Light My Kindle

I received my Collector’s Edition copy of J.K. Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle the Bard in the mail yesterday. I am thrilled with the quality of the product. It really is a beautiful edition of the book. You can read more about the origins of the book in my previous post. Below are pictures of the unboxing. You can see the Kindle in some of the shots for a size comparison.

[Images thanks to MJJDesigns]

You can buy your Collector’s Edition copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard exclusively at Amazon (it’s also available in a paperback edition, but is not yet available for the Kindle). I’m definitely looking forward to reading my copy (perhaps while wearing white museum gloves) and will post a review when I finish the book.

In a new article, CNN discusses the success of the Kindle and the factors that went into it. Namely:

1. Amazon’s relationship with consumers provided a secure purchasing feeling.
2. Oprah’s endorsement pushed the non-tech crowd to discover it (and eventually help it sell out for the second time).
3. The prevalence of BlackBerry phones, iPhones, and other cell phones with e-book capability prepared consumers to read e-books on small electronic devices.

Despite saying that exact numbers are hard to find, CNN says, “the Kindle has sold more than a quarter million units. Its texts account for 10 percent of Amazon’s book sales.” They go on to discuss the pros and cons of the Kindle, providing quotes from consumers for and against. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before - “It’s so convenient!” or “You can’t replace the feeling of a real book.”

You can check out the full article at CNN.com.

While the Kindle itself is sold out (estimated ship date is 11 to 13 weeks, placing delivery in mid-February to early March), there are plenty of Kindle-related items you can get the avid reader in your life. If they don’t yet have the Kindle, you can buy them an Amazon.com Gift Card for the purchase price of a Kindle ($359 plus shipping). You could also include a little extra for them to use to purchase their first Kindle books.

If the reader in your life already has a Kindle, you could still get them an Amazon.com Gift Card. For Kindle users, an Amazon gift card is a convenient way to pay for books. Once they enter the amount of the gift card into their Amazon account and set it as the default method of payment, any book they buy from the Kindle will be paid for with the gift card.

There are lots of cases available for the Kindle (such as the SFBags Kindle Case or the extremely popular M-Edge Leather Kindle Case, pictured) as well as decorative and protective skins for the Kindle. Some are intended to protect the Kindle - those are usually made of silicone. Others are intended to add personality, much like a cell phone skin.

There are also stands available for the Kindle that will allow the reader to read hands-free. These are useful for readers using the Kindle for reference - such as college students or people reading recipe books on the Kindle - and for people who like to read while eating, knitting or doing another activities that would prevent them from holding the Kindle.

Another useful gift for a Kindle owner - and an affordable one, at that - is a booklight. The Kindle doesn’t have a backlight like most cell phones and computers do, so reading in the dark is impossible without an external light source. While I haven’t tried it myself, the Mighty Bright booklight gets excellent reviews from Kindle owners. There are also plenty of other lights available.

Another thoughtful gift for the reader in your life is a gift certificate to Audible.com. Audible.com is an online store for downloadable audio books. Kindle owners can put the audio books on their device and listen to them with a standard pair of headphones. Audible.com gift certificates are available in denominations from $10 to $250, and a single audio book costs about the same as a Kindle edition of a book.

If you’re truly desperate to get someone a Kindle, there are some available on eBay for as much as $1,000.

I hope this guide to Kindle gifts was helpful. As always, feel free to email me with any Kindle questions at cj@lightmykindle.com.

I’ve had my Kindle for eight months now, and I’ve had very few complaints. I’ve previously mentioned how I would like the Kindle to auto-delete samples of books I buy (ie: when I click through from the end of a sample book to purchase the book, the Kindle should be smart enough to delete the sample for me). I’ve since found another task I wish the Kindle and Amazon were smart enough to do: Book Availability Notfications.

I preorder a lot of books, and I recently pre-ordered Denis Leary’s Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid in hardcover. At the time, it wasn’t available for the Kindle, so I clicked the “I’d like to read this book on a Kindle” button and preordered the hardcover.

