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Just got a Kindle.

Eventually will get iPad. I need color, as goes with the Sibley Guide to birds. I can buy all kindle books already for iPod. I have two. A Beatles record guide and a Gogol short story collection. For the iPod I have also the entire Darwin output for 3 dollars. Have read 30 pages of his travel journal, Beagle journal.

The iPod allows me primitive e mails and wifi browsing.
 
DallasDad said:
fls, the problem with a large list is that practically every letter will appear in either the author's name or title in far too many books. It's quite frustrating to type 't' and get David Eddings. I can't find any way to limit the quick search to the author's last name (or anything else).
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Could there be a problem with the metadata in some of your books, so that the last name/first name order is incorrect? When sorted by author, typing a letter should take you to the last names beginning with that letter.

I haven't done a lot of experimenting, but that's how it seems to work in my Kindle 3.

ETA: When you sort by author, is the whole list properly sorted by last name? I know you mentioned that you had made sure all the metadata was correct in Calibre, but if the whole list isn't showing up properly sorted by last name on the Kindle, then the problem is with the metadata.
 
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RoboTimbo said:
Linda, does the 2nd generation have Collections now?
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Yes.

On my 3rd generation one, when I have it sorted by Collections, typing a letter makes it search all the indexed text.

If I have it sorted by Title or Author, it goes to the book starting with that title or author. Different behavior depending on how I have it sorted.
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Yeah, the post where I first described this is a way back. It's the same for mine. I'm glad to hear yours works the same way.

Linda
 
Dallas Dad, something funky is going on with your Kindle.

On my first page, sorted by Author:

Anthony Ashley
Aristophanes
John Authers
John Bunyan
etc...


If I press d, then d shows up the search box, with "click to go to D authors" in a lighter font. If I then press the 5 way, it takes me to my first Author starting with D: Charles Darwin.

You say yours is behaving differently. Didn't you also say you spent a lot of time correcting file names, authors, etc? Maybe something got hosed up?

edit: mine is third gen. Also, this only works if you are not on a page with an author of that letter already displayed. If Darwin is displayed, and I press D, it assumes I am starting to type a normal search term.

Also, I agree this whole thing isn't too sophisticated, especially if you have hundreds or thousands of books.
 
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I'm going to wipe the Calibre data reimport everything on the Kindle. Maybe something did get screwed up in my metadata, either while I was originally working on it (or during the transfer from Calibre back to the Kindle the first time).

Since others don't seem to have my particular problems (even if they do share my desire for more sophisticated features), then the first place to look is at my data.

If I press d, then d shows up the search box, with "click to go to D authors" in a lighter font. If I then press the 5 way, it takes me to my first Author starting with D: Charles Darwin.

I get exactly the same display, except that it takes me to L. Frank Baum, with a title that does not contain the fourth letter.
 
Okay, I took everything off the Kindle, massaged it in Calibre, and put everything back onto the Kindle.

It's behaving more rationally now (a search for 'j.' takes me to a page where the first entry is Unfinished Tales, followed by LotR Volume III) but is still not right. For instance, only one LotR book shows up, and 23 pages of unrelated things show up instead. And despite setting the author sort key in Calibre to lname, fname, things are still sorted by first name.

I think I'll have to re-edit everything to change the author to lname, fname everywhere. The author sort key in Calibre doesn't appear to transfer to the Kindle. The device is using the author name only for both list displays and sorting, and therefore is going by the first name.

I'll stop whining now. It does what it does. Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions.
 
DallasDad, after a bit of Googling, I see that others have also reported issues with metadata edited in Calibre not transferring properly to the Kindle (a DRM issue, perhaps?). I don't know if you want to fool around with other solutions, but I see Mobi2mobi is suggested as another free way to edit metadata for the Kindle, and people seem happy with the results. Haven't played with it myself, but thought I'd share in case you want to try it--if so, let us know how that works for you.
 
Robin said:
I don't have an iPad, I have an iPod. I am not into carrying around bulky equipment.

