Yamaha Home TheaterKindle, schmindle...I've got your $350 e-book reader right here
With all the buzz about Amazon's new Kindle 2, you'd think this revamped e-book reader was the most advanced piece of technology this side of designer babies. After all, for $359, you get a color screen, Wi-Fi and full-function Web browsing, video playback, 60GB of storage, and a reasonably usable keyboard.
Oh wait, you don't get any of that stuff. No, that's what $350 can get you if invested in even a low-end Netbook, such as the new 10-inch Acer Aspire One. Not only is there a wide range of PC software available for buying and displaying e-books (and tons of free content as well), when you're done with all that highbrow readin', pop open a Web browser and rot your brain with some Hulu videos.
Unlike the closed-loop system on the Kindle (it generally only works with e-books from Amazon, and Amazon e-books only work on the Kindle and the related iPhone app -- although there are some Kindle conversion tools out there, and Amazon will convert your personal docs for Kindle use at 10-cents a pop), at least you have a variety of different software and content provider options with my proposed $350 Kindle alternative.
Microsoft's Reader app will also read out loud to you in a Stephen-Hawking-style voice.
We'll be the first to admit, none of these options are as seamless or easy to use as the Kindle (especially with its always-on wireless digital download store), and companies like Microsoft and Adobe aren't exactly known for building great software user experiences.
We tried installing and using a couple of e-book reading software packages on our Acer Aspire One, with mixed, but not wholly unsatisfactory results. First up was Microsoft Reader, which uses .lit files, available from several online e-book retailers (although not Amazon). Originally released in 2000, the software has a dated, inelegant interface, but displayed our e-book files cleanly. Like the Kindle, Microsoft Reader also has a built-in text-to-speech feature, although the results are just as robotic.
Adobe's Digital Editions reader, not to be confused with its PDF reader, was similar, albeit with a less dated-looking interface, split between a virtual bookshelf and a reading panel. Both programs can display a full-screen image of a single page of an e-book, and use the page-up and page-down keys to move forward and backwards. In addition, we were able to use the space bar to flip pages in Adobe Digital Editions, and the Microsoft Reader has a progress bar along the bottom of the screen, called the riffle control, for dragging through the pages quickly.
Both programs share a similar flaw -- a surprising inability to rotate the view by 90-degrees. Surely I can't be the first person to think of flipping a Netbook around for reading purposes? I'm actually not -- user forums for both programs are full of requests for this feature.
Fortunately, a solution is at hand. While some PCs have simple controls built into their video drivers for screen rotation, most Netbooks do not. We downloaded a free app called EeeRotate, obviously originally intended for use with an Asus Eee PC, and after running it, we were able to rotate the display by holding down CTRL+ALT and the right arrow key (the same combo, but with the up arrow, returns the screen to normal).
Of course, none of this is useful if there aren't any books available in these formats. Amazon has put considerable effort into getting as many best-sellers as possible online, with over 240,000 titles available, while ebooks.com, which sells books for both the Microsoft and Adobe readers, claims to have 130,000 titles.
We checked the current New York Times best sellers list for e-book availability.
1. THE ASSOCIATE, by John Grisham:
Not available as an e-book.
2. RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge:
Kindle: $9.99
Adobe: $25.19
3. HEART AND SOUL, by Maeve Binchy:
Kindle: $9.99
4. THE HOST, by Stephenie Meyer:
Kindle: $9.99
Adobe: $23.99
Microsoft: $23.99
5. FOOL, by Christopher Moore
Kindle: $9.99
Adobe: $26.99
In this case, it seems as if the Kindle has a slight edge in availability and big advantage in pricing for top-selling books. On the other hand, free e-book content for our Netbook is plentiful and over 100,000 public domain books are easily available as basic HTML or txt files from Project Gutenberg and other sites (resourceful users can port public domain content to the Kindle as well). Besides our Microsoft and Adobe software, there are also plenty of free and open-source e-book readers out there, although most current books are locked up in one DRM format or another.
In the end, our Netbook was not a perfect substitute for the $359 Amazon Kindle 2. The Acer Aspire was heavier and harder to hold onto, and while the screen was bigger, unlike the Kindle's muted grey-on-grey, the bright glow of the LCD is tiring to the eyes after a while. Still if you're looking for a single mobile device that reads current books (even if they cost more), has access to a huge library of free public domain works, and also offers full Web-surfing and play online videos, it's worth considering as an alternative to lugging around both a Kindle and a laptop on your next trip -- at least until Amazon makes the Kindle a $99 doorbuster for its growing digital book business.
Have you tired using your Netbook as an e-book reader? What software worked (or not)? Let us know in the comments section below.
Related: Here I am discussing Kindle 2 hype on G4TV's Attack of the Show last month:
Also: More about Netbooks, Kindle, and other fun topics every week on the Digital City Podcast.
