And now, here we are, a happy Kindle owner!
After only three days of playing with it, here are my observations:
- You need a cover. It's too hard to hold without one, and too scary to haul around the house even. I finally got one on Tuesday, and of course, it's purple. (Which totally matches my phone!)
- I think reading blogs will be very fun on this thing, though commenting is still a bit hard (like on the phone) but maybe I'll get better at that.
- So far I've only nabbed three books... all free. A Tale of Two Cities, which I'm dying to re-read, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, which I think is pretty much one of the oldest "modern" Robin Hood stories which I'd like to read for Melissa's Classic Double Challenge, and the first volume of Clarissa, which I wanted to join in on the year long buddy read but didn't want to buy the book (and now I'm too late to join anyway!)
- That battery does last long! I've yet to watch a movie or TV show on it though, that would be a pretty good battery test.
- I'm glad to have notebook/apps/etc. on it so I can do all sorts of things besides reading
- Reading on it, by the way, is very nice. I can get used to this!
- One of the first things I wanted to do was NetGalley, but that place is SLOW and a little confusing... so I gave it a break and now I've totally forgotten about it!
- And having a bigger screen for Draw Something is awesome! :)
Questions I have for you experienced Kindle people:
- Can someone please explain this Cloud thing? Is that a general thing, or just an Amazon thing? How does it work? Where do I find it?
- Can I listen to podcasts on this thing? How? What's the best way?
- What are some tricks and hints you've discovered? Let me know your secrets!
- NetGalley help please!
Anyway, it's going to be fun and I'm happy to be part of the crowd and not be left behind. I figured if I'm to consider myself a real reader, I have to ride this wave of change! I think it will be a fun ride. But I still stand by my position that "real" books are awesome and will hopefully stick around.
Yeah! I've got an old-school kindle and I really like having the convenience of it. But I won't ever give up my hard copies. I really have no advice, especially since the one time I tried a kindle fire I was not that impressed (though, compared to my kindle it is great - I was comparing it to a tablet). I only read books I've requested from NetGalley on the kindle, I signed up and found and requested the books while on the computer. If you want to ask questions about NetGalley, I can sure try to answer them. There are loads of folks who know more about it, though.
ReplyDeleteNetgalley can be slow at certain times of the day, or when a lot of new titles go up. But, I like Netgalley. I get titles that I may not have gotten otherwise.
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I love your cover, of course! My Kindle cover is also purple.
ReplyDeleteI only have a Kindle 3G not a Kindle Fire, so I'm not sure if I can answer any of your fun questions except the cloud thing. It's not just an Amazon thing. Apple has it with their new OS and iPhone 4s. Google+ does it too. Basically, all of your like devices (e.g. Mac with iPhone, Google phone with Google+, Kindle with Amazon) are hooked up to each other, so that you can access your media (e.g. books, music, pictures, contacts) on any device at any time. And, if you lose your smaller devices, you can still download your stuff on to a new one. You don't lose everything. Hopefully that helps clarify it for you.
At book club tonight, you'll have to show me your Fire. I'm really leery of it because it doesn't use eInk. That's why I love my Kindle so much because it's really like reading a book and it doesn't strain or hurt my eyes. I'm afraid a Fire would.
I know exactly how you feel! I was skeptical, too, but I love my Kindle Fire. I don't surf the Web on it or watch movies or listen to podcasts, I just read (mostly galleys) and play word games.
ReplyDeleteThe Cloud (at least as I understand it) is just a fancy name for the place where all your Amazon digital content is stored. Whatever's on there can be shared between Kindles that use the same account. (After I typed that paragraph, I realized that Jenni Elyse knows way more about this than I do, so definitely listen to her!)
Netgalley can be really slow, but I love it. Also try Edelweiss (www.abovethetreeline.com). It's the same sort of thing, but it has different books.
If you have more specific questions, email me and I'll try to answer them :) Enjoy your Kindle Fire!
I think it's awesome you have it! I love having my books through my Kindle, but being able to access them on my phone while I'm waiting in line, etc. It just makes it so convenient.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I love is the fast access. Maybe that's a bad thing. But with one click, I've got my book and I am ready to read!
Welcome to the Kindle owners club! I'm a Nook girl, myself, but I bask in e-reader ownership of any kind.
ReplyDeleteAlso glad to see that you'll be re-reading A Tale of Two Cities. I'm excited about doing that soon as well.
Best. Invention. Ever. I'm completely pbsessed with my Kindle. I don't have the Kindle Fire, I have the 3G keyboard. I love it. I'm not sure how I'd like my Kindle also being able to get on different internet sites. I think I'd waste time playing around instead of reading!
ReplyDeleteNetGalley is the bomb.com get on it.
Oooo! It's a Kindle Fire! That's REALLY cool. I like that it can do so many other things besides just being a reader. Sadly, I have no advice for you, good luck figuring it all out. I love the purple cover!
ReplyDeleteI've been seriously toying with the idea of finally getting an e-reader myself. I'm glad to hear what you've been experiencing. One of the big reasons I want an e-reader is to do Net Galley and if it's so difficult, maybe it's not worth it.
ReplyDeleteI don't recommend downloading from NetGalley directly on your kindle. If you go to your account on Amazon, you should have an email addy to send files directly to your kindle. Register that email with Netgalley, then just click on "Kindle" when you go to the download page. Netgalley will send the files directly to your device.
ReplyDeleteI've only read books on my Kindle, but I love it. I find that my reading superpowers are enhanced.
ReplyDeleteYay for Kindles! I don't have a Fire either, but I just wanted to say hooray. Oh, and NetGalley is slow and not very user-friendly. Just keep at it! It's worth it when you get THAT book. :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats! Excited for you!
ReplyDelete