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You have really good luck to just happen to stumble upon wildly popular contemporary authors without any help from a best sellers/staff picks table.
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Aug 2, 2011 20:47
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Haha I usually ignore staff picks and bestseller racks, believe it or not. The bestseller racks at my bookstore usually displays stuff like James Patterson and Dan Brown, both of whom I've read before and didn't like. I've had good luck with the books I chose, it's probably because I flip through some of the books to see if I'd like it or not. I did pick up some bad books this way though...so it's not like it's an uninterrupted string of good book after good book. I prefer to remember the good authors I discovered rather than reflect upon the money wasted on poo poo like Twilight (which I did buy before it got famous). However I rarely read nonfiction precisely because I don't know what's good, whereas with fiction I can just trust my instincts. I think getting a Nook will help with this, and lately I've been asking for recs and reading reviews more now that bookstores are closing. Akarshi fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Aug 2, 2011 |
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Aug 2, 2011 22:14
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Amazon has started selling refurb Kindle 3 wifi for $99. Coupled with the fact that Amazon is planning on a Android tablet by October has led some sources to speculate that we're getting close to a new version.
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Aug 6, 2011 20:28
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So are there any good sites besides Amazon where I can find skins for my Kindle? I can't bring myself to pay 20 bucks for a pretty sticker-plus I'd like to find one that is the thick, rubbery sort rather than just an actual sticker.
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Aug 6, 2011 22:00
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spixxor posted:So are there any good sites besides Amazon where I can find skins for my Kindle? Crossposting from IYG Sporadic posted:So, something like this?
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Aug 6, 2011 22:31
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Sporadic posted:Crossposting from IYG Nah, I'm not looking for a silicone slipcase. I meant something more like this: http://www.amazon.com/GelaSkins-Kindle-Latest-Generation-Branches/dp/B0041G6A4O/ref=sr_1_2?s=fiona-hardware&ie=UTF8&qid=1312677279&sr=1-2 But more like the skins you can get for PSPs and such, that actually have some thickness to them rather than being a sticker.
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Aug 7, 2011 01:35
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I have a Kindle for a few weeks and it is the best purchase I have made in a long time. I was cautiously optimistic, expecting a new gadget with limited practical use but it is in fact really fun to use it. I love the battery life. But holding the switch for several seconds to turn it off seems really unnecessary and awkward, so I often just leave it switched on. Another annoying thing is the lack of pages being displayed. Just those little dots indicating the length of the book. I don't get the "screen saver". It's like a book you are reading gets insulted after a few minutes of you not paying attention to it and closes itself. I can't imagine any practical purpose to it, as the screen does not consume energy when nothing is changing. More annoying than it should be. Another annoying aspect is the jump straight to the first page when you start a book. The books' covers don't look bad at all on the screen, so let me look at them first, and then the dedication and then start with the text. That is pretty much everything I don't like about it. Everything else is great. Actually having a library of books with me all the time gave me a feeling similar to that of carrying around my first MP3 player. It's great to be able to look up words immediately. The screen is great, although it does need a bit more light than an actual book, which becomes obvious when sitting in the garden when the sun goes down or reading in bed. Whereas I could read a paper book just fine, it's a little hard with the Kindle. It's still miles ahead of any LC-display and very pleasant to look at for prolonged periods of time. Sometimes it's a little strange not to have a physical copy of a book, as some people tend to develop an attraction to that. While they hardly have anything to do with its content it is easy to appreciate a book's size, condition, the cover and such. Now all of this is gone.
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Aug 7, 2011 12:11
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lllllllllllllllllll posted:I love the battery life. But holding the switch for several seconds to turn it off seems really unnecessary and awkward, so I often just leave it switched on. No, there's almost never any need to turn it of. quote:I don't get the "screen saver". It's like a book you are reading gets insulted after a few minutes of you not paying attention to it and closes itself. I can't imagine any practical purpose to it, as the screen does not consume energy when nothing is changing. More annoying than it should be. I'm not sure what's confusing about this. After ten minutes idle, or you hitting the power button, it goes into lock mode so bumping the buttons won't cause disturbances in what you're taking a break from reading. It shows a screensaver to indicate this.
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Aug 7, 2011 12:20
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muscles like this? posted:Amazon has started selling refurb Kindle 3 wifi for $99. Coupled with the fact that Amazon is planning on a Android tablet by October has led some sources to speculate that we're getting close to a new version. Fffff...been thinking about getting a Kindle, and the refurb price might just push me over the edge. They've also got refurbished 3G Kindles going for $130. Any issues in general with refurb Kindles? It wouldn't be completely retarded to get one now, would it? If I've read the rumors correctly, it doesn't sound like the new device(s) would have any major new features I'd end up wanting.
