Amazon, Barnes & Noble court e-book lovers

jes

jes

MyBroadband Alumnus
Joined
Nov 11, 2009
Messages
11,992
Reaction score
123
Amazon, Barnes & Noble court e-book lovers

Online retail titan Amazon.com and bookselling giant Barnes & Noble dueled Tuesday for the devotion of digital book lovers with bargain-priced versions of their popular electronic readers.
 
Simple Touch Reader weighed in at 7.48 ounces (212 grams)
Click to expand...
Barnes & Noble unveiled a lean new Simple Touch Reader boasting a touch screen, months-long battery life
Click to expand...

Something doesn't add up, for "months-long battery life", one would expect something weighing as much as a car battery to power the thing.
 
BigAl-sa said:
Something doesn't add up, for "months-long battery life", one would expect something weighing as much as a car battery to power the thing.
Click to expand...

The e-Ink display used by the Kindle uses very little power, compared to a LCD.

I started buying e-books, because my shelves in my study are overflowing. But then I got to the bane of buyers - and the reason for piracy. "Sorry, this item is not available in your region." I want to give Amazon money for their books. I have it ready in my credit card. But they and the publishers refuse to take my money. I am not ALLOWED to read the book in electronic form. I HAVE to go to a retailer and purchase the dead-tree version.
 
That's the "Whispernet" tax in action, although it should be $2 for free books. Amazon adds a $2 charge to book prices for Whispernet delivery even if you don't have a 3G version or if the book is supposed to be free.
 
Has anyone know of someone that has ordered a Nook? i heard they dont ship to SA?
 
Thanks Crusader. I guess "Whispernet" is the only means of delivery available then?
 
In response to a couple of the issues above:

In theory the Kindle's battery is good for 6,000 page turns (remember that these devices only use power to turn the page; the battery 'goes to sleep' while you are actually reading the page or the screensaver is showing, so there's no drain. That's why they can run so long on a charge (as a fairly heavy reader I get about two weeks of reading per charge on mine). The Sony e-Reader and the Nook boast an even higher battery capacity.

'Free' content is often only free within the US (or sometimes also the UK); the rest of us have to pay a small 'delivery' charge. But you can get most of Amazon's 'free' books from other sources genuinely free (e.g. gutenberg.org) though you may have to convert them to the Kindle format (or indeed any other) with the excellent free ebook management software, Calibre. Depending on your degree of morality and/or how hard you are prepared to look, there are literally millions of free books out there for the downloading.

The ad-supported Kindles are only available in the USA, for actual US-based orders; they are not exported. The ads (which replace the normal dead-writers screensavers or appear in a small window when you call up the Home screen) are US-themed. Currently Kindle games are also only available for US-registered Kindles.
 
Crusader said:
That's the "Whispernet" tax in action, although it should be $2 for free books. Amazon adds a $2 charge to book prices for Whispernet delivery even if you don't have a 3G version or if the book is supposed to be free.
Click to expand...

It's actually not a "Whispernet tax", but rather an international surcharge. The folks in the rest of the world pay for the free Whispernet in the US.

@bewer: if something is "free" on Amazon, you can usually find it for free somewhere else, such as feedbooks.
 
bewer said:
Thanks Crusader. I guess "Whispernet" is the only means of delivery available then?
Click to expand...

Nopes, with the Wifi K3, you should be able to purchase the book on your PC and transfer to your device via USB, which seems to be a clunky approach :D
 
Valerion said:
The e-Ink display used by the Kindle uses very little power, compared to a LCD.
Click to expand...
My K2's battery lasts about 2 weeks with the 3g off, and about 2hrs reading per day. I don't have the specific weight, but I'm sure the K2's battery weighs more than 200g, never mind the rest of the device.

Valerion said:
I started buying e-books, because my shelves in my study are overflowing. But then I got to the bane of buyers - and the reason for piracy. "Sorry, this item is not available in your region." I want to give Amazon money for their books. I have it ready in my credit card. But they and the publishers refuse to take my money. I am not ALLOWED to read the book in electronic form. I HAVE to go to a retailer and purchase the dead-tree version.
Click to expand...

My pet hate as well, but it's not Amazon's fault - it's a collusion by the publishers.
 
My wife is a heavy reader and I am contemplating whether to get her a Kindle. Obviously only the 3G model will do, as I don't want her to be tied into going to a wi-fi spot to download some books. She loves both English and Afrikaans books and I need to know whether there are Afrikaans books available for the device otherwise, what is the point? Also are the books only available on Amazon or would I also encounter the problem @Valerion has of having to buy the dead tree version? Is there not a site where one can buy an e-book and then convert it to kindle format? Thanks for your help
 
caspa said:
Has anyone know of someone that has ordered a Nook? i heard they dont ship to SA?
Click to expand...

I got a Nook about 6 months ago, at the time they did not ship here so I just got it off Ebay. Very happy with it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top
Sign up to the MyBroadband newsletter
X