Amazon Kindle (ebook thingy)

Didn't think of telling Amazon cs since it's past its warranty, but I'll give it a shot.

Looks like each pixel of the E-ink screens actually represents a large number of microcapsules (each filled with charged pigments suspended in oil).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Kindle_3_texture_%28crop%29.jpg

So in all likelyhood, a number of contiguous dead pixels (musicfanatic's "comma") represents an electrical fault rather than issues with the pigment capsules. Mild heat would do nothing.

yum, charred pigments suspended in oil

whoever sorts out whatever licensing/hardware issues that prevent professors (or high school teachers, even) being able to go "and now i have uploaded next week's reading to your hassle-free future-kindle"

These guys are the current leaders in that race

Also (re: the discussion on cooking your Kindle), e-ink displays are pretty rugged:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiQBEPwEYMc

weirdly entertaining video, it's like watching a robot get tortured

def

The narration is very professional. Because he mentioned that the substrate was aluminized, I knew the microwave would zap it pretty well. Pretty impressive object abuse, though.

I've found that after a little while in strong sunlight the text fades a little at the edges, but comes back fine if you refresh the page

btw guys if you haven't tried it yet, having your kindle read poems to you in its synthesized computer voice is oddly pleasurably unnerving

http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/2010/special-features/atggv_2010/characters/glados/311x264/glados_311x264.jpg

it's oddly frustrating to read a long book and go pages & pages without the % changing

Yes. Even with a short book can get disappointed when it doesn't budge.

Yowza. I have no idea how many books we own. I'm going to count them when I get home.

― Jeff, Monday, January 9, 2012 12:45 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I finally did this and between Carl Agatha and I, we have ~123 books. Of those, I consider 21 of them to be mine. Most of which are graphic novels. This is all on one bookshelf. We used to have three full bookshelves.

Actually at the far end sometimes you can get to 75% and then find out, what with endnotes, acknowledgements and other stuff, that you are done.

it's oddly frustrating to read a long book and go pages & pages without the % changing

― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Thursday, February 23, 2012 10:05 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i feel like i've been 53% through daniel deronda for like a month now

Actually at the far end sometimes you can get to 75% and then find out, what with endnotes, acknowledgements and other stuff, that you are done.

― Can You Please POLL Out Your Window? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, February 23, 2012 4:26 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

h8 when this happens

That happens with IRL books all the time too

yeah but it's easier to flip to the back of a book and see how many real pages there are

In Real Life books, you know the kind

with a kindle, is there a way to export your notes & highlights & stuff? or is it forever tied to the digital copy?

Have been trying to read a real-life book this week, for the first time in probably nine months. I need two hands to hold the bloody thing open, the pages keep blowing over in the wind and it's more than double the size of my Kindle. I think I have to break up with book books.

I am in hospital with a broken arm and I am so glad I have a kindle. Reading a book book would be too much like hard work.

Oh no onimo! Hope you heal quickly.

Thank you. I'm sure i'll be fine.

I miss the e-reader poll that n/a started in the sandbox. That was a fun dispute.

Recently took an ebook out of the library and it said that the publisher would not allow you to download to your reader, you had to download it to your computer and then use your USB connection. It turned out to be a milder hassle than I thought but it was interesting to me that there 15 copies of the book and only one other had been borrowed besides mine.

Since my Kindle doesn't have wifi, that's the only way I can get library books. I wonder why the restriction - maybe they're afraid pirates will snatch it out of the airwaves?

love the smell of a fresh elibrarybook xp

The guy writes about the sea a lot, so I guess he is afraid of pirates.

Actually people seemed to have figured out how to borrow his other titles so I guess the USB is not a deterrent.

Purchasing eBooks can be easier/better than piracy, in the case of easily-reflowable stuff that's definitely better than a scanned PDF. But piracy makes the ebook deal publishers have with libraries seem completely insane. Like renting one of a limited number of licenses for a digital book is completely backwards and doomed.

Like if the choice is between installing a separate app, keying in my library card number, and hoping that all 12 "copies" of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire aren't
"checked out" right now and googling "harry potter epub"…

If you buy an ebook from Amazon, you can instantly read it on everything, and it always syncs your current page across the network. If you nick an ebook, you don't get that service. Syncing alone makes ebooks worth purchasing.

…unless the ebook is US$30 when the hardback is US$25, in which case stick it up your arse, I'll buy a different ebook instead.

is syncing across devices actually useful? how many devices do you actually read on? for me reading is only on my ereader, i couldn't imagine reading from my iphone (i tried but having to turn a page every tenth word is annoying) or my laptop (i spend more than enough time on it everyday).

I read on four devices, although not all in the same time period. Work PC if I'm reading something while working over lunch, my iPhone, Kindle I just got but am putting into the rotation, and iPad.

Yeah, syncing is pretty much essential for me.

my new kindle is acting up when it comes to syncing! I need to figure out what's up. It's bad enough that it doesn't get page positions shared unless I'm on wifi, and it doesn't like the wifi spots where you have to go to a webpage before getting on the internet

starting to wonder if it's the best kindle for me

I frequently finish chapters on my phone when I'm wedged on a tram or suchlike.

woah ok. just curious, which device do you use the most?

For reading? iPad, then iPhone. The Kindle got demoted when I started running out of room in my bag.

Prefer to read on Kindle device but sometimes easier to just carry phone. Syncing doesn't work anymore for me FROM the phone, only to the phone.

Yeah, the Kindle screen is the best for reading but I'll always go for utility, especially when I've only got my phone on me.

On the phone I have to close the book (i.e. drop to the menu) and give it a sync. Annoying.

ON IPHONE

Really? Mine auto-syncs when it opens

Is there a way to crack purchased e-books? The idea of purchasing the revocable right to read a book freaks me out.

I am tempted to give my kindle away. I mean, shit, I only use the kindle app anyway. Started reading books again. Which makes me happy.

Opened a new book on my Sony last night, was surprised to see that I was on "page -2113882248 of 1"

lol

my first nook reported the battery charge as 150000000%; I had to get it replaced.