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In 2010, using the Kindle app on the iPad sold me on ebooks. Amazon needs never fear (and I'm certain they don't) that the iPad is taking away sales of the Kindle. In fact, it's probably the opposite. I enjoyed reading ebooks so much on the iPad that I wanted to get a dedicated Kindle. So, in January I bought a Kindle 3 (see review here). I knew I would enjoy reading books on the Kindle based upon my iPad experience, but that wasn't the primary reason I bought the Kindle 3. I teach a good bit in both the classroom and at church. The iPad was wonderful because in one device I could have my presentation slides, textbook and course notes. The problem was that if I had the iPad connected to a projector, I didn't have easy access to these other materials. I needed a second screen—either that or go back to lugging books and notebooks with me again.
So a few months back, I bought a Kindle 3 and absolutely loved it. It did almost everything I needed it to do as a companion to the iPad (see my post about using the Kindle and iPad together), and it also brought another advantage to the table: the Kindle 3 is clearly the best device for straight reading of ebooks. I had no idea how much I would enjoy simply reading on the Kindle. However, I had one small complaint about the Kindle 3: it's small 6" screen. On a near daily basis, I access PDF articles. I found that even though the Kindle 3 would read PDFs natively, it was nearly impossible to read the print on the small screen. You can zoom in, but this is really not a practical way to read most articles. Amazon offers a free conversion service, and I was able to use this with some articles. However, this didn't work as cleanly with directly scanned-in articles, and with some articles, I need to reference original page numbers.
So, I'd been eyeing the Kindle DX—which has a much larger display—for a while, when a couple of weeks ago, Amazon offered a significant one-day discount on the device. I placed the order and received it the very next day. After having it for only a few days, I quickly knew its strengths and unfortunately, its weaknesses.
FIRST, THE POSITIVES: (1) That fantastic 9.7" screen! Let me say up front that the screen on the Kindle DX really is great. It's got the same E ink Pearl screen as the Kindle 3, but significantly larger, and it's perfect for the PDFs that I needed to use on the Kindle.
A managerial accounting textbook (don't ask) on the iPad, Kindle DX and Kindle 3
(2) More text before turning the page. Reading is also better overall because more text fits on one page. I don't know about you, but somehow this allows me to "absorb" content more easily, and I'm not turning pages so quickly.
(3) Number keys. I like having numbers on the keyboard (accessible with an Alt button and something not available on the Kindle 3), but I have no praise for the keyboard itself (see negative #7 below).
(4) Umm...what else? Let's see...there's a James Joyce screensaver not available on the Kindle 3 (I threw this one in so I'd have one more positive).
Unfortunately, at the moment, I can't think of any other advantages. In fact, in moving from a Kindle 3 to a Kindle DX, I felt that I'd gone backwards in some areas. Why is this? Well, most people don't seem to realize (I certainly didn't) that the Kindle DX is a bit of a hybrid device. Let me explain: the Kindle DX Graphite was released only a few weeks before the Kindle 3 in the summer of 2010. It was the first Kindle to take advantage of the E ink Pearl screen, which is also a feature of the Kindle 3. I've seen the current Kindle DX referred to as a "third generation Kindle DX" and yet, I didn't realize (and I bet a lot of other folks don't realize either) that the current Kindle DX is still running Kindle 2 software (2.5.8). This has a number of implications.
BRACE YOURSELVES FOR THE NEGATIVES (1) What? No page numbers? Since the Kindle DX is running Kindle 2 software, it has never received the page number update like the Kindle 3 and most Kindle apps. This seems very ironic considering the Kindle DX is usually the Kindle model recommended for academic use, especially with textbooks. I can understand Amazon not updating older Kindles to the newest software (although I'm certain that users of the older Kindles wish they would), but I cannot understand why a model currently being sold would not have the page number update. Even the Kindle app on my iPad has page numbers now. Why would Amazon update the software for another company's device (i.e. the iPad) and not their own? Where's the logic in that?
(2) A neglected "last year's" OS. Related to the above issue is the fact that from what I can tell from published reviews with the current DX was released, while the Kindle 3 software has received continues upgrades and added features since its release, the current OS of the Kindle DX is the essentially the same OS it shipped with it last July. My DX came with software versioned at 2.5.5, which is the same OS mentioned in reviews when the DX was first released almost a year ago. I did find out that there's a 2.5.8 update that fixes a few bugs and supposedly made it turn pages faster. But I had to discover this and install it on my on. Why wouldn't Amazon ship the DX with 2.5.8 installed Other than this minor bug fix, why would Amazon completely halt development of the software on this device—a device, I remind you, that is a model currently for sale?
(3) No following of other readers' comments. Not having the software on the Kindle DX updated means other features on the Kindle 3 are absent on the Kindle DX such as being able to follow comments of specific users (again, a wonderful feature for academic use in which an instructor can add notes to a book and let students follow them in their book).
(4) A substandard web browser. The web browser on the DX is a much less capable than the Kindle 3 browser. The Kindle DX uses this browser to tie the user's Facebook and Twitter accounts (for social sharing), but it was a pain to set up because of all the error messages I kept receiving in which it kept giving me messages that it couldn't download certain file types. I wasn't trying to download anything; I just wanted to connect to Twitter and Facebook. For what it's worth, I had no trouble setting these up on the Kindle 3 a few weeks earlier.
(5) No Audible books. The Kindle DX will not download and play Audible books like the Kindle 3 will. I realize that this might be a limitation due to the Kindle DX only having 3G service and not WiFi, but why not list Audible books in the archive anyway (as is on the Kindle 3) and allow them to be downloaded to a computer and transferred over manually?
(6) No-frills PDFs. PDF functionality on the DX is much more limited than on the Kindle 3. For instance you cannot add your own annotations or highlights to a PDF on the DX, while you can on a Kindle 3. Again, for the device most often recommended for academic use, this, too, makes no sense.
(7) A keyboard that is difficult to use. The only good feature of the DX keyboard is the easier access to numbers on the external keyboard. However, other than this, going from the Kindle 3 keyboard to the Kindle DX is really taking a step backwards. Of course even the keyboard on the Kindle 3 is not stellar, but I found that it's at least usable for quick notes once I got the hang of it. The round buttons on the Kindle 3 stand out, and I found I could run my fingers over them and quickly find the exact letter I needed. The Kindle DX keyboard has odd little horizontally oval keys, and the biggest problem is that the lettering on the keys is very difficult to see. It nearly blends in with the keys themselves, and unless I'm in really bright light, it's very difficult to see the label on the key I'm pressing. I never minded adding notes on the Kindle 3, but it was a a real pain on the Kindle DX.
(8) Battery life doesn't compare to the Kindle 3. Battery life is much shorter on the Kindle DX than on the Kindle 3. My greatest challenge in charging the Kindle 3 was locating the power cord because I rarely ever had to use it. I immediately charged my battery when I opened my Kindle DX until the light turned green. That was on a Saturday around noon. By Monday noon (approximately 48 hours later), it was completely dead. Now, it may be that I have a bad battery. Or it may be that in re-downloading my library, that temporarily heavy use of 3G radio really taxed the battery. Perhaps DX users turn off the 3G when they don't absolutely need it. However, I always left the Wifi on with the Kindle 3. I like my books to automatically sync locations with Amazon's servers, in case I need to switch temporarily to the Kindle app on my iPad. Turning the Kindle 3G signal off all the time would prevent this from happening automatically.