Either the request buttons work very quickly (which I doubt) or a Kindle edition was already planned but not available for preorder, because the next time I was browsing Amazon I noticed that Denis Leary’s book was now available for the Kindle. I had previously had this happen with Lewis Black’s Me of Little Faith (what is it with these comedians?), and while I didn’t necessarily mind paying $10 more for the book (although I wouldn’t want to pay that price all the time), I would have preferred to read it on the Kindle.

Here’s what I want Amazon to be able to do:

• Notify Kindle owners when hardcover titles they have preordered are now available in Kindle form, before the hardcover is shipped
• Notify customers who clicked the “I’d like to read this book on a Kindle” button when that book becomes available for the Kindle

That doesn’t seem so difficult, does it? It would make me a happier customer, and more likely to preorder books. After being burned twice with this issue, I doubt I’ll be preordering books that I’d rather read on the Kindle (especially not from comedians).

Anyone else have this problem? Do you have a Kindle Wishlist item you’d like to share with the world? Email me at cj@lightmykindle.com.

LightMyKindle.com would like to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!

Portfoilo.com discusses Esquire’s e-ink cover, the first of its kind. The cover used the same technology available in the Amazon Kindle. Portfolio.com says,

How sexy was the E-Ink technology on Esquire’s October cover? In the eyes of the magazine-buying public, it was about as sexy as Angelina Jolie, but decidedly less sexy than Johnny Depp.

You can check out the full article at Portfoilo.com.

Us News & World Report named Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos one of America’s greatest leaders recently. One of their writers spoke with Bezos regarding leadership and being an internet pioneer. One tip he gives for start-ups is keeping your focus in the right place. He says,

We wanted to have a customer-focused culture. We consciously tried to get that.

Check out the full article at USnews.com. Other people named as leaders were Lance Armstrong, Steven Spielberg, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. You can see the full list here.

Today is the six-month anniversary of the day I started LightMyKindle.com. I received a Kindle as a gift in March 2008. I was immediately fascinated by the device and wanted to share what I learned about it with other Kindle owners. In the past six months I’ve learned some pretty neat tricks, and have enjoyed reading several novels in this new format.

In case you’re new to the site, here are some things you might want to check out:

• Kindle Basics Page - This page is home to basic information about the Kindle that new users - or potential buyers - might want to know.
• Kindle Tips & Tricks Page - This is where I discuss some tricks for getting the most out of your Kindle.
• Kindle Book Reviews - On this page you’ll find reviews of books I have read on the Kindle, as well as a few non-Kindle books.

Over the past six months I have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the Kindle and sharing my findings with everyone. In the coming months I hope to make some improvements to the site that will help Kindle owners and potential Kindle owners find the information they’re looking for.

If you have questions about the Kindle, feel free to email me at cj@lightmykindle.com.

One year ago today, Amazon released the most talked about gadget of the year - the Amazon Kindle e-book reader. The sensational device allowed readers to download their favorite classics and new best-sellers directly from the device using a free wireless connection.

It holds 200 books and has an SD slot to expand the memory even more. Amazon offers digital newspaper and magazine subscriptions, with new issues being delivered wirelessly before they hit news stands. Debuting at $399, the Kindle made up for its high price with low prices on books - $9.99 for new releases and best-sellers and prices as low as a few dollars for older titles.

The Kindle sold out in five and a half hours and remained on backorder for months. Oprah declared the Kindle her new favorite gadget and caused it to sell out again. Since launch day, Amazon has doubled its content offering to almost 200,000 titles.

I created this blog to discuss the Kindle - tips, news, and Kindle book reviews - because I think the Kindle is a fascinating device, and it has been a wonderful addition to my collection of useful gadgets.

I hope my readers will join me in saying:

Happy Birthday Kindle! And many more…

This one might be a no-brainer for most Kindle users, but for new users it might be a helpful tip. The easiest way to preserve battery power is to turn off your wireless connection. The switch is on the back of your Kindle, next to the power switch. Whenever you’re not actively using the wireless connection, you should turn the switch off.

You should only turn it on when you’re browsing the Kindle Store or the internet or when you need to download something you purchased on Amazon.com from a computer. Any other time - when reading a novel or managing your content, for example - you’re just wasting your battery power.