And I see the inability to do office work on the iPod as a plus.
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Actually, I'm in agreement with that. The Office already has me for about 50 hr/week, why should they get me on my commutes as well :)
 
I decided to go buy the Harry Potter books, and to my amazement not only are they not available as a Kindle ebook, but they seem to not be available ANYWHERE in any ebook format. I guess they are still selling too well as hardcovers to risk losing those sales.
 
BenBurch said:
I decided to go buy the Harry Potter books, and to my amazement not only are they not available as a Kindle ebook, but they seem to not be available ANYWHERE in any ebook format. I guess they are still selling too well as hardcovers to risk losing those sales.
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Hmm... Profit margins on ebooks are much greater than for any physical book, so that doesn't really make sense.

My guess is they're trying to minimize digital pirating, though with the popularity of the books, anyone who wants get pirated copies can probably easily find them.
 
AdMan said:
Hmm... Profit margins on ebooks are much greater than for any physical book, so that doesn't really make sense.

My guess is they're trying to minimize digital pirating, though with the popularity of the books, anyone who wants get pirated copies can probably easily find them.
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Actually, if I wanted pirated copies of these books, I can absolutely get totally unauthorized PDF versions... But I don't.

The point being they have not prevented digital piracy, but they have prevented digital SALES.
 
Not very smart on JK Rowlings' part. It has been her decision so far. Not that think she's in danger of missing a meal because of it.
 
I've noticed that there are a few authors that seem to fall into that nether realm of not being early enough to be included in Gutenberg, but not contemporary enough to be in demand (and therefore not available for purchase either), such as Jorge Luis Borges and Dennis Wheatley for example.

BTW, I learned of an easy way to download free books directly to your Kindle from Manybooks.net. This has been around for a few years, apparently, but for those of us new to Kindles, it's pretty slick. Switch Wireless On, open the Kindle web browser and enter the URL: http://mnybks.net/ This is the mobile version of the ManyBooks site (It actually says Free Cellphone Books). You'll see a small search screen where you search by author, title, category, etc., then select book you want. Click on the Mobi/Kindle link, respond to a confirmation dialog, and the book downloads directly to the device in seconds. It will even tell you when it's done.
 
Psi Baba said:
I've noticed that there are a few authors that seem to fall into that nether realm of not being early enough to be included in Gutenberg, but not contemporary enough to be in demand (and therefore not available for purchase either), such as Jorge Luis Borges and Dennis Wheatley for example.

BTW, I learned of an easy way to download free books directly to your Kindle from Manybooks.net. This has been around for a few years, apparently, but for those of us new to Kindles, it's pretty slick. Switch Wireless On, open the Kindle web browser and enter the URL: http://mnybks.net/ This is the mobile version of the ManyBooks site (It actually says Free Cellphone Books). You'll see a small search screen where you search by author, title, category, etc., then select book you want. Click on the Mobi/Kindle link, respond to a confirmation dialog, and the book downloads directly to the device in seconds. It will even tell you when it's done.
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Thanks, Psi Baba--that looks like a useful site!

BTW, haven't read his stuff in a while but I really like Borges. :)
 
I tried downloading version 3.0.3, but got no indication that it was successful. However, the next time I turned the Kindle on, there it was. It's faster on page turning, and text seems a bit sharper.
Many books is great, especially if you know what you're looking for. Browsing is slow; due, I guess, to the plethora of authors and titles.
 
Hmm, I'm really rethinking this purchase. I didn't realize the DRM rights meant limited downloads. That is pretty ridiculous. If I buy something I want to own it, not be given 6 downloads or whatever. You can burn those up pretty quick if you download to your pc, a kindle, and then a mobile phone. If I buy I book I have access to it for life.
 
As far as I know you aren't limited to 6 downloads. You are limited to having it registered to 6 devices at any one time.
 
vwgub said:
As far as I know you aren't limited to 6 downloads. You are limited to having it registered to 6 devices at any one time.
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I know I have downloaded some things more than six times because I have been reading kindle books on my iphone and etc for a while now.

OTOH, Apple has a one-download policy, which sucks. Means you need to be more than usually careful to back things up
 
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