Comments on: Finishing My First E-Book http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/2009/05/04/finishing-my-first-e-book/ The Livingston High School Reading Blog Wed, 13 May 2009 15:54:52 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Administrator http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/2009/05/04/finishing-my-first-e-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1137 Administrator Wed, 13 May 2009 15:54:52 +0000 http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/?p=251#comment-1137 One small correction to your small correction- I didn't say the Kindle had wi-fi. I was referring to the wi-fi capabiliy of the iPhone. The lack of wi-fi on my Blackberry Pearl is annoying, especially since I have wi-fi at work and home. One small correction to your small correction- I didn’t say the Kindle had wi-fi. I was referring to the wi-fi capabiliy of the iPhone. The lack of wi-fi on my Blackberry Pearl is annoying, especially since I have wi-fi at work and home.

]]> By: Geoffrey S. Mendelson http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/2009/05/04/finishing-my-first-e-book/comment-page-1/#comment-1136 Geoffrey S. Mendelson Wed, 13 May 2009 12:37:44 +0000 http://lhsblog.edublogs.org/?p=251#comment-1136 One small correction, the Kindle does not have a WiFi connection to the outside world. It comes with a cellular phone and a "permanent" data plan on one of the US cellular carriers. If you are out of range of a data-capable cell, or out of the coverage area of that carrier, you can not use the wireless functions of the Kindle. It's not free, you pay for it as part of the price of the Kindle and with each book you buy. Since you are not using a Kindle, you should look at the other sources of eBooks available. For example if you can read text files there is the entire Project Gutenberg library, and the many files available for free download if you can read PDF files. The kindle also has one serious flaw IMHO, you can not swap out batteries and if you are a fast reader battery life is very limited. If you are an "average" reader, with the cellular modem off, you can read for about 2 hours a day for a week. If you read 2 times the average speed, you get 1 hour per day for a week. If you read 4-5 times (either a naturally fast reader or a graduate of Evelyn Wood or a similar school), you get about 2-3 hours total. Once the battery runs out of "juice" it has to be connected to a charging device, so you can't just take the kindle on a weekend trip with a spare battery or two, unless you are a slow reader. If you want to keep the cellular modem on for example to read an online edition of a newspaper, or look at a web site, it cuts the battery life in half. The other big flaw, the inability to read PDF files without conversion has been addressed in the new large screen version, maybe it will be back ported to the small one. With the announcement of the big screen Kindle and sale of the Kindle 2, if you don't care about the cellular modem and buying ebooks from Amazon, you may be able to get a deal on a new or used Sony eBook Reader, which is the same device as the Kindle without the cellular modem and different programing inside. You can also get a Netbook for the same price or less and if you don't mind the slightly heavier weight, you get wifi, bluetooth, a color screen of higher resolution and the ability to do far more for less money. What you loose is the nice flat form factor. Geoff. One small correction, the Kindle does not have a WiFi connection to the outside world. It comes with a cellular phone and a “permanent” data plan on one of the US cellular carriers. If you are out of range of a data-capable cell, or out of the coverage area of that carrier, you can not use the wireless functions of the Kindle.

It’s not free, you pay for it as part of the price of the Kindle and with each book you buy.

Since you are not using a Kindle, you should look at the other sources of eBooks available. For example if you can read text files there is the entire Project Gutenberg library, and the many files available for free download if you can read PDF files.

The kindle also has one serious flaw IMHO, you can not swap out batteries and if you are a fast reader battery life is very limited. If you are an “average” reader, with the cellular modem off, you can read for about 2 hours a day for a week. If you read 2 times the average speed, you get 1 hour per day for a week. If you read 4-5 times (either a naturally fast reader or a graduate of Evelyn Wood or a similar school), you get about 2-3 hours total.

Once the battery runs out of “juice” it has to be connected to a charging device, so you can’t just take the kindle on a weekend trip with a spare battery or two, unless you are a slow reader.

If you want to keep the cellular modem on for example to read an online edition of a newspaper, or look at a web site, it cuts the battery life in half.

The other big flaw, the inability to read PDF files without conversion has been addressed in the new large screen version, maybe it will be back ported to the small one.

With the announcement of the big screen Kindle and sale of the Kindle 2, if you don’t care about the cellular modem and buying ebooks from Amazon, you may be able to get a deal on a new or used Sony eBook Reader, which is the same device as the Kindle without the cellular modem and different programing inside.

You can also get a Netbook for the same price or less and if you don’t mind the slightly heavier weight, you get wifi, bluetooth, a color screen of higher resolution and the ability to do far more for less money. What you loose is the nice flat form factor.

Geoff.

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