h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Amazon Kindle - A85746009
Author: redshirt42 - U14183423

Ever since this XKCD comic strip (http://xkcd.com/548/) I have viewed the Amazon Kindle (one of which I do, in fact, own) as being among the world's closest equivalents to the (physical) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as described in the books. As such, I felt this site could use an article about it, and since there wasn't one, I wrote it.

That XKCD link, for some reason, decided to include the closing parenthesis, and is therefore broken. After you click it, simply remove the parenthesis from the address bar to get the comic.

. . .waits for redshirt to actually check what he's sent into PR.


(check preview before you update the GuideML - before submitting. In fact we are quite happy to receive Entries written in plain text.

Did you check the box that changes Plain text into GuideML?)


After you've corrected that I think you may have to give consideration to writing this with a wider remit - it seems (from what I can <cdouble) between the lines) to read a lot like an advertisement.


Are there any other e-readers? What are their relative advantages/disadvantages?

I down-loaded a free kindle app to use on the last laptop I had. What are the advantages to using the kindle app, on a laptop?


Nice to see you return, and yes, I did remember the Michigan Entry. I think it's even been updated since then as well.


Lanzababy

In fact I did originally write the entry in GuideML mode, but it must have reverted to plain text mode after I clicked the "preview" button and before I clicked the "save" button. Anyway, that&#39;s fixed now.

Other e-readers are about as numerous as the various brands of any type of electronic device; I would say the main contenders are the Sony E-Reader and the Barnes and Noble Nook. However, since the article was about the Kindle exclusively, I didn&#39;t think info on other readers was necessary; I will add it if you really think I should.

I will now add info about the Kindle apps.

Ah! now I can read it

I do think that it looks like an advertisement though. The trouble with this sort of Entry is that the prices are going to be out of date in a few months. I really suggest we need a bit of background into the development, the history and so on.

How do they work? ( as a guide for the )

Maybe other reviewers will have a few suggestions for you.

Hmmm, good point. I&#39;ll get right on it!

Okay, I&#39;ve removed the pricing info, added in some history, and given brief rundowns of the Sony Reader and Nook lines, with primary focus on providing a fair list of advantages and disadvantages compared to the Kindle.

I've toyed with buying one of these for about a year now. Guess if I keep waiting the tech will keep improving

A couple of questions that jumped out at me while I was reading:

In the history bit you say the Kindle 2 came out in 2009, and an international version came out in October replacing the K-2. October of 2009? Kindle 2 out in *early* '09? Firmware update in November '09? Probably it's obvious that all of this happened in 2009, it's just worded a bit awkwardly. Might just say that K-2 was replaced later the same year, or a few months later, with an international version.

Also, was the K-2 *replaced* with the international version even in the US, or did an international version become available in addition to the original?

Given the number of addtions to the product line over the 4-year life of the product, the "Current Models" section is likely to become dated in short order. You might say instead that the variety of Kindle models range from an inexpensive one that includes some advertising but is eligible for exclusive offers not available to other models, to the top of the line model with a larger screen and wireless Amazon network service. You could mention in a footnote that product reviews rate the annoyance factor of the advertising on the cheaper model as insignificant. You could also include that some models bear a striking resemblance to hhgttg for the features they share.

The problem with mentioning 3G specifically is that eventually it will become 4G, or whatever comes next, but given the pace of technology 3G will definitely become obsolete.

Does Amazon's wireless network access the internet at large, or only specific sites as you mentioned?

The only other thing I can think of is that e-readers tend to be tablets, and many cases or covers for them tend to be sleeves. I think the Kindle offers a notebook-type cover (other e-readers may also, but it's still a nice option) for the reader that prefers the book-y experience of reading a book as opposed to just holding a tablet.

All in all very informative, I know more about them now than I did when I started

Nice one. There are incredibly many readers on the market, bookstore chains here in Germany even offer their own formats. Do you think it is worth mentioning that the Sony PRS-350 Reader Pocket Edition comes with 12 dictionaries included? That plus the fact that I can mark words, take notes etc made me go for it. Plus its ability to read nearly all formats (which you already mention).

Detailed information about various e-readers would probably be better suited to a comparison entry, or different entries about specific brands. Since redshirt's entry focuses specifically on the Kindle, I think the information supplied about alternative e-readers is probably sufficient.

I merely asked. Any decision lies with the author, as always.

