Absolutely, although having been in various book groups and forums I would say the brits tend to be a bit too trusting of publishers - some of them are every bit as restrictive and greedy as amazon or any other company. It's a bit of a curious position as I rarely see anyone interested in music going on about how virtuous the music labels are or the film fans for studios.
Kindles and such like
- Thread starter Bluebell72
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Absolutely, although having been in various book groups and forums I would say the brits tend to be a bit too trusting of publishers - some of them are every bit as restrictive and greedy as amazon or any other company. It's a bit of a curious position as I rarely see anyone interested in music going on about how virtuous the music labels are or the film fans for studios.
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Bluebell72
New Member
- Location
- Hull, East Yorkshire
Thanks for your thoughts and opinions (so far).
Apart from Amazon, where do I look to see if books are download-able - and where do free ones come from?
If I buy an Amazon Kindle, is there a problem in downloading things from different sites?
Having all the Sherlock Holmes would be amazing, I love Arthur Conan Doyle. And Wilkie Collins, and Elizabeth Gaskell...
Apart from Amazon, where do I look to see if books are download-able - and where do free ones come from?
If I buy an Amazon Kindle, is there a problem in downloading things from different sites?
Having all the Sherlock Holmes would be amazing, I love Arthur Conan Doyle. And Wilkie Collins, and Elizabeth Gaskell...
Good things about Kindles:
Don't need to carry lots of books
You can read stuff you wouldn't normally be seen dead reading and no-one will know
Bad things.
You can't lend them
You can't buy cheap ebooks in charity shops
I can't get Kindle content at my local library- although maybe there's a work-around.
The first two bad things don't count because I still buy books and I still trawl the charity shops.
And the ziploc freezer bag trick for reading in the bath is great.
Don't need to carry lots of books
You can read stuff you wouldn't normally be seen dead reading and no-one will know
Bad things.
You can't lend them
You can't buy cheap ebooks in charity shops
I can't get Kindle content at my local library- although maybe there's a work-around.
The first two bad things don't count because I still buy books and I still trawl the charity shops.
And the ziploc freezer bag trick for reading in the bath is great.
Well if you want free books there is the US and Australian Project Gutenberg. There is also http://www.manybooks.net/
The situation is somewhat complicated with free books as many countries have copyright law for 70 years past the death of the author. However copyright law was passed retrospectively both here and in the US where is it is far more complicated and different times limits apply depending on when it was written. Generally if a book was written before the early 20s it'll be out of copyright. Sometimes it is quite hard finding stuff out of copyright, for example the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald died in 1940 making his remaining books out of copyright on 1st Jan 2011. Amazon eventually produced a version of The Great Gatsby for about 70p but yet to find one free elsewhere as it is still in copyright for many years in the US (gutenberg is US, aus version has text version).
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Bluebell72
New Member
- Location
- Hull, East Yorkshire
Wow! Feels like Christmas, thankyou
Well, glad you're happy, it's still work searching for things though. There are a number of authors like I've tried to stress that have/had some works in copyright and some out of copyright such as Fitzgerald, Agatha Christie, Richmal Crompton and so on. There are a few quality non-fiction books knocking around on there like history books.
If you go to most popular and by this year, it's also quite interesting seeing how many downloads each book has had.
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Bluebell72
New Member
- Location
- Hull, East Yorkshire
That's a lot of coffee and cake.
Yes it would be safe as they run on batteries, however you would break it if you get water on it
30mA can kill.
Have toyed with the idea of getting the OH a Kindle but as she points out, most of the books she wants are several £ more expensive than the real thing, and she can never sell or donate them to charity.
So that's buggered up my Christmas ideas for her then ;-)
So that's buggered up my Christmas ideas for her then ;-)
phil_hg_uk
I am not a member, I am a free man !!!!!!
Yes eBooks carry 20% VAT and some ebooks are expensive but this high cost is mainly down to the fact that a group of the large publishers have got together and are setting the prices of some ebooks. If you look on amazon any book they says "This price was set by the publisher" in the listing has had the price set in this way and amazon or any other seller is not allowed to discount that price any further. If you google "ebook price fixing" you can read for yourself and there is also a lot of info on this on the amazon kindle forum here -> Kindle Forum Here the forums members have been very active at bringing this to the attention of the authorities ever since it started.