(9) What? I need new headphones? Since having my Kindle 3, I love letting it read to me while I drive. I've always used my headphones that came with my iPhone for this purpose and it worked fine on the Kindle 3. I tried using the same headphones on the Kindle DX, but it would not give me stereo unless I pressed in on the pause trigger on the headphone cord. And then, not only did I get stereo, but the volume seemed to triple. Obviously, I can't drive down the road holding in on on the button of my headphones to get quality sound. And before you say it, I realize that the iPhone headphones are different than normal headphones with their volume and pause/play controls, but they worked just fine on the Kindle 3 (for listening only—the buttons on the headphones obviously don't work on the Kindle). I also realize that the iPhone headphones aren't all that great as far as headphones go, but all I ever use them for is to listen to podcasts or the text-to-speech feature that worked fine on the Kindle 3. I don't want to have to buy a second set of headphones and keep up with two separate sets.
Negatives 1-6 could all be solved RIGHT NOW by a software update. I really find it hard to believe that the internal hardware of the Kindle DX is not capable of handling these extra features present in the Kindle 3. Again, this is a currently shipping Kindle, not a previous model. But it seems as if Amazon began shipping the DX and then quit any further development or refining the software for it at all. My main criticisms relate to lack of page numbers and PDF annotation, which are both present on the Kindle 3. If these aren't a big deal to you, and you need a larger screen, the Kindle DX is probably just right.
One other issue they don't tell you if you're moving from one Kindle to another: I could only transfer over six issues of my current Time Magazine subscription. I've marked every issue "Keep" on my Kindle 3 as I've received them (which is inanely required if you actually want to keep them), including an issue of Time I bought before I subscribed and two individual New Yorker issues that I bought without a subscription. But nothing beyond the last six issues of Time would transfer either from my archives or from "Manage Your Kindle" at the Amazon website. I moved the missing issues from my Kindle 3 to my computer, hoping to transfer them to my DX that way, but when I tried to open them on the DX, I got a message stating that I was not the original purchaser of these issues—something clearly not true. This makes no sense either. If I had a stack of physical magazines at my house and decided to move to a new house, I could take them with me. Why can I not take electronic issues of magazines that I paid for myself? I realize this doesn't relate specifically to the DX (I don't think), but if you're moving from one Kindle to another Kindle, keep this in mind.
So my Kindle DX review BOTTOM LINE: a fantastic screen, but hampered by a dated OS with a reduced feature set and lousy keyboard compared to the Kindle 3. If you've used a DX, I'd be interested in hearing about your experience in the comments.
Very recently—I can't remember now where I heard this, but it was probably on a podcast—I heard someone complain about the lack of "back covers" on ebooks. That is, this person said he liked to read the various blurbs and content that was found on the back of most books when he pulled one off the shelf in a bookstore.
So, last night Kathy and I went to the downtown branch of the Louisville Free Public Library to hear Steven Levy talk about his new book on Google, In the Plex. I'd downloaded the book to our iPads when I noticed something very interesting.
First, I should point out that most ebooks (but not all) will retain the cover of a book. From my iPad screen, here is the cover of Levy's book:
The cover of Steven Levy's book, In the Plex. Note the touch of color, something Amazon started adding to Kindle titles after the advent of the iPad.
Kindle books by default usually open up to page one, which is sometimes an introduction and sometimes the first chapter. However, my preference is to always begin at a point earlier in the book. I suppose I've been with books too long, but I want to see the cover, the copyright page, the table of contents and only then am I ready to dive into the content of the book. If there were an option to start at the cover, I would have made that my default a long time ago.
So, after viewing the cover, I swiped the page, expecting to see copyright information. No dice. Instead I was surprised to see this:
The inside front flap
What is this? As you've probably guessed, this is the front inside flap as normally seen in a dust jacket of a printed copy. Like the cover, this is a graphic image in the Kindle file, so the text seen above is not selectable like normal Kindle titles.
Note that as is often the case in a regular printed book, the text at the bottom of the flap is interrupted mid-sentence. So, I swiped the screen of my iPad again, thinking it would take me to the continuation on the back flap. But nope. Like in a print book, I found myself at the copyright page.
On a hunch, which proved true, I immediately went to the end of the book. On the next to the last page, I found—as by this time, I guessed I would—the inside back flap of the printed edition:
The inside back flap
And as you would surely guess by now, on the next page, I found the back cover, excerpt blurb and all:
The back cover
I have no idea how widespread the practice of adding the dust jacket content into an ebook is, but surely it's a recent development. I admit that I rarely buy "hot-off-the-press" books. Levy's book costs $12.99 for the Kindle edition, but generally I wait until a book hits $9.99 or lower. It will still be there, after all, and will read just the same, regardless of price (publishers should take note of the fact that a lot of us will delay purchase indefinitely if a price is even slightly too high).
In the Plex is a Simon & Schuster title, but I don't know if other publishers are following suit or not. Regardless, I think it's a great idea. It will give some detractors slightly less reason to complain about ebooks, and now you can tell your friends that your Kindle book came with a dust jacket!
Last week, I wrote about purchasing an Amazon Kindle 3 in January of this year. Originally, I bought it to act as a "second screen" for notes, textbooks, and articles when my iPad is connected to a projector. What I didn't realize was how much I'd enjoy using the Kindle for other purposes, especially it's primary purpose: reading books.
I've never been opposed to ebooks, having used them in one form or another for many years, especially through Bible software. However, as I've mentioned before, it was reading ebooks on the iPad that completely pushed me over to preferring ebooks over printed books. While I'm not saying I'll never buy another "dead tree format" book again, I can easily say that I don't care if I never buy another one again. I've got a dozen bookcases stacked with books in our spare bedroom. I look forward to the day that we can narrow that down to perhaps just two or three and turn the guest room into just that—a guest room—or maybe a study.
Yes, yes, I know that there are those of you out there who look down upon ebooks, who find the reading a physical book to be a be a superior experience. You like the way a book feels in your hand. You like the smell of a book whether it's an old musty smell or the aroma of a freshly printed page. You like to immediately have a sense of how far you are into a book by looking at the pages you have left. That's all fine and good. I can't deny that any of those arguments aren't good ones. All I can say is that I've merely crossed the line, and it's doubtful I'm going to look back.
For me, this statement sums up the whole issue:
"If you love books, an e-book is no substitute. But if you love reading, you'll never switch back." (Andy Ihnatko, "iPad, Kindle, Nook or Sony? What is the best e-book reader?" August 31, 2010, Chicago Sun Times)
So what's so great about the Kindle? Let me share with you some of my favorite features:
(1) The screen. I can't exaggerate it. The Kindle E ink screen is incredible. In fact, when I first unboxed my Kindle, the screen displayed instructions about how to set it up. These instructions were so crisp looking, it didn't even enter my mind that they were actually created by the E ink display, so I attempted to peel back what I was certain was a sticker. When I realized it was actually the screen, I was stunned.
I've found that the Kindle's E ink display is much easier on my eyes that my iPad's LCD screen. This is especially true for reading for long periods of time and reading right before I go to bed. I often have a bit of eye strain by the end of any given day. However, I find it much easier to focus on the Kindle's screen than on my iPad, even with the brightness turned down on the latter.
Honestly, the quality of the text on the Kindle's screen cannot be adequately described or photographed. You really have to hold one in your hands and see it for yourself.
Click for a larger view.
Above: Together: a photo and a screen grab of the same "page." Unfortunately, neither captures the quality of the screen. You really must hold one in your own hands to see for yourself. Text is from the footnotes section in Gordon Fee's commentary on 1 & 2 Thessalonians (NICNT). Note the quality of the Greek text.
