Great thanks. I can definitely see the advantages of one. Is it a straight-forward process to download the books, apparently you don't even have to do it via a computer, you can do it direct from the device? Are most of the classics really free? I know that the price for a lot of them are £0.00 but are there any add-on costs with those or are they really completely free? How useful is the annotation facility?
Thanks.
yea downloading books is very easy, you do it straight from your device and you have the book within 60 seconds. And yes you do have a huge number of free classics, though which free ones they give you are weirdly arranged; for example there is only one free classic for victor hugo, and its a minor work of his, but there are a dozen plus free classics for Balzac. Oh and yes the free ones are utterly free. The annotation facility is simple to use, as is the highlighting one, after the first few days of fiddling about everything on the kindle feels natural and the book begins to feel awkward. However a bad thing about the free classics, is that they only include the text, there are no introductions or literary articles about said book, as you will find in a penguins edition. So I also like to buy the penguin edition classics on my kindle on occasion for the literary essays at the beginning, but all penguin classic books on a kindle are 30-40% cheaper than the penguin paperback of the same classic. Also many of the free classics for foreign works have outdated translations, of which some are great and others less so. Oh and last suggestion, get the kindle with the inbuilt 3G wireless internet connection. It costs an extra 40 pounds but, you can access the kindle store and buy books form everywhere and its much faster. Also the kindle has a new technology which allows you to use it and access the internet, and you can go to most websites, which is very convenient especially when you are reading find something curious and want to wikipedia it to find out more.
Yes, it is very easy and I hear soon Jamie Oliver will be releasing a new range of all Organic, environmentally friendly collection of classic ebooks!Originally Posted by Neely
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"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
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Excellent, excellent. While we're on the subject, I've just ordered Hugh Fearnely-Whittingstall's new River Cottage cookbook for Christmas as well, Everyday - might top up with the bread one too. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is wonderful.Yes, it is very easy and I hear soon Jamie Oliver will be releasing a new range of all Organic, environmentally friendly collection of classic ebooks!
Still thinking about the kindle, I must admit I'm tempted.
Edit: oh and are the "free" books really free?
Last edited by LitNetIsGreat; 11-09-2010 at 07:35 PM.
Yes, the free books are really free. I've downloaded several Joseph Conrad cooks, some Kipling, and Moby Dick. The only problem is sometimes the formatting is bad (as in stupid page breaks). Kim was unreadable. Even though this is the case, you can still download books for free off other sites, like Project Gutenberg.
I'm going to have to disagree on getting the 3G access, though. But that's ONLY if you have a wi-fi connection and won't be traveling a lot.
I would certainly use an ereader if I got a free electronic copy of the book when I bought a physical copy. I'd use the ereader for convenience, but will NEVER replace physical books.
OK, I never did get around to purchasing the Kindle, however I think that I must get the new one.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindle-Wi-Fi...=cm_cr_pr_pb_t
For £89 it has to be a bargain surely?
Anybody got it yet?
The title of one of Anthony Powell's series 'A Dance to the Music of Time' is called 'Books do Furnish a Room'. Will anyone be able to say: 'A Kindle does furnish a room'?
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
There's not much of a difference between books furnishing and books being all over the place in piles. You could furnish with classic covers and get the rest on a kindle. Easy.
There is difference between having books neatly shelved rather than piled untidily around a property. If you mean furnishing with false covers, then they wouldn't be books.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Agree. Kindle solves many issues at once. The most expensive is the cost of shipping. The convenience is also important. The Kindle version for a PC is free at Amazon. And there are many free books, and others that are not free cost a lot less than the paperback versions. If you travel a lot, the cost of Kindle tablets has gone down considerably. The problem of carrying books around is solved.
Environmentally the only paper that's fully justified today is toilet paper.
Yes - We've got them shelved and untidily piled due to little space, and this is what I meant - the inevitable lack of space if you collect books. Don't get me wrong - I'd collect books any day - I do, but I can't store them anymore. I have to move them on. So a kindle would be great.
I certainly didn't mean those naff false books. Ratners has gone now hasn't it?
I want one.
Recycled T-paper I hope.
The title of one of Anthony Powell's series 'A Dance to the Music of Time' is called 'Books do Furnish a Room'. Will anyone be able to say: 'A Kindle does furnish a room'?You see this is the thing. I've got two bookcases of books, in a small two bedroom house, with piles building up around me, everywhere, and I can't really go on this way. On top of this, when you can have the likes of The Complete Works of Thomas Hardy for 71p, The Works of Maupassant Vol 1 for £0.00 and hundreds of other such things at ridiculous prices/free, instantly there, it doesn't really become an feasible option to keep resisting. It's not like I'm not going to stop reading paper books - it just seems like the obvious move.Yes - We've got them shelved and untidily piled due to little space, and this is what I meant - the inevitable lack of space if you collect books. Don't get me wrong - I'd collect books any day - I do, but I can't store them anymore. I have to move them on. So a kindle would be great.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Classic-Brit...f=pd_cp_kinc_4
Last edited by LitNetIsGreat; 10-11-2011 at 05:56 PM.
Plus it saves a lot of money. For me, I don't have the extra space for books and I'm not a book collector.
I am the opposite. I love reading paper books. However, I do have hundreds of books in electronic format, and if it is difficult for me to find the desired book , then I will read it using the computer.
Be great in act, as you have been in thought.
William Shakespeare
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