Kindle Question

[Asmerom]

The problem is that as long as paper books are available for a reasonable price, ebooks will not be able to dominate sales in the way that the big publishers have planned. I'm not sure that they are willing to share the market.

NEWSFLASH

CNBC....... American Billionaire Ronald Burkle has decided to double his stake in Barnes and Noble. Another one whose faith in real books has not waned with the advent of Kindle and none of the three likeable presenters on CNBC--Becky, Carl and the other bewigged one-- have yet bought a Kindle. You can buy an awful lot of second hand paperbacks for the price of a new big kindle.And who wants 3,500 books at their fingertips? Researchers maybe. Or rather, who would actually read 3,500 books? At two a week that would last you 33 years. I wonder how many books Shakespeare read during his 52 year life, during which, he wrote quite a few. An afterthought--maybe his investment has some connection with Apple tying up with B and N. Not sure. But Apple's on a loser it seems.

Edited February 2, 2010 by Asmerom

[mcgriffith]

Ron Burkle is a supermarket mogul, Friend Of Bill.

He probably bought the B & N shares to short them.

He didn't become a billionaire by being stupid.

[CMX]

I'm not certain on what side the "Nook" reading device, by B&N, puts them or investors? Or their offer of one million titles available to read on "Nook." B&M is betting on books? Books alone? Hedging their bets? Uncertain as am I?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The only real selling point as far as I'm concerned is that they save paper, but, as I have said before, getting rid of books is not going to save any trees - that is more hype.

And ink. And no fuel is burnt in distribution..

[Ulysses G.]

Is ink another diminishing resource? The world really is going to he11 in a handbasket.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Ulysses G.

[lannarebirth]

How many years, decades, centuries, will these "books" remain uncorrupted on the device's storage? My recommendation is let the first books you dowload be "Fahrenheit 451" and "Brave New World". You'll not find more prophetic books for this society.

[Ulysses G.]

1984 is another good one, but my favorite is probably One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest. It really illustrates the spirit of people in authority.

[lannarebirth]

1984 is another good one, but my favorite is probably One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest. It really illustrates the spirit of people in authority.

1984 is good and definitely worth reading. I don't think it accurately describes the changes in our society over time, whereby people voluntarily give up their freedoms and quality of life for the sake of "fun" and consumerism. The books I've mentioned are like a roadmap of these past 50 years and you can see where the next 50 are headed. One would would think it was silly if it weren't so uncannily accurate. I hope peoples new "libraries" continue to be "supported". That's doubtful however as there's always some new gadget they'll be wishing to sell you.

[swain]

Wow... doom and gloom... digital books will bring and are bringing literature to many who who might have never have had a chance to access it before. The dream of a laptop for every child has this at its very core. You dont need a Kindle to access these books.. you can do it on your laptop, your cheapest desktop and net books, handhelds, blackberry's, cell phones... There are services that will print out your digital books for the people that just cant handle reading a LCD screen. Digital libraries and Digital used book stores.. I see a service like netflicks but with books... and you don't have to wait for the cd to arrive...

Vast collections, complete works of the masters on one blue ray dvd... Its amazing how little a huge book takes up in space in this medium. I have one dvd that has over 13,000 books on it. This is more exciting than the internet itself.. TOTAL access to everything everywhere.. ... well its not here yet.. but its coming...

There will always be the doom and gloom people that will try to slow the progress, but this is like the tide .. its coming in and no one is going to stop it.. Some are trying to control it... but face it... they tried with video and music and this really was a huge failure.. as its everywhere and totally accessible. Books that take no time to download will be..(and in fact are) available everywhere. God bless the internet!

[Ulysses G.]

Ebooks have been available since 1998 and they have been hyped over and over again, but so far, they have hardly even caught on. Even people who live in the West tell me that they virtually never see anyone reading one. Despite some poster's predictions, it still remains to be seen how they will do in the marketplace.

[ChiangMai2]

Ebooks have been available since 1998 and they have been hyped over and over again, but so far, they have hardly even caught on. Even people who live in the West tell me that they virtually never see anyone reading one. Despite some poster's predictions, it still remains to be seen how they will do in the marketplace.

