About Me
I am based in Brisbane, Australia and have just set up my own business Webxopt which concentrates on the business side of getting websites to work. By that I mean usability, analytics, backend systems, SEO, copywriting etc.
As a huge tech fan I enjoy commenting on anything from tech, web design, marketing and life in general.
To contact me, please add a comment to the blog.
Hi Simon, When you get a chance can you shoot me an email so that I can chat to you direct…Need to pick your brains! Thanks, Bambi (www.thewoo.com.au)
Bambi
7 Sep 08 at 8:22 pm
Hi Simon
Have just read your entry about the kindle – I am just about to bite the bullet and get one for my read-a-holic 15year old. We are off to Perth for xmas and thought this may solve the problem of not having enough books with us. How have you found the tech updates? Is the publishing list improving as they promise? Would appreciate any updates/feedback you have.
Thanks
Louise
Louise
5 Dec 09 at 8:41 am
Wow, it’s good to hear about a read-a-holic 15 year old! There is hope for my son yet! Mind you he is only 5 and at the moment only seems to like Horrid Henry and Zac Power.
I have found the updates ok. I say ok as putting pdf in there is great but what it does mean is that you often need to use the screen rotated, and that leaves you with buttons in very odd positions. I have also had some issues with images that haven’t come over well (or at all). It’s great to have pdf support, but if you can convert them that’s still the best option.
A previous commenter (Whyibother) mentioned Calibre. That is interesting software as it seems to convert other formats better and allows you to pull content of other peoples sites too. For instance if your prepared for the hassle, you can pull daily papers off the web and convert them for the kindle without having to subscribe. I would do this if I was looking to save money, but it does lack the convenience of a push to the kindle.
As for content, the list does seem to be expanding, but slowly. They have the Twilight series, but I’m guessing that has probably been thoroughly read. They claim about 10,000 books, but looking through most are old open source such as Robin Hood, Treasure Island etc. Not to say that these are bad, just older. The advantage is that you can get them free and convert them but the disadvantage is that they are….old!
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that if you were to buy a kindle you would be putting yourself out there to say that yes you believe in this technology and the ability of Amazon to get publisher to come over. I do absolutely think this technology will be the way of the future, but I think the publishers will fight it tooth and nail. After all it will be much like the music industry where the publishers are getting sidelined a bit and writers will have the ability to self-publish. My guess is that they could try to hold out. I wish they wouldn’t as I read much more on the kindle and think they would be doing themselves out of significant income.
So you I guess you would have more limited choice but are hoping that things will fall into place later. The advantage of this is that you can read books that never would normally come onto your radar, the disadvantage is that there are books you could miss out on.
One other thing to mention is book price. I have found that most books are a bit cheaper than printed, but not massively so. If they are available you can get new releases cheaper than when they are in hardback though. My thoughts are that you are paying to feel morally superior at the moment as no forests have died in you reading that book!
I guess one last thing to mention is the cool factor. The kindle is undoubtedly cool and would be great to take to school! I’m guessing that in a sea of iPods, there will only be one kindle!
admin
6 Dec 09 at 11:00 pm
Thanks for your really great update Simon – I have taken the plunge. It was in the weekend paper in the xmas gadgets to have list – so I am guessing it will just get more popular.
Just wondering how much import tax I will get stung with -by the time I also bought a case and with amazons conversion rate this little gadget should be made out of gold!
Will let you know how it is received when we return from holidays – Thanks,Louise
Louise
8 Dec 09 at 2:02 pm