Wordsworth dont do Kindle, because they only use pre-copywrite texts and translations - so every book of theirs you can get free with a kindle.Quote:
Originally Posted by mal4mac
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Wordsworth dont do Kindle, because they only use pre-copywrite texts and translations - so every book of theirs you can get free with a kindle.Quote:
Originally Posted by mal4mac
Not true. Wordsworth have modern translations of some authors - like Goethe.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alexander III
Even the pre-copywrite text still needs an editor, otherwise you get the typo (and other) problems that are being talked about in this thread. The Wordsworth classics also, usually, have an academic giving an overview of the text. So you get a lot for your £1.99. Also - penguin publish pre-copywrite texts - at a much higher price point.
I can't imagine highlighting being easier than using a pencil - and highlighting is essential to me when reading authors that I want to re-read frequently, but not all of it! (Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Montaigne,... most factual authors actually)Quote:
Originally Posted by Neely
So I guess "novels" is the only reason I have for buying it - and the library & Wordsworth provide me with almost all of what I desire in free/cheap/edited/ throwable versions - probably work out cheaper than a Kindle (knowing me I'd probably drop it just after the guarantee date, and they are easily broken! And what about the electricity cost?) And I can read 10% more novels :)
I remember reading somewhere that Amazon were thinking of becoming cloud based so you would at least be able to download the books again - but your highlighting is in danger unless they put that in the cloud as well (like Google Docs...)Quote:
Originally Posted by Serena03
Has anyone found any features like that?
I have books with pencil highlighting that are twenty years old - they haven't crashed and I haven't had to think about backing them up.
Yes, everything you download is automatically saved in the cloud. This means that you are of course safe if you lose/damage your Kindle. It also means that you can delete a text and then download it again if you wish (for free). This could be to save space if 1,500 novels worth on the new version, or 2,500 novels on the old version is not enough. It means you can have an unlimited online personal library.Quote:
I remember reading somewhere that Amazon were thinking of becoming cloud based so you would at least be able to download the books again - but your highlighting is in danger unless they put that in the cloud as well (like Google Docs...)
Has anyone found any features like that?
I have books with pencil highlighting that are twenty years old - they haven't crashed and I haven't had to think about backing them up.
£1.99 is cheap but if you times that by 1,500 it is not so. Maybe if I had bought the Kindle 5 years ago (if it were around) I would now be looking forward to a holiday in the Med during half-term, who knows?
The highlight facility is not good for making extensive notes. It wouldn't do for serious study, however it is perfect for little "oh that's interesting" moments. This is what I'll be using it for.
The dictionary facility I'm finding is really useful and the general feel of the Kindle is fantastic, it is a joy to read from.
So, overall I would still recommend it very much. Also remember it is not an either or, you can still use a Kindle and a pencil, just as you can still use a pen and a computer.
It also means you don't really own any of your books. Amazon could just decide to delete your whole library if the fancy struck them, and even though I haven't read it, there's undoubtedly legal text that allows them to do this without any more repercussions than angry customers. I don't think this will happen, but that doesn't stop me from keeping the wi-fi turned off at all times I'm not downloading a book--besides, it saves battery power. I don't know if the G3 connectivity can be turned off (I just get the wi-fi enabled), but I assume it can. Still, one could get uber-paranoid and conject that Amazon may have the ability turn on the G3, or even wi-fi, remotely any time they want.Quote:
Originally Posted by Neely
There is another positive to e-books and e-readers no one has mentioned in this thread (I think), and that is that they can be quite helpful to the physically disabled, like me. I often find large, paper-or-hardback books cumbersome and a pain to handle (sometimes small, tightly bound paperbacks are even worse), whereas a Kindle or its like is small, light, and easy to handle and hold.
I recommend this free program called Calibre. It allows you to format you e-books and convert them so you can read on any device or program.
Two weeks into the Kindle now and I wouldn't look back for a second. Prefer it to reading normal books to be honest. Highly recommended all round.
Mrs Neely has borrowed it to read Idiot Abroad - The Travel Diaries of Karl Pilkington (very funny and recommended too) and it has also got a positive press from her. Easier in your hand and neat to carry around. Go buy.
I have just popped my ebook cherry, but on my android phone. I'm not 100% convinced, but I love some of the features, like looking up a word and the bookmarking - very handy! And surprisingly more readable than I thought it was going to be.
I think I might see if Santa can sort me out with a Kindle.......
I think the e-ink on the Kindle is far better than a phone screen, but I'm still not convinced about moving into ebooks. I just ordered a Wordsworth classics copy of Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, for £1.99 that comes with extensive notes and a scholarly introduction. On reading reviews of the free Kindle edition, which has no notes, people are complaining that "many words are not in the dictionary" - never mind the possible typos due to lack of paid editors & scholarly reviewers.
