What's a Kindle good for?

[SueEllen]

You pay VAT on e-books. Also, annoyingly, I don't get my student discount on Amazon.
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Techy books I prefer hard copy, as I haven't worked out how to quickly get to the bit I need on a Kindle (prolly user error).

I try not to buy my technical books from Amazon I try and get them off the publishers website as they are:
1. Cheaper sometimes up to 50%
2. Often come in Kindle, ePub and PDF formats.

If I can't get them that way I get them of other people.

I also use Calibre to download newspapers and journals for free. (Some you are suppose to pay for but I get them free for some reason.)

I find Kindle useful for carrying stuff around on trains and planes as now I don't have to take lots of heavy books with me.

Last few novels I've bought have been for Kindle. Bookshelves overflowing, so seems like a good way to cut back the crap.

If I buy fiction it tends to be less popular authors or historical books so they cost nothing up to £2.

I find now if I do buy physical books I'm more selective as I actually want to keep them rather than having to clear them out every year.

[d000hg]

I still can’t justify the cost of ebooks on the kindle, I mean for new releases I will just pay the £1 more & get the hard copy

I've never seen e-books costing that much, given new paperbacks are close on a tenner these days e-books seem comparable. However I normally wait for books to be periodically reduced to 1/2 price (say £3-5) because I consider £8.99 for a novel a rip-off in ANY format.

you can make notes and highlight sections in books, go to menu and there is an option for marks and clippings.

True but it's still laborious if you are flicking around a book rather than reading sequentially... in my case I have a bible on and it's FAR slower to look up a specific chapter using the keyboard. Probably a lot better on the touch-screen Kindles but this is one area an iPad is a better Kindle than a Kindle is... of course your bookmarks magically transfer between all your devices which is wonderful.

[IR35FanClub]

You can stick a 4 on top of your kids birthday cake. (I see a welcome updated of the Two Ronnies 4 Candles sketch here!)

On a serious note, splash out the extra and get a pad. (with or without an i). You can get kindle on them and athough the batteries don't last as long, you can do some drawing, listen to music, prepare and send emails, chat bollox on skype and generally do a lot of the stuff you have to wait to get to a desk with. Costs a bit more, but if you're going to buy a pad anyway - why have a kindle to carry as well!?

I see pads replacing laptops (mine has already) and laptops replacing desktops (mine has already). Won't be long till people thinking lugging between 1 and 3lb of metal and plastic around is bonkers if all your goign to do is check FB and make some notes on it. Your pad can do most of what a lappy can do. As the apps get more and more features and teh pad processors get faster it won't be long till you don't need a lappy, but then you'll want a bigger pad. LOL.

[SueEllen]

If I lose my kindle on a train or drop I won't give a damn.

If I lose a tablet I would be extremely upset and worried as I would be logged into my email accounts etc.

[d000hg]

On a serious note, splash out the extra and get a pad. (with or without an i). You can get kindle on them and athough the batteries don't last as long, you can do some drawing, listen to music, prepare and send emails, chat bollox on skype and generally do a lot of the stuff you have to wait to get to a desk with. Costs a bit more, but if you're going to buy a pad anyway - why have a kindle to carry as well!?

They're totally different devices. The Kindle does only a few things, but it does them SO much better than a multi-purpose device like a tablet.

[OwlHoot]

People pay for ebooks? Astounding.

WHS

[OwlHoot]

I'll buy an ebook reader when it comes on a sheet of crinkly memory-plastic I can scrunch up and stuff in my top pocket like a hankie, and automatically smooths out as flat as a mill pond when I take it out.

[Sysman]

WMSS - certainly for fiction. And I'm being pushed that way for technical but I'll resist as I like writing and highlighting* in my technical books.

(I'm allowed guys - they aren't that precious and I paid for them...)

I still prefer hard copy for technical books. Traditional bookmarks still work well, and PostIt notes can be useful for jumping around sections.

And ever since I did a German course I haven't been afraid to write in them or use a highlighter.

[escapeUK]

They're totally different devices. The Kindle does only a few things, but it does them SO much better than a multi-purpose device like a tablet.

I thought the new kindles were multi purpose devices like a tablet running Android. They strike me as being a bit of a game changer, Apple should be worried.

[SueEllen]

I thought the new kindles were multi purpose devices like a tablet running Android. They strike me as being a bit of a game changer, Apple should be worried.

There are 2 types of new Kindles.

There is the new eReader type Kindle and the tablet type Kindle.

The tablet type Kindle is a much cheaper version of the iPad.

I wouldn't say the new Kindle is really compatible to the iPad due to the limited functionality. For example they only have WiFi connectivity and limited storage capabilities.

The limited storage is designed to make you go back to Amazon to buy more content i.e. videos and games.

Apple is already worried there has been a few other Android tablets out recent at a much cheaper price point.

Problem is those with Android phones rather do things on their phone than carry around yet another device.