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Aug 7, 2011 22:37
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Bad rear end Boutique posted:Fffff...been thinking about getting a Kindle, and the refurb price might just push me over the edge. They've also got refurbished 3G Kindles going for $130. You could get the 3G one with ads for $139 or the Wi-Fi one with ads for $115 if you don't want to buy refurbished. I personally am not bothered with the ads on my 3G Kindle.
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Aug 8, 2011 01:25
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I arranged my first stacks of books not worth their shelf space and donated them to the public library. Most of my reading material these days is either checked out through the library or an ebook (Nook/iPod). There are some kinds of reading material that just don't translate well to e-ink for me (poetry, anything with images), but I can definitely see an all-ebook future for my fiction library, with some exceptions (Library of America edition of Vonnegut hell yeah). My home library has definitely been affected by the advent of ereaders. Has anyone else purged their shelves out of digital convenience? Anything you can't stand to part with compared to the electronic equivalent? Also, weeks after my whining about the Nook Touch's battery life, it holds a stronger charge than ever. I apologize for being a  earlier.
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Aug 8, 2011 04:50
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I really haven't gotten rid of much, but I have been buying less physically. Except now that Border's is going out of business (oh god if I don't save the wee books who will).
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Aug 8, 2011 05:15
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I really wish B&N would get an intern to clean up the market place for the nookbooks a bit. I'm looking under "High Tech and Hard Science Fiction" right now, and remembering why browsing books on the nook is a pain.code:edit: 4 pages into the free horror section, and already came across the same cover (different book) 3 times double edit: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/not-just-an-orgy-sally-painter/1022140708?ean=2940000843444&itm=21&usri= Look at the "People who bought this also bought" How is this the third book listed under best selling horror. JammyLammy fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Aug 8, 2011 |
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Aug 8, 2011 06:58
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LiftAuff posted:You could get the 3G one with ads for $139 or the Wi-Fi one with ads for $115 if you don't want to buy refurbished. I personally am not bothered with the ads on my 3G Kindle. I don't know if I don't want to buy refurbished, hence my asking "Any issues in general with refurb Kindles?". I suppose it won't be a problem, as I'm guessing most refurbs are actually unopened returns and stuff like that, but it can't hurt to double check! JammyLammy posted:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/not-just-an-orgy-sally-painter/1022140708?ean=2940000843444&itm=21&usri= Maybe you have to read it to find out? 
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Aug 8, 2011 18:13
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The refurbished ones are probably less likely to have problems out of the box.
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Aug 8, 2011 20:00
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FWIW my first-gen Nook was a refurb and performed like brand new. Same goes for my netbook and aunt's iPad. In my experience, refurbs are just opt-in discounts.
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Aug 8, 2011 21:08
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With Amazon's customer service being as good as it is, I am pretty sure if a refurb went bad they'd replace it immediately with no questions asked.
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Aug 8, 2011 21:20
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lllllllllllllllllll posted:The screen is great, although it does need a bit more light than an actual book, which becomes obvious when sitting in the garden when the sun goes down or reading in bed. Whereas I could read a paper book just fine, it's a little hard with the Kindle. It's still miles ahead of any LC-display and very pleasant to look at for prolonged periods of time. Consider getting the proper Amazon lighted case. It's bloody expensive but it's seriously a big improvement, in my opinion. The extra weight, and the fact that it's a cover actually makes it feel like I'm holding an actual book, and it's much safer when I'm on the go, plus the light is excellent. It runs off the Kindle's battery, which does drain it a fair bit but I still get hours and hours of reading without needing to charge (plus 99% of the time, if I'm reading in the dark it's because I'm in bed, so I can let it charge while I read anyway).
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Aug 8, 2011 21:56
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I'm in love with my Kindle but I have a serious problem. I grew up with a pretty strict no electronics in the bathroom rule. Now I feel weird reading my Kindle while I poop. 
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Aug 10, 2011 02:51
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mischief posted:I'm in love with my Kindle but I have a serious problem. I grew up with a pretty strict no electronics in the bathroom rule. Get over it. I never even read in the bathroom until I went to college and my roommates kept magazines in there. Now, I squat and surf or read and poop all the time.
