Kindle
 

Just asking if anyone owns a Kindle, and what their opinion of them is

I blathered on about mine here.

I still love it.

The big question is how would I load and read free content from Project Gutenberg or another free site. Would I have to pay them to transfer it? Would I have to buy translation software.

I haven't tried the free stuff from Gutenberg, although a lot of the stuff that probably is available from there is sold for under $1, AND you get goodies like a browsable table of contents, linked footnotes, other formatting niceties.

You can transfer files yourself, either by linking to your computer with the supplied cables, or you can email them to yourself. Actually, I've already mailed myself several large PDF files that converted quite nicely (this is listed as "experiemental").

Just looked on Amazon for the Kindle 2 and now I REALLY want one :drool:

Be Kindle, Rewindle.

:p

Hush, Front Row Joe of the videocassette industry.

So, Wolf, would a technologically challenged older person who wants to read but needs books in larger print be able to handle reading on it? If someone else loaded the highbrow books for her? Or, to put it more simply - how easy is it to operate as a book?
Yours curiously ...

Super easy to operate. Click the button to the right to page ahead, the button to the left to page behind, easy to set type sizes, from way big to almost too tiny.

Menu-driven navigation is easy to figure out. Full querty keyboard if you're the sort of person that likes to make notes (or to use the search functions).

Not sure if they've enabled the device for the UK yet, though. AFAIK it's U.S. (and maybe Canada) only.

limey, we kids bought one for my mother who is very technologically challenged ("I need to dial a number and there's only buttons on the phone!") and has difficulty seeing. She not only can read with the Kindle, she loves it and can dial up font size or change books herself. My sister loads the books in for her but then she can handle everything else. It's wonderful.

I'm usually pretty immune to tech-lust but I'm starting to drool. Any price break on the books vs downloads?

oops, guess so

I just use my iphone.

Doesn't the Kindle cost less than the iphone? Not that I can afford either, I'm just curious.

Wolf, Sweet (that's not an endearment to you, wolf unless you want it to be!) ... next question: How easy is it to press the wrong button so that won't do what you want it to? i.e. accidentally enter menu mode; unintentionally make the type tiny, or whatever. Ideally I'm after something I can tailor to her requirements and then set in idiot-proof mode so that all she has to do is page left or right.
If she can press the wrong button she will, bless her!

My mother lives in a different state, so I have never seen the Kindle. Just hear from her how much she enjoys it. Perhaps someone else can answer your question, or maybe you can check Amazon reviews.

Important safety tip.

Don't drop it, or, more accurately, don't let it fall less than two feet out of your purse onto a tile floor by accident, despite having it in a lovely protective cover that's supposed to mitigate that kind of damage.

On the other side of things ... one call to amazon customer service and less than 24 hours later, the replacement was in my hands and fully functional.

Drops are not covered by the warranty, but my informing the sales rep that the damage occurred whilst visiting momwolf in the hospital, and she's really not doing well saved me 120 beans.