Note: I realize that E ink is not exclusive to the Kindle. It's also available for other platforms such the Sony Digital Reader and the Barnes & Noble (non-color) nook among others. Regardless, this is a technology I hope to see these companies continue investing in. I know there are all kinds of rumors flying about Amazon creating a full-blown Android tablet—which certainly makes sense for them—but I hope they always keep around a dedicated E ink version of the Kindle, too. If E ink is lost, the reading experience of ebooks will diminish in general in my opinion.
(2) Reading with fewer interruptions. I suppose I could simply be more disciplined, but I often find when reading from the iPad that my reading gets interrupted from the "ting" of a new email arriving, or a breaking news alert, or a notice that it's my turn in a Words with Friends game (my player name is Borofaxx—send me an invite). I know I can turn off notifications and turn the volume down, but even when I do this, it's still too tempting to distract myself by quickly looking up something on the internet that I've come across in what I've read.
I've found that if I really want to read with fewer chances of interruption, the Kindle is my best medium. As a dedicated eReader, I don't have to worry about it interrupting me, except for maybe a low battery (which is very rare—see #4 below). Much of my reading relates to work or academic study, and I need to be able to read without interruption. That's why I'm always glad to find a book available for the Kindle, or at times I'll convert a book to the Kindle from another source (I'll write more about this in a separate post). On rare occasion when I get to simply read for pleasure at a long stretch, the Kindle is a must. Such time is rare and certainly to be guarded.
(3) Reading more—really. The first time I ever saw a Kindle in person was at a Starbucks in the Fall of 2009. I noticed a fellow reading one, and although I didn't know him, I interrupted him (a bit hypocritical perhaps in light of the paragraph above!) to ask about it. He turned out to be a minister and was more than willing to talk about his Kindle experience, even letting me hold his Kindle myself! However, one of the points he made really stuck out to me. He said that he read more books on the Kindle than he was reading before he had one. In fact, he told me that he'd read over 50 books in previous year because of the Kindle and had actually had to slow down a bit because of cost.
Over and over again, I hear the same thing from others, and I've experienced it myself: people with Kindles tend to read more books and tend to read more often. In a sense, although books have always been a part of my life, I've had a personal renaissance when it comes to reading. I stake out times in my day and especially before I go to bed to unwind and read something that I'm not "required" to read. And that also means that I'm reading books I probably wouldn't have read otherwise.
(4) Long battery life. While I rarely drain the entire battery on my iPad, I still tend to charge it every night to make certain that I start the day with a 100% charged battery. With the Kindle, I think I'm getting about three weeks on a charge—and that's with WiFi turned on. I use the word think here because I'm really not certain. I really don't have to recharge that often.
I have a buddy who still eschews ebooks. He says to me, "At least I don't have to worry about battery life determining whether or not I can read my books." Well, this really hasn't been an issue for me either. My biggest problem is remembering where I've stashed the power cord when it does get low because I simply don't have to use it that often!
(5) Changing the font size on the fly. On most days I keep my font on the second or third lowest option. I do like to get as much content on a page as I can, but the very smallest setting is too small—even with my glasses. But at night, when my eyes are extremely tired, it's incredibly easy to go into the type settings, accessible with the "Aa" button on the keyboard, and change the text according to what I need at that moment.
I even like the default font on the Kindle. You can choose between "regular," "condensed" and "sans serif." I tend to prefer the regular/default font, which I've learned is named "Caecilia." I'm really not certain why, but I've had a handful of books with a font very much like Times New Roman. Obviously, this is not an internal font on the Kindle, so I don't know why a few books have it, but I have noticed that these books usually are not overly formatted well to adapt to an eReader screen.
I've heard quite a few stories from older people who had pretty much given up on reading, but have really embraced the Kindle as a device that allows them to read again. Think about it: no more regular print vs. large print books anymore. If necessary, every book can be a large print—or even GIANT print—book.
(6) Sharing with the family. It only makes sense to me that people living in the same household shouldn't have to buy two separate copies of a book to read it. Amazon goes a step further, allowing any supported device to be tied to a particular account. In most cases, books are allowed on up to six different devices at a time. These don't even have to be the same kind of device. I have my Kindle account set up on my Kindle, iPad and my Mac. Kathy has it set up on her iPad. My parents have it set on their iPad. We can all share books this way. If any of us create a highlight or add a note, we can all see it.
Moreover, a location in a book syncs, but you're asked before it moves your location. This is handy if I happen to jump back and forth between my iPad and my Kindle. Sometimes I open a book that either Kathy or my mom is reading, and it will ask me if I want to jump to the furthest read location. It will tell me which device has set that point in the reading. I can quickly tell if it's not me and choose not to advance to that point.
By the way, this ability to put my Kindle books on so many devices is one reason I've chosen Kindle books over Apple's iBookstore. Yes, Apple's iBooks look prettier on the page, but I'm limited to reading them only on an iPad or iPhone. For some inane reason, Apple hasn't even made an iBooks app for their own Mac platform yet, although I would think it would be logical to do so eventually.
(7) The size. With the Kindle 3 sizing in at about the same dimensions as a paperback book (and a bit thinner than most), it's easy enough to carry everywhere. It was extremely convenient during the winter months to put it in my jacket pocket and read it during unexpected breaks. It's really handy for taking advantage of any planned or unplanned downtime.
Granted, there are some limitations regarding a six inch screen, such as with with PDFs that need to remain in their native format. The PDF viewer on the Kindle will allow you to scan and zoom, but I don't find this all that practical. Look for my review of the Kindle DX, which has a 9.7" screen in a few days (I tried it out, but returned it).
(8) A library in one small device. Currently, I've got about 200 or so books on my Kindle. Like the iPad, it's amazing to carry so much in one small, book-like device. Supposedly, the Kindle will hold up to 3,500 books. I certainly don't have to worry about running out of room anytime soon, but by the time I might, I'm certain it will hold even more.
Back when I was using only an iPad, it was this aspect—carrying an entire library on one small device—that made me really begin to reconsider the old idea of hoarding physical books on physical shelves. Yes, you have to get beyond the pride of having all those cool looking bookshelves, but just think of how much easier it will be to move your books the next time you relocate if you begin transitioning over to digital.
Another aspect related to this pertains to the reality that I'm often reading more than one book at a time. Sometimes, beyond the kind of reading that I have to do for work, school, or some other project, I often choose my reading based upon mood. I enjoy reading before I go to bed, but honestly, I can't process heavy, life-changing content right before sleeping (or I won't sleep). My reading tends to be of a lighter nature late at night. With so many books on my Kindle, I don't have to worry about making certain I have the correct book with me, or keeping a dreaded stack of books on the night table. Kathy especially appreciate this.
On a related note, Amazon has a larger selection of books on the Kindle than any of its competitors. Regularly, I look around at different platforms to compare price on a digital book. Often it's available on Amazon and nowhere else. I really can't think of a time that I found a book with another company that Amazon didn't also have.
(9) Free books and not just public domain. Almost everyone who first discovers ebooks is often amazed and even overwhelmed at all the free books available. Technically, one could read nothing but free books and never pay for another book again.
Yes, there are millions of works in the public domain available for free download to your Kindle (or any other eReader device for that matter). Think about all those classics that you either enjoyed or were forced to read in high school and/or college. Almost all of that is free, although I've found that sometimes it's beneficial to pay a couple of bucks to get a better-formated copy.
However, there are also a wide number of new and current books made available for free every day. Often a publisher or independent writer is wanting to publicize a title or series by giving a book away for free. Sometimes these books remain free indefinitely, and I've seen others free only for a day. Amazon lists paid and free bestsellers in side-by-side columns. There are also websites like Kindle Nation Daily that offer daily posts listing all recent free releases, organized by most recent titles first.