All points are good points. It's great to have more than my own opinion here

I'm a great fan of e-book readers. I would have been tempted by the Kindle but didn't like the fact that it doesn't readily do all formats (same with the Nook, btw, which I probably couldn't buy here in Europe anyway). In the end, you must assess what your priorities are, and then make your choice.

Another query.

How sturdy are Kindles in comparison with laptops? Are they waterproof? I see you say you can read them in bright sunlight as opposed to most laptops which are almost impossible. But could you leave them on damp grass or the beach without ruining them? The sorts of places you'd take a book to on holiday.

They're reasonably sturdy - I'm reading one while typing this in
Damp grass would be fine, i wouldnt suggest beaches

Rain would be cool but submersion wouldnt (they have speakers after all)

Hi everyone. Sorry I&#39;ve been gone a couple days, I had an allergic reaction to some medicine I&#39;ve been taking and my hands swelled up so badly I couldn&#39;t bend my fingers. Not fun.

Anyway, thanks for all the suggestions. As for Bel, I&#39;d have to agree with broelan that additional information on the other e-readers isn&#39;t necessary for this particular article; you could of course write a separate article about the Sony Readers, and the result would probably be much better since I don&#39;t know much about them.

Also, broelan, while I realize that much of the information I&#39;ve mentioned will become out-of-date, that&#39;s just the way things are. And, personally, I&#39;d rather update the article every time something changes than remove all the information, as it then really wouldn&#39;t be informative enough to be a guide to the different types of Kindles.

Hi there
This is a good entry against a neat piece of kit. Just the sort of entry that could be useful for a prospective purchaser. I‘ve just got a couple of comments, feel free to ignore as appropriate.

There are a couple of other features that I think could be mentioned, although I have no idea how they stack up in comparison with other e-readers

There are two dictionaries, English and American. These can be accessed from the book’s text for a definition while reading.
You have the facility to make personal notes and bookmarks linked to the book’s text. Also it is able to link into other popular highlights marked up by other owners through Amazon.
Text size is selectable.
Where provided by the book’s publisher, you can turn on ‘Text to Speech’, an experimental facility that will read the book to you, albeit in a rather mechanical voice, either through its external speakers or headphones.
There is another experimental facility to load MP3 music files to listen to as background while reading.
You have the option of password protection.
You can give it a name, Mine’s 'Oric' by the way.

Formats section: You use technical terms easily. But I think that a little more explanation of the techie terms such as ePub, MOBI or JPEG would serve the prospective purchaser better, who just wants to read a few books and may be looking at a Kindle.

Can I also suggest that under the section ’Current Models’ you re-label ‘Kindle with 3G’ as ‘Kindle with Wi-Fi and 3G’. At the moment the title does seem to infer that it’s one or the other, when in fact, it is both. Although you do mention in the last sentence that it also has Wi-Fi for a faster download I think that the option could be clearer. Incidentally 3G ain’t no slouch. The download time for any average sized book seems to be seconds, certainly less than a minute.

Deke

Good work!

An interesting aspect of the Kindle, and other eBook readers, is the ability to "self-publish" books. The "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy", it could be argued, was the universe's first self-published book.

A recent announcement from Amazon was about self-published author John Locke who had become the second independent writer to sell one million books through Kindle.

Which brings me to another aspect of eBooks. The software to write them. Many authors now use Scrivener,(http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.php )[Unsuitable/Broken URL edited by Moderator] which, amongst other features, provides the ability to format an eBook for upload to the Kindle service, and for which the author will receive royalties of 70% of the published price. I wonder if the new owners of h2g2 will be making use of this revenue-generating feature? Just a thought....

Hmmm. I&#39;m concerned that if I add too much more about features, it might look to much like an ad, as was brought up earlier in this thread. What do people think?

Personally I don’t that that this piece looks like an advert at all. But I do think that you should also approach the subject from the point of view of answering the sort of questions that a prospective buyer might want answered. For me that would include its features and its drawbacks.

We know that the Kindle is an e-reader, and you have outlined its history quite succinctly, but this would become a much more ‘useful’ article if it reflected the relative features of the piece of kit that it is reviewing, especially if it gives an overall view of what a buyer could expect for their money. It would be all the more valuable from an existing owner such as yourself giving a ’warts an’ all ‘ review.

The advantages and disadvantages that you show in other models could equally well be listed for the Kindle.

Deke