Kindle for Android
Filed under: Android, gadgets and gizmos, HTC, innovation, iPad, lifestyle, mobile internet, mobile phone, smart phone
The written word passed a milestone recently when online bookseller Amazon announced that it was now selling more e-books than hardcover books. I’ve held off on e-books until recently as I couldn’t justify the expense of a single-purpose device like an e-book reader. But when Amazon launched Kindle for Android, I decided to give the e-book thing a go and downloaded the Kindle app to my HTC Desire.
After installing the app I headed off to browse the digital bookstore, eager to get started with my first e-book. For those who like to “try before you buy”, Kindle is a good way to test the waters of e-book reading. As well as offering a selection of free books like Sherlock Holmes and Alice in Wonderland, most paid books offer the option of downloading the first chapter for free.
So after a couple of weeks of e-reading – what’s the verdict?
Whilst some people might lament the fact e-books have made our reading choices less publicly visible, having more privacy isn’t necessarily a bad thing. After all, it wasn’t that long ago adults were hiding their Harry Potter obsession by purchasing special editions with more ‘grown-up’ looking covers.
Having books on your phone is also really convenient. For most of us, our mobile is a constant companion, so it’s easy to fill in spare time by simply whipping out ones book-in-a-phone and reading anything from a couple of pages to a couple of chapters.
But a couple of chapters seems about the limit of comfortable reading on such a small screen, especially as enlarging the font size makes it difficult to skim read. Fortunately, Kindle enables you to synchronise your books across all your Kindle enabled devices. So while you’re on the go you can get ahead on your phone, then settle in at home to read on something bigger like an iPad or one of its Android based alternatives.
Overall, I found my experience with Kindle for Android to be a positive one. However the future for e-books on mobile phones is probably as a complement to tablets and specialised readers, rather than as a substitute.
What experiences have you had good or bad with ebook readers?
I have been reading eBooks for years on microsoft reader. I would want to read too much on the smaller phones either but large PDA / Iphone size screens are great and I have no problem reading for hours. Backlit screen, variable font size and remembering the page are also a big plus.
I love the concept of the kindle with its easy to read e-ink however I’m really hoping we receive an official Australian launch. Currently to purchase books off Amazon via the kindle device you are required to do all kinds of messing around to circumvent the publishing laws.
I’ve used the kindle app on my i-phone to preview a number of books to read the first couple of chapters before I went out and purchased a hard copy.
So for me it’s been useful as a try before you buy device but I’m not entirely convinced I’d enjoy reading off an i-pad or even an e-ink device. At the moment I prefer to have my books on a physical shelf as a testament to my literary prowess.
I’ve had a Kindle 2 since they launched last year. I absolutely love it. With the price of a good novel at Borders hitting $30, it didn’t take long before it had paid for itself (the average price of a kindle book is $9.95). New releases take a bit longer to become available to Australian customers, which is the same as printed books, but the process is very easy. You only need to mess around to get around publishing laws if you chose to break them – there are plenty of available titles (over 100k fiction) without having to do this.
I wouldn’t go back to paper now, thanks to my Kindle I no longer have to give away books, fill up bookshelves or feel guilty for all the trees that go into print runs.
I haven’t played much with the Kindle app, but I’m a fan of Aldiko. Its advantage is that it’s not tied to a bookseller. I use Caliber to do format conversions on my laptop and I can read pretty much any ebook on my phone. The HTC Desire screen is really good for reading, and I actually prefer reading on my phone than on the iPad. I do think eInk has its own advantages and disadvantages and I wouldn’t consider my phone a replacement for a dedicated ebook reading device.
What I love most about ebooks on my phone is that I always have a backup book to read if I find myself with a few spare minutes and nothing to do (or, you know, if I find myself stuck in car park traffic for an hour).
I bought a Kindle 2 for my daughter as a Christmas present last year. She has been reading maddly on it since. By my count she has read 20+ books on the Kindle.
Interestingly, I’ve noticed that some books she buys must be in paper, so she can share them with kids at school – so the eBook is not going to completely replace paper.
I recently bought an iPad, I started looking at computer manuals online and in iBooks, and have now “graduated” to reading fiction on it. The iPad is now my favorite way to read a book. I have had no problem with the transition from paper to screen. Some reviewers say the iPad is too heavy for a long reading session, but I have not found that to be the case.
really haven’t bothered as I’m one of those people that love the tactileness of a book. I also would not like to read on a mobile device. Up to now I’m not prepared to buy a kindle because of it’s 1-dimension usage.
Now that Android tablets are coming out I might look again, but it would be hard to get me away from the old fashioned book.
Magazines however seem perfectly suited to a more mobile interface & smartphones, especially if you can use links to go to online content.
I held out for the iPad thinking the same thing as most, no need for a dedicated reader when iPad will do so much more, then bought a zillion apps including Kindle for iPad and downloading all the free Guttenberg books, but do you know what Heath? I still haven’t seriously read a single one.
I still prefer the look, feel and smell (I know sick right?) of a paperback and will pick one up every time over any sort of reading device when I want to actually ‘read’.
i prefer audio books. drowns out the chatter and noise in the bus.
: )
@Darrien: “At the moment I prefer to have my books on a physical shelf as a testament to my literary prowess.”