The European Commission and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) are currently looking into this, in fact I just read this morning that several major publishers have been raided by European Investigators looking into this very issue, a similar situation used to exist for paperbacks but was scapped sometime ago when the supermarkets took on the big publishers and started heavily discounting paperbacks and it is now illegal to price fix those prices and hopefully this practice will go the same way.
Most of the books I have bought for my kindle are independent authors who only publish in either the eBook or Kindle format and I have to say some of them are excellent and the books are between 70p and £4.00 each.
Checkout the kindle forum here -> Kindle Forum Here there are lots of recommendations there also checkout this site -> Free Kindle Book Here if you sign up it will send you a list of the latest free kindle books daily as the appear, also if you go onto the amazon kindle ebook site there is a list of the Top 100 Free books, another way is just to show the list af all the ebooks on the site then put them in price order with the cheapest first and scroll through them all. Since I got my kindle I have downloaded 120 books I reckon at least 100 of them for free and hardly any of the books I have are books that you can go into a book shop any buy.
What I did before I got the actual kindle was I downloaded the free kindle app to my PC and Laptop and used it like that too see if it was something I wanted before I bought the kindle itself.
I was in the same boat, my Mrs is passionate about books, and yes you're right that you can't donate books that you own in the Kindle bought versions.
I bought her one for Christmas anyway as I was sure she'd be won over, and she was - big time. The many advantages outweight the disadvantages. I find a Kindle much easier to read than a book:
- there's no spine so your eyes aren't continually changing focus into and out of the spine.
- You can hold with one hand and page turn.
- You can read outside in strong wind (on holiday for example)
- You can buy a book on the beach (in a hotel, in a train etc) when your fancy turns from the cycling kindle book you're not getting into, to a travel writer book (or whatever)
- No problem getting English language books wherever in the world you are
- IF you get the 3g version you can browse the internet (basically) for free wherever you are
- Being able to use Calibre to 'roll your own' newspapers or other documents
- They are lighter than most books, so less tiring to hold for long periods
- There are many free books available (this outweighs somewhat the inability to donate your own purchases)
- Even on Amazon there are often free books from well known and current authors - I think there is a forum on Amazon for this(?)
- The Kindle will read a book to you if enabled by the publisher (not tried it)
- You can play music via headphone socket or speakers
- You can download free samples of that book you're thinking of buying (has saved me a few quid!)
- You can synch your progress across many platforms, so if you're up to page 34 on the Kindle, when you pick the book back up from your iPhone/Android, PC or Mac, you'll be offered the ability to synch to furthest page read
- There's more...
swee'pea99
Squire
"The Kindle will read a book to you if enabled by the publisher (not tried it)"
I have. It's hilarious. Think 'Shall I compare thee' orated by Steven Hawkings...
But yes. I think my single favourite feature, which never became apparent until used, was the ability to read without having to hold a book open with both hands. As often as not I now read by leaning back comfortably with my legs crossed, and just rest the beastie on the thigh of the crossed leg (they have cunningly incorporated rubbery non-slip backing....just another example of the level of thought that's gone into the thing). It's very relaxing, believe me!
I have. It's hilarious. Think 'Shall I compare thee' orated by Steven Hawkings...
But yes. I think my single favourite feature, which never became apparent until used, was the ability to read without having to hold a book open with both hands. As often as not I now read by leaning back comfortably with my legs crossed, and just rest the beastie on the thigh of the crossed leg (they have cunningly incorporated rubbery non-slip backing....just another example of the level of thought that's gone into the thing). It's very relaxing, believe me!
scots_lass
Senior Member
- Location
- Small village in Fife
There is a huge resource of free books available although you will probably have to reformat them (using Calibre or something else) on your PC in order to put them into Kindle format. But there are also loads of free books available from Amazon. Also have a look at the Amazon Kindle forum for ideas and sources of free books.
citybabe
Keep Calm and OMG.......CAKES!!
- Location
- Lowestoft Suffolk
I love my Kindle. It has been the best chrissy pressent I have recieved in years.
I read mine in the bath all the time without a waterproof cover. I'm just extra careful to hold it a bit tighter
I read mine in the bath all the time without a waterproof cover. I'm just extra careful to hold it a bit tighter
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