Here’s a fun thing that I’ve just discovered:
- Purchase an Amazon Kindle 2 (this trick may work on other versions)
- Download the MobiPocket version of The Devil’s Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce
- Copy the .mobi file into your Kindle documents folder
- Open the copy of the book that appears on your device
- Enjoy the frequent crashes and random “java.lang.integer” exception errors that pop up (even when you do not have the book open!)
- Fight with the Kindle for a while until you realize that it’s this book, remove it from your device, and reboot the device (yes, this step is required)
This public service announcement has been brought to you by the Center for Not Being Annoyed at Your E-Book Reader.
As an aside, I absolutely adore my Kindle. I use it on my train ride and at lunch pretty much every day. I thought that I might regret not having the Kindle DX with it’s bigger screen but the Kindle 2 is the perfect size. And Whispernet+real books from Amazon is a killer feature. Being able to actually get books, unsurprisingly, makes me read more. I’d just like it more if, you know, it never crashed.
Apparently Kindles are ironic and orwellian. You heard? I have no kindle but I loled at both.
I saw. *shrug*. I’m more surprised that Amazon let somebody illegally publish a copyrighted book than I am that they took it away.
First of all, too much praise for the kindle is being given from people who are overly happy with discovering ebooks, I’ve been reading on PDAs for about 7 years, and iphone and other devices – it lets you pick up and read at all odd moments.
Kindles look: crappily developed, shittily designed, ugly. Poor setup and terrible deal with how things are made for you to pay for. iPhone is a far superior reading device, even without an eink display. Next iPhone with a dual purpose / backlit * reflective display? hrm… maybe the itablet thingy…
Stop praising kindle for being a piss-poor ereader.
I used to read e-books on my Palm III, and my Handspring Visor, and the lot of them. And I really do like the Kindle. I’ve used the Kindle for iPhone app (and other ebook apps), and I just don’t like it. The screen is too small, and it’s emissive. I can comfortably read on the Kindle for a few hours; not so on the iPhone. But, to each his own.
[...] to underscore the point that Amazon is big news these days. Anyway, you might also remember from an earlier post of mine that I have a Kindle 2. Well, when I saw the new Kindles, I couldn’t resist. So now I also [...]