Thread: Kindle

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  1. #1
    Xpertz William Antrim's Avatar
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    Guys

    market research here, who has a kindle? do you read many books on them or know people who do? do you buy books on them? If so do you bother with the cheap ones?

    Any thoughts/comments/feedback would be appreciated. I have an idea for raising some money but I want to find out a bit more about them first.




    thanks in advance.


    W
    "dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"

  2. #2

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    do u mean just a kindle? or e-readers in general?

    I use my phone (nokia n900) to read books, though I have used 3 other phones in the past. I have probably read over a thousand books on my various phones.

    Imho there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

    First, do you want to read in bright locations, or also be able to read in low light conditions:

    - In bright locations, an e-ink (generally monochrome) e-reader is best, as it uses reflected light, and as such is awesome for reason in bright light.

    - If you want a more general purpose e-reader, which you can also use in bed or other lower light conditions, or which you want to use for other things beside reading, go with an lcd/oled screen.

    Second, do you want to use it for more general purpose activities (games, webbrowsing, music etc), then I would go for one of the new android kindles, or another sort of tablet (ipad or android). If you just want to read books, go for a simpler kindle.

    Third, how much are you going to read? there are a lot of stores online that sell epubs or other file format books, that are often cheaper than default amazon prices. However, amazon kindle also has different kinds of subscriptions, that make using a kindle to read a much cheaper proposition if you read a lot, and you're sure the books you wanna read are available in the kindle store (not all publishers publish to kindle/amazon). A more general purpose device generally also allows you to use third party epubs, which can be downloaded for free (such as the gutenberg project, which has thousands of public domain (read: old) books).

    and lastly, size matters!
    I personally use my phone because I prefer to always have my books with me. Every time I'm waiting for a bus, on the toilet, or waiting for a friend somewhere, I pull out my phone and start reading. In these cases, you really don't want to be walking around with a tablet.

    The small screen can be a hassle for some people though, so if either your eyes are perfect, or you only ever use your e-reader at home, a tablet might be easier to read, as well as use.
    ingame names: Biglines (dissy spy), Mr Tool (low tech tank), Engineer Tool (constructor), Medical Tool (ppu/hacker/poker), Father Tool (apu)

  3. #3

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    I don't have a Kindle, but I've got an Sony PRS T1.

    Since I'm working as sales in electronics industry up recently, i got a strong touch to Display Solutions.

    As Biglines said, it depend what you plan to do.

    For replacing paperbooks, i strongly recommend E-Book-Reader with E-Paper Display (e-ink or similar). These work pheromagnetic with an matrix of minature balls that are colored on one side and are electrical stable.
    Their advantage:
    - Readable in sunlight and outside
    - Power consumption only for turning pages, so their accu last for weeks before you have to recharge
    - Image and picture very close to conventional paper
    - 100% stable picture from all viewing angle and no flickering as from LCD-technology, so good to your eyes
    Their disadvantage:
    - Only black&white display
    - Unable to display videos
    - You need light to read anything, they don't work in dark


    If you want to do multiple applications as reading a bit and also watch videos plus a color screen, think about Tablet-PCs and LCD-Readers
    Their advantage:
    - Full color display
    - Able to play videos and most other media
    - They work also in dark places
    Their disadvantage:
    - Short accu runtime / high energy consumption
    - None or less readable in sunlight/outside
    - Liminted angle of view


    If you go for Kindle, bear in mind that you'll be limited to Amazon publishing format. Kindle doesn't support e-pub which is used by many ebook stores.

    IMHO an e-book reader beats every phone, for you can read from a much larger display and don't have to damage your eyes. The PRS T1 which i got can use epub and can get new books via USB-connection or WLAN. It can also play MP3 files which comes into play when you're about audio-books.

  4. #4
    Slaving over Sony Vegas CMaster's Avatar
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    I own a Kobo Touch. It's the same size and price as the latest Kindle, but adds ePub support, a touch screen and a micro SD slot (and loses a bit of battery life and compatibility with Amazon's DRM). I prefer it to my Girlfriend's kindle, the touchscreen is useful (although not a deal maker/breaker), ePub is a better format and I find the grip easier. I've used it hugley, both for reading the huge number of out of copyright classics and some new books purchased from the Kobo and Google stores. It's worth noting that while you get some good sales in the world of eBooks like you do for games on Steam, in general ebooks are not really any cheaper than physical books, especially as in the UK ebooks are subject to VAT.

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    CmyKK F4nb01 <3 aKe`cj's Avatar
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    most books I read are filled with images and/or code examples.
    thus I mainly use an iPad and read them in PDF format.
    and while I love carefully crafted printed books and spend far too much money on them, I find myself reading the digital copies mostly.

    for plain text though, I think there's hardly anything better than a proper eInk reader, such as the kindle

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    Banned User gamefreak's Avatar
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    I've got one, but i only use it for university script and papers atm.

    I'd be glad to read some books on it, but I don't see why I should pay 6€ for the digital version of a book, when i can have the real book for 8€ and put it in the bookshelf afterwards.

    I'd appreciate it much if you could get the digital version for an additional 2 to 4 Euro if you bought the book.

    If you go for Kindle, bear in mind that you'll be limited to Amazon publishing format.
    Mh, it supports pdf, shouldn't that be enough for like anything you could possibly display on it?
    Last edited by gamefreak; 28-03-12 at 22:51.

