as a way to check it out. Personally, I will probably still do most of my reading with Stanza, but that's because most of my reading is manuscripts - not finished books - and Stanza makes it really, really easy to upload Word documents. But if I were a big consumer of other publisher's books, Kindle for iPhone would probably be my preferred reader. Anyway, I'll report back when I've read a book on it.Meanwhile, my good friend Stephenson just bought a Kindle 2. He sends me this screenshot, which warmed up my morning:
And did you hear that B&N just bought Fictionwise?
13 comments:
Yeah, I got excited about this when I read the news yesterday. I have Stanza as well, but the Kindle itself is something I've wanted for a while, I'm just not currently able to buy. This works for me as an alternate.
I downloaded the app to my iPhone yesterday but haven't purchased anything yet. I will probably dive into this soon as I am downsizing the material objects in my life and have been slowly switching over to a more digital way of viewing the world. I still love physical books, but at the moment they do not always work well with my life.
I haven't had a chance to check out for myself yet so I was wondering if you could enlighten as to which, if any, Pry books are available for the Kindle right now? Thanks.
None yet. Coming soon!
I should ad that I love physical books too, but like the idea of Kindle for iPhone editions to carry on planes and such.
I was pretty geeked about it too (and wrote a long rambling blog post about it).
While I don't love the DRM associated with the Kindle files, I do love the potential impact on ebook sales. Plus the fact that Amazon sells new releases for 9.99.
I usually buy books in 2 formats: hc (or tpb) and mppbb. The first for long shelf-life, and the latter for portability. I could easily see me replacing my mmpb secondary purchase with a Kindle format instead. A hardcover and a digital version sounds like a good combo to me.
I'm still waiting to see when/if review galleys are made available via digital format. Doesn't seem like there is a big push for such a thing, for security reasons I guess?
Finally...hope they add more usability features to the iPhone Kindle app, as it is pretty darn basic at the moment.
I agree totally about Hardcover plus Kindle. I wonder if there would be a way to bundle that at a discount? I'd totally be there.
Since I don't own a Kindle, I'm curious how I back up or store my ebook purchases, and yes, I see the Kindle ap growing after this (fairly silent) release.
I hadn't thought of that, but yeah, if Amazon were to ever bundle hardcovers and kindle editions, I too would be all over it.
I'm a big fan of Yep Roc records (for a lot of reasons, including the way they've built a brand by snatching up respectable, older midlist musicians like Nick Lowe and Robyn Hitchcock as clout-by-association while bringing out new alternative talent).
They make the digital download available the instant you buy the CD, DRM free and held forever for you.
I just got the Kindle 2. So far, I love it. Amazon backs up the ebooks you buy through them so that they're always available to you, should you delete them off your device or wish to switch devices. I imagine there would be a problem if you wanted to read them on a non-Amazon reader.
I have a bunch of other books I've gotten elsewhere & had no problem converting them for the Kindle. I just save them on a flash drive. I haven't tried converting a Word document, but all the PDFs I've done have looked good.
Now if only they'll get the Amazon app for the G1, I'll be ecstatic. I hear amazon syncs the devices so you can stop reading on your phone and pick up at the same place on your Kindle, which is just cool.
I should add, with regards to yesterday's gorgeous post, there are some books I'll still buy a hard copy for the beautiful cover.
I have a ton of free PDF books that I'd love to read, but the Kindle is still outside my price range. So I wait for a cheap alternative.
As for B&N buying Fictionwise, I think they are slowly ramping up to buy Borders. BAMM will wait in the wings and keep their standings strong, but they won't cave like Borders will. Just a prediction, but one I truly believe in.
Rene - if the Kindle for iPhone ap upgrades to a way to read non-Kindle documents (PDFs, Word doc) on it, that would be awesome. I'm sure it will at some point.
TK42ONE - you really think B&N will buy Borders? I see them cherry picking some key retail spaces, maybe, but the whole chain?
BAMM - they need a much better selection.
Lou - It's crazy, it's half-baked, but yes, I think it will happen. Both Borders and B&N have been sliding while BAMM has been gaining. So I think BAMM will hang in there. Borders appears to be sliding worse than B&N, so I'm guessing it'll be like Circuit City vs. Best Buy except there's a buyout involved. Meanwhile BAMM will b like Fry's and hang in there as the third wheel.
Interesting, I really don't see B&N buying Borders, but you can come back and tell me "I told you so" when they do!
As to BAMM, I don't hear as much about how the economy is affecting them. I would like to see them hire a dedicated genre buyer though (they have one person for the entire "fiction" category, and as a result, things often get skipped.)
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