WTF Kindle?
Posted: November 28, 2011 Filed under: douchebaggery, Uncategorized 4 Comments
A while ago, my significant other bought me a Kindle e-reader from Amazon. I like it more than I thought I would, especially for stuff to read that is in the public domain.
One of my main complaints, however, is that if I want a book for the Kindle that I actually have to pay for, it is often cheaper for me to buy a real book (you know, one made of paper) than to get the Amazon Kindle version. I can’t imagine that in this age of easily convertible electronic documents that offering an electronic version of books represents any significant ‘cost’ for the publisher. Shouldn’t an e-book at least be cheaper than a paper version?
Also — some books are so awfully formatted (with words getting split between two lines and other typographic nightmares) that I suspect no one from the publisher bothered to look at it when it was turned into a Kindle doc and dumped on Amazon. Free books from Gutenberg don’t suffer this problem, so there is really no excuse other than laziness/incompetence on the part of the provider.
I agree about the Kindle books or all eBooks in general. I got my wife a Kindle last summer for her birthday and I was surprised to find that eBooks and printed books cost about the same and at times, more. All digital content should be less expensive as there is not tangible item and there is no resale value unless someone comes up with a virtual yardsale to sell unwanted virtual media
I have no interest in eBooks, Kindles etc but understand your gripes. As I understand it the publishing companies use the argument that they are charging for the convenience, hence the higher price! No, I don’t get it either – but it’s just another reason for me to stick with real books.
You have three options: take it in the ass and buy the official poorly-formatted version; do like everybody else and track-down the pirated version; or settle on getting the ol’ “dead-tree edition”.
Although, If I payed good money for a net-book, it damn well better be readable or I will demand a refund or a rebate, and I would insist on a correction.
I have a very similar to the Kindle, which I got prior to moving so I wouldn’t have to fill my suitcases with books: A)I like it more than I expected, B)it is great for public domain (I had been trying to find a copy of Fantomas for a while and found a Kindle version in no time flat, and C)new books cost more than I think they should.