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The Kindle saga has now come to an end.
If you recall, earlier this year my Kindle 2 began giving me trouble. I reset it to its factory settings and it behaved itself until about the end of August when the screen decided it was no longer going to work. So after four years together, it left me for what I hope will be a happier place in Digital Device Heaven.
I moved all my Kindle content over to Bookman’s old Kindle 1 and the two of us were getting along just fine. The Kindle 1 battery only held a charge for 5-6 days but that was fine. I planned on buying it a new battery once the current one was demanding to be charged every day or two. But apparently we were not getting along as well as I thought we were because two weeks ago Kindle 1 decided it would no longer do highlights or bookmarks. It told me my memory was full and I had to delete books. Wow, I didn’t realize I had that many, but ok, I deleted about 10 books. That should be enough.
Nope.
So then I deleted all but 20 books. That definitely would be enough free space.
Nope.
So then I thought, maybe it was the book I was reading. All the trouble had begun when I downloaded a book from the library Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error by Kathryn Schulz. Perhaps the whole highlighting trouble was just to do with some new DRM on library ebooks. So I opened Jane Austen’s Emma, a DRM-free Project Gutenberg book. And it still would not highlight. And when I tried to bookmark a page it said there was not enough memory.
Clearly it is the Kindle going kablooey. I cannot read on it if I cannot highlight. Though I have continued to read Being Wrong, which I am enjoying very much. However, it has been so long since I have read a book and not marked it up in some manner that it feels totally weird and I am having a hard time remembering things about the book. I briefly considered giving up reading it, but I don’t want to give it up. I have kept reading and when I am done with it, I won’t be able to really blog about it because I won’t be able to remember enough specifics.
Isn’t that interesting? Between college and blogging I had an entire decade in which I read books and didn’t mark them up and I was happy as a clam. Of course, ask me what I read during that decade and I would be hard pressed to come up with much. But then sometimes now at the end of the year when I look back on my books read there is one book I don’t recall reading. Of course I can read the blog post I wrote about it and it will come back, so that’s something. I find it somewhat amusing that I am reading a book called Being Wrong with a constant feeling of wrongness hovering around me.
With the Kindle 1 at death’s door, I was also having a hard debate with myself over whether to get another ereader. If it is only going to last for four or five years, is it really worth it? And if I did get another ereader, what would I get? I didn’t want another Kindle. Amazon has gotten too big and even nastier as a company. It’s kind of like the Walmart of the internet and I refuse to shop at Walmart which means I could not in good conscious buy anything from Amazon. I wouldn’t want a Nook. I don’t have anything against Barnes and Noble, but they are having such business problems with the Nook that with my luck I’d get one and next year they would no longer sell or support them.
I wasn’t going to get a new ereader then. I would just have to figure out how to manage my reading glasses on the bus and metro train and get used to carrying a book in my bag. I wasn’t happy about the prospect, but I was going to make it work.
Then Bookman told me I was being daft. You use the ereader five days a week and for those five days you spend more time reading on it than you do in paper books. You don’t want to mess around with reading glasses, especially in the winter. I’m going to get you a new Kindle. No! I said, not a Kindle. A Nook then? he asked. No not a Nook either. What then? I don’t know, I said. Well, you think about it, he said.
I thought about it. He was right that I do use the ereader a lot and I was dreading trying to juggle book and glasses and mittens and lenses fogging up or getting scratched and all that. I was still reluctant though. Bookman insisted again and told me if I didn’t decide he would just get me a Kindle. No Kindle. Amazon bad. Plus, I am clearly a Kindle killer. I’ve already killed two this year and did not want to make it a trifecta.
The only other alternative to Kindle and Nook is Kobo. I looked at the Kobo website. Maybe a Kobo Touch? Bookman ordered one before I had time to make up reasons why I shouldn’t have one. Kobo is in Canada. It took two weeks for it to get here. It arrived Friday. It’s so tiny. I need to find a cover for it to protect it in my bag. Since I won’t start carrying it until I am finished with Being Wrong on the Kindle, I have time to find a cover.
Yesterday I did all the setup stuff with it and added a couple of public domain books. I played around with it to figure out how to highlight and turn pages and get the various menus and how to make the font bigger so I can read without my glasses. The touch screen is nice, though in comparison with my iPad its responsiveness is frustratingly slow especially when trying to highlight something. But it is e-ink and at least I can highlight things!
I think Kobo and I will get along just fine. I’ll be finishing up the book on Kindle and it can join its Kindle 2 friend in Digital Device Heaven. Then Kobo and I can begin what I hope will be a long and beautiful friendship.
