Is kindle the only way to read books at the touch of a button?
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 at
3:27 am
I see kindle and it has everything i want which is the ability to read any book i want whenever i want. Thing I am wondering is, is there another way to read any book you want say online or is kindle the only way?
Filed under: KIndle DX Accessories
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If you mean the text-to-speech function which makes the device read aloud to you, then only the Amazon Kindle has such function. No other device has such function.
If you’re choosing between the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Nobles Nook, I’ve looked into it quite a bit so I can give you some opinions.
From the official page of B&N, here is how the Nook compares with the Kindle:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/nook/compare/
Since Barnes and Noble page is only mentioning the advantage of the Nook over the Kindle, let me try to tell more about the benefit of the Kindle 2 over the Nook:
- There is no internet browser for the Nook. So even with Wi-Fi, you can only use it to purchase book. You cannot do searching in Google, Wikipedia, check email, etc., like what you can do with the Kindle.
- The Amazon Kindle has international free 3G wireless which covers over 100 countries. So even if you’re in places like the UK or Australia, you can access the internet with the Kindle free of charge. The Nook has wireless only within the U.S., and is limited for use of buying books only
- The Kindle is available outside the U.S. (it ships to 176 countries), while the Nook only ship within the U.S. at this moment.
- The Kindle has text-to-speech function, so it can treat an ebook like audio book. This function is not present on the Nook.
- Amazon is already doing some change after the Nook is announced (still more than one month for it to be available). They dropped the price of their International Kindle even further. And they are going to release a PC software which can read their Kindle books.
One more thing to be aware is that, at first glance you may think the Nook can read ebooks with color touch screen. But indeed the color touch screen is only a small screen beneath the greyscale eink screen, and seems it is only used to browse the cover of ebooks.
In my opinion, it is a tie between the Kindle and the Barnes and Noble. But if you may travel and you enjoy reading during your trip, you should go for the Kindle for sure. Moreover, I trust the Kindle will come up with some strategies very soon, like improving their lending book function. The Kindle is the biggest player in the ereader market right now, and I believe it will put enormous effort to hold its position.
I recommend this article as well, it is the best review on ebook readers I’ve ever read:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FR3QM7LGL62MZ4X%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=ereader-2-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
Hope this helps you decide.
Barnes & Noble has a new reader called Nook.
If you’re interested in learning about it: http://www.barnesandnoble.com
Sony has readers, multiple ones, and like the person above said, there is the Nook.
Yes, only the Kindle has the text-to-speech function. Read here for a review about this function:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FRJ6MA1FJ0G0HS%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=moreinfo-po-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
I own the Kindle 2 and actually what I like the most is the text-to-speech function. It means I can "read" books without even holding or looking at the Kindle. Now I like to use this function when I’ve myself busy on some boring things, say when I’m on the step machine or doing some housework…
Hope it helps
I suggest to read ebooks only with ebook readers, because their screen are designed for long hours of reading. If you read online with your computer, the screen will hurt your eyes eventually…
If you mean a device to "read aloud" a book, yes the Kindle is the only way. If you mean to read ebooks any where you want to, any ebook readers will do. But among all the ebook readers, the Kindle is the best.
Here is a great review about the Kindle device:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FR2DUM7S4XW06QN%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ASIN%3DB00154JDAI%26nodeID%3D%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Fpr%255Fcmt&tag=more_info-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957
Hope this helps.
Yes, the Amazon Kindle is the only way.
I suggest you to read this simple and concise review too:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Freview%2FRBWJNZNJGU1EQ%3Fie%3DUTF8%26ref%255F%3Dcm%255Fcr%255Frdp%255Fperm&tag=searchresult-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957