Thursday, January 06, 2011

Amazon Kindle

Before I saw the Kindle, I was sceptical. I don't like reading things on a computer for any length of time and I like the 'feel' of a real book. Now having used one, I can safely say that I am a convert. It's easy to read, doesn't strain your eyes like a computer screen and after a while it may as well be a book.

The price savings then become obvious. Many books can be downloaded free and those that you have to pay for are much cheaper than buying the paper version. It wouldn't take long to recoup the £111 for the WIFI only version and I'm surprised that they aren't trying to push the 'green' angle a bit more.

My own book (which is a masterpiece) is available on Kindle here for just £3.44. I'd honestly recommend that you buy it even if you already have the paper version (or frankly even if you don't have a Kindle). It is selling like hot cakes (where did that phrase come from?)

ps You can also download the Kindle software so you can just read off your PC , Mac , iPhone or Android Phone.


9 comments:

Mosher said...

Downloaded books are cheaper than paper ones? They *should* be, but one of the biggest issues regarding digital publishing is that they very frequently aren't.

I can pop into Asda and get a paperback by a well-known author for a quid in the sale. Usually nearer £4 in their regular BOGOF. Even Amazon will ship me stuff for under a fiver.

The same publication as a download often runs to a price equivalent to the hardback edition.

I'll stick to my squished trees (and free downloads of the classics on my mobile phone ;) )

Anonymous said...

I agree that ebooks are good. However, I have a Sony Reader rather than a Kindle, and your book doesn't seem to be available in epub format yet - any plans for that?

jaljen said...

I love my MacBook Pro but I don't want to curl up under the bedcovers with it. There's something about turning pages. Something about the cover. I still lament the passing of the album cover. Thoroughly ante-diluvian.

Bet the Kindles don't work in the sunshine! Not for me.

Lady Pippa Jemima Fortesque Smyth said...

I love my Kindle! It does work even in strong sunshine, is very portable, has most of my favourite books on it so that I am never without something intersting to read. If I can't buy a newspaper from a shop then I can download one and clip or comment on any articles that I want to keep without getting the scissors or a pen out. I can also highlight and comment on any books, these being kept in a separate file that I can transfer to PC or upload to a social networking site.
I will no longer worry about which books to pack for holidays or my hospital stays. My hands and fingers no longer hurt after a few minutes of holding a large paperback and no one can snoop on what I am reading. Believe me, as I have been accosted several times in coffee shops regarding my reading material this is a huge benefit!
Very definately my best Christmas present this year!
Karen (aka Lady Fortesque on my satirical blog)

Dack said...

I guess we live in a world where the cheaper, easier and more convenient rule. But I was in Waterstones before xmas, browsing books, touching books, flicking through pages. But I doubt bookshops - or any specialist shops - will survive the internet and/or technology. Libraries are doomed. Soon we can all retire from the physical to the virtual. Online... well, everything. Before long maybe you'll be extolling the virtues of a 'virtual' bike before a screen. Wii cycling.

How sad.

Anonymous said...

Libraries are dead?
Au contraire. I am a member of 3 libraries on 2 continenets and I use my Sony Reader to borrow ebooks from 2 of those libraries.
But don't let facts get in the way of a good moan.

Mosher said...

Libraries may well soon be dead. Have you seen how many are under threat of closure? Not helped by the fact that so few younger people read these days.

I was running an exercise in a class a few months ago, part of which was filling in a survey. One question: "What is your favourite book". Out of four classes of 20 pupils each I ran it with, I think only 10 kids had a favourite. The rest all claimed not to read books, or magazines, or comics.

muso-tim said...

"SELL LIKE HOT CAKES - "Hot cakes cooked in bear grease or pork lard were popular from earliest times in American. First made of cornmeal, the griddle cakes or pancakes were of course best when served piping hot and were often sold at church benefits, fairs, and other functions. So popular were they that by the beginning of the 19th century 'to sell like hot cakes' was a familiar expression for anything that sold very quickly effortlessly, and in quantity." From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997)"

Lady Pippa Jemima Fortesque Smyth said...

'Before long I'll be extolling the virtues of wii cycling'? Rubbish. The point that I was making is that for particular circumstances -travel, hospital, illness the Kindle is wonderful. I never said that it was a replacement for books! I have thousands of books - many replicated on my Kindle for convenience. There are also only 500,000 books for Kindle, so there are many books that I want to read that are not available. Orhan Pamuk has only one novel available and only one of Diana Athill's memoirs is available. I read a great deal and the Kindle is a great help to me and many, many others.