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    Slaving over Sony Vegas CMaster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gamefreak

    Mh, it supports pdf, shouldn't that be enough for like anything you could possibly display on it?
    The ereaders all support pdf, but it isn't exactly a pleasurable experience (depending on how the PDF is formatted. Incidentally, most of the other ereads also support the kindle (.mobi) format, although I've noticed that the Kobo support is less than ideal.

  8. #8

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    Yes, Kindle supports PDF. However, most e-books that I've seen so far get published via e-pub.

    My Sony PRS T1 uses IR Touch

    Here is an comparasive chart for ebook readers

    E-Books are some Euros cheaper then Paper books. To be perfectly honest there, I love the sound in a train or aircraft cabin of people turning sides. My problem is though, due to my passion for novels, my bookshelf is in immediate danger of breaking. And then, i can't bring it over me to throw them away

  9. #9

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    I think the new kindles that are based on android will actually support 3rd party epub readers. (edit: yup: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=156983 )

    But remember that the kindle does offer subscriptions which might be a lot cheaper.

    And yes, in reading pleasure a bigger and e-ink based reader is the best, though only in traditional situations where you would normally read a book (words, not images). If you want to gain more advantages from the digital device and/or multi-functionality, other factors are important, as a lot of the posts demonstrate.
    ingame names: Biglines (dissy spy), Mr Tool (low tech tank), Engineer Tool (constructor), Medical Tool (ppu/hacker/poker), Father Tool (apu)

  10. #10
    [UneX] - Developer | Liasion StevenJ's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by William Antrim
    Guys

    market research here, who has a kindle? do you read many books on them or know people who do? do you buy books on them?
    I don't own a Kindle as such, but buy books for Kindle on WP7/Android.

    Quote Originally Posted by William Antrim
    If so do you bother with the cheap ones?
    No, but unhelpfully, I'll say if my guess at your plan is right, then yes, of course

  11. #11
    CmyKK F4nb01 <3 aKe`cj's Avatar
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    the screen estate on the kindles is simply not enough to accomodate standard A4 or letter sized document in or close enought to 100% view. as such viewing PDFs on these devices is a huge PITA, hence the iPad.

    as for kindle being limited to mobi... most epubs can be converted to mobi via calibre without a problem.

  12. #12
    Slaving over Sony Vegas CMaster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by aKe`cj
    the screen estate on the kindles is simply not enough to accomodate standard A4 or letter sized document in or close enought to 100% view. as such viewing PDFs on these devices is a huge PITA, hence the iPad.

    as for kindle being limited to mobi... most epubs can be converted to mobi via calibre without a problem.
    Calibre is a neat bit of software. It even managed to put my PhD thesis in ePub format surprisingly well.

  13. #13
    Registered User nabbl's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by aKe`cj
    the screen estate on the kindles is simply not enough to accomodate standard A4 or letter sized document in or close enought to 100% view. as such viewing PDFs on these devices is a huge PITA, hence the iPad.

    as for kindle being limited to mobi... most epubs can be converted to mobi via calibre without a problem.
    Using Calibre (including Kindle Collections Plugin) with my Kindle too.

    It is also great for fetching meta information.
    Since I've got my Kindle I don't read any normal books anymore. It is great for a short read for example, when you do not have the time to get your 1000pages book out, searching the right page and read. Kindle saves your last position on every book you opened.

  14. #14
    Xpertz William Antrim's Avatar
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    StevenJ you got me.


    Biglines thank you for great information but I am not looking at buying a Kindle I am thinking of publishing to it. I have a story (which i have posted some samples of on here over the years) that is almost complete save for a few final edits for chapters, spelling mistakes and possibly a translation.

    It is huge. I was going to post it on here for free but I have since been advised that it might be worth publishing it on Kindle. I can make 70% profit for myself based on the unit price per book. This is a serious margin.

    The person advising me has already successfully published and made a small amount of money on said publication.

    Basically I am considering splitting my story up into a probable trilogy for example to maximise profit and minimise boredom for the reader. It needs to be entertaining after all. If it works then I should stand to make some money. If not then it cost nothing and so has lost me nothing. I wrote it for pleasure and it has been a hell of a lot of fun for a long time.

    I have all sorts of ideas for spin offs and I want to make some money on behalf of nc.

    The biggest pitfall is no advertising from Amazon. I would have to rely on reader reviews boosting the credibility of the book before Amazon would take any notice and then it goes on some list of theirs to say how good it is and opens up the exposure to more people. I only need a small sample of reviews and people willing to pay £1.50 or so to buy the book for their kindle.

    If this works (and it is massive in America) then it could make a serious amount of money. I want to invest said profits into NC. I have already pmed Kirk about it. I am just waiting on a reply. I read about a woman who did it and she has already sold over 1 million copies of her book via kindle alone.

    This is all theoretical of course but I would love to be in a position to offer up a serious amount of money towards the development of this game and this is my passion and my talent and I think honestly if I am going to contribute in any way then this will be it.

    Thank you for reading.
    "dulce et decorum est pro patria mori"

  15. #15

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    Ah lol, ye that wasn't very clear from your post

    tbh, go for it, if it doesn't work out, you should be able to publish it personally anyway wouldn't you? Unless amazon requires you to sign a non-compete agreement, you could probably sell epubs yourself as well (an epub is just a zip with some html files anyway, lots of software to author that).
    ingame names: Biglines (dissy spy), Mr Tool (low tech tank), Engineer Tool (constructor), Medical Tool (ppu/hacker/poker), Father Tool (apu)

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