Kindle, yea or nay. Clue us (o.k., ME!1) very late bloomers, please.

[UTUSN]

Seems like the free stuff (below) would be a large plus in itself. There was an eyecatching ad showing it being tossed around, licked by a dog, crammed into a back pocket (was it for Kindle?!1). The link to the how-to below came from "The Skeptic's Dictionary."

What about the weirdness of not touching paper, not turning pages, light images on a screen in sunlight or dark.


*************QUOTE (advertisement)*********

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002FQJT3Q?tag=roberttoddcarrolA/

With over 725,000 titles, the Kindle Store contains the largest selection of the ebooks people want to read including New York Times® Best Sellers and most new releases from $9.99. And Amazon provides limited time promotional offers and thousands of the most popular classics for free with wireless delivery in under 60 seconds to your Kindle, computer, or other mobile device.

But of course, the Internet is huge and there are lots of older, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books online. We wanted to make it easier to find these collections, which today represent nearly 2 million titles. See the sites and instructions below to download free classic and other out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books and transfer via USB to your Kindle device or read on Kindle for PC or Kindle for Mac.

Note that these large collections of older free ebooks are typically created from scanned copies of physical books and can have variable quality.

Kindle Store - Limited-time offers and thousands of popular classics
The Amazon Kindle Store lets you choose from limited-time promotional offers and thousands of the most popular classics all available for free with wireless delivery in under 60 seconds via Whispernet.

1. Visit Limited-time Promotional Offers or Kindle Popular Classics.

2. Browse for a title just like a normal Kindle ebook.


Internet Archive - Over 2.5 million free titles
Internet Archive is a non-profit dedicated to offering permanent access to historical collections that exist in digital format. Provides over 2.5 million free ebooks to read, download, and enjoy.

1. Visit archive.org.

2. Search for a title or browse one of the sub-collections like American Libraries.

3. When viewing a title, click the link on the left labeled "Kindle (beta)" to download the file to your computer.

4. Attach your Kindle to your computer using your USB cable and drag the file to the "Documents" folder on your Kindle. You can also e-mail the file to your Kindle using Whispernet for wireless delivery (charges apply).

5. Open the ebook from your Kindle's home screen and enjoy.


Open Library - Over 1 million free titles
Open Library's goal is to provide a page on the web for every book ever published.

1. Visit openlibrary.org.

2. Search for a title and make sure to check the 'Only show eBooks' checkbox.

3. When viewing a title, click the 'Send to Kindle' link next to the edition in which you're interested.

4. You will be directed to Amazon.com to choose a device for wireless delivery using the Kindle Personal Document Service (charges apply).

5. Open the ebook from your Kindle's home screen and enjoy.


Project Gutenberg - Over 30,000 free titles
Project Gutenberg, one of the original sources of free ebooks, is dedicated to the creation and distribution of eBooks.

1. Visit gutenberg.org.

2. Search for a title or browse the book shelves by topic.

3. When viewing a title, scroll down to the 'Download this ebook for free' section and click the download link for 'Mobipocket' or 'Mobipocket with images' format.

4. Attach your Kindle to your computer using your USB cable and drag the file to the "Documents" folder on your Kindle. You can also e-mail the file to your Kindle using Whispernet for wireless delivery (charges apply).

5. Open the ebook from your Kindle's home screen and enjoy.


ManyBooks.net - Over 26,000 free titles
ManyBooks.net provides free ebooks as a service to the Internet community at large.

1. Visit manybooks.net.

2. Search for a title or browse by genre.

3. When viewing a title, choose the "Kindle (.azw)" option on the right hand side and click the 'Download' button.

4. Attach your Kindle to your computer using your USB cable and drag the file to the "Documents" folder on your Kindle. You can also e-mail the file to your Kindle using Whispernet for wireless delivery (charges apply).

5. Open the ebook from your Kindle's home screen

********UNQUOTE********

[Lucian]

1. The battery life alone is the reason to get a Kindle.

It lasts for a month on a single charge. If you were to get the new nook that came out for Barnes & Noble, the charge would last just eight hours. The reason for the great battery life on the Kindle is that the screen isn't backlit, whereas on the iPad, I mean nook, it is. The eink is also easy on the eyes on the Kindle. I can sit in my chair all day reading my Kindle and my eyes never get sore.

