Amazon Kindle -- A Year Later?

Love the Paperwhite, Liquid. Something to consider: a case from Etsy. My wife bought me a really slick looking one, and it's kind of nice to support a local/indie craftsperson.

TheHipGamer wrote:

Love the Paperwhite, Liquid. Something to consider: a case from Etsy. My wife bought me a really slick looking one, and it's kind of nice to support a local/indie craftsperson.

Linky lou.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Just grabbed a Paperwhite! So far so good. I'll give it a couple of days before I commit to another Oberon case though.

I've looked at the Oberon cases and they are very pretty, did you not like yours?

TheHipGamer wrote:

Love the Paperwhite, Liquid. Something to consider: a case from Etsy. My wife bought me a really slick looking one, and it's kind of nice to support a local/indie craftsperson.

I was looking somewhat seriously at this one, which doesn't get much more local, but I worry that it won't be too durable over the long term nor lend itself to hyper extension.

Mex wrote:
LiquidMantis wrote:

Just grabbed a Paperwhite! So far so good. I'll give it a couple of days before I commit to another Oberon case though.

I've looked at the Oberon cases and they are very pretty, did you not like yours?

No, no, no. I love my Oberon case and gave my wife one for the Kindle I bought her. I just meant I wanted to be sure I was going to keep the Paperwhite before I spent $70 on a case for it. Although a few minutes more with it after my original post have all but sealed the deal. I'll most likely order it in the morning*.

[size=2]*Can I riff on my own recent quote of The Princess Bride? Fine, as you wish.[/size]

Yeah, so that didn't last. One night with the higher rez display and built-in front light and I ordered a new Oberon case this morning.

LiquidMantis wrote:

Yeah, so that didn't last. One night with the higher rez display and built-in front light and I ordered a new Oberon case this morning.

Good to know : )

I've lusted after the Oberon cases for a while but I'm waiting for a new kindle e-reader to be announced - My 3rd gen still works fine and already has a case...

I went with the Paperwhite as the replacement for my DX because of the lighting and higher res/contrast, and I'm very happy with it. It's a real upgrade, not just a form factor change. I do miss the folders, though.

The paperwhite does have folders. I don't know how they compare since I've only had the paperwhite, but they're there.

I'll look around for them. I was pretty sure they were not, given the interface. Thanks!

I know this may not be the hottest news ever, since Kindle updates do not roll out at the same time, but my Kindle Touch just received a firmware update. It is so sexy! Apart from all the facelifiting it has one thing I wanted ever since I got it - cover view. I am assuming it is just an upgrade to system used in Paperwhite, but still - nice it got to older Kindles as well.

Question on the Paperwhite--I have a first-run Kindle Fire that I use basically exclusively as an e-reader, so I'm thinking of replacing it just for battery life. One of the things I do with my Fire is use its case to tent it up in landscape mode and read while cooking or doing other things, as the Fire re-orients from portrait to landscape. Does the Paperwhite by chance do this? I didn't see anything about it on Amazon, but it's something I do all the time and find really handy.

Robear wrote:

I'll look around for them. I was pretty sure they were not, given the interface. Thanks!

Yup, they are still around. They're called Collections if I'm not mistaken. Long-press on a book and then "Add to Collection...".

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Question on the Paperwhite--I have a first-run Kindle Fire that I use basically exclusively as an e-reader, so I'm thinking of replacing it just for battery life. One of the things I do with my Fire is use its case to tent it up in landscape mode and read while cooking or doing other things, as the Fire re-orients from portrait to landscape. Does the Paperwhite by chance do this? I didn't see anything about it on Amazon, but it's something I do all the time and find really handy.

Yes the paperwhite has landscape mode.

boogle wrote:
MilkmanDanimal wrote:

Question on the Paperwhite--I have a first-run Kindle Fire that I use basically exclusively as an e-reader, so I'm thinking of replacing it just for battery life. One of the things I do with my Fire is use its case to tent it up in landscape mode and read while cooking or doing other things, as the Fire re-orients from portrait to landscape. Does the Paperwhite by chance do this? I didn't see anything about it on Amazon, but it's something I do all the time and find really handy.

Yes the paperwhite has landscape mode.

Woo. Time to buy.

You have to manually change it, it doesn't switch orientations automatically.

