[clug] Using Kindle?

[Felix Karpfen]

On Sat, 13 Mar 2010 08:38:22 +1100, Daniel Pittman wrote:

> Felix Karpfen <felix at spodzone.org.uk> writes:
> 
.....
>> I would therefore welcome comments from CLUG members who have explored
>> what Kindle has to offer.  And are there competitors to Kindle, that
>> warrant a look before I put my money down?
> 
.....
> http://wiki.mobileread.com/wiki/E-book_Reader_Matrix
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_e-book_readers
> 
> Both of those have fairly good summations of the options available; the
> Sony options are likely to be worth a look, at least.
....
>> The following additional info is relevant to my queries:
>>
>> I like reading text on a desktop-computer screen (and feel virtuous
>> about saving trees).  I have no interest in portable
>> <telephones|computers| libraries>.

My thanks to Karun Dambiec for flagging the proprietary format used by 
Kindle and to Daniel Pittman for the above URLs (which is giving me 
plenty to digest).

As indicated in my original posting, portability is a non-issue for me.  
Ability to download paperless texts rather than wait for 2-3 months for 
the hard-copy to arrive from overseas is of interest.  I have tended to 
restrict my searches to Amazon books because my interest is mainly in 
books that were published donkeys-years ago and are now likely to be out-
of-print (but not out-of-copyright); e.g. I have recently ordered (from 
Amazon):

 Godel, Escher, Bach: An Et...   $15.61               1   $15.61

Shipped via Standard Int'l  Shipping

---------------------------------------------------------------------
                           Item Subtotal:     $15.61
                  Shipping  and handling:      $9.98

which was originally published in the late 1970s.

Whether such books ever make it to Kindle (or other eTexts) is an open 
question. I would need to buy about 25 books as eTexts before I have paid 
for the initial investment; given my geriatric status and reading speed, 
my chances of achieving that target appear slim to me.  

Felix Karpfen 


-- 
Felix Karpfen
Public Key 72FDF9DF (DH/DSA)