EXCLUSIVE: The colour Kindle is now official.

 The rumours that Amazon's Kindle eReader - still the market leader in eInk devices - will finally be turning colour, seem to be official. There are already full colour eInk devices out there and the Kobo Libra colour has been garnering rave reviews and even tempting some avid digital readers to switch from the Amazon eco-system, so it seems that Amazon either have to take the jump to color or risk becoming old hat in an ever developing market.

Ever since tech analyst,   Ming-Chi Kuo of Tianfeng International Securities        made a prediction that Amazon would release the new colour devices in 2025, fans have been eager to get official news of the new versions of the legendary Kindle. Ming-Chi Kuo is usually correct with his predictions and is much respected in the Tech world. He predicted that Amazon would release a 6 inch device as well as a 10 inch model which would use the new eInk ACep technology. This is a far more advanced system of colour eInk than that found on other eReaders. 

The global market for colour readers is expected to hit 15 - 20 million units annually by 2025 so Amazon really can't afford to lose market share.

Still we've been promised colour eReaders from amazon before and as far back as 2021 it was expected that the Kindle would finally take the leap but it hasn't happened yet. I myself have been using Kindle for many years - I got my first kindle in 2011, the one with a physical keyboard  and used that happily until the Paperwhite was released and for several years now my main device has been the Kindle Oasis. You only have to check this blog's Archives to see The Tainted Archive has always championed eBooks and eReaders, and the Kindle especially.

 But lately I've been considering moving away from Amazon after seeing so many glowing reports of the Kobo Libra colour. Today, I was about to take the plunge but I knew I'd miss the ease of the Kindle eBook store, and so I started a chat on the Amazon helpline and I told them I was thinking of switching to Kobo unless, Amazon could ensure me we would see a colour Kindle soon. The reply I got from the helpdesk, likely a chat-bot, was:

Amazon have yet to make an official announcement - so, has the chat-bot  given me an exclusive on their colour device plans?

The reply is kind of confusing - the line (all that is about to change in 2025) seems a factual statement that colour devices are on the way, and yet the line - (still in the planning stages of a colour revolution) doesn't sound like a definite release, but ABOUT TO CHANGE IN 2025 is an exciting statement.

The Kindle has done more than any other device to popularise the use of eReaders and a colour device is the next natural step. I do hope the new devices have physical buttons like the Oasis. I do like those buttons.

Happy Birthday Kindle

 Last week marked 14 years since the Kindle first burst onto the scene - Back in 2007 Amazon had intended to revolutionise reading with its eReading device and here in 2021 I think it can safely be said that it is a case of mission accomplished.

The Rocketbook.

It was ten years previously, in 1997, that the first true eReader was created and this was the Rocketbook. It was created by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning, voracious readers who saw a future where everyone was reading electronically. 

They initially took their prototype to Jeff Bazos and for a short while it looked like Bezos and Amazon were going to run with the Rocketbook, but the fact that books had to be hard-loaded, via a USB cable, soured the deal and Bezos passed on the design.

"Bezos seemed impressed but had some reservations. To download books, a customer needed to plug the e-reader into his computer. We talked about wireless but it was crazily expensive at the time. It would add an extra four hundred dollars to each unit and the data plans were insane.”  Martin Eberhard

The pair then took the device to Barnes and Noble and a deal was struck at once. In its first year the Rocketbook sold over 20,000 eReaders.

The Rocketbook, now a device largely forgotten to history, was the father of the modern eReader, and it would take another ten years before Amazon did get in on the so called future of reading when it launched the first ever Kindle device.

 This time books could be loaded by wi-fi, the resolution of eInk had improved and Amazon launched the device with 90,000 eBooks available in its eBook store.

The first generation of the Kindle sold out within five and a half hours of its launch - Amazon had a massive hit on their hand. 

At the same time Amazon also launched their Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) store which allowed anyone to easily publish a eBook to their platform for sale to eager Kindle readers out there, and many many writers, as well as spivs who suddenly developed a literary ambition, did.

In 2009 Amazon launched the next generation Kindle, offering some improvements on the original clunky device.

True, there have been a few missteps - The Kindle DX for one was short lived and the Kindle Voyage, a deluxe eReader never really took off in the way Amazon expected. 

