My dream has finally come true! Well, in all truth, it’s been true now for over a month, but it’s only now that I really have the leisure to write about it. Yes, I have a lovely new Kindle from Amazon and have been immersing myself in the glories of the E-Ink technology!
Those who know me are aware that I’ve switched to ebooks since 2004 with a variety of Devices starting with my Tungsten T, then my O2 and finally the iPod Touch. I’ve read hundreds of books on smartphone like devices, never bothering about the small screens (after all, it’s the font size that matters) and the less than stellar battery life. They still outdid physical books by a very long shot. Here were the reasons for switching to ebooks:
- Don’t need to carry around trunks of books
- Don’t need to maintain them
- Can carry thousands of books in my pocket
Till now however, devices like the Kindle were too expensive for a cheapo like me. Though I salivated over the latest Kindle from Amazon and the Sony Ereader, I simply couldn’t bring myself to purchase a device when my needs were already so well met by the iPod Touch.
But then came along a contest organized by the freelancing website where I work, oDesk.com which offered a Kindle as the first prize for a Haiku writing contest! I couldn’t resist and greedily submitted my Haikus which I was sure would win the prize. I looked forward to the day the results would be announced – so sure was I that mine would be the winning entry. Alas, when the day arrived I found to my consternation that I had come second and that my only prize was a T-shirt :(
I thought I’d lost the opportunity forever. Anupa (my wife) however, thought this the perfect time to surprise me with a new year’s gift. She thought my Haiku was better than the winning entry (and I secretly agreed with her :D), and decided that I deserved one of the few things in life that I actually wanted. So it arrived the next day, all wrapped up and beauuuuutiful!
Since then I’ve transferred my reading exclusively to the Kindle when I’m at home which I almost always am. My job as a freelancer doesn’t require me to travel out of the house and in these circumstances, the Kindle is perfect. On the rare occasions when I do leave the house for some reason, I still carry the iPod Touch with me for a quick mobile read. So why did I give up the iPod Touch for the Kindle? These were the main reasons:
- E-Ink technology allows me to read in full light without a glare
- The battery life is around 8,000 page turns! Around 2.5 books – perfect for a long flight
- Larger screen means more text on the page and fewer page turns
So far, it’s been an absolute ball reading on it. I’ve already polished off seven books or so with this neat device. Anupa even bundled a beautiful case for it. It now looks just like a regular thin book and only I know that it’s a one stop shop for all my reading needs. It basically saved my life on the 25-30 hr flight from Chicago to Frankfurt to Mumbai and finally to Chennai.
The only disappointment so far is that the famous “Whispernet” technology doesn’t work in Chennai though it’s supposed to. In Chicago, I was even able to browse the Internet at no charge and I’m supposed to be able to do the same in Chennai as well since Amazon claims coverage here too. It’ll be really cool if that works and would make it a killer device. It comes with a built in dictionary which is damn neat as well. The cursor allows you to navigate to difficult words and the definition automatically pops up. And the extra space at the bottom allows me to get a nice solid grip on it.
One can also read Tamil PDFs on the Kindle. There are some problems converting such PDFs to mobi and epub files, but the PDFs themselves can be transferred directly onto the Kindle and read with ease depending on the magnification which can be changed to make reading small fonts easier. The same is true for all Indian languages.
Another convenience is the fact that the “Next page” buttons are located on both the left as well as on the right. So if my right hand is busy, I can still turn the pages. Perfect for eating and reading at the same time :D . Okkkk, I just realized that sounds really perverted, but the sentence stands!
Of course, I’m hardly a model customer for Amazon who expects me to log into their website from the Kindle and purchase books from them. No siree. Instead I download books onto my PC and use the super duper open source program Calibre to transfer the books onto the Kindle. I’m now reading “Of Human Bondage” by Somerset Maugham and have Isaac Asimov’s entire Foundation Series lined up for my reading pleasure! Going by all this, it’s not surprising that I’m a very happy man :)
For those of us living in India, you can order the Kindle from Amazon for an equivalent for Rs. 16,000 or so. The US price of $250 is increased by the customs duty in India. Still, not too bad I would say all things considered. I suppose we should be glad they’re shipping it at all. But if you can get a friend of yours to pick it up in the US and simply give it to you when he or she lands, that would save you some Rs. 4,000 . May or may not be worth it for you. If you do decide to order it from India itself, keep an eye out for unscrupulous delivery men who will try and take money from you just as they deliver it claiming import fees. Take the Kindle away from them first (by pretending to agree) and then ask them for a receipt and a bill. And then call their delivery company and report them.
I’m sure in a few years, ereaders will come out in full force into the Indian market. I’m looking forward to improvements and innovations, and most importantly, cheaper prices as well!
Does the 3G wifi thing work in India? How does one actually buy books from amazon?
In reply to Neeta
Doesn’t work in Chennai. Don’t know about the rest of India.
In reply to Neeta
Hi Neeta,
3G option is not working in India instead of that it uses EDGE services which will be slower than 3G. Maybe
in recent future we can use 3G service… I hope. You can connect to internet from your Kindle & directly
download the books or from your computer you can buy the books which will be automatically downloaded
to your Kindle thru 3G service.