In my initial experience, and from other Kindle owners with whom I've talked, most people are not overly selective at first. It's free; I'll take it! But after a while you learn to be a bit more discriminating. I've even gone back to my "Manage Your Kindle" settings on Amazon's website and completely removed certain titles that I never even want to show up in my archives again, let alone on my device.
And yes, I know that free books are available for every eReader platform, but I've looked around a good bit and have found a better selection—especially of new free books—available for the Kindle as opposed to other platforms.
(10) Sharing quotes on Facebook and Twitter. Think about it. How often have you been reading a book and you come across something really profound that you wanted to share with others, but no one else was around? Well, I can't do this on the Kindle app on my iPad, but my Kindle 3 will let me highlight text in a book, make a note or comment and then send all three out to my Twitter and Facebook accounts. Then you can have a discussion of the idea through social networking. I've even discovered a few books I wanted to read from others doing this.
Also, there's a new feature for the Kindle (again, the device, not the app) that allows you to announce to those same social networks when you've completed a book. Of course, you will just have to decide whether or not you're being prideful and bragging about finally completing War & Peace or merely sharing your accomplishment with others who will hopefully care.
Another new feature with a lot of potential is the ability to allow others to read the same book you're reading and see (but not edit) your notes. Think about how beneficial this would be in a classroom setting in which an instructor makes his notes public on a particular assigned book so that his students can see them.
(11) Page numbers. One of the biggest complaints about ebooks has always been lack of page numbers. Because eReaders can easily change font sizes, a set page number is a bit meaningless. Unfortunately, until recently, this made reading an ebook with others who were reading printed editions a real difficulty. The solutions around this were never pretty. In reading a book together with a friend of mine, when he wanted to refer to something on a specific page, I had to search for a string of text to find the location he wanted to discuss. With one of my classes I was teaching last year, I actually spent about an hour comparing a book in the Kindle app on my iPad to a printed copy, making notes in the Kindle title in which I added page numbers on specific sections I wanted to discuss in class. After a while, I had to ask myself if simply taking the printed book with me wouldn't be a bit easier.
Nevertheless, this changed for quite a few books earlier this year when Kindle surprised everyone by adding page numbers to its books. The page numbers align with a specific edition of the book. This new feature was announced right as we were beginning a book study at church, and I was able to keep up with others who had printed books quite well. Not all books have had page numbers added to them yet, but Amazon continues to work on it, and some of the books in which I've seen page numbers have surprised me because I couldn't imagine that they would be high priority.
Now, I know that the B&N nook also has page numbers, but I cannot get a straight answer to whether these pages correspond to any printed copy. A fellow working at Barnes & Noble told me they do, but I've heard from others that they don't. Perhaps someone can clarify this in the comments. Apple's iBooks have page numbers, but they are unique to the ebook and, from what I can tell, do not correspond with a printed edition.
(12) Having the Kindle read to me. This is going to have to be an entirely separate post, but I love having the Kindle read to me when I'm driving. Some don't care for the computerized voice, but I got used to it fairly quickly. I believe it actually sounds a bit better than the voices on my Mac, although I'd have to hear the same text to determine the best voice for certain.
(13 ) Conversions. The Kindle can carry more than just books—it can carry my own personal documents, too. The Kindle will accept a variety of formats including Microsoft Word, PDF, HTML, TXT, RTF, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PRC and MOBI files. These can be transferred either manually via a USB cable from my computer or via email. My Kindle has its own email address, and I can send any file in the above mentioned formats to the address you see in the screenshot below, and it will then show up automatically on my Kindle's homes screen.
The 6" screen on the Kindle 3 is a bit small for the average 8.5 x 11" PDF, but if I write "Convert" in the subject line of the email, the PDF will be converted to a native Kindle .mobi file. Sometimes the conversion is not perfect, but I've actually had pretty good success with most of the documents I've converted.
By the way, if you are like me and have a rather large investment in ebooks from Bible software companies such as Accordance or Logos, copying text from those programs into a Word file and then sending it to Amazon for conversion is a handy way of reading content from other sources on your Kindle as well.
My Kindle has it's own email address for adding personal documents. No, don't try to spam my Kindle; your address is not authorized! (14 ) The cover with the built in light. It's great for reading in bed without disturbing Kathy. In pitch black darkness, it's not perfect as the bottom left corner of the screen is not fully lit, but in low light settings, it's just right. Plus, I got it free. For how I did that, see below.
(15 ) Amazon customer service. Amazon proves that there is still such a thing as real customer service.
When I initially ordered my Kindle, I bought it with a standard cover identical to my now lighted cover, but without the light. Amazon's covers are a bit unique because they have hooks that reach inside the spine of the Kindle to hold it in place. The lighted cover uses the Kindle's own battery to power the light. It's these hooks that transfer power from the internal Kindle battery to the light. The non-lighted case simply had basic hooks, I believe, that were simply painted black. From what I've read online, as the black paint came off these hooks, the bare metal came into contact with leads going to the battery and could cause a Kindle to perform erratically.
I learned all this because I was having weird behavior on my Kindle soon after I got it, and I began looking online to see if others did, too. My Kindle would freeze every now and then, and it rarely kept the time very well. I contacted customer service and reported that I was having similar problems to some others were having who attributed them to the cover itself. I asked them if I could get a refund for the case and return it so I could then turn around and buy the lighted case for a slightly higher price. They went one better. They offered to refund my cost for my original case (which they let me keep) and then they gave me an additional $25 credit, which I then applied to the lighted cover (although they didn't require me to do this with the credit; I could have spent it any way I wanted).
I've had success with Amazon's customer service both via email and on the phone. Recently, I bought and then decided to return the larger screened Kindle DX (separate review forthcoming). I talked with one of their customer service reps on the phone first (I had to wait a total of one minute to get a live person!) simply to make certain that my complaints about the DX were not just related to me. And then I established my return from my account page. Easiest return I've ever made.
What could be better. Of course, not every thing is perfect. Although I'm overwhelmingly satisfied with the Kindle 3, there are always a few areas for improvement.
(1) That creepy Emily Dickenson screensaver. On the Kindle, the "screensaver" is simply the image that displays on the screen when the Kindle is not in use. It's more of a battery saver, I suppose than a screensaver. I've heard from other Kindle users who bemoan the fact that it's not as easy on the Kindle 3 to hack the system and add one's own pictures, unlike the original Kindle.
I don't mind the default pictures, with one exception. The pictures are all photos or drawings of famous authors. But there's one that I just can't stand: that creepy Emily Dickenson picture. For one, I'm not fan of Dickenson (the person) or her poetry. I'm sorry she had a tragic love life, but I don't want her staring at me from my Kindle. Any time I turn off my Kindle and she shows up, I immediately turn it on and then back off again. I always feel like it's a good sign if I get a Jules Verne (because he's so cool looking in that picture) or a John Steinbeck (because he's such a great writer). Since we're now starting to get some Faulkner on the Kindle, perhaps we will eventually get a picture of him, too.
A sampling of my Kindle "screensavers." Emily Dickinson is always a bad omen. Verne or Steinbeck: thumbs up!
(2) Controls and headphone jack on the bottom. I find it odd that the power switch and volume rocker are on the bottom of the device. And listening to my Kindle with headphones plugged into the bottom is downright awkward. More on that when I write the separate post about listening to the Kindle.
