Free Books

[Mike Magee]

Does it cost anything to utilize 3G connection with the iPad? What cellular network(s) does it connect to?

[Bobbie Mayer]

I am on the original AT&T wireless plan, unlimited data for $30 a month. But that is not available any more. You do have to have a paid plan for 3G but can also use wireless.

My original intent was to drop the plan when I was won Internet in California, but now that it isn't available I can't get it back if I drop it, plus I had so much hassle connecting to dsl for only five months that now I am just sticking to full connection at work and iPad at home.

The kindle connection is free with 3G but really isn't good for much besides email and as I said, that is very slow. And unlike the iPad you can't have it pushing email in the background whenever a connection is good, the kindle has to be connected when you want to check email. The iPad can be 99% unconnected but during the 1% where a connection blinks on it will grab the email.

[Dave Fish]

So I got the Galaxy Tab and am really liking it. Thee still is a lot to learn. It has Kindle, eBook, and another "Book" app installed. I am starting the Steve Jobs book that my wife bought for her Kindle (using her account). Kind of ironic that I am reading Job's biography on an Android device.

Have downloaded the Fiberglass RV app but have not figured out how to add a reply from it. it is better for reading on the tab than the iPhone because you can see more of the page.

I will be also looking for free reading materials. Our library has some for both eBook and Kindle.

Dave

[honda03842]

Click on Washington in the following site for Washington library e-books.

MobileRead Wiki - EBook Lending Libraries



Also google "free kindle books" or "free nook books"

[Steve Outlaw]

Originally Posted by Byron Kinnaman

Try Project Gutenberg for free books.

We chose Kindle for an eReader. The biggest reason is we head for the sunny south in the winter and do most our reading sitting outside in the sun. Kindle's screen improves with bright light. Nook on the other hand washes out in bright light. If you do most of your reading in bed and/or really want color Nook might be the one for you. I don't mind the black and white, like book are printed, and read in the bright light the Kindle might be good choice for you. I can over come the lack of back light with small book light for evening and night time reading. I think there's work around for Nook's washing out in bright light.

It's really nice to be able to carry around a couple hundred books in less space and weight than a single paper book.

First, let me say that it took a long time to win me over to the idea of not actually holding a book. I own both the Nook and the Kindle. I've never noticed ANY difference in ANY light. Since both of them have exactly the same E-Ink screens I am not surprised. What you are referring to is the Nook Color. It is not equipped with an E-Ink screen and is really only a LCD screen which, like any computer, is difficult to see in sunlight. I also have both the apps on our i-Phones and i-Pads and find that I hardly ever use either of the readers any more. Also the alleged syncing that they are all are supposed to do so seamlessly doesn't work very reliably in either of them. There are subtle differences in the Kindle and the Nook and neither is perfect. I wish I could take the best of both and merge them into one.

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Steve Outlaw

First, let me say that it took a long time to win me over to the idea of not actually holding a book. I own both the Nook and the Kindle. I've never noticed ANY difference in ANY light. Since both of them have exactly the same E-Ink screens I am not surprised. What you are referring to is the Nook Color. It is not equipped with an E-Ink screen and is really only a LCD screen which, like any computer, is difficult to see in sunlight. I also have both the apps on our i-Phones and i-Pads and find that I hardly ever use either of the readers any more. Also the alleged syncing that they are all are supposed to do so seamlessly doesn't work very reliably in either of them. There are subtle differences in the Kindle and the Nook and neither is perfect. I wish I could take the best of both and merge them into one.

Yes, I was referring to a Nook Color. E-ink is a trademark name for an enhanced monochrome LCD. Monochrome LCDs have been around for many years, it's only been recently that color was added, and with color back lighting was required. Someday they get that fixed too, so that back lighting wouldn't be necessary for color either.
Don't be fooled by advertising trade marking.

[honda03842]

E Books, or their derivatives, will and are causing dramatic changes. Last night Ginny downloaded 5 free books for the start of our trip. My neice stopped by recently and downloaded a book ($3) to read while spending the afternoon and then searched for a book on her new favorite topic, snakes.

Young people feel so natural at the computer. Can anyone imagine a student with traditional text books in a few years at any level?

