So I got a Kindle today...

[DavidI]

I bought one many months ago and love it. There is a free program calibre - E-book management that makes managing your books similar to an ipod. You can convert the books to different formats and is very intuitive. Give it a little time and you'll enjoy it, David

[Cornpanzer]

I bought a Nook and love it.

It is backlit so that I can read at night without disturbing the wife. Use it mostly in wintertime. I use the public library on line, so never have to pay for anything. Have read about ten books since Dec using it.

It also connects to wireless so that I can check my email one last time before shutting off for the night.

[JavaBrewer]

My daughter got the Nook Tablet for Christmas and absolutely loves it. I was going to root it but really didn't see a need to. Books, music, movies, email, web browsing. It does it all. On the road trips I tether it to my phone.

[teenerted1]

Originally Posted by theFONZ

I do buy music with my phone from time to time, but that's different. First, it's always cheaper. Second, I'm loading it onto the same thing anyway. I don't really have anything else I listen to purchased music from other than my phone.

I'm going to give it a few more days, maybe it will grow on me.

have had my fire about a month now and have only paid for one book so far. the other dozen or so i have downloaded were free. they have daily free books. maybe the one you are looking for is the exception but most are cheaper through the kindle link. but that is between the individual author/publisher/amazon to set the price levels.

never seen an ad on any of the books i am buying. are you referring to the suggestions on the Amazon site? they do that for all purchases not just the book section.

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by teenerted1

never seen an ad on any of the books i am buying. are you referring to the suggestions on the Amazon site? they do that for all purchases not just the book section.

There is a new version of the Kindle that has banner ads on the home screen and the screen saver. Getting this version saves you some money on the initial purchase.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by emcon5

The whole point of the E-ink kindles is that it looks like printed paper. They did a really good job, in my opinion.

OP, you must have got lucky, I don't ever remember seeing Kindle books costing more than the paperback, and you have found 2 examples. Generally, in my experience the Kindle version is cheaper.

I have to admit that I initially thought that the kindle prices seemed too high considering how much money they would have to be saving by not having to print and ship books all over the world. What you forget is that they still have to have the file storage, servers and Internet connection to store and server those books. Not to mention the folks that have a 3G enabled Kindle don't pay extra for the 3G, I believe.

[madmmac]

Originally Posted by masraum

I have to admit that I initially thought that the kindle prices seemed too high considering how much money they would have to be saving by not having to print and ship books all over the world. What you forget is that they still have to have the file storage, servers and Internet connection to store and server those books. Not to mention the folks that have a 3G enabled Kindle don't pay extra for the 3G, I believe.

Nope. 3G is included.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by emcon5

There is a new version of the Kindle that has banner ads on the home screen and the screen saver. Getting this version saves you some money on the initial purchase.

Yup, mine has those ads, but they are unobtrusive, and not there when you are reading. I don't mind at all....

[Hawktel]

You bought the cheapest add driven Kindle. Go spend 200 bucks and get a Fire.

[bivenator]

Got the wife the Fire for xmas. She and my daughter are on it constantly.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Yup, mine has those ads, but they are unobtrusive, and not there when you are reading. I don't mind at all....

Plus, can't you pay an extra $20-40 for the thing to get the same model without the ads. My wife got a Nook for Christmas. But if/when we ever get a kindle, we'll pay the extra to not have the ads.

[Schumi]

I could see reading a novel or newspaper on a Kindle but buying college textbooks?

I wrote in my textbooks. and drew graphs. and highlighted. And still own many of them for my own reference. When you pay $1000 for a metallurgical processes & materials properties book... you use it.

If there were links in the indexes (maybe there are?) I could see this being cool. Clicking on words in the index taking you to the linked pages automatically....

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by masraum

Plus, can't you pay an extra $20-40 for the thing to get the same model without the ads. My wife got a Nook for Christmas. But if/when we ever get a kindle, we'll pay the extra to not have the ads.

Yes, you can, but its really not an issue. I don't mind the ads at all... The only place they are, is on the screen when its not in use, or a banner at the bottom of the home page....

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Schumi

buying college textbooks?

When you pay $1000 for a metallurgical processes & materials properties book...

I think the theory is that you pay much, much less for textbooks that aren't hard copy. You can highlight and add notes to books in Nooks and Kindles. I don't think there's a facility for drawing a picture though.

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by masraum

Plus, can't you pay an extra $20-40 for the thing to get the same model without the ads. My wife got a Nook for Christmas. But if/when we ever get a kindle, we'll pay the extra to not have the ads.

I got one of the ad supported ones for my father in law for Christmas, the ads are really much ado about nothing. There is essentially a banner ad on the bottom of the home screen, where it lists your books, and on the screen saver, when it is turned off. That is it.

There are no ads when reading a book, playing games or any other things you do on the Kindle.

[J P Stein]

I like my kindle but, unlike a paperback, ya can't throw it at the cat that's scratching on the furniture.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by J P Stein

I like my kindle but, unlike a paperback, ya can't throw it at the cat that's scratching on the furniture.

Sure you could.






but it might get expensive pretty fast.

[Schumi]

Here is a question-

what happens if you download a bunch of books on it... and then you lose it/it gets stolen/etc?

Is there a backup on your PC?

[porsche4life]

Everything you buy on Kindle is in the "cloud drive" you can grab it wirelessly from any of your devices. Be it a kindle, or a laptop, phone, tablet with the kindle app. If you have the wireless turned on on the kindle, you won't even lose your place....

[dennis in se pa]

Getting back to the original post...

How can they charge MORE for a Kindle version than a PAPERBACK!?

Because they have seen PORSCHE charge more for a Cayman than a Boxster and get away with it!

This is usury! I have one but may only use it for cheap or free books.