General Crespin wrote:

You have to manually change it, it doesn't switch orientations automatically.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/gy63W0C.gif)

I have a question for the Kindle Fire users...are you allowed to download the free Prime videos to the device? I have a vacation coming up and I wonder if it is possible to watch Prime content offline. I have two kids and a very long plane ride to contend with.

heavyfeul wrote:

I have a question for the Kindle Fire users...are you allowed to download the free Prime videos to the device? I have a vacation coming up and I wonder if it is possible to watch Prime content offline. I have two kids and a very long plane ride to contend with.

No. Unfortunately.

Hello

This might be better placed in the Book Recommendation thread, but reporter Andrew Richard Albanese combed through the testimony in the DOJ v. Apple trial and put together an interesting look at how the the iPad changed the e-book industry. I've attached the GWJ referral link.

I love what Amazon does with the Kindle Singles, though. It's great to be able to grab a book for $2, and basically read an in-depth magazine style treatment of an issue immediately. It was a great way to spend my Sunday.

An updated Kindle PaperWhite was just made available. I'm sticking with my first-gen PaperWhite for now, and I think I'd rather have Kobo's integration with Pocket than the coming ties to GoodRead. I am looking forward to Kindle Matchbook, though.

Probably going to stick with my "old" paperwhite as well. I'm a bit disappointed they didn't up the resolution but I rarely notice pixels at 212ppi, I just like squinting at screens and admiring how nice things look. The increased contrast is certainly welcome -- the original PPW was pretty gray without the light turned on. There seems to be absolutely no information on this "Carta" screen though. Mostly I'm glad they're still devoting time to E-Ink, as I vastly prefer a dedicated reader to an ipad or similar.

Yes that Matchbook is what I've been saying for years... if you want to get people converted to e-books you have to give an e-book with the purchase of a real book.

Blu-rays have been bundling with DVDs to get people to buy for the future, and also throwing in digital copies for portable devices for a while now. And music CDs on Amazon have got you a free MP3 download of the album for years. Finally books are joining the future.

The page flip function is pretty enticing. If this is the same dimensions as the last Paperwhite (so I can use my same Oberon cover) I may spring for one. I bought my wife the first gen touchscreen and the Paperwhite is vastly better in touch response, plus she envies my light. I can pass my current one down to her.

LiquidMantis wrote:

The page flip function is pretty enticing.

Are they going to update the last generation with this functionality or is this Paperwhite 2.0 only?

I read something yesterday that said the new software features should hit the 1.0. But I haven't seen it from Amazon or cited.

Info on new display. tl;dr: "50 percent improvement in contrast ratio and over 20 percent improvement in reflectance"

Time hands on. tl;dr: "25 percent better contrast", "Amazon says that it hopes to release a software update for the original model, giving it new features that aren’t contingent on the latest model’s upgraded hardware and faster processor"

Stele wrote:

Yes that Matchbook is what I've been saying for years... if you want to get people converted to e-books you have to give an e-book with the purchase of a real book.

I'd actually like the option in the other direction as well. I prefer to own hardbacks and would love to have the option of buying an e-book version to see if I enjoy the book, and then receive a discounted version of the hard-back version for my library. Of course, I've met a lot of people who only seem to read books once, so I'm not sure if my tendency to re-read my books places me in an unprofitable minority from the perspective of Amazon/publishers.

Coldstream wrote:
Stele wrote:

Yes that Matchbook is what I've been saying for years... if you want to get people converted to e-books you have to give an e-book with the purchase of a real book.

I'd actually like the option in the other direction as well. I prefer to own hardbacks and would love to have the option of buying an e-book version to see if I enjoy the book, and then receive a discounted version of the hard-back version for my library. Of course, I've met a lot of people who only seem to read books once, so I'm not sure if my tendency to re-read my books places me in an unprofitable minority from the perspective of Amazon/publishers.

I've reread plenty of my books. I'll purchase an ebook if I don't think I'll like it or read it again (mostly autobiographies). If I really did enjoy it, I'm willing to repurchase a hardback - which I'll often times get at Half-Price at 20% off the publishers price. Or I'll look for a used copy at Half-Price. But I do enjoy rereading my books and having a physical copy and an ebook version.

Nice idea that Amazon will be offering digital versions of prior purchases of (some) paper versions of books for small amount (or free). Hope they add a lot to the list, great way to have backups.