To be fair the Voyage was a very good eReader, but it didn't really do that much more than the Kindle Paperwhite, and maybe the timing of its launch, when tablets were starting to take off, worked against it. In the end Amazon discontinued the Voyage. The company would eventually score a success though with deluxe eReaders and the current Kindle Oasis, my own reader of choice, is a great seller despite being the most expensive eReader out there.

" My top objective was to make the Kindle disappear.We want to provide the ultimate reading experience—so a person forgets that he's using a device." Jeff Bezos

And now in 2021 the Kindle has become synonymous with the eBook industry - sure there are other great devices out there from other companies, but it is the Kindle that holds the biggest market share across the world, and the devices we use today offer a truly immersive experience. Bezos always said that he wanted to device to disappear in the reader's hand, for them to be sucked into the story and that aim has been met tenfold.

Happy Birthday, Kindle.

Amazon announce new Kindle paperwhite

 

Amazon have announced the next generation Kindle Paperwhite - the screen size increases from 6 inches to 6 by 8, which brings it close to the Oasis with its 7 inch screen. The bezels on the new paperwhite are also flush, again like the Oasis and at last the Kindle's gone to USB-C charging - something, most thought Amazon would have done a lone time ago since USB-C seems to fast becoming an industry standard.

The new Paperwhite has a larger screen, 6.8 square inches compared to 6 square inches for the previous version, a dark mode and adjustable warm light, IPX8 water resistance and, according to Amazon, 20 percent faster page turns and 10 percent more brightness at the highest setting. Amazon says that this e-reader has a battery life of up to 10 weeks, compared to up to 6 weeks in the last version, and the new version takes 2.5 hours to charge fully with USB-C charging (with a 9W adapter or larger). The new version still has the 300 ppi display and 8 GB of storage that the previous version had, and access to Amazon’s collection of e-books.

New Kindle update gets users in a spin

 We recently reported on the updates that Amazon were rolling out for their entire Kindle eReader range and now that Update   5.13.7,  has been rolled out users are starting to see a difference in the UI (user interface) on their Kindles. Many don't like the changes.

Amazon have had a spate of complaints about how the new update rearranges things and that the home-screen forces you to look at recommendations Amazon say that the layout is going to change again soon so these complaints may be premature.

Amazon will continue rolling out the new updates but Kindle users have been left bemused that there has been no official mention of a colour eInk reader as of yet. The Kindle has always led the field with eInk readers but it may start to fall behind if it doesn't get a move on with colour particularly as some companies are now selling colour eInk readers.

Below I have embedded a video from the GoodeReader which compares colour eInk to Kindle's popular Paperwhite.

New Kindle updates around the corner

 Amazon are to roll out new updates to their eReader devices over the next few weeks, that the company claim will improve on an already great reading experience - Amazon is introducing a new interface for the Kindle devices which the brand claims will offer a more intuitive and easier Kindle reading experience. The new interface is expected to come with software updates that are expected to start rolling out next week. As per a report by PCMag, Amazon is set to roll out the new interface in two major updates.

The first update is expected to bring a smartphone-like navigation bar to the Amazon Kindle e-book readers. The navigation bar will make moving through the interface much easier. The readers are also set to get quick toggles when users swipe down from the top. These toggles will feature controls for changing the brightness and toggling Airplane Mode.

The second update will reportedly focus on improving the eBook pages themselves. A minor update to Home will bring readers up to 20 recently opened books at a time, but the Library tab is set to get new filters, a new collections view and a scrollbar. These features will make finding the right book quicker and easier.

The release notes for Kindle software upgrades usually don’t include much detail. Since the updates roll out gradually, it can take a while to see new features on your device. Recent updates have included bug fixes and performance improvements that made starting a new book much faster. Users with ad-free devices got a new lockscreen that displays a book cover. 

New Kindle devices for 2021

 It is looking highly likely that the new version of the Kindle Paperwhite (expected this November) will have a lager screen -   Reports out of China are that the Kindle Paperwhite 5 screens are in mass production. Instead of the traditional 6 inch screen, they will instead use a 6.8 inch screen. Foxconn is assembling all of the components and doing all of the fitting and quality inspection. The one bottleneck right now is the main E INK factory in Yangzhou, eastern China, which provides the EPD screens. It has been closed due to a resurgence in COVID. The local government took strict measures to control traffic and people’s mobility, and consequently, production at the factory has decreased a great deal. In addition to reduced production, many shipments from the factory have been deferred. After the local government lifts the control, E Ink will make the most efforts to hike production and clean deferred shipments. They estimated that this will be complete in November, but I am now hearing reports they will be back to work sometime in September - the luxury flagship Kindle Oasis is also expected to have a revamp with full colour capabilities.