I have to tell you again how much I enjoy reading on the iPad Mini Kindle app. I find the clarity of the screen far superior to the Kindle. Highlighting is easy. Just finished reading Ian McEwan’s The Children Act on the iPad Mini. It was my first digital version of all of McEwan’s printed books I’ve read. Yes, the battery life is not great, but every now and then I simply charge it up again and that is a simple matter. I am aware it is difficult to read in bright light, but mostly I read indoors, so that’s never a problem for me. If you have to read on the beach, try a printed book for a change.
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Richard, ah yes, i know you love your iPad mini. I read a book once on my iPad to try it out last year and I hated it. Too much glare. Plus I really do need to be able to read outdoors in sunlight while wearing polarized sunglasses and I just can’t do that on an iPad.
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Yes, the iPads are terrible outdoors. I understand that, having tried it myself. Now I am in Portland where it is too cold and too wet to read outside. So I am hibernating indoors for a while.
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I’m not quite hibernating yet though it’s getting pretty close!
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It’s tempting to write in a book, but I seldom
do. Instead, I keep some paper—I wish I
could say it’s a notebook, but it’s more likely
scraps of paper–I keep some paper beside
me and make notes about the book.
Good luck with Kobo—may you have many
happy years together.
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booksandbuttons, I never write in library books and there are some books I own I will not write in either. For these I use page points to mark pages and passages I want to return to later. But other books, I have a “red reading pencil” and I underline and write notes with abandon. So far Kobo and I are getting along!
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I agree with Richard about the iPad mini. It’s a good reader and does so many other things that I don’t find its price to be overly outrageous. Too, does Sony still make an e-reader? That was my first experience with one and, except for the clunky bookstore it had at the time, I thought it was pretty good.
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Sam, I don’t want my ereader to do anything but books otherwise there is too much distraction. Also I take public transit and take my lunchbreaks outdoors during the summer so I need to be able to read in the sunlight. Can’t do that on an iPad or any other tablet. Sony stopped making ereaders just this past August.
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Bookman is such a sweetie.
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Jeanne, isn’t he? I think I will keep him 🙂
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You’ve probably already tried this (and it doesn’t matter as much since you bought a new one) but did you try a hard boot on the Kindle? Sometimes it doesnt recognize released memory until you hard boot.
Good luck with the new e-reader. Keep us updated on how you like it.
And, that Bookman? What a sweetie for getting you a new reader.
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Anne Camille, ha! Don’t assume! I did not try a hard reboot. I was so frustrated I didn’t even think of it since ever new thing I would try would lose my place in the book I was reading. So I tried a reboot, Kindle froze, I tried again and after 15 minutes of looking for where I left off reading in my book, I tried to highlight a line and it worked! So thank you. I still don;t trust Kindle though and am glad Bookman got me a Kobo 🙂
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You know I use Kindle on my tablet …the kindle software and Its my dream that i will get the kindle kindle you know forever…but after your post I need to re-think. You know a lot of people are saying some good things about Kobo…do let us know how you are getting along!!
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Good luck with Kobo and I think you are right about Amazon!
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Ian, thanks Kobo seems pretty good so far. We are still getting used to each other. As for Amazon, I’ve never been a big fan but with all the stuff they have been doing lately regarding Hachette and taxes and the way they treat their employees, I can’t in good conscious support such a business.
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cirtnecce, I don’t like reading on my tablet, too much glare and I need to be able to read outdoors. Most of the books on Kindle were public domain but I do have the Kindle app on my laptop should I ever want to access the two or three books I actually bought. So far Kobo and I are getting along. 🙂
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enjoy your new Kobo.
I love my Kindle Paperwhite and yes I need to highlight as well when reading an eBook. I was curious why you don’t use the Kindle app on your iPad? I love reading on my iPad these days as well.
I hear you about why you don’t like to shop at Walmart and Amazon, but these days, I believe people should shop at the places that are the friendliest wallet-wise and for me that is almost always Amazon.
People could use the same rationale boycotting Apple as well I suppose.
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Diane, thanks! I don’t use the Kindle app on my iPad because I don’t like reading on my iPad. I took my Kindle with me on my daily commute and need to e able to read outdoors in the sun while waiting for the bus and metro train and while having my lunchbreak outdoors in summer. I read a books once on my iPad when I first got it and found there was too much glare and the screen made my eyes tired pretty quickly.
I hear you about looking for places that are easy on your wallet.