So go out and buy the Kindle. For $130 ($180 for wifi + 3G), you really can't lose. :)

[UTUSN]

3. Thanks Lucian and gmoney, both very helpful. n/t

[gmoney]

2. Do you really plan to read "Treasure Island" or "Crime and Punishment"

While there are a lot of classics available for free, I tend to think very few people still read those titles. You should be able to browse the free sources above to see exactly what titles they have to offer. There's a book fair in town this weekend that advertises 250,000 items, but looking them over, it struck me how many of those books are likely to be absolutely unwanted by anyone anymore, and would remain unsold. What they do with them after the fair, I don't know. I hope they send them someplace where they might be used rather than just shredded or buried.

But I digress. You can get a Kindle for only $139 now, so not a huge investment, but what will add up are the costs of the books. $10 or $15 each for most popular titles. But once you've bought the book and read it, you have nothing physical to show for it. You can't easily loan it to someone else, you can't take it to a used book shop or try to sell it on Amazon. You've basically paid the money for the RIGHT to read that book on your device, rather than purchasing a proper book. Of course, you can re-read it on your device, if you do that sort of thing.

Amazon generally has a pretty lenient return policy, so I'd guess you can buy a kindle, download a few free titles to evaluate how you like the experience of reading on the Kindle, maybe buy a book or two, and give yourself 2 or 3 weeks to decide if it's right for you. If not, send it back. My father who's 77 has the Apple iPad and is enjoying it greatly as a news reader and has read a couple books on it I believe, so I don't know that there's any real "generational barrier" to it. If you're not computer savvy, it would probably be good if you had a friend or relative who might be able to help you if you get in a pinch.

I think a lot of the decision would depend where you do your reading... if you tend to read while traveling or commuting, or other situations where carrying around a Stephen King hardback isn't ideal, then the Kindle could be a blessing. But as you say, if you like the tactile experience of curling up on your sofa with a book and flipping the pages, you may want to just stick with printed books. Of course, you can always flip back and forth as you like, and if you get the Kindle and decide you don't like it after six months, there is an after market for used devices, or just give it to a friend. So, if you're curious, and you have the means to make the purchase, you might as well go for it rather than waiting and wondering for months or years longer. Who knows? It might jump start your enthusiasm for reading, and maybe it is time that you actually read "Treasure Island."

[UTUSN]

4. Thanks Lucian and gmoney, both very helpful. n/t

[tigereye]

7. lots of folks still read and re-read classics...

Good advice, though.

[gmoney]

8. I dunno about that.

Well, I mean there may be a few hundred thousand people who actually read (not just buy/download) classics on a regular basis (apart from students/academics), but as a percentage of the population, it's probably minuscule. So, yes, a few hundred thousand people is "lots" but I think it's dwarfed by the Stephen King/Left Behind/Beck readers. And of course, the percentage of people who read books at ALL compared to just watching video or surfing the web is pretty tiny, too. Maybe I'm projecting my poor reading habits onto others, but I think it's like the percentage of people who BUY exercise equipment compared to the percentage who actually use it.

[cynatnite]

5. I want one...

The more I've read about it, the more it appeals to me. I'd like to be able to read outside. You can't do this with the iPad or others like this. I like being able to download books or newspapers whenever, which I can if I spend the extra for a 3G one. Some of the prices for books and newspapers aren't bad at all. There is a lot of free books that can make it worthwhile, I think. I've read that there are upwards of 375,000 free books.

For me this could be very worthwhile. I don't get to read nearly as much as I'd like and this would make it much easier.

All I've got to do is drop hints for the husband. This would make a great Christmas gift. :)

[nolabear]

6. I love my books, and I love my Kindle.

Two things I love are the ease of popping it into my purse and taking it with me for those moments when I want something to read, a restaurant, a waiting room, a plane, etc. I also, for some reason, get a kick out of the fact that no one knows what I'm reading. It could be War and Peace or it could be the cheesiest romance novel (I'm actually not prone to either but I do intersperse my more literary readings with some nicely trashy mind candy now and again). Btw, for guys, the newest version fits inside an inner suit pocket and probably many larger pants pockets as well.

I think the only two caveats I've got are that my husband has lost two of them and is on his third (CONSTANT business traveller and it's the best thing to have happened to him in years) and that it's waaaaay too easy to impulse buy and not have that visual there on the shelf to remind you where that money went. Perfect for Amazon, of course!

[TreasonousBastard]

9. I have a Nook that you would have to pry from my cold, dead hands...

to get me to part with it. Battery life is just fine, thankyouverymuch, and pretty much everything that you actually want to read is available for it.

(Just started reading Mark Twain's autobiography-- all 900+ pages of Part 1)