THE DUMMIES GUIDE TO READING ON YOUR PHONE

Available to read on your phone

 More and more readers are reading digital books on their Android devices - and for old timers like me, who may be a bit confused by that statement - UM, er what's an Android device? Well usually it's a smartphone or a tablet, though it can be other devices but let's keep it simple and stick to smartphones and tablets for the moment.

Now I'm not a complete luddite when it comes to digital books, and I wouldn't be without my KIndle Oasis, but all the same the thought of reading on a phone screen seemed odd to me. I had concerns about eye-strain but you know using my Samsung s8 with a Kindle App is something I do more and more when I find myself with maybe five minutes to read, and I'm without my Oasis. The experience is good, damn good. Damn these kids come up with some good ideas these days.

Books can be heavy, expensive, and take up valuable space in a cramped rooms. Not you can store trillions, squillions, billions, willions in the cloud and call them to your phone when needed.

So below  are a list of APPS (all free) that can be downloaded to smartphones/tablets to make eReading simplicity. Simply go to the APP Store on your smartphone or tablet and search for any of these free APPS. Most of these APP's are also available for Apple's IOS system.

Amazon Kindle: You can use this app to read your favorite books, magazines and newspapers. This works on all compatible android devices and you need not have a Kindle device to use this eBook reader. One of the best things about this eBook reader is that it has a large library that has a collection of more than four million eBooks. Many of these eBooks are free, so you don’t have to pay even a single penny. You will be notified about new book releases and you can shop for these directly from the app. You can also sync your books to your other digital devices. Amazon Kindle features an in-built dictionary that allows you to search for words instantly while you are reading
.
Aldiko: This is one of the longest surviving eBook readers on Android and also one of the most popular. One of the best things about Aldiko is that it supports various file formats such as ePub, PDF and DRM encrypted files. Aldiko is preferred by people who want to use advanced customization such as adjusting the font type, font size, background color, margin, line spacing, alignment, brightness, etc. You can access Aldiko’s free eBook collection or buy new books with the in-app purchase feature.

MOON: While being able to purchase books from a major retailer and download them to your phone is awesome, sometimes the books you want to read are ones that you already have the files for. Whether you've picked up ebooks from an independent publisher, or you've gotten the files from a now-defunct program, being able to open and read them is key. That's where Moon+Reader comes in.
It has support for 12 different file formats, from .rar files all the way to .epub files. On top of that, you still are able to customize the way words look on the screen, lets you back up your library online, and gives you access to 5 auto-scroll options on top of plenty more fantastic features.


Universal Book Reader: This is a user-friendly eBook reader for Android. One of the prominent features of this app is that you can use it to convert various file types to ePub or PDF. The book reading experience is truly delightful with Universal Book Reader, as the page flipping animation is really smooth and stylish. Just like Kindle, this also has in-built dictionary, allowing you to instantly search for words.

Google Play Books: This is great for reading eBooks available on Google Play. You can also enjoy audiobooks that are now available on Google Play. The good thing about this app is that you have access to millions of bestselling e-books, comics, textbooks, and audiobooks. You can also upload your own eBooks in ePub format. Google Play Books will convert these in compatible format and make it available in the Play Books library.

Kobo: This allows readers to choose from more than 5 million eBooks and audiobooks. Users can choose free eBooks or buy new or existing eBooks using the in-app purchase feature. Kobo offers a range of customization options that make reading a pleasure. Navigation is smooth and lag-free. Kobo comes with a timer that you can use to program the app to shut down at the desired time. This is very useful when you may be listening to an audiobook while going to sleep.


