I downloaded all my books to the iPad Kindle app just so I could do offline searches of them.

Same here, just wish we could order it without importing it from the US. It’s crazy that Amazon has a Japanese store but hasn’t figured out the logistics of selling it from within each country.

(Oh and I wish ebooks were consistently cheaper than paperbacks)

In the first few days of getting my Kindle (earlier this month), I uploaded 40+ free books and 3 paid books. I’ve already been through three and started on my fourth. If you look, most of the classics are on there for free.

Ive finally got someone to validate my love for the Kindle! Thanks Matt! I love my iphone and ipad is pretty cool as well, but for reading books or glossies, the Kindle is my go to device.

Like you, I purchase hardbacks of the books I enjoyed, so I really don’t use the Kindle to save money or shelf space, I just like being able to focus on the text and enjoy my books.

I love my Kindle too. I get about three weeks of use out of mine in between charges (I turn the 3g off when I don’t need it). The screen is good, much more comfortable than a backlit LCD screen to read from. For me the Kindle store is a tad limited sometimes, but having said that it is constanlty improving with hundreds of new books every week.

I’m looking forward to the new oil based screens that are in development which will give us colour, but that is a few years off yet.

I take my Kindle pretty much everywhere with me.

Jeff Bezos was on Charlie Rose the other night talking about the new Kindle, iPad and other topics:

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11138

He’s a very intelligent guy.

I also preorded the graphite one. The experience of reading is way better on kindle than on iPad. I prefer the retina screen on the iPhone 4 for reading over the iPad (returned my iPad) but i prefer the kindle even more for long form reading of books. You cannot get lost in the authors world nearly as well on any other device.

Can you borrow books from the library on the Kindle? That would be the service that’d get me to buy one as I’m a huge consumer of both store-bought and taxpayer-paid books.

Project Gutenberg offers thousands of out-of-copyright books for free, on the computer or on a handheld device. It’s pretty cool.

First I really like the graphics of this theme. Same theme different graphics? I’m happy to read the Kindle review. Thanks for the link. I will now put it on my wish list.

I saw the news of the K3 and had to bite my lip to keep from sobbing, since I have a perfectly fine K2 that isn’t even a year old, and would have had trouble justifying just why I NEED to have the new model.

Luckily my GF understands my gadget lust and offered to buy it for me in return for me giving her the K2. You have to love compromise in a relationship lol.

How is the Kindle at reading PDF files? So let’s say I bought “Digging Into WordPress,” which I did in PDF format. It’s formatted for 10″x8″ landscape layout.

Yes I can read it on my computer but it would be nice to have it on a separate screen, bookmark things easily, read it on the go and not with the computer.

My concern is the clarity of reading something in a rigid format like a PDF and the fact that DIW is in a horizontal format. Same for 8.5″x11″ PDF documents, how do they look on the Kindle?

Can you download books from other countries in other languages? I assume there is a French Amazon – could I buy and download French books?

I want to purchase a new kindle but I got confused on something about it. Does it read standard .PDF files just copied from a PC, or does it have to be in a special format?

I have the iPad, and I got it primarily because I wanted to test it out as an eBook reader. Like you, it’s something that’s made a noticeable difference in my life, and I find myself reading 2 or 3 books a week lately, when I probably read about 2 books all of last year.

I actually found the iPad native book reader (iBook?) to have a much worse selection than Amazon, so I find myself in the Amazon kindle application on the iPad 99% of the time.

What surprised me though is just how terrible the iPad is to use outdoors. The screen is not only glossy, but it’s actually partially polarized too. That means if you have polarized sunglasses (like I do), the screen basically becomes completely useless. I also only got about 30 minutes of reading up at the lake near my house before it shut down due to overheating. So, not a very good outdoors reading experience.

My friend Leigh just pre-ordered her Kindle. She is a writer and an avid reader, and she looks forward to using the notation tools. But I tend to read very graphics-intense books, so I’m not so sure a Kindle would help me out. I think an iPad would be a more appropriate solution. But that price tag, yeesh. I guess I’ll just wait a few generations before I can read my PDFs in bed 🙂

I am considering buying a Knidle, but when I did a few searches on the amazon website, I discovered some new release novels (released April, now August) selling for over $30 (Hardcover $44). Is this a new trend?

It seems that the difference between the iPad and the Kindle is that the first tries to make reading a bit fun as well, with animations and colours in the eBooks.

The Kindle is more a *real paper* kind of experience, as far as I can tell (don’t own one YET).

How is your experience reading magazines on the Kindle? I mean, don’t you miss the “colours”?

Hi Matt. I just read your essay about SafeBank. Have you read the book The Creature from Jekyll Island? It’s a must read (wherever on whatever) if/when you bring your entrepreneurial sword to the banking world. Check it out on your new Kindle 🙂

This being my first comment on your blog, I wanted to let you know I appreciate you and all that you’ve done with WordPress to make the world a better place. I tried to comprehended all the ways WordPress has impacted, improved and changed lives, but after some serious contemplation I realized I was just staring at the wave at the bottom of the page. Alas, I could not begin to imagine all the ways. Thanks my brotha.

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