Similar to how MP3 players were around for years before Apple made the ipod and sold 250 million of them Don't think it will be too long before people start using them, especially for magazines and newspapers maybe longer for novels!

[anonymouse]

Wow... doom and gloom... digital books will bring and are bringing literature to many who who might have never have had a chance to access it before. The . I have one dvd that has over 13,000 books on it. This is more exciting than the internet itself..

13,000 books how ridiculous how many of these books have you read or do you think you are going to read?

I have a friend who is obsessed with downloading music, he has thousands and thousands of songs downloaded but never gets the time to listen to them I'll ask him if he has listened to the latest album by [insert artist] and he always says "yeah I've downloaded it but haven't listened to it yet.

How many books does the average person read in a year, I'm an avid reader but I'm pushed to read a hundred or so a year I'm sure for the majority it is a lot less.

For me to much choice is a negative not a positive.

[swain]

Wow... doom and gloom... digital books will bring and are bringing literature to many who who might have never have had a chance to access it before. The . I have one dvd that has over 13,000 books on it. This is more exciting than the internet itself..

13,000 books how ridiculous how many of these books have you read or do you think you are going to read?

I have a friend who is obsessed with downloading music, he has thousands and thousands of songs downloaded but never gets the time to listen to them I'll ask him if he has listened to the latest album by [insert artist] and he always says "yeah I've downloaded it but haven't listened to it yet.

How many books does the average person read in a year, I'm an avid reader but I'm pushed to read a hundred or so a year I'm sure for the majority it is a lot less.

For me to much choice is a negative not a positive.

Too much choice is a negative.. Don't even know how to respond to that. I picked up the DVD in bangkok for a couple of hundred baht. I have read two from the DVD. But, I know there is always something I can find when I interested. I don't spend hours downloading everything. For me having unlimited choices is what makes the internet and this new medium so exciting.

Edited February 3, 2010 by swain

[anonymouse]

Too much choice is a negative.. Don't even know how to respond to that.

look at

http://www.columbia.edu/~ss957/whenchoice.html

[Ulysses G.]

Music is not books. Everybody listens to music and numerous people have large collections - many want to have the best sound possible and are willing to keep upgrading to new technologies in order to get it.

However, very few people read more than a few books a year and they do not want to have to buy an expensive machine in order to do so. Besides that, after centuries of use books are already pretty close to being perfect for their purpose. So far, attempts to recreate them electronically have failed dismally - they are just not as comfortable as a real book - and maybe they never will be.

As grandad use to tell me, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[swain]

Music is not books. Everybody listens to music and numerous people have large collections - many want to have the best sound possible and are willing to keep upgrading to new technologies in order to get it.

However, very few people read more than a few books a year and they do not want to have to buy an expensive machine in order to do so. Besides that, after centuries of use books are already pretty close to being perfect for their purpose. So far, attempts to recreate them electronically have failed dismally - they are just not as comfortable as a real book - and maybe they never will be.

As grandad use to tell me, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

For someone who is down on digital media as you seem to be.. you are online reading quite a bit. On your computer or laptop... You seem fairly comfortable with it as your posts would suggest. I think you are a closet digital media addict tied to a dated delivery service for survival.

[Ulysses G.]

Participating on an internet forum has little to do with reading for pleasure. I will read an article or two online or look for information, but I have several - yet unpublished - books that I would like to read, that friends have written, stored in my computer and I have never been able get past about 3 pages. Luckily it will not be too much longer before they come out in paperback.

[AndersSN]

Participating on an internet forum has little to do with reading for pleasure. I will read an article or two online or look for information, but I have several - yet unpublished - books that I would like to read, that friends have written, stored in my computer and I have never been able get past about 3 pages. Luckily it will not be too much longer before they come out in paperback.

And therein lies the strength of the Kindle (I'm asuming you didn't get past page 3 because of how uncomfortable it is to read on a computer, not because you got bored).

On a kindle you can read for hours without getting tired eyes, so if you had one you could now be talking to your friend about their unpuplished masterpieses.