And if you are reading on a smartphone here are some tips: (thanks to Michael Desjardin of Reviewed)

Calibrate your smartphone to save battery

Like any eReader, a smartphone's battery is destined to be drained quickly while the display is in use. Don't let getting lost in a good book cause you to lose your battery life—here are some quick and dirty tips for prolonging the life of your smartphone while you use it to read.
· Set your brightness accordingly. Consider using your phone's auto-brightness feature to adjust to the lighting conditions on-the-fly. If you're feeling really controlling, you could set your smartphone's brightness ahead of time and then turn off the auto-brightness feature (I find this works quite well on planes and trains).

· Take advantage of your reading app's color adjustments (if available). Many eReading apps give you the option to alter the colors of a book's pages. My favorite option (if you're using an app that offers such a thing) is to inverse the pages from black-text-on-white scheme to a white-text-on-black scheme. Your smartphone will thank you if it doesn't have to use as much juice to power a bright, white background for hours on end.

· Turn off your WiFi and mobile data while reading. This one seems obvious, but trust me: I forget to do it with embarrassing frequency. If you're on a train, bus, or plane all afternoon, there's no need for your phone to dedicate resources to a WiFi connection it's not using.

2021 - The Colour Kindle

 Rumours are rife on technical websites that Amazon are to finally release a colour eInk version of the Kindle for 2021, and this now looks to be a sure thing. 

The current range of Kindle devices are more that three years old. 

Amazon didn't release any new Kindles last year due to the fact that their hardware is made by Foxcon in China and given the Covid situation the factory has been running at only 30% capacity.

 Several times during 2020 Amazon's Kindle range were completely sold out, before stock was replenished so the market is obviously out there.

At the moment there are a few colour eReaders due out in the first quarter of this year and these will use the second generation Kaleido colour ePaper which has great contrast and its greyscale will work fine with front lighted displays. The format will work on screens from 5.84 to 10 inches and eInk have said that they are ramping up production of colour screens both in California and China.

This serves as a threat to Amazon because any eReader that runs Android will be able to use the Amazon Kindle App, which of course will see Amazon losing out on hardware sales.

Add all this to the fact that Amazon have become a reactionary company in terms of new technologies - waiting for rivals to try out new technologies and iron out the bugs, before stepping in with their Kindle version - then it looks like the smart money is on the Kindle finally going colour.

2021 then, is certain to be the year of the colour kindle.

Jeepers Creepers eReaders are good for your peepers

It now seems ancient history but it was not that many years back when people (myself included) were looking at these new fangled eReaders in dismay. They will never replace real books and whilst I still love physical books, I do find that most of my fiction reading is done on my Kindle. A case in point of how the Kindle has become my go to device for fiction is that I recently bought the new Giles Kristian book, Camelot in hardcover (I love and collect this author) and then picked up the eBook version for reading.

I will no longer call print books real books to differentiate them from eBooks, since both are real books. When you're in the story the delivery medium matters not.


"eReaders have become hugely popular in recent years. While at the start, many people claimed that they would never replace actual books, with the tactile nature of page turning part of the fun of reading for many, their usefulness has converted more than a few critics. Part of the appeal of eBooks is for anyone to publish their work, and therefore easy for people to find exactly what they’re looking for. Want to find the biography of an obscure Belgian artist or the local history of your area? Chances are that someone has written an eBook on the subject, and you can download it instantly." The Good Ereader Blog




And now it seems that eReaders have anoher benefit and a recent article published in the excellent Good eReader Blog published a study on eye health and eReaders - Find it HERE



The Reluctant Terrorist - get the bestselling adventure from Amazon worldwide.

"It's an eccentric dimwitted character book. Sort of like a set in Wales version of a Florida set Dave Barry, Carl Hiaasen, Bill Fitzhugh novels. It ends up not being a bad novel at all. Only takes a few hours to read too, give it a go."

Amazon to kill off basic Kindle

Amazon is in the process of discontinuing the entry level Kindle. This is the e-reader is primarily aimed at new users and normally costs £59. Amazon has removed it from the Kindle Family page and the only readers they are marketing is the Paperwhite, Voyage and Oasis., Reports Good eReader Magazine.


The entry level Kindle came out in 2014 and has an older E Ink Pearl display, which is really outdated e-paper technology.  It has abysmal refresh issues when it comes to page turns and interacting with all of the menus and navigation bar. The Basic Kindle is the oldest digital reader that Amazon has consistently sold for the past four years, and has sold well. However the device is still available at Amazon UK and rather than the company killing off the basic Kindle, I simply don't believe they would do that, it looks as if the device will get a new all bells and whistle revamp.

