Comments on: Amazon Kindle: Promises Broken, But I Still Want One. Well, Two.

By: RickA

RickA — Sat, 09 Jun 2018 15:54:12 +0000

I just wanted to tell everybody that my Kindle Voyager broke. It lasted for 3 1/2 years, and I used it everyday. It will be missed. For some reason, the touch sensor just stopped working and without being able to swipe or tap, you cannot even open it or turn pages. Very sad. I think I got my moneys worth out of it – but am replacing it with the Kindle Paperwhite, which is about $80 cheaper.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:06:33 +0000

Does everybody know about the cloud reader?

If you have an Amazon account and have some eBooks (like, that you got for your Kindle) you just sign on to a web page with your amazon password and you have access to all the books. It obviates the PC/etc. reader. This is how Julia is reading the school books she needed to read in Georgia, where there is no Whispernet and her WiFi is dicey.

By: Mike Haubrich

Mike Haubrich — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:39:23 +0000

Greg –

I don’t know. I just pull stuff over from e-books sites, including gutenberg.org. I don’t buy e-books, anyway. That’s so 2010.

Mike

By: Mu

Mu — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 22:58:57 +0000

Thanks for that clarification Ash. So, if you can link one account to multiple kindles, can you link multiple accounts to one kindle (aka can my brother and I both have our accounts link to both of our kindles)?

By: Dane

Dane — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 21:53:21 +0000

The lending option does seem to be pretty limited. However there are other tricks, if you want to borrow from someone you know pretty well and have a smartphone ( and don’t mind reading a book on a smartphone) you can just signout of your account in the kindle app and signinto your friends. Then you get access to all thier books.

They also have recently added a feature for most libraries ( I belive any that use Overdrive for thier digital media content) that allows you to checkout ebooks directly to your kindle from the library ebook website. My local library has a pretty descent selection, but only a couple copies of the better books so thier can be a waiting list.

I think the killer combination is a Fire and the cheap ( or go crazy and spend an extra $20 on the touch) kindle. Then you have the fire for color stuff, video, music etc. But can read on the kindle for longer form reading. But you get all your book content on both. At the pricess Amazon is offering it’s pretty reasonable to do it that way.

By: Ash

Ash — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:30:30 +0000

Mu – ebooks are subject to geographic restrictions due to publishing contracts. Sometimes it’s worse than paper copies; it all depends on how the rights were negotiated. To make it more frustrating, most of the major ebook sellers (Amazon, Sony, etc.) don’t even say upfront which countries the books are available in, so you don’t find out until you get to checkout and get a message about the book not being available in your country.

The geographic restrictions are usually based on the address associated with the credit card you use though, and not the location where you are when buying the book. Some of the sellers accept PayPal so long as you have a credit card on file, and if no purchases are made with that credit card the address would never be confirmed. I’m just speaking hypothetically of course and am not suggesting you should look for workarounds to buy books that aren’t available as ebooks in your country.

By: Greg Laden

Greg Laden — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:29:16 +0000

oldbabe: I have nothing against the nook. For me, this whole things started when I got a Kindle as a gift. Since I know about the kindle and have experience, that’s what I write about. I’d love a nook! Nobody’s given me one yet, though.

Uqbar, yes, absolutely. I think I mention that in the post somewhere. The difference is, you still have to put it on a reader, if you want to read it on a reader. So, downloading it from Amazon to your kindle (or B&N to your nook) is simply easy .

I promise you, most of those books are ALSO in my library of eBooks. In fact, when it comes to free eBook, I have far more of them NOT on my Kindle an on my computer, from places like Gutenberg.

By: uqbar

uqbar — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:16:05 +0000

Yet another comment:

Sherlock Holmes, The Great Boer War, and The Origin of Species (as well as other works by Doyle and Darwin) are all available at guteneberg.org for free download. I’m sorry to say you overpaid by about $53.

You should also be aware of the ongoing scam in which unscrupulous people take copyright-free (and freely available) books and repackage them for sale on amazon.com and other places.

By: oldebabe

oldebabe — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:10:03 +0000

Why always Amazon?

I’m with #12 above, i.e. I’ve got the B & N Nook, simple, straightforward, and it’s exactly all I need. An electronic book. The main idea is to just be able to read the books that one wants, isn’t it, rather than a means to find whatever technological add-ons and advertisements that may be most currently available and/or advertised.

By: uqbar

uqbar — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:07:30 +0000

People interested in this topic may also want to take a look at the EFF “E-Book Buyer’s Guide to PRivacy;” it also includes information on supported formats.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/01/updated-and-corrected-e-book-buyers-guide-privacy