I am continuously overwhelmed by youth and electronics. My 11 year old niece's school has a student forum for each classroom. Her home work assignments are there, she can do it on line, post it and get teacher and student feedback. Interesting to me they all right short essays on this or that, sharing them with each other. My older niece, 11, Skypes me a few times a week and will often read me her favorite essays from her classmates. My 3 year old niece goes to the computer shortly after she walks in. Gets on line by herself and goes to her sites. It's a wonder.

We often have 3 nieces and one nephew here during the summer. Before the adults are up you can often find them all sitting quietly on the couch working on individual computers. This does not preclude active lives outside, these kids are serious ocean kids overturning rocks to hunt crabs or busy body surfing in the chilly NH waters for hours.

For older people like Ginny and I it's an electronic revolution, for the younger kids it's just part of their environment like air or earth, as natural as eating.

[Mike Magee]

I have an early Christmas present, a Kindle Keyboard 3G. It was quite a purchase experience.

My wife asked me if I would like an e-reader device for Christmas a couple of weeks ago, and after some thought and research (plus reading the comments on this forum) I decided yes, I would like one and the keyboard with 3G seemed like the way to go. They're $139. So I told her that, and was set to wait till Christmas.

But on Thanksgiving eve she said to me, "Have you ordered one yet?" HUH? She decided (but hadn't told me) that it would be better if I just picked one up myself, I guess that way she can't get the wrong one by mistake. Oookay, so I start looking at newspaper ads and found that Best Buy had a 4-day pre-Thanksgiving deal on this model for $89. BUT, it was now 9:50 pm on Wed. and the store closes at 10:00 pm... no time to get there, even if any are left to buy (limited stock item). Nuts.

Next morning, the newspaper is full of Black Friday ads and I scoured them all, looking for a deal on the Kindle Keyboard 3G. Every story had them at the usual price... until I hit the Target ad. They open at midnight Thanksgiving night and they listed it for $85! Checked stock online, "limited stock" at all the nearest Targets. Ok, so I decided to play the Black Friday Game and go wait in line. The closest Target was a small one, not a SuperTarget, so how many people could be waiting in line? 30 or 40, I figured. At least I don't have to get up early to do this.

I showed up at 11:50 pm. Uh-oh, the parking lot is more full than I'd ever seen it. Got out, headed toward the door. Uh-oh! The line is pretty long! It stretched the length of the shopping center (past 2 clothing stores and a Petsmart), and turned the corner. As I came around the corner I saw that it curled around the side of the building and ended about 30 people deep in the back lot, behind the building!

Well, I'm already here, so how long can it take for these people to walk inside? <shiver, shiver>

Eventual answer: close to a half hour.

Once inside I hurry to Electronics in the back of the store, on the way passing a considerable line at the front waiting to get into Jewelry. Wonder what that's about? Oh well, let's back to Electronics, I'll just grab one off the shelf and zip back to checkout before everyone else... hey, I can't find the Kindles. I asked a worker. "Those are in Jewelry, up front." HUH!?! Back to the front. Asked people in line what they were waiting for... IPods, IPads and KINDLES. Followed the line around, halfway to the back of the store, curling around the shoe department, to the line's end. Ok, I'm already here, and I'm inside where it's warm, how long could this line take anyway?

Answer: I got my Kindle at 2:15 a.m. Didn't know if I would make it... my left foot got cramps before I reached the sales counter! People waiting in line were joined by spouses with cartloads of merchandise, and they would then check out the whole load in Jewelry (because you were required to pay for your IPad, IPod or Kindle in Jewelry.... anti-theft measures I guess). They ran out of register tape at least once. Add in worse than usual declined-card problems and scanner-not-reading-the-bar-code problems, and it was quite the ordeal.

[Donna D.]

But Mike, you got it... think like a kid!!! And, you made a couple of memories along the way

[Mike Magee]

Yeah, I know. It seems like a pretty nice, useful device and I'm enjoying it. But one of the "memories" I made along the way is, "Don't do that again!"

[Byron Kinnaman]

Originally Posted by Mike Magee

Yeah, I know. It seems like a pretty nice, useful device and I'm enjoying it. But one of the "memories" I made along the way is, "Don't do that again!" <_<

Now you can take your wife out for dinner with savings.

