Kindle vs Book

If you are an avid reader, I am sure that you have heard of Amazon and its electronic book device called the Amazon Kindle? So, what are the pros and cons of the Kindle vs book? There is a problem with the amount of trees we use for paper and this has partially been countered by the use of recycled material, but have we overcome the problem? Probably not, so the Kindle vs book question could help out tremendously here. The latest version of these popular handheld book readers can hold the content 3,500 books and that saves a lot of paper and a lot of recycled paper too.

Kindle vs book? That is the question. Obviously, it has to be a personal choice. I personally like having a physical book to read and hold, but I do not like lugging the weight of half-a-dozen thick, paper books with me when I go on holiday. I like it even less, when I am travelling around, say, the Far East and finish my last book before my vacation ends. It is not always easy to find a good book store abroad.

This is where the Kindle wins the Kindle vs book debate. If you run out of reading material, you either go on line with the built-in Wi-Fi and download a book or if there is insufficient wireless coverage, go into an Internet Cafe, download it by computer and transfer it by USB. However, this should never be an issue as the latest Kindles can hold 3,500 ebooks.

There are hundreds of thousands of books written by famous authors before 1923 that are out of copyright and you can download them free of charge from at least three sources and probably more. The Kindle vs book debate will go on and on, but I think that it is just a question of horses for courses. And talking about courses, universities will probably switch to ebook readers within five years, soon to be followed by colleges and high schools.

Kindle Screen Size

There are at least two Kindle screen sizes: the standard Kindle screen size of 6″ and the Kindle DX with a screen of 9.7″, which is marketed to better read text books, newspapers and magazines. However, there are other ways of reading Kindle ebooks too. You can get a free Amazon app to allow you to download and read Kindle books on your desktop, laptop, tablet, palm top and even cell phone. You can even read kindle books on your TV screen, so the Kindle screen size is really up to you.

Handheld Book Readers

Kindle is Amazon’s ebook reader, but there are other handheld book readers too. Dozens of them in fact, but they are all about the same price and Amazon has the advantage of having such a huge catalogue of e-books ready for instant download. some of which are free. There are other e-book stores and libraries though offering free, downloadable ebooks for handheld book readers like the Project Gutenberg Press Library and Google Books. if you are interested in handheld book readers, you will have to look at the Kindle, but remember that there are other choices too.

Electronic Book Devices

Electronic book devices are usually just called ebooks or ebook readers. Kindle is only one of the many electronic book devices on the market. Indeed, people were reading ebooks ten years or more before Kindle handheld book readers became available. Kindle recognises that too and you can use one of the free kindle apps to read Kindle books on you desktop, laptop or cell phone screens. Amazon Kindle handheld book readers are popular because they are so portable, but a full size computer screen is still easiest of all electronic book devices to see.

Kindle Reader Format

The kindle reader format is Amazon’s own, in-house format called AZW and every ebook that you buy or download from Amazon will be published in this format. However, the Kindle will read other formats if you transfer material from a computer via a USB cable or if you get Amazon to convert the file for you. If you want to convert a document to the Kindle reader format, you can send it to an email address at Amazon, where they will convert it free of charge and send it back to you. Using the Kindle reader format will solve strange formatting quirks produced by non-AZW formats. The Amazon Kindle will also read ebooks to you as audio books. Stephen king was the first author to publish a novel exclusively in Kindle reader format.

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All the best,

Owen

Podcast: Kindle vs Book