Kindle for iPhone is one of my must have iPhone applications. The app itself is free and available from the iTunes store.
For me, the advantage of eBooks over paper books is that you can have a book or preferably a selection of books with you at all times. You don’t have to think about putting a book or two in your bag before you leave the house.
I always have my iPhone with me so with the Kindle for iPhone app I don’t have to think about putting a separate Kindle device in my bag before I leave the house either. Not to mention that I carry a small purse that measures barely 5″ tall so the small Kindle (which measures 8″ x 5.3″) wouldn’t fit in my purse well anyway.
The iPhone’s data connection also gives the Kindle for iPhone app the added advantage over the separate Kindle device that you can access Amazon.com and buy and download new books while you’re away from a computer. Now any time you’re wishing you had a book with you, your wish can come true as long as you have cell phone reception. (The Kindle for iPhone app works on the iPod Touch as well but you don’t have this buy books on the go advantage with it unless you have access to a wifi connection.)
Not to mention that as long as you already have an iPhone, you now don’t have to plunk down $259 for another device. I’m a huge fan of being about to use what you already own instead of buying something else.
There are over 18,000 free books available for the Kindle. All of those titles are public domain works including many older classics that are out of copyright.
A typical new release best seller will cost you $9.99. In the case of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol, which I’m eying as my next read, that’s cheaper than buying it new and only a penny more than the current best used price on Amazon.com (surely shipping would cost me more than $0.01 so the Kindle edition is the best priced option).
I’ve purchased and read two complete books on my iPhone so far. The reading experience is very nice; maybe even better than paper books since my iPhone is so light that my arms don’t get tired holding it over my head in bed. The application is also surprisingly easy on my iPhone’s battery; a whole book that would be about 300 pages on paper took about half a charge.
From now on, any time the book I want isn’t available at my local public library and isn’t significantly cheaper used, I’ll be buying the Kindle edition and any time I’m thinking “man, I wish I brought a book with me,” I’ll just grab the Kindle edition of something off my Amazon.com wishlist.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
This actually makes me want to buy an iPhone.
Over a Kindle anyway, as I am not really sold on their design vs. the Sony PR600.
I just don’t want to get another device, you know?
It seems like I have too much already.
GPS device, Palm PDA (no phone), cellphone, camera, MP3 player … and now an e-book reader?
ARGH!
Electronics overload. I feel like I want to mash them all into one massive device, and it makes me want to get an iPhone or at least, a smartphone like a Blackberry or Pre.
Thanks for the links to free ebooks. At least I’ll have the resource when I finally get an e-book reader or capability on my future smartphone
11.06.2009 at 10:01 pm
I wasn’t sure about the app. I thought it would be tedious to read a book using the iPhone. 20 books later, I decided that I liked it and also got the Kindle. I use both and really like how I can be reading a book on the iPhone and it will synch it’s place to my Kindle. I am reading much more because of these devices.
I really love taking books with me when I travel, but I do see the convenience of this and at times I just want to read all my magazine articles on my iPhone. I use the iPhone for so much already, I have to resist the books part. There’s nothing like holding a book and turning the pages.