Comments on: Is it worth buying a Kindle?

By: Steve

Steve — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 10:17:21 +0000

The kindle is really cool, but I did some investigation into the business model behind it. While its a great idea that will no doubt be picked up by other companies that will make the technology more open, I cant help but feel that Amazon will have too much power over what you have purchased. Its the small things you forget which mean a lot, like being able to give your old books to a school, friend, family or coworker, that old human trait of sharing . Or even being able to resell your finished books. The other argument is your book collection would be directly dependant on the survival of Amazon as a company.

I imagined travelling around south america with one, running out of batteries on a remote beach in Colombia wouldnt go down well. And the sand might not agree.

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:18:51 +0000

There are many alternative ereaders to the kindle which don’t lock you in to amazon, and many alternative sources of e-books on the net. I’ve deliberately decided against the kindle, because I don’t want to be stuck with potential obsolescence of the amazon proprietary format as well.

By: Mvelase Peppetta

Mvelase Peppetta — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 11:48:06 +0000

Thanks for the heads-up, was about to buy a Kindle too, but if this is how Amazon sees me, then I’m not interested, thank-you.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:44:45 +0000

Thanks for the write-up. A darn pity we’re not better supported, I was actually considering something along these lines.

Looking through the Barnes & Noble eBook FAQ’s, I see they don’t support purchases from South Africa (or anywhere else internationally for that matter):
“You can download eBooks from your eBooks Library that have already been purchased. You will not be able to purchase eBooks if you are traveling outside of the United States.”
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks/help-faqs.asp?cds2Pid=8510&linkid=1502801

As Diaan so eloquently put it, when they stop treating us like illiterate savages, I may reconsider getting one of these… until then, I’m going to have to get a bookshelf to store my purchases.

By: Andy

Andy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:34:03 +0000

I downloaded it yesterday and gave it a try. It does have a lot of work to go, but I like the idea and I hope to see a lot of improvements in the future. But it’ll be nice to throw some free books into it as well as some things from around the web.

By: Darren

Darren — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:54:00 +0000

Good point Saul. I’d also love to have one, but paying R2k to R3k for it and then still not getting the content you want… they need to re-think it first.

By: Diaan Mynhardt

Diaan Mynhardt — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:17:58 +0000

Donmulto, for me the answer to that question is very simple. Space. The kindle is a single object with the capacity for carrying hundreds or thousands of books in its memory. It allows you to annotate each of those books. It’s small and portable. It saves on killing trees.

By: Diaan Mynhardt

Diaan Mynhardt — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:04:14 +0000

Thanks for the heads up on this one. The temptation to get myself a Kindle has been great, but I think I’ll wait for Amazon to stop treating me like some illiterate savage before I buy. (Or, hopefully someone else starts selling more open devices around here soon.)

By: donmulto

donmulto — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:30:03 +0000

Why buy a kindle and books online when you can buy a real book? The kindle has no appeal to me.