Kindle Fire?

The original kindle models have a matte screen that they say resembles a real book page, and they market as readable in full sun. The fire has a glossy screen, so it may be more difficult (I’ve only used mine indoors, so I couldn’t say) I had to root mine and flash an android rom just because I like to mess with stuff the “man” doesn’t want you to mess with, and my battery life is now significantly diminished. The battery life on the stock UI is pretty darn good… out of the box, mine would hold a charge for a couple days with constant usage and wi-fi always on. The reading app is excellent, more features than any version, and even magazines and comic books look great on it. The movie and music playback is crisp and the volume is decent. I didn’t like how the stock UI wouldn’t allow downloading apps from android, but there are several loop-holes for that.

@basement_shaman I can’t say I don’t think the same way regarding both the job security and the technological advancement. To be honest though, I wasn’t even thinking of it in those terms so I’m glad you brought it up. I have to contemplate this more.

@Scurvy I was looking at all the mods for the fire and they are pretty extensive. Basically turning the kindle into a smart phone without paying a cellphone provider a ridiculous amount of money to have a smart phone. I guess it would be more akin to a tablet than a smart phone. This is all new to me though and I’m just starting to research it. Looking for a christmas present.

How about the jobs of the technicians and engineers and program developers who build the kindle? There are people who develop, build, package, ship, transport and sell electronics. Not trying to argue, just a thought. I don’t harvest paper or build electronics, so no bias here.

@Scurvy No, this actually a good conversation to have. I often view electronics as a way to free people from doing the mundane things in life. Basically freeing up time that otherwise would be spent doing things manually. One press of a button and a purchase is made or a bill is paid. This of course would assume that the user utilizes this extra time wisely. This time could be used to think or dream of new ways to envision a future of new jobs. Maybe this time could be focused on searching for a new way to do things. Technology does have a way of separating people or bringing them together. While I like my old ways of doing things, I do love technology.

@BigDaddySnuff I have the first generation KF, seems like there’s some fancier ones out now. I’d imagine the model would really depend on how you intend to use it? If you strictly want it for reading books, I’d say save the scratch and get one of the original kindle readers. If you want to browse Snuffhouse, listen to music, watch movies and netflix, play games, or any of that fancy stuff the Fire is the way to go… then decide on how important hi-def and screen size is to you. It’s nice if you’re on the go a lot, read a lot of books at once, etc… I was out of town for a week on training, took the kindle to read and watch movies in the hotel room. I do prefer the feel of real book and holding the kindle is a little awkward compared to a book. My wife loves the pandora internet radio, and carries the kindle around the house for music.

@Scurvy I was looking at the standard fire with the 7" screen ($159). The HD fires are out of my price range and seeing how the price drops on these devices I wouldn’t invest the money just yet. I like the fact you can stream movies and whatnot. I have a projector in my bedroom that projects 100" and is way to bright when my wife is sleeping so this would be great for watching movies late at night since I never sleep.

+1 on what @Scurvy said. The fire is great for consuming media, but if you’re really interested primarily/exclusivly in reading, I can’t recommend the e-ink style Kindle models enough. I’ve read 75% more than I ever did each year since buying a Kindle - and I’m a rare book librarian to boot, almost feels like sacrilege :wink:

@Willymac That is a good point. Since my original post dealt with books. The thing is I read a lot of books that deal with art and architecture so graphics are important as well. I think the e-ink models are only black and white?

@BigDaddySnuff Yeah, the fire would be great for that. We take netflix to bed all the time. You can buy and rent movies from Amazon, too, but I feel like they’re a little expensive for just a digital copy when I can get $5 dvds at Walmart…

@Scurvy Yeah I have netflix as well and I’m all about utilizing my subscription. You pay for dvd’s? hmmmm that’s a new concept. I have been praying to the torrent gods for far to long.

@BigDaddySnuff Yeah, I have a problem with dvds… we’ll call it DAD…

@Scurvy LOL “DAD”. It’s ok. I still buy dvds but mostly things that aren’t widely available. Most of my B-horror movies have to be purchased. Things I really like I buy the dvd for. I have the whole M.A.S.H and Dallas (80’s version) series on dvd. Talk has it that dvds will soon be a thing of the past.

Yeah, I believe it. What a pain. I’m still trying to clean up the vhs collection.

My VCR is still blinking 12:00

Nope. Don’t want. My books will never go obsolete, and I don’t have to recharge them. I have built a collection my great-grandchildren will cherish because they are inheritable. Also I can sell them off should I become destitute. Ownership-transfer of digital media is too sketchy a question these days, and I don’t like the way the trend is flowing.

Another way to go is an Android tablet and the Kindle reader app. I just bought a 7.7" Toshiba tablet and am quite impressed with it.

I can understand why ebook readers made sense when they were first introduced but - unless they become incredibly cheap - I can’t see the point of them now. The price of quite powerful Android tablets are dropping so fast that you can purchase what is effectively a PC for your pocket and then just install the Kindle software on it. That way you get something far more capable at pretty much the same price. I far prefer reading a physical book but being able to carry a library with you when travelling is very useful. Carrying a good selection of books involves a lot of weight and excess baggage fees.

synchronous android posts–you borg too, chris?

@Mouse A lot of my friends think so maybe.