Good eReader goes onto report that:

Amazon is likely going to refresh the entry level Kindle and the Paperwhite in the coming weeks. The entry level Kindle will have an E-Ink Carta HD display, which will have the same resolution and PPI as the Kindle Paperwhite. Speaking of the Paperwhite, this device is rumoured to have a new color temperature lightning system that is similar to the Nook Glowlight 3 and the Kobo Clara HD. The Paperwhite will also have Bluetooth capability which will allow you to plug in wireless headphones or a speaker to listen to audiobooks from Audible.

Kindle Publishing Trends 2018

This guy talks some good sense here...worth  watching as he certainly knows his onions.

Amazon take legal action against Book Stuffing

When Amazon launched their KIndle Unlimited program a lot of authors saw their royalties dropping - the subscription model is definately unfair to those trying to make a living by self publishing, so it is no wonder that some have found a way to rig the system in their favour. Book stuffing basically comes down to the way the Kindle program pays authors: Through a global royalty fund that is split between all of the self-publishing authors included in the Kindle subscription services. The fund is doled out per number of pages read. Book stuffers slip entire books into the back of their latest ebook, getting significantly more pages in front of their reader's eyeballs and taking a larger chunk of that month's royalty fund as a result — earning as much as $100,000 per month.

Last Tuesday, an Amazon subsidiary filed suit in federal court seeking to confirm an arbitration award against British book publisher Jake Dryan and his companies, relating to claims that the publisher's companies abused Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), the Amazon self-publishing program. According to Amazon Digital Services LLC’s petition, Law360 reports, the self-publisher breached Amazon's terms by using bots or "clickfarms" to inflate page views and manipulate their ranking. However, the petition also identified another practice in violation of Kindle's terms: The act of "combining selections of works they had already published into purportedly new books." It's a much-hated move called "book stuffing" by the self-publishing community, and this suit is the first indication of a legal precedent against it.

"Authors have very strong feelings about any kind of cheating or scamming, but book stuffing stands out because it artificially inflates the payout that cheaters receive from Amazon — money which comes from a communal pot," David Gaughran, author of several books on digital publishing, tells me. "Our end, in other words. Many feel that's why Amazon has been very slow to do anything about this problem, because it is costing us more than them.


"It's hard to know if this is the beginning of Amazon finally cracking down on cheaters and scammers, or a one-off warning shot. I hope it's the former, but I'm skeptical because since arbitration was first filed in this matter in September 2017, Amazon has continued to reward the biggest cheaters every single month with huge All Star bonuses — money which should have gone to hard-working, honest authors. These cheaters are a plague on the Kindle Store," Gaughran adds. Amazon first filed the legal action against Dryan, along with four other legal actions against other individuals, in September, covering a variety of alleged Kindle publishing abuses.

New Kindle Oasis starts shipping

Amazon have announced that their Champagne Gold KIndle Oasis, the luxury eReader, will begin shipping from April 11th. Amazon have been out of stock of the basis Oasis model for the past few weeks but also announced that new stock will be arriving shortly.

Why I love my Kindle

Click HERE

Kindle loses digital weight

Amazon have launched a lite version of their Kindle App for those with slow internet connections - FULL STORY

New Kindle Paperwhite on its way

The fourth generation Kindle Paperwhite is due out this winter, and the word is that it will be waterproof and feature a virtual panel system which will make reading comic books easier on the device. The device will be called the “All New Paperwhite.” This model will have two different storage configurations, 8GB and 32GB. Amazon will also be debuting a new system called “Virtual Panel” . It isolates panels in comic books, manga, newspapers and magazines so you do not need to pinch and zoom each page if the text or images are too small. Each panel is blown up and fills up the entire six inch screen and whenever you turn a page, there is a small map displayed on the bottom right hand corner. This is designed to help orientate users on where they are in a specific page.

Personally I'm hoping it gets a speaker and the ability to play audiobook just like the Oasis - but I suppose we'll have to wait and see what Amazon do with the king of eReaders.

And looking back into the Archives HERE'S my review of the original paperwhite.

