Middle_Man

I have had a sudden urge to buy a kindle. I want to know how easy it is to pirate on them. Also, as I do not keep up with the tech, is there a new one expected to be on the way?

A co-worker of mine has one and he likes it a lot. The only thing I see being a problem is reading in the dark. Is that possible?

I literally know nothing about the device other than its a e-book reader.

I've got a Sony PRS-500 or 600. It's good, and very easy to pirate on (depending on what you're reading) Just download the .epub as you would a .mp3 and toss it on. Granted, the Kindle may be different, but I imagine they're all fairly similar.

And reading in the dark on an e-reader, is like reading in the dark with a book: you'll probably need a light.

[quote=bigcfk]And reading in the dark on an e-reader, is like reading in the dark with a book: you'll probably need a light.[/quote]
I never thought of it like that...but that totally makes sense haha

I really enjoy my Kindle. Definitely needs a light in the dark - the screen is remarkably similar to a book page. They do sell cases with lights attached, though. If you get it, Calibre is a must for managing the books, assuming you're not going to buy all content directly from Amazon.

The thing with Kindle is that Amazon uses its proprietary files instead of the EPUB you get everywhere else so if you're not tech savvy you're stuck getting all of your content from Amazon. It's based on the MOBI format, though, so you can get anything of that variety and run a little script to alter it to Amazon's format. I've gathered it's just a matter of adding or subtracting some sort of header.

I've had really good luck getting ebooks from my local library's online site. Some are MOBIs which are pretty easy to convert, and some are EPUBs which can be a little trickier, but are still do-able. I figure that I pay taxes and these books are available to me... If I have to do a little end-run engineering to enjoy them then so be it. I still delete them at the end of my 3 week period, because I am a sweet, honest library patron.

I wouldn't have bought the Kindle for myself (it was a gift) because most of my reading was done through borrowed books, the library, or cheap second-hand book stores/library sales. For my mother and mother-in-law, who routinely drop $20-$30 on the latest hardback, it's a much cheaper alternative, and they have a lot of flexibility with enlarging font, etc.

One complaint is there is no way to share books. My mother, mother-in-law, and myself have all been passing books back and forth for years... now that we have Kindles, though, we can't do it anymore. I've heard they're going to add some sort of functionality in the future.

[quote=Matt][quote=bigcfk]And reading in the dark on an e-reader, is like reading in the dark with a book: you'll probably need a light.[/quote]
I never thought of it like that...but that totally makes sense haha[/quote]

[quote=PhaseDMA][quote=Matt][quote=bigcfk]And reading in the dark on an e-reader, is like reading in the dark with a book: you'll probably need a light.[/quote]
I never thought of it like that...but that totally makes sense haha[/quote]

[/quote]

of course, it seems like an obvious mistake -- but the intuition behind Matt's reasoning is in all of us, and it is tied to the types of screens we grew up with. specifically, we grew up with backlit screens that contain pixels which require power to be activated. naturally, then, we are accustomed to screens behaving exactly as such.

the screen on the Kindle (and similar e-readers) BLEW MY MIND when I first saw it in person. i couldn't believe that no one had previously conceived of making a screen that does not need energy to "hold" the pixels in place (or rather, it may have been conceived long ago, but no one's conception had made it to such high popularity). in fact, i found myself actually wondering how the technology could even work. it's simple ingenuity.

also i'd like to say that, apparently, no one told me that people were actually posting in "General." i've only been viewing "Awesome." whoops.

The type of screens "we" grew up with?

Has it really already come to this? Is there really already a technology gap between my age group and yours? My mom didn't have a color TV until she was older... Apparently I didn't have a backlit screen until I was older haha. I remember having a 200 Mhz computer that was blazing with a 200 MB HD...

I was excited when the GameBoy finally had a backlite.

My first gameboy did not have back light...gameboy color...

My first gameboy was the shit. I'm sorry to hear yall missed out on the back light during your early childhood.

Won that shit for raising a ton of money for St. Jude in 1991 or so. I was a rockstar.