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New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan.
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P.S.
The Alt+Ctrl+Arrow works with no additional software on all computers with an Intel graphics processor and most others as well. I personally used it on my Asus eeePC with no additional software installed when my phone was in the shop.
I have a kindle 2 and I love it. I do travel a lot, so it made a lot of sense to buy it. It is expensive, but I consider it as an investment given that I will be reading much more, and I could also put my word and pdf documents in there and reading while flying across the atlantic/pacific.
Thanks,
Frank
Ebooks have been a pipe-dream for more than a dozen years - and it's always the publishers and hardware that actually has prevented this from becoming a HUGE business - with both groups afraid of doing anything that might be undercut by competition, or which might lower quarterly revenues (because they'd be charging less (barely) than the hardcopy versions which people would then avoid buying in the same numbers). It's that simple. Amazon should know better than to get into this game, and should instead be using the Walmart example of setting the terms for anyone who wants to sell anything through their domain. Period. The alternative is selling nothing... It wouldn't take publishers long to decide which option is better for them.
PS: I was going to buy the Kindle the day it was announced, actually put in the order. But I'm sure Apple will release a slate in the next quarter or two and meanwhile the iPhone is really quite comfortable to read from.
Kindle2 is really better for reading books compared to netbooks (or iPods).
1. No backlight means less eyestrain
2. Long reading on a single battery charge
3. No PC required
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<a href="http://gotkindle.wordpress.com">got kindle?</a>
You can display the many fonts on a netbook versus a very limited font on the Kindle2. Kindle2 can not even display a complete Unicode font. I sent a Word document with some extended characters in the Unicode font to Amazon for conversion for my Kindle2 - they NEVER send it back, just nothing, not even an error message. After a day waiting, I sent the same document witth the special characters removed: got the conversion back almost immediately.
Without the SD slot and only 2GB internally -- about 1.5GB is available to you -- you can pretty much forget about audio books. The storage space is quickly filled up if you loaded a few audio books. Audio book can't be played in its entirety - you only can play one chapter at a time: very annoying.
Audio: Kindle2 only can play MP3 format (not wma or any other audio formats). Most MP3 file can not be displayed on Kindle2 directory: you have no idea what is playing nor what loaded in the device unless you connect it to a PC. Text to speech on Kindle2 is decent but far inferior to using natural voice software from company such as NatureSoft on a netbook.
I can have extra batteries for netbook, can't say the same for the Kindle2. Why not provide a door for the internal battery? Kindle2 battery is not soldered in--very easy for user to replace if a door were there. A simple door cost too much to put in for a $359.00 device? Copy Apple styles down to their faults as well?
Connecting to the Web is another joke. Almost any website you try to connect to results in: error 403 - please try later!
One nice thing about Kindle2 is the built-in dictionary. Super nice to have the dictionary so handy without any effort -- but I think I can have the same feature in a netbook as well.
Light weight, quick turn on and long battery life are nice but too many restrictions for me to keep the device. Amazon will have it back in the next few days.
If you READ my post, you would see I did not say anything about the audio quality, no great expectation for hi-fi here. The complain are about the one and only format supported: MP3 and the lack of file names display on the directory.
About the lack of unicode support -- no fluke at all -- it is confirmed by others: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=23465 (please add unicode support on kindle)
The fact is clear that Amazon only support the books that they carefully selected to sale, not about reading ebooks in general. No SD slot, no user replaceable battery, no unicode, clumsy PDF implementation to name a few flaws on the things it supposed to do well.
I have the Kindle2 on my desk and I can see many short comings -- not ready for prime time player, do you?
May be Kindle3 is coming soon.
You can read with out eye fatigue until you have finished the book - It doesn't get warm in your hand - an the battery life is outstanding.
Also if you buy your books from a thrift store you can pick up a great recycled and recyclable book for a princely sum of $1.00.
I have an HP TC1100 tablet that I use for taking notes in class, reading science journal articles and readying e-books. Since the TC1100 can be just a slate, it works pretty well for reading ebooks. I also really enjoy having easy access to free ebooks from the New York Public library, or through purchase at anyone of the many online ebook sellers.
This function is built into Windows, it has to do with video card.
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by whofox
March 5, 2009 5:36 AM PST
- Consider the new netbook from Always Innovating. That detachable screen will have a much larger, color touchscreen and full computing capabilities plus 10-15 hours of estimated battery life. At $299 for the netbook the only advantages for the Kindle will be the e-ink and the the WhisperSync. Maybe those advantages are enough for some readers but I've got to think that the majority of people interested in eBooks would value the Always Innovating netbook more. Maybe I'm wrong but that's how it seems to me.
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by LuvThatCO2
March 9, 2009 2:30 PM PDT
- I just looked at it. The downside is its a proprietary OS w/ ARM processor, so you're limited with what you can do with it. Very sleek design, though.
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