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My Kindle screen cracked, so it’s now useless. ( I’m keeping it for sentimental value, though, since my son gave it to me.) However, just prior to that happening i got an iPad Retina and downloaded the Kindle app, so I still have all of my books. I like reading from the iPad better than the Kindle, but neither is equivalent to an actual book – for me anyway. And I agree, Bookman is a sweetheart.
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Grad, oh no! I am glad you like reading on your iPad. I just can’t do books on mine, magazines are fine but books, hurts my eyes and I need to be able to read in sunlight. There is nothing like a print book as you say but sometimes convenience wins out! Bookman is indeed a sweetheart.
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I’m another i-Pad mini fan but I have had a Kobo. It was my first e-reader because the touch version was available in the UK before the equivalent Kindle. I got along with it just fine and it had the added advantage of being compatible with library books which the kindle was not.
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Alex, glad to hear you got along with your Kobo! Kindle is mostly compatible with libraries in the US though I have been frustrated that sometimes there is no Kindle option available for library ebooks. But with the Kobo I shouldn’t have to worry about it so that’s something!
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What a saga! Good luck to you and your new Kobo! I’ve been very happy with my Nook, but you’re making a good point about the risks of having a Nook. So far so good!
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Jenny, I know isn’t it? Glad to hear the Nook has been working well for you. Hopefully Barnes and Noble finds a way to make that part of their business work, but I am not positive they will and didn’t want to take the chance.
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It’s a beautiful irony that the kindle went wrong on Being Wrong. Heh. Bookman is a dear heart to buy you a new ereader and I hope you will have a long, happy life with the Kobo. Did you manage to save all your stored books?
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Litlove, I know, right? I had a good laugh over that one. Since most of my stored books were free from Project Gutenberg I can just download them again in epub for Kobo. The couple books I have that I did buy are safe and sound in my Amazon account and accessible via my laptop or Bookman’s Kindle.
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I am so relieved! Would have been too sad to lose the books!
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I’m glad one of the two of you is sensible, and I think you know which one it is! LOL. Glad you have a new device and I hope you report on how it goes as you get started with it. Like LitLove I thought it was a hoot that your kindle failed on Being wrong.
And for the record: 1, I must annotate or highlight too. My fingers twitch when I can’t and I feel most disoriented; 2, I love my iPad but no, not for reading. I did recently read a book on it, and it was OK (but I did read it inside). However, an iPad cannot be held like a book (though maybe an iPad mini can but I don’t want an iPad mini – I want a larger screen for all the other things I do.). Mostly though, I just don’t like reading intensively on an iPad screen. I like the softer, gentle on the eyes e-ink devices for reading.
PS I’ve been on the road again … so once more am behind blog reading (not to mention writing!)
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whisperinggums, Heh, I’m just going to pretend that I am the sensible one 😉 I get a kick over the Kindle failing on Being Wrong too. It’s too perfect.
It’s weird our reactions to not being able to highlight or annotate, isn’t it? I miss the tactile experience of it which surprised me. I need the softer gentler eink display too. I look at a computer screen all day and I need to give my eyes a break whenever I can. They are the ones I have and I need them to last a long time yet! 🙂
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Are you able to access Kindle e-books on your Kobo? Like you, we are getting frustrated with Amazon’s business practices, but I have so many unread books on my Kindle – can I read them on another device if/when I need to replace my e-reader? (Can you tell I am not tech savvy at all?)
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Says me butting in, you can download a Kindle app onto an iPad and I presume on Android tablets. I don’t know though about on a Kobo. I’d expect not but could very well be wrong.
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Amanda, no, Kindle is a proprietary format so I can’t access my Kindle books on Kobo. But that’s ok because I never bought that many, preferring instead to read free books in the public domain. My husband still has a Kindle and I have a Kindle app on my laptop so those few books aren’t completely lost. If you bought another Kindle you would totally be able to transfer the books on your current one to the new one. Or if you have a computer, laptop or iPad you can download a Kindle app like whipseringgums mentions. But if you go outside the Amazon universe to Nook or Kobo, you are out of luck.
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So what do you do with a dead Kindle? Can you recycle it? How has the Kobo been working out? I still like my paper books (I can dog ear them and mark them up much easier), but I must say I have gotten very used to using an ipad while using the elliptical–much easier to be able to hold on to the machine and not the machine And book!
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Danielle, I am hoping to figure out where I can recycle my dead Kindles. I haven’t done much looking into it yet though but I won;t be throwing them in the trash even if I have to avail myself of my city’s electronics recycling day. Kobo is working out pretty good so far. What a relief. See, for short periods of time I could do an iPad but not for long. Glad you have found it works well for your workouts!
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