(3) No number keys on the keyboard and the keyboard in general. Let's be honest: the keyboard on the Kindle is not great. It's impossible to type quickly on it as it has all the finesse of my 2003 Palm Treo 3. And yet, I've become used to it. I experimented with teaching a Bible study from the Kindle once, but I added all my notes through the Kindle app for my Mac rather than torture myself by typing them in on the Kindle keyboard. Having to include any number or symbol is a pain as the user has to press a symbol key and then navigate through the selections that appear on the screen. The symbol screen does not have to be immediately closed, but the note cannot be saved or posted until it is dismissed. If anything, adding one's own notes to a Kindle book is much easier on the iPad than on the Kindle itself. Nevertheless, I add notes—sometimes quite lengthy notes—fairly regularly.
(4) No touch screen. It's funny how quickly we all got used to the iPad's touch screen. Anyone I hand the Kindle to immediately tries to treat it as a touchscreen by swiping at it in an attempt to turn the page. This aspect of the Kindle is very dated at this point. Amazon has to come out with a touchscreen Kindle before long. I just hope that a touchscreen E ink model will be available, and it won't add considerable cost to the device.
(5) That weird black refresh flash. I'm actually used to this now and no longer even notice it. However, when I first got my Kindle, I wondered if it was perhaps defective because every time I advanced the page, it would quickly flash black as the E ink refreshed. I contacted a couple of my friends who had Kindles, and one of them immediately texted me back that her Kindle did not do that. Then she texted me again a few minutes later, saying that yes, it did, but she never notices it anymore. That's where I am now. I don't notice it unless I think about it, but it is very odd.
As I've said, I'm sold on ebooks regardless of platform. If you enjoy reading at any level, I encourage you to give them a try. Like me, you may never go back to collecting print books. And I can't give any higher endorsement to the Kindle and the Kindle platform. With Amazon's generous 30-day no questions asked returned policy, you have very little to lose.
Feel free to offer your questions, thoughts, comments and rebuttals in the comments below.
The iPad was a real game changer for me in many ways. I embraced its minimalist approach. I appreciated walking into a meeting or a classroom with an iPad instead of a laptop (which was usually accompanied by a laptop bag with cables and other peripherals). Although I had been using ebooks in software like Accordance for years on my Mac, it was reading ebooks on the iPad that made me realize that maybe I don't have to hoard physical copies of books so much anymore. That led to similar ideas about other material possessions, but I'll write about that another time.
It's true that I cannot do everything with an iPad; I still need my Mac. But if a situation will allow me to use an iPad instead of my my Mac, I choose the iPad. In teaching settings, I found that I could create my presentations on the iPad as well as carry electronic versions of textbooks and my course notes. However, I often had a problem. If my iPad was connected to a projector, I did not have easy access to other materials. A student might ask a question about something in a textbook, but I couldn't easily turn there if my iPad was in Keynote presentation mode. I realized I could just do the practical thing and start carrying a textbook and some basic notes again, but at this point, that seemed so backwards.
I very briefly considered a second iPad. But that seemed extreme. Really, all I needed was something to carry a few documents around. As some of you may remember, I'd been contemplating a Kindle before the iPad was even released, but in the end I opted for the iPad because of so very many tasks this one device could do. And yet the reality remains that sometimes you just need two screens.
Toward the end of last year, I'd received some Christmas money from generous relatives, so I ordered the $139 WiFi-only Kindle 3. It's been a wonderful addition to my routine and method, and I now understand why Kindle users are so crazy about these devices. Granted, when sitting next to an iPad, the Kindle looks like a device that Apple would have created in the nineties. Nevertheless, it's the Kindle's E ink screen that is really the genius of the device in my opinion.
Although I bought the Kindle as a secondary device to my iPad for notes and textbooks in the classroom, I quickly discovered that the Kindle is my preferred reading device—certainly preferred over the iPad, which frankly, can make my eyes sore after a while. When the months were cooler, the Kindle's size, with its six-inch screen, made it quite convenient to throw into a jacket pocket, something that I can't actually do with my iPad. In fact, I never could have imagined how much I'd enjoy reading with the Kindle. In fact, I believe that because of the Kindle, I'm actually reading more now.
Since this post is about using the iPad and Kindle together, I don't want to spend too much time on the Kindle alone, but I will post a couple of related Kindle-only posts later this week.
So how has the Kindle worked as a complement to my iPad? It's been extremely helpful with one significant exception, which I'll get to in a minute. For the most part, I've been able to do exactly what I wanted it for. It's great resource for when I have my iPad connected to a projector. Most of the time, I use the presenter notes built into Keynote for teaching, but if I need to refer to a specific book or article, I have them readily available on the Kindle. And now that the Kindle has page numbers, I can even tell my students, "Turn to p. 272 in your textbook," with confidence we'll (literally) be on the same page.
There's only one problem, and it is a significant one. Amazon has great support for the Kindle if you want to convert a document such as a Word or PDF file to the Kindle format. You email it to them and then they send it to your Kindle converted—all for no charge. I've actually been quite impressed with the quality of the end product. However, often I need to have an article in PDF format remain as the original layout with the original page numbers. In other words, certain PDF documents are not as useful for me converted. The Kindle will allow for viewing of native PDF files, but the 6" screen on the Kindle 3 is simply too small. Yes, I can zoom in on them, but this is not a practical way to read a document.
Of course, Amazon also sells the Kindle DX, which is a larger version of the Kindle, complete with a 9.7" screen—the same size as the screen on the iPad. PDFs are actually quite readable in their original format on the larger screen. The Kindle DX, which is often recommended for academic purposes because of its larger screen, unbelievably has never received the page number update from Amazon. In fact, the Kindle app on the iPad can display page numbers, but you can't see them on Amazon's own device, the Kindle DX.
Why the incongruity? It's because the Kindle DX is a bit of a crossbreed device. It has the great E ink Pearl screen that the smaller Kindle 3 has, but the Kindle DX has the operating system of the older Kindle 2, which also never received the page number update and probably never will.
So overall, the Kindle is a great tool, but there needs to be a Kindle with a larger screen like the DX, but with all the features of the Kindle 3. When Amazon offers this, they will have a much better offering for academic use. Right now, folks who are interested in a Kindle for academic use—whether as a standalone device or as a companion to the iPad or other tablet—will have to decide whether the Kindle 3 (with better features and page numbers) or the Kindle DX (with a larger screen, but an older OS) is best for their uses.
Stay tuned. I've got more to offer this week about the Kindle and how I'm using it—even beyond the classroom.
Heilemann, John, and Mark Halperin. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010.
"This [expletive] would be really interesting if we weren't in the middle of it" —Barack Obama, September, 2008 (Kindle location 6590)
If you're a longtime This Lamp reader, you know that I don't cover politics much anymore. When I first started my blog, back in 2003, I intended political analysis to be a regular feature in the midst of other topics. But I've found that politics is often so divisive that I've chosen in most instances to steer clear and remain mostly apolitical on this site. In fact, this review is the 70th post I've written since moving my blog to WordPress, and today, I actually had to create the "Politics" category.
Following this week's election, I can sympathize with you if you're absolutely sick of politics—who isn't? However, if you can push party loyalty aside for a moment, I'd like to recommend, Heilemann and Halperin's extremely fascinating Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime. Truth be told, the name John Edwards ought to be part of that title, too, since he is a significant "cast member" in the book, but obviously, the title was too long already.
The book focuses on the 2008 United States presidential election and the campaigns and events leading up to it. One of the key themes explored in the book relates to the "unexpected" nomination of Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate. If anyone had been making predictions for the 2008 Democratic nominee anywhere from 2004 to 2007, Hillary Clinton would have been the assumed choice.