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Aug 10, 2011 02:59
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muscles like this? posted:Amazon has started selling refurb Kindle 3 wifi for $99. Coupled with the fact that Amazon is planning on a Android tablet by October has led some sources to speculate that we're getting close to a new version. Yeah, the reason why I haven't exchanged my Kindle 2 (slightly damaged screen) to a Kindle 3 yet. If a new one comes I guess they will announce it in October with the Android tablets.
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Aug 10, 2011 06:22
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mischief posted:Now I feel weird reading my Kindle while I poop. The Kindle is designed to be read while you poop. I am sure there are numerous technical diagrams with numbers and large words that were created to simply explain the Kindle's poopReader function. EDIT: On another note, I've had the Kindle 3 since Christmas and its been one of the best purchases I've ever made. The eInk screen is fantastic and only having to charge it like once a month is just awesome. DFu4ever fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Aug 10, 2011 |
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Aug 10, 2011 20:37
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Surprise! Apple as well as some major publishers are being sued for allegedly colluding to drive up Amazon's eBook prices. quote:"Terrified" by Amazon's Kindle e-reader and discounted e-book pricing, five major publishers allegedly acted together to increase e-book prices and compel Amazon to abandon its discount sales strategy. That's the gist of a new class action antitrust lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California by the Hagens Berman litigation group. The accusation itself isn't a big surprise, but this whole mess is fascinating, especially considering that Apple's eBook marketplace was lauded by publishers but fails to be a big hit with customers due to high prices and low availability.
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Aug 10, 2011 21:24
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Vertigus posted:Surprise! Apple as well as some major publishers are being sued for allegedly colluding to drive up Amazon's eBook prices. Apple wanted to drag the ebook market back to what it was before the first Kindle. Try this, it's an old ebook storefront from 2005: http://web.archive.org/web/20050331062325/http://www.mobipocket.com/en/HomePage/default.asp See those prices? Most of the books sold for around 15-20 bucks. It was awful. Sure it don't help Apple's sales that they won't even let you read them on your Mac, let alone any other platform, but the stupidly high prices are most of it.
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Aug 10, 2011 21:46
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Vertigus posted:Surprise! Apple as well as some major publishers are being sued for allegedly colluding to drive up Amazon's eBook prices. So what is the likely outcome if the lawsuit "wins"? Any chances of prices going down or is this just going to be a "ok we'll pay the fine but not change our practices because paying fines costs us less money"? edit: Ok read more about it, sounds like they're also seeking an injunction against publishers setting the sale price Levitate fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Aug 11, 2011 |
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Aug 11, 2011 14:28
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mischief posted:I'm in love with my Kindle but I have a serious problem. I grew up with a pretty strict no electronics in the bathroom rule. If you don't bring a laptop with you as well, you're wasting valuable time when you could be posting.
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Aug 12, 2011 04:44
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Smartphones were built for the toilet, I swear.
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Aug 12, 2011 07:07
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Quandary posted:Smartphones were built for the toilet, I swear. Agreed, and I feel particularly good when someone asks me to use my phone afterwards.
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Aug 13, 2011 15:10
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Levitate posted:
Thank gently caress. There's no worse sentence than "This price set by the publisher". I really want to buy some more PK Dick books, but I also don't want to pay 10 bucks for something that's 200ish pages. I hate the higher than paperback prices.
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Aug 13, 2011 19:22
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Ugly In The Morning posted:Thank gently caress. There's no worse sentence than "This price set by the publisher". I really want to buy some more PK Dick books, but I also don't want to pay 10 bucks for something that's 200ish pages. I hate the higher than paperback prices. That may mean absolutely nothing or rather less to nothing. Assume they win that injunction the publishers are free to set the 'wholesale' price to amazon at $9 and it'd be up to amazon to decide the 'retail' price from that. Meanwhile the Apple store will be selling it for 
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Aug 13, 2011 20:39
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This is why I hate Apple. It's not cause of the iphone, or ipad, or douchebags who use Apple products and can't stop talking about them, or any of the usual crap people bitch about when they mention they hate Apple. It's the fact they hosed up the ebook industry. Everything was set for Amazon to drag the ebook industry kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and then Apple had to run in and gently caress it up for everyone. This is the single reason I hate Apple.
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Aug 13, 2011 21:30
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Everything was set for Amazon to drag the ebook industry kicking and screaming into the 21st century, and then Apple had to run in and gently caress it up for everyone. I think the saddest thing is that it didn't even work out well for Apple. They made all these underhanded deals, supported collusion by the publishers, and got jack poo poo for it in the end.