Kindle goes gold

I love my Kindle, wouldn't be without it but I've not upraded from my second generation Paperwhite to Amazon's more expensive flagship Kindle, the Oasis - there are several reason for this. For one I think the Oasis is far too expensive and for another I don't see how they can improve on the reading experience I get from the Paperwhite.  Well now Amazon are to launch a champagne gold version of the Oasis. The new model will be gold plated on the sides and back of the device, but I certainly won't be tempted. The Paperwhite is superb and when I do need another device - I recently had to replace my model after a can of Monster energy drink burst in my bag - I'll simply get another Paperwhite. I've already bought two of the buggers.

The paperwhite currently retails for £109, while the Oasis will set you back more than twice that at £229 and, no doubt, the gold plated device will be even more expensive. The screens are remarkbly simlar on both models and although the Oasis has bells and whistles, it doesn't really alter the reading experience.

The specs for the current Paperwhite are:

• Unsurpassed high-resolution 300 ppi display that reads like printed paper. Unlike tablets, no screen glare, even in bright sunlight
• Thin and light design with built-in adjustable light - read day and night
• Single battery charge lasts weeks, not hours
• Indulge your love of reading without e-mail alerts or push notifications
• Massive selection, low prices-over 5.5 million books including latest bestsellers, Kindle exclusives and more 
•  
• And the Oasis specs are:  
• 
  
• 
  
  • Now available in stylish Champagne Gold and Graphite colour options.
  • Our largest, highest resolution display-7" and 300 ppi, reads like printed paper, without glare, even in bright sunlight.
  • The first waterproof Kindle (IPX8), so you are free to read in even more places.
  • Now with Audible you have access to over 200,000 audio titles. Pair with Bluetooth to take the story with you anytime, anywhere.
  • Thin and light ergonomic design with dedicated page-turn buttons and adaptive front light so you can read even more comfortably for hours.
  • Keep reading-a single charge lasts weeks, not hours.
  • Enjoy twice the storage with 8 GB. Or choose 32 GB to hold more magazines, comics, newspapers and audiobooks. 
  •  

I read a book this week....it was weird.

I picked up and read a book this week, perhaps for the first time in several years - it was weird.

 I should clarify that statement - when I say I picked up a book, I mean a physical book (a paperback to be precise) and yes it was the first time I've done this in a long long time.  I felt as if I'd fallen down the rabbit hole, as I turned the pages on what felt like an ancient artefact. As I say it was weird.

That's not to say I've not read a book in years. Far from it, I've always got a book on the go, but I think that the only fiction I've read for at the very least four years, likely even longer, has been on my Kindle. It is now my preferred method for reading - fiction, that is. I still prefer physical books for research, non-fiction and all that, but fiction is so much more convenient when done electronically. With the latest eReaders having built in screen lights you don't need a lamp, you don't need to fold a page to create a bookmark, or stuff an old envelope

between the pages to mark your place, and my ever so slim eReader easily fits well into the pocket on my ever so macho man-bag. It goes everywhere with me. I've replaced my eReader several times - upgrades mostly though recently a can of Monster energy drink burst in that macho man-bag and ruined my beloved Kindle Paperwhite. I almost cried but quickly got another Paperwhite.  I couldn't live without the device.

Strange when initially I scoffed at the idea of eBooks - I'm a lifelong book lover, I have thousands of books taking up space in my home, but I suppose that like most bookish people I initially took the plunge into eReaders out of curiosity. My first eReader was an elonex from Borders (remember them) - that was around 2010, I think. And although I quite liked it I didn't fall in love with it, and maybe after a year I upgraded to one of the Sony eReaders. I resisted the Kindle at the time because back then the Kindle wouldn't allow ePub files and only used Amazon's own coding system - was this

Mobi? I'm not sure, to be honest. I don't think it was - I think in the early days the Kindle used its own unique coding system before adopting Mobi as the standard. Perhaps someone reading this post will be able to clarify in the comments section. Anyway back then I didn't want to be tied into one place to buy my eBooks.

Now the Sony was an improvement on the Elonex - the page turns were faster, eBook availability was far superior and for a good few years I was happy with the device. I would estimate that by this point I was reading digitally quite regularly, but I think physical books still came out top in the reading stakes.