Of course, I don't believe Hillary Clinton is electable (I also didn't think McCain was electable), and according to Heilemann and Halperin, neither did a number of key members of the Democratic party. Concerned with Clinton's uncertain chances of winning had the Republicans nominated a younger and more charismatic individual, these key Democrats, who were publicly offering their support for Clinton, were maneuvering in the background to find someone else who was not only charismatic, but also had less historical "baggage" (read baggage as concern over what new scandals Bill Clinton might bring to the White House).
It would be many months before the Clintons gained any awareness of the incipient betrayal of Hillary by her colleagues in the Senate. And then it would hit them like a ton of bricks in the their psychic solar plexus. The Clintons saw themselves as the party's de facto First Family. As the patrons of two generations of Democratic politicians for whom they'd raised stacks of cash, providing aid and comfort on the path to prominence. As the only Democrats in recent memory who had demonstrated a consistent capacity to win national elections. As revered and beloved figures. They were blind to the degree of Clinton fatigue in their world and deaf to the conspiracy of whispers. They had no idea how fast the ground was shifting beneath their feet (Kindle location 758-763).
Heilemann's and Halperin's writing throughout the book remains lively with vivid imagery as seen in the paragraph above ("psychic solar plexus," "deaf to the conspiracy of whispers"). The book is very much a page turner because even if you vividly remember the election from two years ago, you don't know it in this kind of detail. John Heilemann, national political correspondent and columnist for New York magazine, and Mark Halperin, senior political analyst for Time magazine, based this book on over 300 private interviews of the persons involved in the campaigns of the chief figures of the book.
There have been criticisms that perhaps Heilemann and Halperin went too far, that perhaps they betrayed too many confidences in writing this book. I cannot answer that criticism, but I can say I've never felt like I had more of an inside view of a significant historical event than before reading this book. When I first heard of Game Change, I thought it would probably come across as the kind of sensationalistic yellow journalism one finds in supermarket tabloids. But it really doesn't read that way at all. Well...for the most part it doesn't. Whether I really needed to know that John McCain liked to participate in daily briefings in his boxers is questionable, but overall, the book does not spend a lot of time on that kind of information.
Game Change contains no footnotes which has raised some eyebrows, but at the same time, there's been very little said to counter its claims. Sarah Palin has said that if someone wants to really know the truth about her campaign with McCain, her book Going Rogue tells the whole story. Yet, I have not heard from her any specifics for which she disagrees with what was described in Game Change. This is also the book that led to Harry Reid apologizing for remarks that he made theorizing Obama was electable because he was "light skinned."
If you feel strong emotional bonds to any of the politicians in the 2008 presidential election, this book is not for you. No one comes out all that clean. Obama probably comes out the best in the book, but his lack of experience is fully explored. Hillary comes off a bit paranoid, and her husband mildly racist at times. McCain seems quite eccentric and quirky (and a bit of a potty mouth as are most in the book) and Palin, quite a bit in over her head. John Edwards comes across as a bit of an egomaniac at times with ambitions far beyond both his abilities and his morals.
Really, though, do politicians ever come out squeaky clean? Do any of us come out spotless if someone is given an insider view?
When the story in Game Change narrows to the two primary candidates, Obama and McCain, two positive aspects of their character caught my attention. While there were certainly a few jabs back and forth, the rhetoric between McCain and Obama never reached anywhere near the negativity and ugliness of the recent 2010 elections. In 2008, McCain was quick to defend Obama against accusations by his supporters that Obama was a Muslim or un-American. I wish we had that kind of magnanimous spirit among more politicians these days.
McCain was also unwilling to criticize his running mate although many of the members on his campaign team were doing just that, and in some cases, leaking statements to the press. In the end, I, like a lot of people, believe Palin was a major factor in McCain's loss, and there are hints in the book that he was aware of problems with Palin. But whether McCain regretted choosing Palin as his running mate, I have no idea. He certainly never voiced that opinion if he did come to privately regret his decision.
As for Obama, his campaign seemed to be more difficult when he was running against Hillary Clinton for his party's nomination than when he was running against McCain for the presidency. There were obvious hard feelings felt by the Clintons toward Obama, evidenced not just in the primaries but also in the begrudging eventual and seemingly half-hearted endorsement that Clinton finally gave to her former rival.
Thus, it is all the more amazing that Obama asked Clinton to be his Secretary of State. The book reveals that she turned him down multiple times, and he all but begged her to be part of his cabinet. She would have been easy to write off and ignore, but he took a higher road and deferred to her greater knowledge of the political system and experience with world affairs. The book ends with this banding together of two formal rivals
Again, if you are a strong loyalist to any of these individuals, or even if you have an insurmountable hatred for one or more of them, this may not be the book for you. However, if you can push aside your political predispositions and look at 2008 as a most amazing year in the political history of our nation, I highly recommend Game Change as a most fascinating read.
I read Game Change in the Kindle app on my iPad, but it is also available in paperback, hardcover, or audio formats. Click link below.
Yesterday, I was looking for the book This Is Your Brain on Joy by Dr. Earl Henslin. Now that I have my iPad, and it has proved to be an effective means for book reading, I really don't have much desire to buy a physical book if I can avoid it. As you probably know, there are two primary eBook apps on the iPad so far: Amazon's Kindle iPad app and Apple's iBooks app.
Currently, there are more books available for the Kindle app by a wide margin. There's not a lot of functional difference between these two apps when it comes to book reading in my own experience. The Kindle app has the ability to include one's own notes which I hope that Apple will add to the iBooks app. Apple's iBooks app has a built in dictionary which is very handy when coming across a word for which I'm uncertain of the meaning. If memory serves, a dictionary is included in the physical Kindle, so maybe this will be added later.
Both apps allow for highlighting and bookmarks. Also, both apps have access to their respective stores, but Apple's iBooks Store is internal to the app while the Kindle app shells out to the Amazon site via Safari.
The most glaring difference between the two readers relates to searching. I can search for any word or phrase in Apple's iBooks, but not in Amazon's Kindle app for the iPad. The ability to search for words in an electronic text is one feature that makes the digital superior to the physical. Even when books have indexes, the reader is left to the mercy of what the indexer thought was important. I'm hopeful that Amazon will plug this glaring hole in the Kindle app.
Anyway, when I looked up the book in each respective store, I was very pleased to see that it was available in both apps. What surprised me was the difference in price. Generally most eBooks are different in price from their physical counterparts, but I was surprised to see such a difference between the two eBook stores.
The Amazon Kindle price for Henslin's book was $13.79.
The Apple iBook's price for the same book was $9.99!
Of course, I suppose I shouldn't have been quite so surprised. I guess I just wouldn't have thought I'd see nearly a $4 difference between the two stores. Thus, if you don't have any hard and fast objections against one store or the other, it will really pay to shop around when purchasing eBooks on your iPad.
I suppose I should mark April 19, 2010 on a calendar somewhere. Last night was the first time I've taught a college class exclusively from my iPad. I'll write more on this later, but right now I can easily say that everything went without a hitch. Using an iPad was inconvenient neither to me nor (as far as I could tell) to my students, although a number of them asked when they were going to get theirs.
Why would I want to do this? I want to do this because one of the ideals the iPad represents to me is extreme mobility. In the past, I've felt like a pack mule carrying my laptop bag and a loaded down book bag into class. However, last night, on this one device, I had the two textbooks we are using for the class, my faculty guide, lesson notes and Keynote slides for the projector. Although the iPad does not have across-the-board multitasking yet, the device is so quick that it was no problem going back and forth between apps.
This is not strictly the first time I've used the iPad for teaching as I've used it at church ever since April 4. But those are 30 minute sessions. Last night, I was teaching a four-hour writing class. That means preparing a good bit of content that connects with a variety of learning styles. The iPad turned out to be a great tool to have with me.