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Aug 14, 2011 05:22
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:This is why I hate Apple. It's not cause of the iphone, or ipad, or douchebags who use Apple products and can't stop talking about them, or any of the usual crap people bitch about when they mention they hate Apple. I hate them because you have that douchey comment from Jobs about how he doesn't care about e-books (and I think he's also said how he doesn't think anyone reads anymore) and Apple is single handedly wrecking e-books for everyone just because they can. Seriously, the iPad is without a doubt, the worst e-reading device out there. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't really read books or read for an extended period of time.
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Aug 14, 2011 06:06
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Hughlander posted:That may mean absolutely nothing or rather less to nothing. Assume they win that injunction the publishers are free to set the 'wholesale' price to amazon at $9 and it'd be up to amazon to decide the 'retail' price from that. Meanwhile the Apple store will be selling it for Well, people already say that Amazon was losing money on the price of book sales when they were selling at $9 an ebook. Unless the publishers decided to just plain not sell to Amazon and only to Apple, then things would theoretically go "back to normal", until publishers found another way to gently caress everyone over
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Aug 14, 2011 18:08
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Snuffman posted:I hate them because you have that douchey comment from Jobs about how he doesn't care about e-books (and I think he's also said how he doesn't think anyone reads anymore) and Apple is single handedly wrecking e-books for everyone just because they can. Supposedly, Steve Jobs was actually talking about e-readers, not e-books. He didn't mean that e-books were worthless and had no future, he just meant that dedicated e-reader devices would probably be niche items. Seeing as how Apple apparently did all this underhanded dealing with publishers to control the e-book market, I think they take e-books very seriously. From this: http://techcrunch.com/2009/09/11/what-steve-jobs-actually-said-about-ebooks/ Why is iPad the worst e-reader? I'm interested in getting an e-reader, and when I looked at the Nook Color I thought it just seemed like a limited iPad. Is there something about its screen that makes it better? Not an Apple fanboy, just curious. I'm really more interested in the Kindle, honestly. Bass Bottles fucked around with this message at 01:38 on Aug 15, 2011 |
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Aug 15, 2011 01:36
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If you're just going to be reading ebooks definitely go for a kindle, I personally use an iPad because I use a lot of its other functions and I've read at least 30+ books on it so far with no issues so it works pretty well as a reader for me.
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Aug 15, 2011 01:45
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Dedicated e-readers are best since e-ink is easiest to read in varying light conditions. Also the other big issue with them is that they use very little battery. Especially compared to smartphones and tablets.
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Aug 15, 2011 02:05
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Snuffman posted:Seriously, the iPad is without a doubt, the worst e-reading device out there. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't really read books or read for an extended period of time.  Obviously this is a huge YMMV thing. I work with e-readers, and my favorite is the iPad. It's not to the point where I would buy one, but I prefer it to all the others I work with. I'm hoping the Amazon tablet is another step up.I also do a ton of personal e-reading -- on my iPhone. I'm definitely not an Apple fangirl (my iPhone is the only Apple device I have, I even prefer a home PC), but it's remarkably easy and convenient to read on there. I don't have any problems reading in sunlight (at worst, in bright, direct sunlight, it's easy to tilt and keep reading), and unsurprisingly, Stanza* drains the battery less than any other application I use. * this is just the app I use; I assume it's equally true for other e-reading apps Anne Whateley fucked around with this message at 02:13 on Aug 15, 2011 |
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Aug 15, 2011 02:09
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i like nice words
Bass Bottles posted:Why is iPad the worst e-reader? I'm interested in getting an e-reader, and when I looked at the Nook Color I thought it just seemed like a limited iPad. Is there something about its screen that makes it better? E-ink vs LCD screen. With iPads, you are going to burn out your eyes, as oppose to e-ink where it simulates a page with ink. Think of it this way, take a light bulb, and write some words on it. Now turn on the light and try to read it, its going to hurt your eyes after awhile (well, this may sound extreme, but its basically what you are doing with prolong reading on a LCD) If you are just using it for short bursts and need it to browse the internet, watch video, etc, then iPad might be your best choice. If you are looking for a dedicated reader, then get a ereader that uses e-ink (not Nook Color)
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Aug 15, 2011 02:11
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muscles like this? posted:Dedicated e-readers are best since e-ink is easiest to read in varying light conditions. Also the other big issue with them is that they use very little battery. Especially compared to smartphones and tablets. The kindle app for my Samsung Focus kills my battery so fast it's not even funny. It's good for when I can't whip out my kindle, though, like when I'm at work.
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Aug 15, 2011 02:40
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