I’ve been thinking about getting a Kindle 2 for a while, in fact I was pretty sure I was going to order one this week, but I’m not so sure now. I was traveling home from NYMC yesterday and was telling my buddy Andy, that this exactly what I wanted, and today Amazon did it. They released an iPhone / iPod Touch app for that allows you to read any Kindle books right on your device. Some (like Andy) don’t think that the iPhone has the right screen or size for reading, well now we can decide for ourselves. I’ve tried a number of book readers for the iPhone, but the biggest problem was always buying the content (it was really expensive) or finding a good way to get books I already had on to it. It looks like this solves both those problems.
Here’s a video about it (it’s a little long, but gives a good overview):
Here’s my quick Pros and Cons to this:
Pro:
- I don’t have to spend $389 to get access to the kindle content, I can buy it right on my phone.
- I don’t have to carry another device, I always have my phone
- If I do get a Kindle all my books that I buy will transfer over to it.
- Access to the great prices on books in the Kindle format
- The app is Free
Con:
- iPhone screen is small, reading experience won’t be as good
- It will probably have an effect on battery life when I’m on the road
- I’ll spend more money at Amazon (I’m sure they don’t see this as a con)
- Purchase process is a little confusing, it would be nice if you could buy it directly from the app instead of through Safari.
If you’d like to read more, here’s a more detailed article: Amazon Kindle App for iPhone
Here’s a link to the App: Kindle for iPhone (opens in iTunes)
What do you think? Will reading books on your phone be a good experience?
If only it would have been here a week ago.
Another pro (in my case) is that there is so much of a selection at the Amazon Kindle store. I live in Mexico and can’t just go out and buy many of the newest books. Now I can buy them and download them to my iphone (which I always have with me).
Oh, and I bet they fix the purchase process in an update fairly soon.
I tried out the Kindle on the iPhone yesterday and found it to be okay. I was able to read for about 30 minutes without much strain. I like that you can adjust the font size and ‘dog-ear’ pages for reference. On our next trip my wife and I will try out full books, but I liked it.