It’s really cool.
Hi friends, I’m from chennai & recently I got Kindle 3G/Wi-Fi. In chennai, Kindle is working on EDGE only and
not on 3G. I think in other states of India also it will be working in EDGE only.
Can someone tell me where can I get Kindle Cover in India itself… preferebly in chennai.
Thanks in Advance
Bhagwad and Srini – thanks for ur post and clarifications… I am thinking of getting a Kindle 3 from US via a friend for my use in Chennai. Wondering if i should buy Wifi or 3G. Your thogughts on folowig questions would be of great help!;
1) Does 3G work in India at all. Looks like currently you are able to use it only via GPRS/EDGE so far… Have you ever had a chance to try 3G
2) I heard if we download books in India, even those that are free in US, we get charged at $2 per book. thats costly :(
3) Do we get charged for accessing internet via 3G/Edge in India (any roaming charges)
4) If my friend downloads few books from US before getting it to chennai, once I change my location in Kindle to Chennai, will be able to access the books that are already downloaded in US for free w/o additional cost
5) Once i down load books. can i transfer them to my laptop and reload it later, etc…
Sorry to bombard you with these Qs. Since you are in chennai and have used it, thought will take your feedback… Thanks in advance!
In reply to Sai
Hi Sai,
1. As far as I can tell, 3G has never worked for me in Chennai
2. I’ve never purchased a book from Amazon. I always download them and then transfer them onto my Kindle so I can’t tell if there’s an extra cost.
3. If we could access 3G, it will be free. Who will charge us after all and how will they know where to send the bill to
4. Since I haven’t downloaded any books from Amazon, I can’t say but I would think there would be no issues with changing your location.
5. If you have the Kindle application installed on your laptop you can read any of the books you purchased using Amazon.
Thanks Bhagwad
Thanks a zill Bhagwad for the blog. I accidentally came across your post, skimmed through it, dunked a huge mug of coffee, swivelled in my chair to a dizzy, went over to Amazon and placed my order. All within about 20 minutes!
What can I say, you paint a convincing picture…and I’m stuck with a dammit-i-need-a-kindle-right-now feeling! ;)
In reply to Bubblegum
Glad to be the cause of that feeling :) – let me know how it goes for you.
Hi Bhagwad,
Nice advice to people who wanna buy a kindle.
I was thinking of presenting one for my wife. She reads mostly tamil novels and subscribes to web version of tamil weeklies including Vikatan etc.
I am being an illiterate and looking for someone who would advise me on this…
Thanks,
Rajini
Dear sai,
my response to your queries….
1) Does 3G work in India at all. Looks like currently you are able to use it only via GPRS/EDGE so far… Have you ever had a chance to try 3G
reg. 3g in india, i checked with amazon & they confirmed that we can change the 3g service provider. But i think
if we use 3g service in india, then it will be chargeable
2) I heard if we download books in India, even those that are free in US, we get charged at $2 per book. thats costly :(
you are right. many books which are freely downloadable in u.s are to be paid outside u.s. This may be related
to copyright issue… i hope.
3) Do we get charged for accessing internet via 3G/Edge in India (any roaming charges)
internet access is absolutely free if you use amazon network. I think it will be payable if we use indian
service providers for 3g connectivity.
4) If my friend downloads few books from US before getting it to chennai, once I change my location in Kindle to Chennai, will be able to access the books that are already downloaded in US for free w/o additional cost
if kindle is registered in u.s. address, then the books are available for free. If the kindle is registered in u.s. and
physically available in India, then you will get email notification about roaming enquiry
5) Once i down load books. can i transfer them to my laptop and reload it later, etc…
yes. you can connect the kindle to your laptop & copy the books to your laptop folder. Later on, you
can reload the same to your kindle via the cable
Hi Rajini,
currently Kindle 3 won’t support indian native languages like hindi, tamil, etc. etc. But, you can copy the pdf
files and read the same. But pdf file reading experience is not so good in kindle as it uses native version.
You can’t increase the font size or contrast of the pdf file. Hope, in future amazon will give solution to this
by way of firmware upgrade.
I m a CA Final Student & thinking of buying 3G 6 inch Kindle for 2 purposes:
1. Reading my modules that are in PDF format
2. Accessing sites like http://www.nseindia.com & gmail.com
Doubt:
1. Latest Kindle is equipped with a web browser, but is the web access feature available for India ?
2. If yes, is internet browsing free ( I hail from Bombay) ?
( apart from the fact that we are free to download books from amazon)
Thank You
In reply to Aman Girdhar Bellani
Even I am a CA Final Student and also CS.
I just ordered Kindle touch for the same reason as you. i.e Reading modules in PDF
If you are already using it, how is your experience ?
I had read this earlier and it did ‘re-Kindle’ my desire to own one.
“….allows me to read in full light without a glare” is a plus point. And also the fact that you can carry so many books with you, also the long battery life.
I am fond of books. But I have no qualms of switching over to Kindle to read unlike many other die-hard ‘book’ lovers. I am looking forward to it in fact :)