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Originally Posted by mal4mac
Yes, I have seen the e-ink - much better. But it's good that you can give the experience a try without forking out £100.
I have noticed a few typos on both books I have read this way, but it was not bad enough to put me off. And the lookup function worked through Wikipedia and Google on my version and worked a treat.
I think though, that £1.99 for all that is a positive bargain!! Just a pity that you have to wait for delivery instead of downloading it in seconds!
Thanks for that information - good to see Amazon have now got their act together with this. I wish they had a Spotify model, though - imagine paying £10 a month and reading whatever you wanted! I'd buy a Kindle then...Quote:
Originally Posted by Neely
How Long will it take you to read 1500 books, many the length of "Bleak House"!?
By using the library, buying the cheapest paperbacks from charity shop, ebay, closing down sales, etc., you can really keep the costs down. By selling them again on Amazon Marketplace, you could even make a profit!
Actually, Neely, there's a definite gap in the market here for an enterprising Kindle scholar - fix the typos and add notes to (say) the free Oscar Wilde versions, and sell the complete Oscar for whatever the market will bear - you'd only have to beat the silly Penguin prices (to start with...) Who knows? You might get a Med. holiday out of it :thumbsup:
There's a nice review of varuous e-readers by the founder of Project Gutenberg on the Gutenberg site -he actually recommends the approach you are taking - by combining a lot of function in one device you can really keep the costs down. He argues that having it on a phone like this makes it more likely you will read more - you'll always have it with you and you'll be able to read at odd moment s of the day. By just reading in spare five minutes, here an dthere, yo will not suffer much of the tiredness that comes from non-e-ink.Quote:
Originally Posted by Abookinthebath
I'm such an old fashioned bibliophile, though, that I'm much more likely to have a paperback with me than a mobile phone :)
I'd also be worried about muggers mistaking my Kindle for a fancy iphone - I'm unlikely to be mugged for my Wordsworth classic...
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Originally Posted by mal4mac
I tend to agree with the Gutenberg view - I have found myself reading at odd moments because it is on my phone!
But I do like the touch, smell and feel of a book - as you say, no-one is going to mistake a book for something that you can sell in the pub to pay for drugs!
I'm keeping myself on the fence on this one....for now....:)
Yes I think you would be very happy with it if you got one. Also if you read on your phone there is a setting which allows to sync it with your kindle so that it remembers where you are on both devices. Pretty neat, but the new kindle is very small and fits into my coat pocket so you would probably read on the kindle anyway. Yes the e-ink on the kindle is spot on too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Abookinthebath
Amazon don't set the prices for many of the ebooks on there though, the publishers do, so there's no way that a pay per month thing would work. Besides if you're reading classics they're free anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by mal4mac
In terms of overall cost though, not to mention the practicalities, space etc, etc, you still can't beat the kindle. Yes you can get good deals by scratching around but I prefer the instant download with no fuss to be honest. I also like the function where you can read a free sample of any book before, I think that's a good idea.
Yes I can see a gap in the market with fixing the odd typo and sticking in a bit of bumf in, I wonder if that sort of thing would be possible?
So I have a Kindle now. I mostly interested in getting free classics. Has anyone found there are a lot of typos and weird formatting issues with many of the Kindle downloads on archive.org? What sites are people using to download free classics to their Kindle? How do they feel about the quality of the free downloaded books? And what books have you all actually downloaded for free?
Has anyone paid for e-books and what did you think of the quality of those?
Why not try it? Try one of Oscar's more popular short works and see how it goes... You could start with the Project Gutenberg text version, add "bumpf" and corrections, and then generate Kindle files (with good formatting!)Quote:
Originally Posted by Neely
I have a ebook reader and its way better reading my ebooks from it rather then the screen, and i can carry a whole library with me
Knowing me though I'd probably make the typos worse.Quote:
Originally Posted by mal4mac
Good move in getting the kindle. I honestly think that the complaints about the formating are exaggerated and mostly unfounded. This is especially so with prose. Poetry I've found has not been as good, but I've only downloaded a few bits of poetry compared with much more prose, short stories/novels and non-fiction and I've been very happy with them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drkshadow03
In terms of getting the free classics I either go direct to Amazon or from Project Gutenberg. I've paid small amounts for some of the non-fiction pieces and they have been equally good (besides if you pay and the formating is poor you can request your money back and Amazon will do that no problems).
If I was you I would take advantage of the free samples direct from Amazon. This is a great idea they have put in place and works well.
I have a Nook. The free Ebooks from the Barnes and Noble site to be filled with typos, often to the point that reading to too frustrating to continue. Maybe the file is corrupted during transfer to the Barnes and Noble's Web servers. I recommend getting free eBooks from other sites.Quote:
Originally Posted by Drkshadow03
I have purchased eBooks for both the Kindle and the Nook. (I now read on my Android smartphone.) They are virtually typo free.