Personally I love to read, and not just pulp. I have spend more hours than I can remember in the local library finding new and exiting books to read, but try backpacking and logging 'The Brothers Karamazov' around with you, too much weight in one book to be comfortable. But now posible thanks to ebooks.

Many of the argument here against ebooks are very similar to the arguments against CD's and laptops when they were first introduced (anyone remember what was said about the Apple Macintosh Portable in 89?), well maybe except the one about saving trees or not, and we all know how that ended up.

I don't think paper books will ever disappear completely, but most likely will become what vinyl is today.

[CMX]

That great advocate of media, Rupert Murdoch may well have his finger in the soup.

I read that he's persuaded Amazon to re-negotiate the $9.99 U.S. prices for HIS (I use all caps here, as one does for GODS) empire's publications - or else he may go exclusively with Apple, who are coming on-market too. Naturally, he feels that publishers should get MORE, so prices are most likely to go UP for "electric" books, thus helping to make real books more desirable (while incidentally lining Mr. Rupert's pockets) and assuming he doesn't raise those prices too.

[StevieH]

on the subject of kindles, does anyone know of anywhere in chiang mai which sells a good range of accessories? am after a decent cover for my kindle and would like a decent clip-on light as well.

[noise]

on the subject of kindles, does anyone know of anywhere in chiang mai which sells a good range of accessories? am after a decent cover for my kindle and would like a decent clip-on light as well.

Try one of the Apple stores. I recently saw a carrying case there for one of their products that was better than the one that came with my kindle. Better in that the handle and zipper were on the same side. I picked up my old case with the kindle in it after forgetting to zip it shut and it fell 3 feet onto the cement, landing corner first. It 85% quit working shortly after.

Apples/iPod and etc. come in so many size and shapes now, the stores have a wide variety of items that would work with a kindle.

[brommers]

on the subject of kindles, does anyone know of anywhere in chiang mai which sells a good range of accessories? am after a decent cover for my kindle and would like a decent clip-on light as well.

Go to the Kindle Shop on Amazon.com & you will find literally dozens of different covers in a myriad of colors. I have a leather one that incorporates an l.e.d light. It is really handy on long-haul flights which I make many times a year. Using the light hardly drains the battery so for a long weekend there is no need to take a charger. It was ordered on a Monday afternoon & was delivered on the Thursday.

I still read books but I find the Kindle is just so much more portable, and of course easy on the eyes when compared to a laptop. Great product & god service from Amazon.

[mallmagician]

I agree. The lighted covers from Amazon are costly but well worth the money. They use the kindle battery to power the light, so no problems there.

I also recommend the kindle. I find it much more comfortable to hold than a book ( no having to use two hands or ramming your thumb into it to hold it open when at the start and end of the book. No twisting hand from left to right when you read from one page to the next.) I know those things seem trivial, but someone earlier in the thread said that they weren't as comfortable as reading a book. That's nonsense. They are more so. And they have more advantages too. The screen is actual ink, so its practically the same as a book as far as eye strain goes.

For the majority of the reading public, they are a great buy.

I don't own shares in Amazon, just my honest opinion. (i don't own any book shops either)

Tum-tee-tum....

on the subject of kindles, does anyone know of anywhere in chiang mai which sells a good range of accessories? am after a decent cover for my kindle and would like a decent clip-on light as well.

Go to the Kindle Shop on Amazon.com & you will find literally dozens of different covers in a myriad of colors. I have a leather one that incorporates an l.e.d light. It is really handy on long-haul flights which I make many times a year. Using the light hardly drains the battery so for a long weekend there is no need to take a charger. It was ordered on a Monday afternoon & was delivered on the Thursday.

I still read books but I find the Kindle is just so much more portable, and of course easy on the eyes when compared to a laptop. Great product & god service from Amazon.

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

Kindles are great and the cost in the US is $114 plus the cover with a light is about $50 more. They will hold 3500 books and the battery only needs to be charged about once a month. Have never downloaded directly to the Kindle as we use Calibre software for our library, it allows you to convert many formats to MOBI for the Kindle. It is great and very easy to read, always takes you back to where you left off and you can make notes on the pages if you like.