I used a program called GoodReader for my notes. GoodReader is a great program for storing completed documents. It can read PDF files, Word and Pages docs and a whole lot more. GoodReader will also create folders, so I had a folder prepared to contain the four or five documents I needed with me last night. Initially, I'd planned to use ReaddleDocs for this purpose as I liked its interface better, but in prepping for my class, I found it to be too slow on some of the larger documents (including a 190+ page book I'd scanned), and it tended to crash every now and then. GoodReader worked flawlessly and hasn't crashed on me yet. Moreover, I can leave GoodReader, launch Keynote, then come back, and GoodReader has my document right where I left it.
One of the textbooks we're using for the class is They Say/I Say by Gerald Graff, Kathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. A couple of weeks ago, I found a Kindle version of They Say/I Say which was identical to the print book except that it lacked the additional readings. So, I downloaded the Kindle version of the book to my iPad. Another differentiation from the print version is that there are no page numbers in the Kindle edition. So last Saturday, I spent some time using the Kindle app's notes feature to add page numbers not only to the first page of every chapter in the book, but also with the specific exercises at the end of every chapter. Thus, when referring to an assignment for my students in the physical book, I could easily send them to the correct "page" in the Kindle app.
The second book, a Pearson customized collections of readings for the course, proved a bit more of a challenge because it was not available in digital form. I'm going to write a separate post later about this process, but basically, I used a document scanner and Adobe Acrobat to create a digital copy of this book. In Acrobat, I bookmarked chapter titles allowing me to go anywhere in the book very quickly. Also, I can search for any word or phrase in this textbook which is obviously something I could not do with the physical version. I accessed this book in GoodReader. It's 191 pages and I could jump from one end of the book to the other, or anywhere in between very quickly.
My "converted" textbook in GoodReader. After a few seconds, the interface you see on the top, bottom and left side of the screenshot will disappear allowing for fullscreen reading.
I carried my keyboard dock with me last night, too. I didn't really need it for use as a keyboard, but it's a handy way to keep the iPad upright without having to hold it. This was especially helpful in a class that lasts four hours. Those who criticize the iPad as not convenient as a creation content device have obviously not used it with the keyboard dock or a bluetooth keyboard. I spent all Saturday morning typing away on the iPad at a coffee shop, causing a number of patrons to conspicuously walk behind me to see exactly what I was doing. Thus, if you want to really travel light and get work done, I strongly encourage you to grab a keyboard for your iPad.
I used the VGA adapter to connect the keyboard dock to the classroom projector. As this was a writing class, I tend not to use presentation software that much for this subject. I only had a total of five slides in Keynote, none of which I used at the same time, but it proved to be no real issue to switch back and forth between my discussion notes and an occasional slide to illustrate a point. The lack of presentation notes in the iPad version of Keynote wasn't that much of an issue. However, in May when I teach an intro to philosophy class, I suppose I'll be forced to print out my notes, something I haven't had to do in years. My hopes are that in the next version of Keynote for the iPad, we'll get our presenter screen back.
I should also note that I kept a little notepad handy as I didn't think it would be practical to leave whatever iPad application I was in to make myself a note about something. But that's a habit I normally have anyway, although I often end up writing on scratch pieces of paper instead of having the foresight to actually bring a dedicated notepad.
So everything went well in this inaugural classroom use of my iPad. Truth be told, I had my MacBook Pro with me last night, too—just in case. But I really didn't have to use it except for one instance in which I needed to email a document to a couple of students. But that is certainly not something that the iPad is incapable of doing, too.
So, I guess next week, the MacBook Pro stays home—as opposed to simply hiding under the table.
First, let me say that with Accordance, Logos & Wordsearch all installed on my MacBook Pro, I literally carry with me thousands of books everyday. Thus, you can't say that I haven't embraced electronic texts. I've done that probably more than a lot of people.
And yet, I still have a soft spot for a good old fashioned, physical book. I can curl up on the couch with a good book, but not so easily with my laptop. I always joke that you can't read an electronic book in the bathtub--or at least you shouldn't (however, it's probably been over a decade since I read a book in a bathtub anyway). I still like to use a physical Bible when teaching or preaching in front of others. For that matter, I still enjoy the exercise of writing actual notes in the margins of my Bible as part of my preparation--even though I often do the same thing electronically in Accordance (certainly much more than I use to). There's something that I get experientially from physical books that I don't yet get from technology. But keep in mind that having said that, I still own thousands of electronic books--so I'm not being a Luddite here.
Regardless, I believe that while physical books will never completely go away, the electronic book is going to be an increasing presence. Supposedly, Amazon sold more books for its Kindle over the holidays than physical books for the first time ever. If true, I'm not surprised. And the new iPad may be an example of what Apple often does best--taking an already existing technology and moving it into the mainstream.
I was never interested in an electronic e-reader beyond my own MacBook Pro until about 3 or 4 months ago when I held a Kindle in my hand. Before that, I had rejected the Kindle as yet another gadget that probably most of us didn’t need. As already mentioned, I carry thousands of books, mostly biblical reference works, on my laptop, so why would a Kindle be necessary anyway?
But I ran into this guy—a pastor of a church—at a Starbucks, and we struck up a conversation about the Kindle. He had one and told me that it made buying books so easy and was so portable, he’d read well over 50 books last year. That’s much more than I read.
What really got me was the screen on the Kindle. Yes, I have thousands of books on my laptop, but I essentially use them all as reference. I never read one from beginning to end because my laptop screen is too hard on my eyes after extended periods of time. Not so with the Kindle from what I saw in my brief enounter. The Kindle had a screen that was very relaxing to the eyes. I really could see myself actually reading whole books on this thing.
Since the Kindle reads PDF files, I could also see myself converting some of my books on my laptop to PDF format and carrying them with me on a Kindle. In fact, I imagine that would be my main use for a Kindle. I definitely wanted one after I saw one first hand. But I'll come back to that.
There are other ramifications for the electronic texts and readers. Yesterday, the New York Times was given prominent treatment during the iPad announcement. The New York Times has already been experimenting with newspaper subscriptions that only show up on the Kindle. You wake up in the morning, turn on your Kindle and the NY Times is already downloaded on it. They are actually pushing a lot of subscribers to go this route because it removes the cost of delivery and actually is cheaper in the long run (even factoring in the cost of the device) for subscribers. Not to mention saving the wasteful cost of printing something on paper everyday. Electronic delivery could very well save the newspaper industry if they could get enough people to subscribe. And of course a device like Apple's iPad offers the benefit of multimedia that the Kindle doesn't currently offer. Suddenly even we muggles now have moving pictures in our newspapers.
Think also about textbooks. When I was in college, I kept a few of the books that were in my major area of study—I still have some of them—but like most students, I didn’t keep the majority of my books. I sold them back. What if the price of textbooks could be significantly decreased—perhaps even cut in half—by allowing them to be downloaded to a Kindle or an iPad or other similar device? The publishers should like the idea because it eliminates the reselling of textbooks which brings in no money back to them. Students would like it because electronic books should be much cheaper. I could even see a scenario in which a student registers for her classes and by the time she gets back to her dorm room, all of her textbooks for the quarter were already downloaded to her Kindle or iPad. I could imagine a similar situation in high schools, too. There's an incredible amount of potential for electronic texts in education
For me electronic texts on my personal computer have been a boon. I really appreciate not having to carry a stack of books with me to work on a project. I use the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary as a prime example of the benefits of an electronic edition. I've got both the physical set of the AYBD and a copy in Accordance. The physical set is six thick volumes. The electronic set is simply virtual. Further, the physical set does not have an index. You might wonder why an index would be needed with a dictionary, but you'd be surprised. Without an index, I have to search for a subject second guessing the way the editors would have arranged it. Plus, sometimes an subject is covered in more than one article. The physical set makes further treatment difficult to find, but an electronic copy that is searchable makes it much easier. Also, note in the graphic on the right that in the Accordance version of the AYBD, I can search specifically for certain fields. Besides the benefit of searching for the content of the dictionary, I can also zero in specifically on the way the dictionary treats biblical references, or search for all articles written by a certain author and more.