This is kind of like Oppenheimer’s view in Slate (see link in my post). On one hand, e-books do make our reading choices less public. I can’t see what the person on the train across from me is actually reading and when I have friends over, there’s no tell-tale stack on the coffee table to give away whether I’m more in to Alpha or Art Monthly.
On the other hand, social media give us a variety of other ways to signal and share what we are reading. e.g. updates on our reading interests via Twitter or haring our book lists via Facebook.
@Kat: I can’t see my phone becoming my sole e-reading device.
I’m an occasional book reader, so for me I’m tempted to wait for some of the more affordable Android tablets to arrive and go down that path, rather than buy a dedicated e-book reader.
What does everyone else think? Are the dedicated e-book readers worth pursuing when I’m thinking of a tablet anyway?
@neen: Speaking of magazines on tablets, one of my friends has fallen in love with Flipboard (http://www.flipboard.com/) on his iPad. This is an iPad app that aggregates content from your social media connections such as Twitter & Facebook and arranges it in to a magazine style format that you can ‘flip’ through.
@Heath: If we could do it all over again, we would buy a multipurpose device like an Ipad or the mythical GooglePad rather than the Kindle.
Sure, eInk devices are light and have batteries that go for weeks, but I dont find those features as compelling as a good browser and the ability to add applications.
BTW, I cant imagine reading a book on my iPhone’s small screen, so I never bothered to set up books to sync.
+1 for Aldiko
It is an excellent ebook reader program, offering a superb reading experience with a very wide range of free books (both original books that are made freely available by the copyright holder and books that are out of copyright/in the public domain). There is also an emerging range of content partners that are making their ebooks available for purchase through the Aldiko application (although I must say that ebook purchasing is not one of Aldiko’s strong points…yet). You can also add custom ebook catalogs (whether on your local area network or via the Internet) provided that they are OPDS-compliant.
More information on Aldiko: http://www.aldiko.com/
An example of some one of the ebook repositories available through Aldiko: http://www.feedbooks.com/
@ Heath: Just my opinion — I would choose the Android tablet option, unless you definitely want to *only* read ebooks. The tablets (whether iOS- or Android- or Google Chrome-powered) provide much more flexibility and options in terms of functionality, while still providing a good ebook reading experience.
Heath, I use my phone as more of a mobile backup if I’m caught without anything to read. I read voraciously, so for me an eInk device makes more sense. If you’re only an occasional reader and if you think your tablet will be on hand every time you feel the need to read then that’s probably good enough.
The other big advantage of eInk devices is the reduction in eye strain and the much less frequent need to charge the battery. Again, things that become a factor when you read a few books a week.
If you’re thinking of an Android tablet anyway then no – I’d say hold off. To me there’s no point in having multiple devices to do the one task – and considering the likes of Samsung etc will be introducing 7 + 10 in tablets i think you’ll find they’ll cover both easily.
Like some others I still prefer a good old book if I’m going to read seriously. However I do scan ebooks occasionally using Acrobat Reader on my PC and phone, making me think that an iPad might be of interest in the future. As I’m unlikely to pay for an ebook (most of what I read electronically is available for free) why would I want or need anything other than Acrobat Reader or the iPad equivalent? What’s the attraction of Kindle?
@ Grant, @Mark: Thanks for the guidance. This was probably the way I was leaning. As I hinted at in my post, I’ve held off e-book so far because I was unsure about spending the money on a single purpose device for something I wasn’t sure if I would like (e-reading). The Kindle for Android experience has sold me on the idea of e-books, so next step now is working out the device.
@Mark: re e-ink. I’ll be interested in how hybrid devices like the Notion Ink Adam turn out. Apparently the Adam’s “Pixel Qi’s technology means you can operate the display in two different modes: as full color LCD for use indoors or in a low-power reflective mode that actually gets brighter the more direct sunlight falls upon it” (http://www.slashgear.com/notion-ink-adam-hands-on-0969281/)
I have a Kindle 2 which I got for Christmas. So far, I’ve read 56 books on it and haven’t picked up a single DTB ( dead tree book) since. More than half the books I’ve read have been by Indie authors who I’d never have heard of if not for the e-book revolution.
I think comparisons between the Kindle & iPad are pointless, they are totally different animals. I have the Kindle app on my iPad, iPod and PC but mostly use the Kindle itself for reading. The e-ink is easy on the eye and can be read in direct sunlight ( impossible on a backlit screen)
As a voracious reader, I love the convenience of having all my books in one device. If I think of a book I want to buy, I can purchase it, download it and be reading it on my Kindle in 60 seconds!
@Steve: I think others have covered the pros and cons of the Kindle hardware. As a system, what I like about Kindle is that
1. It seems relatively easy to browse, buy and download books once your account is set up.
2. You can typically share that book across multiple devices that support Kindle. (e.g. I have the same book on my laptop and phone)
3. It not only remembers where you are up to, but syncs where you are up to across the devices.
becuase of the resolutiona and frames per second of the screen you cant read as fast on your ipad as you can a paper book. the kindle is somewhere in the middle in terms of reading speed.
id hate to read a really long book on a ipad it would just take so much longer
I love my Kindle, and won’t go back to paper books in a hurry.
I too, like a commenter above, have discovered so many new authors, independently publishing, than I ever would have in an Angus and Robertson.