BenBurch
Gatekeeper of The Left
I like my Amazon cover because of the parasitically-powered book light.
Why are so many of the free books ...er... religiously themed?
RoboTimbo
Hostile Nanobacon
You noticed? There are about a dozen threads in the Kindle forum on Amazon about them. Opinions are... polarized.
I've only recently been getting the daily email from eReaderIQ.co.uk so hadn't noticed this until I started checking the free books.
RoboTimbo
Hostile Nanobacon
The answer is, of course, the publishers are the ones who price their ebooks, not Amazona. One of the most prolific publishers offering freebies is Christian publisher Zondervan.
I don't download any from that publisher. The Christians say that usually the ones labeled Christian may only have Christianity as a passing reference and not part of the theme or plot. I downloaded one just to see. I was very disappointed. The protaganist was an "atheist" who was atheist because he was mad at God. Then ending was a deus ex machina where some miracles happened, thus proving God. Too bad, it wasn't a bad story up until then.
I don't download any from that publisher. The Christians say that usually the ones labeled Christian may only have Christianity as a passing reference and not part of the theme or plot. I downloaded one just to see. I was very disappointed. The protaganist was an "atheist" who was atheist because he was mad at God. Then ending was a deus ex machina where some miracles happened, thus proving God. Too bad, it wasn't a bad story up until then.
RobRoy
Not A Mormon
BenBurch
Gatekeeper of The Left
News item that should effect those of you in the EU;
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...s-publishers-in-ebook-price-fixing-probe.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...s-publishers-in-ebook-price-fixing-probe.html
Interesting.
Mind you I don't understand why people think e-books should be significantly less than a paper book.
Mind you I don't understand why people think e-books should be significantly less than a paper book.
RobRoy
Not A Mormon
I wondered if we were going to see something like this. I'm not complaining too much about the prices, as I would typically buy hardcover anyhow. But I was looking at David Gemmell's Trojan Trilogy, which is $11.99 for each for the Kindle, but varies from $10.20 to $8.74 for a new paperback. A used hardcover is selling for just $2.48.
Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings is being sold separately for $9.99 each. I have multiple version of this book in hardback and paperback and even an electronic version I typed out on my own. I'd only want it for reading every now and then, but they're charging a just-released-premium prices for this series.
AdMan
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2010
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RobRoy
Not A Mormon
I wanted an e-version of the books for personal reference and for reading at while I was at work. This was before eReaders, so I was reduced to typing it out. I type pretty quickly, and it was actually like reading it while typing. <shrug>
RoboTimbo
Hostile Nanobacon
I would never try to type a whole book even though I'm a pretty fast typist. I have OCR'd quite a few of them - the ones that I've read multiple times and plan to read more multiple times and aren't avaiable in a Kindle version.
Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were some of the first I bought in Kindle format.
Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were some of the first I bought in Kindle format.
BenBurch
Gatekeeper of The Left
Project Gutenburg started in 1971, long before OCR.
I had an 800 bpi 9 track magtape back in 1978 with a few of their books on it.
RobRoy
Not A Mormon
OCR wasn't really an option, or at least wasn't really an option for me, back in 1997 when I did the work. It took time, but I honestly didn't mind, and have been quite pleased to have the effort in my hands since then.
Does anyone know what happens on the screen during that micro-second when the page turns? Looks like the new page is momentarily displayed in negative...
The one area that I had slight concern about before I bought a Kindle was the lack of contrast control. Says everything that I never think about it when using it. It's amazingly restful on the eyes.
The one area that I had slight concern about before I bought a Kindle was the lack of contrast control. Says everything that I never think about it when using it. It's amazingly restful on the eyes.
RobRoy
Not A Mormon
Speaking of this, have you converted anything to a PDF for reading on the Kindle? How bad/good is it?
RoboTimbo
Hostile Nanobacon
Yes, with mixed results. I have some documents for work that I keep on it in pdf format, but I try not to have to read them on it. I tried converting them two different ways, with Calibre and by sending them to my RoboTimbo@free.kindle.com email address with "convert" as the subject and neither was really satisfactory.
It really depends on the formatting. If it's just text, without a lot of headings, footers, mixed fonts, tables, graphics, you should be pretty good. If it has a lot of the above, it is an exercise in frustration.
The Kindle can read pdf documents natively without conversion but that also can be frustrating. The text usually is so small and faint, you need a magnifying glass to read it. There's built in zoom in the Kindle for pdfs but that's not convenient. I'd like to get the DX just for pdfs because of its larger screen.
AdMan
Penultimate Amazing
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2010
- Messages
- 10,293
This is a function of the e-ink technology, as it "refreshes" the page in order to display the next one.
Akin to shaking an Etch-a-Sketch before you can draw on it again.
RobRoy
Not A Mormon
What about Word files? I think I read in my user manual that you can transfer these to your Kindle also?
RoboTimbo
Hostile Nanobacon
From the Kindle page on Amazon:
You can always sideload from your computer to your Kindle with the USB cable. You don't have to have them wirelessly delivered.
You can always sideload from your computer to your Kindle with the USB cable. You don't have to have them wirelessly delivered.