Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!
Fred,
the thing with the ipad is that you can use various different apps to read ebooks. My main suggestion (and a strong one) is not to buy through ibooks. The Nook and Kindle have apps for ipad and I have purchased books through both B&N and Amazon and am able to read them on the ipad.
Second, I have Stanza for open access books (free books) that I have found through various websites, etc.
There are some scholarly books available on Amazon that I have bought through ebooks, but most of my reading (academic) is via pdf and there are a number of pdf readers you can use on the ipad.
let me know if you need more info.
I haven't much tried to get things from my phone to my kindle, but I have done vice-versa--go to "archived" and you find everything you've purchased, and can download any of it.
I don't see anything in my Archive when I use the app. But I have Archived items! This is weird.
I gave that same Kindle to a friend recently for her birthday and I hope she's not put off by the ads.
They're not too bad, although the "sponsored" screensaver is kind of obnoxious since it turns your Kindle into a giant ad. But it's not a huge deal, as long as there aren't ads popping up when I'm actually reading a book, which I don't think there are.
I charged the Kindle all night, and it never reached full. That was weird.
You can pay extra to get the ads removed from your Kindle.
the thing with the ipad is that you can use various different apps to read ebooks
Not just the iPad. I think a lot of people don't realise that B&N and Amazon make apps for PCs as well as the prominent phone OSs. You don't have to invest in special hardware (canny move) to be able to take advantage of their catalogue.
ita,
fred was asking because he just got an ipad, so I replied in kind.
I'm not criticising your answer. I'm just expanding on it.
There's also Google Books and Kobo and I had to get Overdrive to read library books on the iPad but I imagine that varies by library (I don't recommend it if you have other options). There's an app called eBook Search that is pretty handy if you are looking for something specific but don't know where it would be available, or for browsing various collections of free e-books. There's a lot out there and it's hard to say what will or won't be available in digital format.
You can open .pdfs in iBooks, too, which I have gotten used to. Why do you recommend against iBooks, le nubian?
I stopped using iBooks for PDFs because, at a certain point, my PDF library got too large for iBooks to handle. It stopped syncing properly.
I had to get Overdrive to read library books on the iPad but I imagine that varies by library
As far as I know, Overdrive is the only legal way for libraries to lend Kindle books.
Whoa, yeah, that would be a problem.
Eta: iBooks not handling large numbers of PDFs, I mean.