I highly recommend the Calibre software it does a fantastic job and it is free just google it. Chances are you will like it so much you will be inclined to make a donation to calibre, no I'm not associated with them in any way just an appreciative user.

[frankafey]

I would like to see someone start buying and selling used Kindles, Nooks and whatever else type of e-readers. After a few years of ownership there are going to be a number of books on these machines and unlike real books you're unable to give them away or sell them. The business would also allow people to swap e-readers for other e-readers for a very small service fee.

[amexpat]

I would like to see someone start buying and selling used Kindles, Nooks and whatever else type of e-readers. After a few years of ownership there are going to be a number of books on these machines and unlike real books you're unable to give them away or sell them. The business would also allow people to swap e-readers for other e-readers for a very small service fee.

Maybe you can't transfer ebooks purchased from Amazon, but a lot of material comes from other sources that can easily be uploaded to a computer, emailed, or whatever you like.

There is a mountain of classic treasures in the public domain free for downloading as well as manuals, texts, etc etc.

[Okertes]

Kindle is the best ( and other E-Readers ) it is so cofortable to read in bed and evrywhere maybe not recomended for the Bath though . You can enlarge the letter size for easy reading

and if you have a WiFi connection you can search purchase and get the book in the device in seconds.

[james24]

Even if the built-in cellphone is not able to receive service in CM, you can buy e-books online at Amazon, download to your computer, and then drag-and-drop to the kindle when it is plugged into the usb port.

The new Kindle definitely will not have wireless capability in Thailand. But this suggestion is correct. i do it all the time in Phuket. But evrything is charged to my USA credit card. This might be an issue for you.

Ive got the new 3g one and downloading books and going on wikipedia works fine

[Ulysses G.]

If I had walked into your bookshop, could I have purchased those 13 books last week, and how much would it have cost me?

I'm not sure, but illegal downloads are always free. If you bought them, I am guessing that they would have cost a fair amount.

[mallmagician]

If I had walked into your bookshop, could I have purchased those 13 books last week, and how much would it have cost me?

I'm not sure, but illegal downloads are always free. If you bought them, I am guessing that they would have cost a fair amount.

Instant delivery of all 4 game of thrones books to the Kindle totals under 900 baht inclusive of FREE wireless delivery, wherever you are in the world, as long as you are in 3G reception area, or WIFI available in the area.

The boxset of the same books including delivery to Chiang Mai from Amazon (The boxset is $10 cheaper than the Kindle Set)totals:-

Total: $64.74 (Or roughly DOUBLE the price of the Kindle set - and you have to wait and wait until it arrives)

Of course, in order to get a saving of the $10 off the Kindle set, one may want to wander around the bookstores in Chiang Mai and try to find the box set. The box set's RRP (Without Amazons DEEP discounts) is 150baht more than the entire set on the Kindle. So, even if you are lucky (after spending loads of money on Petrol, and a lot of time searching), you will likely not get as good a deal pricewise as the Kindle set (Not even counting petrol/time). This is a popular series of books, as you will know, due to the recent TV series. I checked Gecko Books online, and you dont appear to have them in store. So whats the choice? Take a chance that you simply haven't updated inventory and go to the shop, or get the entire set instantly with the push of a button?

So, I dont see your point.

All I see is a bookshop owner desperately trying to slam a technology that clearly has minimal disadvantages to a REAL book, but many MANY advantages, with quite a transparent agenda.

If I were in your shoes - I'd do the same though. But please dont try to pass it off as impartial opinion.

If you owned a record/CD store in Chiang Mai, I wouldn't expect you to be singing the praises of MP3 either.... MP3 has the same sort of problems with Audiophiles as you have with the Kindle. But the fact is, they are now immensely popular, and the independent music stores are suffering....

The difference is, I suspect Bookstores will cope better with the EBOOK revolution than the independent music stores did.

PS - I like REAL books too, and will have a browse in your stores when I am passing, and occasionally buy a book. But I still see the advantages of the Kindle (Or any other Ebook reader)