[SherryNPaul]

Seems a lot of people may have been confused at Target...
My husband got up at 6 ( I don't do Black Friday... Thursday is a long, long day for me with hosting the family and friends dinner), and our closest Target still had the Kindle Keyboard at 6:45, in the electronics department.
He went back several hours later, to the next closest, and got another for a friend.
We were shocked. We almost never get anything for real deals on Black Friday, except flashlights and tools....
Sherry

[Bobbie Mayer]

I am glad you got it but also glad I wasn't tempted to do any deals! Not a lot of opportunity here and if you add time and ferry fare and gas going across to shop isn't worthwhile.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by SherryNPaul

Seems a lot of people may have been confused at Target...
My husband got up at 6 ( I don't do Black Friday... Thursday is a long, long day for me with hosting the family and friends dinner), and our closest Target still had the Kindle Keyboard at 6:45, in the electronics department.
He went back several hours later, to the next closest, and got another for a friend.
We were shocked. We almost never get anything for real deals on Black Friday, except flashlights and tools....
Sherry

I might have gone in the next morning too, if the inventory check had merely said "available" as most items would. But it said "limited availability" for every store in our metro area. I guess now that my legs and foot feel better and I've been enjoying a novel on the Kindle all day, I'm pretty happy to have it. I downloaded a dozen books already and have paid less than $8 for them ($5.99 was for the NIV Bible, but most were public domain freebies).

I found that I get immersed in the story the same way whether reading on paper or Kindle screen. But the Kindle is more convenient; I have a cushioned lap tray and on that is one of those little coated-wire book stands that you sometimes see holding books up for display. This stand holds the Kindle easily and I only have to touch it when turning a page (clicking the side control).

Comparing the two: if anything, it's easier to see the Kindle page than a paper page. No curving of the paper at the spine so it stays flat and reflects the light more uniformly. And whereas a book's font may be a bit small, the Kindle's font is adjustable if desired, as are the word and line spacing.

I will have to try a free trial subscription to our metro newspaper. Kindle subscription is far less expensive than the thrown papers (and will never arrive wet). The only problems I see are that the reviews for our paper's e-formatting are poor; it seems they make navigation very cumbersome and are not up to speed in that regard compared to some other newspapers. And I doubt we would still have access to sale flyers and such; I need to watch the office supply stores' flyers for sale pricing on copy paper, which I use by the case in my business.

I'm glad these devices have gotten (what I consider) affordable. They are fun and convenient!

[rgrugg]

I guess I'm a throwback. I still like "real" books. A friend lent me his reader. I thought it was ok. But I saw so few freebies on his list and I like mysteries, it didn't look like it would satisfy me. When we visit our son in Indianapolis, I go to the Half Price Bookstore and stock up on $1.00 paperbacks. Later I go back and trade them in for credit toward more.

[Mike Magee]

I know what you mean, I've been working my way thru the entire collection of Louis L'Amour westerns, all from the used bookstore. Still the way to go for those, pricewise.

[CindyL]

I just previewed what I saw as the textbook of the future that I was introduced to at a conference last week. It would not work on paper, that is for sure; I was using an iPad. Videos, animation, pop-up text.

CindyL

[Bobbie Mayer]

Cindy, that is what I have been telling textbook sales people for several years..the e textbook has to do that, and have hyperlinks from everything to everything. The one I am using this spring does some of it, it allows me to personalize the e text for everyone in the class, such as putting notes like, memorize this! At appropriate places.

[CindyL]

Bobby,

If you PM me, I can give you some resources I collected at a couple of conferences this month. One is an app that is for writing just that kind of textbook; another is how to use some free software and iBook to create multimedia books.

CindyL

[SherryNPaul]

I read the intro and instructions, and tried out the new "Christmas" Kindle. Have to say, I love it.
It's very light, very easy to read. I downloaded 12 books in about 20 minutes, at no charge. (Only read one so far, and parts of others. When I click on the book in the home page, I'm immediately taken to where I left off on the others. I tend to read several books at once.... on different topics.

I haven't tried it on the local library interface yet, but I'm sure it will be fine. Our library is great, and very technologically advanced. Should work well.

I searched "free books" in the search line, and came up with over 42,000 download possibilities, just from Amazon... that alone will keep me busy while camping.

The 3g works for email and google, but is really, really clunky (not so awfully slow, but clunky) on the 3g keyboard. OK for an absolute emergency, but I'll stay with my laptop and wireless card, thank you.

Overall, I'm totally excited to be able to carry many, many books in the trailer, with less than the weight of one. Awesome.

Sherry