I only moved to the Kindle when Amazon launched the Paperwhite - and to be honest since then I've not looked back. I read around 50 novels last year, and all these were on my Paperwhite. And as I say it's now got to the point where a physical book feels awkward in my hands. I also like the easy availability of books on the Amazon Kindle Store, and how I can press a button and have the book on my device in seconds. And these days a lot of books, the kind I like anyway, are only available in digital editions. And of course I can get eBooks elsewhere and simply slide load them onto my device via the USB cable and the free Calibre software.

Of course Amazon's flagship eReader is now the Oasis - and I am thinking of getting one, but at the moment I'm happy with my Paperwhite. I see no reason to upgrade. Perhaps another Monster Assault somewhere down the road, will prompt me to do so but for the moment I think I'll stick with the Paperwhite. Those Oasis devices are bloody expensive, you know.

Of course my home is still full of books and whenever an author I follow launches a new book, I get the hard-cover which sits unread in my collection - I then buy the eBook where available and read that. Are other book lovers like this, I wonder! Has digital reading taken over your reading life?

eBooks Today - The Kindle

"The eBook world is seeing new developments by the second but the biggest concern at the moment is the format wars currently being fought. This can be confusing and leaves people understandably dubious about buying a reader that will be obsolete in a few short months" 

I wrote the above here on this blog back in 2009, and looking back it doesn't seem that I was ahead of the game at all. I warned about buying eReaders that would be obsolete in a short while as the technology moved on at a tremendous rate. I warned against the Kindle, feeling that it was useless because it tied you into the Amazon store and didn't support ePub - then listening to my own advice I went to Borders (remember them) and bought a shiny new Elonex eReader.As it turned out this device would be the Betamax of eReaders - but I didn't know that at the time.

"On 28th of August 2009 I boasted - "I've taken the leap and gone and got myself one of those new fangled e-book readers. I was going to go for the new UK version of The Kindle but it's up in the air as of when it will actually go on sale. And so I've opted for the Elonex which is exclusive to Borders."

And in the review of the now defunct reader I wrote:

"Now when I first started reading on it I found myself unable to get into the story - Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, with the total immersion I manage with printed books but this was to do with having to get used to the way it worked rather than the experience itself. And after a few hours I'd forgotten that I had a piece of cutting edge technology in my hand and I was in a world of white washed fences and wild adventures on the river."

However a few months later I'd grown tired of the Elonex and, still avoiding the Kindle, I'm moved to...well this comes from October 2009 -  

"The basic Elonex eReader was the first device I owned and whilst it did the job it did seem a bit basic and these days my eReader of choice is my Sony PS300 Pocket Reader, which gives a much better reading experience. In fact, to my mind, the Sony trumps the Kindle merely because it uses the ePub format. The Kindle is a mighty fine machine but it ties you down to Amazon's eBook store and whilst I'm a big fan of Amazon's service I don't want to be tied to the one supplier".

The Sony was a fine machine and I used it for a couple of years before finally taking the plunge and getting a Kindle. These days I swear by my Kindle Paperwhite and take it everywhere and in terms of fiction I don't read too many physical books - these days I consume more than 90% of my fiction on my Paperwhite. The Elonex and Sony both went on eBay and I didn't lose any money in the deals and I've gone from one Kindle version to the next. The Paperwhite is actually my fourth Kindle. Yep love them or loathe them Amazon now domnate the eBook market and I don't see that changing for a long long time.

In my initial review of my first Kindle, the Kindle 3, I wrote back in 2011:

"Thanks to Amazon I now have a gleaming new Kindle in my sweaty hands - and after road testing it I can say that it is not for nothing is the Kindle considered the best eReader on the market. It's a pity the device still doesn't support the ePub format, but given the strength of the Amazon store I am willing to overlook this small niggle.
The single most important thing with any eReader is the display screen, and the Kindle's is quite brilliant. The eInk Pearl screen really does look like paper. The background in a nice clean white and the text standing out clearly- you can also increase the size of the text, which makes reading as comfortable as a traditional book.
The controls are quite straight forward, though I did find that having the pages forward and back controls on the same side of the device a little clunky, but when you get used to this it becomes second nature. It is also a nice touch to be able to re-orientate the display to landscape. Pictures are reproduced with clarity, though only, as with most dedicated eReaders, in black and white"

So what was it that finally made me switch to the Kindle? Well the Elonex and Sony were fine machines, the Sony especially, but buying and loading books to the devices was often a pain. And the industry was in a state of flux and eBook stores were closing seeming by the hour, before new stores opened up forcing the user to go through an annoying sequence of button presses to register with new stores. I bought the device to enjoy books not to tap in my email and password every other day. Amazon on the other hand made things simple and once the device was registered with your Amazon account it was easy to buy books. There was also the fact that Amazon's eBook store was second to none in terms of the range of eBook available.

