Amazon Kindle

[OverKnight]

I'm thinking of getting the Kindle e-book reader. Does anyone have one? What do you think of it?

[naut]

What is it?

[CBR]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindle

It's ugly as hell if you ask me. But an ebook reader is something I do like to have as I'm running out of bookshelves.

Amazon does seem to have lots of ebooks but AFAIK their ebooks can only used on a Kindle so what to do if you want to buy another reader later on.


CBR

[Whacker]

Hmmm, eReaders have a ways to go IMO. The Kindle is an honorable start, but they've got a ways to go in terms of overall design, functionality, battery lifespan, etc. Personally I would not buy one right now, but in a couple of years as the technology matures, I'll most likely get one. This is tempered however with the knowledge that these things are going to be riddled with DRM.

The other thing that I see as a "killer app" in conjunction with these eReaders is a linkage with something like Project Gutenberg. I'd like to be able to both A> download electronic copies of books I already own, and B> have access to a large number of free texts that I can get at will.

In short, definitely something to keep an interested eye on, but I'll save my money for now.

[JR-]

can a kindle read PDF's, text documents, rtf, docs, and odf's?

[OverKnight]

There's a way to import various formats to the Kindle, but a PDF with a lot of pictures and such might not translate well.

When you buy the Kindle, Amazon provides you with an email address you can send various formats to, such as a PDF, where they are converted to the Kindle's native format transferred to your reader. I believe the service costs 10 cents each time.

There's also a way to do it yourself without paying the fee, but it's a bit more hands on.

Edit: The Wikipedia entry on the Kindle goes over what formats it accepts.