A concern I often hear in regard to electronic texts is whether or not they will be accessible twenty years from now. Think about it--I have a copy of Huckleberry Finn that was printed in the first half of the 20th century. It was given to me by my great aunt. As long as I take care of it, I should still be able to read it when I'm an old man. But how do I know that I will still be able to read an electronic text in 30 years that I've invested in now? That's a legitimate question, but one that the eventual creation of standard formats will answer.
I'm not worried about my investments in my biblical software. This is a field that is essentially all these companies do, and they've been doing it for quite some time. In a worse case scenario, if Company X were to get into financial trouble, I would think it would be worth another company's effort to acquire them and their customer base. Although certain variations of this scenario would be more frightening than others, I'm not worried about my current investment in this area.
For electronic texts seen in devices like the Kindle or iPad, however, it's important that standards can emerge. In an earlier experiment with electronic texts a few years ago, Amazon sold PDF versions of certain books. These texts had digital rights management built in to keep a purchaser from copying it willy nilly for his friends. I bought one of these PDF versions and have it to this day on my laptop. Unfortunately, I cannot open it. It was tied to the computer on which I purchased it. Amazon can't help me because they no longer sell the book. This is the kind of nightmare scenario that one fears if a significant investment is made into electronic texts. My decades old copy of Huck Finn on my shelf simply isn't affected by that kind of problem.
There's the other issue of ownership. Electronic books are virtual, made up of bytes of information on a storage device of some kind. Last year, Amazon made quite a stink when after discovering they'd sold electronic copies of George Orwell's 1984 for which they didn't have permission, they simply yanked them from Kindle owners who had bought the book via the Kindle's wireless connection. Not surprisingly, a store credit was not satisfactory to their customers. You know, if I buy an accidentally unauthorized printing of 1984, the manager of Barnes & Noble can't come into my home and take it off my bookshelf. Due to the outcry, Amazon has promised not to do this again, but the very idea that they could, is still a bit unnerving.
Yesterday, as you know unless you were hiding in a cave, Steve Jobs formally introduced the iPad. The worst kept secret in the computer industry, this "portable media device" promises to be something more than an iPhone/iPod Touch, but less than a full laptop computer. It's been called a "Kindle killer," but I hope this isn't so. I hope there's still room for both devices, but I also hope that the price of the Kindle comes down a bit in case I decide to eventually get one.
If you read the tech press at all, there's a surprising number of people disappointed with the new iPad. Paul Thurrott, for instance, has already written two posts about his disappointment with the iPad (see here and here). In his first post, he writes, "The thing I don't get here is... So far, nothing new. This has all been done before elsewhere. I'm astonished this isn't nicer looking or more interesting." But as much as I respect Paul, I think he misses the point. Yes, the iPad is less powerful than even a netbook, but for many people the iPad will be all the computer they need.
I know of no certain figures, but I would guess that there are a large percentage of computer users who do little more than read email, surf the web, and occasionally use a word processor. They don't need everything a full-fledged computer offers (whether laptop, desktop or even netbook). And while netbooks are nice (I even have an Acer Aspire One D250), they have many compromises that make them difficult to use as a main computer. But for the folks who don't need a full computer, the iPad may be ideal.
For education especially, the iPad will be beneficial. Not only do I imagine a scenario as I described above where one device could hold all of a student's textbooks, but with word processing capabilities as demonstrated yesterday with iWork Pages, it becomes a complete device for many users. And if you don't like iWork, don't worry. There will be plenty of other word processors available within a couple of years. If the iPad is successful--and I think it will be--I wouldn't even be surprised to see Microsoft release a version of Office for it. And I wonder what Google Docs would be like on the iPad right now?
The iPad will also be a very good option for people who need a smaller, less-capable, secondary computer. That's why I bought my Acer netbook to begin with. There are times when I don't need to take a full computer with me. Church is a good example. I teach on Sunday mornings from Keynote, but I wanted something less than my 15" MacBook Pro to carry with me. I had dreams of buying a netbook and making it into a Hackintosh and running Keynote from it. But that hasn't worked as well as I wanted and I'm back to using my MacBook Pro. So, of course, I'm very intrigued by the fact that the iPad has its own version of Keynote. I could also picture myself sitting in a church service taking notes on an iPad, something that I simply feel too conspicuous doing on a regular laptop.
There are also many times when I wished that my iPhone had a keyboard of its own. On an occasional weekend getaway, I don't necessarily want to take a whole computer, but I would like to keep up with email. The iPad would be perfect for this kind of use.
However, I want to see how Keynote really works on an iPad before I'd ever commit to one. When I teach with Keynote, I make extensive use of my notes in Keynote which show up on the presenter's screen but not on the projector. I have my doubts that the iPad will make use of extended desktops--at least in its initial version.
[Side note: Having read rumors that the iPad would have it's own version of the iWork suite, I was secretly hoping that Apple would release a Windows version of iWork. You might laugh, but that's not without precident since Apple's previous office suite, Claris/AppleWorks had a Windows version. This would have solved a main problem with the use of the Netbook. Currently I have Windows 7 installed on it for lack of a better solution, and a Windows version of Keynote would allow me to use it on Sunday mornings again.]
Thus, I really do think that in spite of the naysayers, the iPad is a significant offering. Yes, there have been tablet computers and e-readers and all the rest. But they've never been mainstream. The iPad may be the just right mix of everything that many people will realize that they don't need something more powerful. But time will tell.
I also hope that the iPad is not a "Kindle killer." I hope that there is room for both devices. Many people may just need a Kindle for reading without all the features of the iPad. Regardless, I think Amazon will be fine either way. They already have a Kindle reader for the iPhone which will presumably run just fine on the iPad. Even if they were to eventually quit manufacturing the Kindle device, Amazon could still sell books for their reader that would work on the iPad.
If Apple is successful with the iPad, I may want one eventually, but not the first generation. I had the first generation iPhone, but this time I think I'll sit back and let some of the rest of you work out the first generation bugs. The second generation iPhone was much better than the initial iPhone, and I imagine it will be the same for the iPad.
In the meantime, I'd still like to convert a number of my electronic texts to PDFs and read them on a Kindle. I have a hunch that four hours of straight reading on a Kindle is easier on the eyes than what it would be on an iPad. So, I'll be watching to see if the prices come down. Or if you want to yours, maybe you can make me an offer I can't refuse.
I hope that the introduction of Apple's tablet leads to a reduction in Amazon's price for the Kindle. I really just want a Kindle and can't imagine that I will want Apple's tablet (but we'll see).
I hope we'll see a significant update to the iWork suite. Am I the only excited about this possibility?
Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 1:11AM 
A managerial accounting textbook (don't ask) on the iPad, Kindle DX and Kindle 3
. It's been a wonderful addition to my routine and method, and I now understand why Kindle users are so crazy about these devices. Granted, when sitting next to an iPad, the Kindle looks like a device that Apple would have created in the nineties. Nevertheless, it's the Kindle's 
: $9.99
: $27.99
by Gerald Graff, Kathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. A couple of weeks ago, I found 