And now we find ourselves in 2014 and the Elonex has been forgotten, become a footnote in eReader history,  while the Sony has lost most of its market share. Devices such as the Kobo came along and for a short period seriously challenged the Kindle's dominance, but Amazon's Kindle remains the market leader - this has been achieved by continuing to improve the device, keeping the price low and building an eBook store that is second to none.

Yep - love Amazon or hate Amazon you can't deny the Kindle is a great device that offers an excellent user experience.

 It was not until  2012 I took the plunge and moved up to the Kindle Paperwhite, this is my current eReader of choice - whilst I may not love it quite as much as my wife and kids and dogs it certainly comes a close second. In my initial review of the Paperwhite I wrote:


"The UK finally got the latest addition to the Kindle family this last month and I've had mine since Christmas day so I've had a chance to fully test the device. I was eager to get the Paperwhite and although I already own a third generation Kindle and a Kindle Fire, it was the Paperwhite I'd been waiting for. Firstly unlike the Kindle Fire which is a tablet device the Paperwhite is a dedicated eInk eReader. And while I love my Kindle Fire I use it for watching movies and reading graphic novels rather than standard novels - eInk is so much easier on the eyes for reading and actually does replicate the reading on paper experience.

The biggest addition to the Paperwhite is of course the front-lit screen but Amazon have also increased the contrast and display itself so  this is the best Kindle eInk screen yet. The touch screen is also more responsive than previous Kindles and the cleaned up interface, there is only one button the the device, is a massive improvement - you can swipe through pages or simply tap the screen. The device also allows the brightness of the light to be customized - a nice touch this and surprisingly having the brightness on full in daylight improves the display no end, whilst dim works best in a dark environment. The device gets closer to the ideal of black ink on white paper than ever before. A good thing since the Paperwhite is designed to have the light on all the time. Amazon says: "a single charge lasts up to eight weeks, based on half an hour of reading per day with wireless off and the light setting at 10. Only time will tell I suppose but I charged my Paperwhite on Christmas Day and have read more than three hours each day since and the power bar of the battery is still close to a full charge."


And now we are in the second half of 2014 and Amazon have already upgraded the Paperwhite to a second generation, but at the moment I see no reason to upgrade from my beloved original Paperwhite. The improvements on the second generation are minimal so I won't be parting with my original for some time yet.

A recent software update to the eReader added some new options that were previously only available on the second gen Paperwhite and although these don't really change the reading experience they are nice additions -especially the vocabulary builder AP which I find incerdibly useful. I also like it that Good Reads is now tied into the Kindle so you can interact via the device with other readers.

The Kindle really has made social reading a reality.






.

McBain been and gone Kindled

Amazon's own publishing imprint, Thomas & Mercer, named for streets that flank Amazon headquarters in Seattle, are proving to be the dog's bollocks as far as I'm concerned. They've recently made Ed McBain's entire 87th Precinct series available for the Kindle, and at prices way cheaper than a standard mass market paperback.

Thomas & Mercer have an impressive list of authors singed to the imprint, both long established names as well as newcomers. Well done Amazon - say what you like about the company they certainly serve readers well.

I've just downloaded Cop Hater, the first of the 87th series, to my Kindle - I've never read it you see - and was blown away by the sheer descriptive beauty of the opening paragraph -  From the river bounding the city on the north, you saw only the magnificent skyline. You stare up at it in something like awe, and sometimes you caught  your breath because  the view was one of majestic splendor.The clear silhouettes of the buildings slashed at the sky, devouring the blue; flat planes and long planes, rough rectangles and needle shaped spires, minarets and peaks, pattern upon pattern laid in geometric unity against the wash of blue and white which was the sky - and the story that follows is pretty damn good too. I'm about half way through and will likely finish the book tonight.And you know, I'll be following the entire series so I know I've got a tried and trusted series, one with a huge reputation, to discover for the first time.

Ain't that a good feeling!