I think I'm just a little grumpy....stressed about business....and taking fertility meds is probably not helping me (I've heard they can make you a lil nutty!)..

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While on fertility meds I might have thrown a knife in DH's direction - a butter knife and thrown in anger but knowing it would never hit him. Another med made me see double grout lines in shower. But got me twins long ago.

Understand I was young and feisty then, had five years of disappointment and infertility behind me and my best friend kept getting pregnant if her husband just entered the room.

If the publisher has not had the text-to-speech deactivated, you can have the Kindle "read" the books to you...in an electronic voice. It's not super horrible, but it's not a performance like you'd get with an audiobook.

When the Kindle 2 model came out with it's text-to-speech feature, authors and publishers and the companies that produce audiobooks freaked and made Amazon deactivate that feature on a lot of books. The publishers thought that the text-to-speech would cause them to lose money on audiobooks.

Silly thought for them to have tho, audiobooks are performances of a book and are fun to listen to. The text-to-speech, in my opinion is just another tool for people with have vision problems or possibly to help dyslexics with learning to read. I'd prefer to listen to an audiobook than the droning of a text-to-speech program. I do use the text-to-speech on my Kindle and a program that I have on my computer sometimes because it's easier to crochet or knit while the Kindle or computer is "reading" to me.

The Kindle allows you to read the text of a book with e-ink and e-paper. It doesnt have moving parts that I know of. It's not backlit, so it's easier on the eyes than trying to read text on a computer monitor. Plus, the Kindle doesnt weigh that much. About 10 ounces, maybe a little bit more if you buy a cover for it to protect it (recommended, keeps it from getting scratched up or damaged) I'm not sure exactly how the e-ink works, but when you "turn" a page, the e-ink rearranges itself so the text changes. I need to google and see how e-ink works.

What I like about my Kindle is the fact that it only weighs about as much as a paperback. Easier to hold than a huge hardback book, and I dont have to deal with trying to turn a paper page with numb fingers. Just have to hit the Next Page button.

Plus, I can carry around almost as many books as I want to in my Kindle. I think I have close to 100 books stored on my Kindle so far. (I can probably get up to about 1500 books into it)

I can understand Red Penguins frustration with not being able to get the new release on the Kindle at the same time as the hardcovers are released. I dont usually buy new releases (last time I bought a new release, it was a Harry Potter book in hardcover) But, I do understand the frustration at having to wait.

It's not Amazon that's not releasing the new releases, it's the publishers that are making Amazon hold them back for a few months. Apparently the publishers think that they'll get more money if you buy the hardcover version of the books instead of the e-book version. I think that's silly. I'd be willing to pay a bit more for the ability to get a new release on my Kindle at the same time as the hardcovers come out. I'd almost pay a little more for a hardcover if it came with a digital download of the book to put on my Kindle.

I dont think Kindle users should have to pay as much as they would for a hardcover because the books dont have to be shipped, and you dont have to kill a tree to make an e-book, but I'd be willing to spend a bit more than what a few Kindle users think is a fair price (lots of Kindle users think that Kindle books shouldnt cost more than $9.99, I'd pay a bit more than that)

I love my Kindle. Good investment for me.

re: your eyes/computer/Kindle. The Kindle does not operate like a computer, the screen is similar to a book rather than a computer. So eye fatigue is not a factor to consider. Plus, you can adjust the print size.

DH purchased a nice cover for it when he gave it to me. It can fold out like a book. I like it because the Kindle is more protected.

This is probably the evolution in book technology.

I am old enough to remember the 8 track, then the cassette. Now the ipod means downloading music instead of buying the CD. Cars used to come with a CD player. Telephones that had long cords to cordless to cell phones are a primary communication.

DVD's are about to morph into Blue Ray. Then again, movies on request direct to the TV? I think that is already a reality.

I say buy one! I love my kindle!

This is my Kindle in it's cover.

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The brand of cover that I have is called JavoEDGE. It's their flip cover. They do have some that open up like a book, but the flip covers have a kickstand on the back so that you can stand the Kindle up on a desk or table and read it hands free. I love this cover because of that.

I can set it on my computer desk, and read my Kindle and only have to press the Next Page button to turn the page.

Plus, the Kindle slides into the case like a holster, so I dont have to worry about the Kindle sliding out of the cover.

The basic Kindle cover that Amazon offers (sold separately) has these clips that the Kindle uses to clip to the covers. They've had problems with some people cracking their Kindles when using those clips. I didnt want to worry about that, which is why I bought the flip cover from JavoEDGE. The JavoEDGE covers that open up like a book also use the holster to slide the Kindle into. So, no worries on damaging the Kindle itself using the clip system.

The JavoEDGE cover had a coupon code for buying it on Amazon. I go to Kindle Boards forum (PM me if you want the link to that forum, or you can probably google it...I just dont know if it's proper to post the link here) The coupon code can be found on the Kindle boards forum where the people who represent JavoEDGE and get suggestions from Kindle users there have an entire thread on the Accessories forum there that's dedicated to them showing off new releases of covers and people showing off their Kindles in their JavoEDGE covers.

You wouldnt believe how many people on the Kindle Boards are obsessed with accessorizing their Kindles. I'm almost as bad, but I'm almost broke, so I dont go shopping much for stuff for my Kindle like some of the people on that forum do.

Not only is the Kindle fun to read with, it's fun to accessorize it too! I have at least 3 bags to carry mine in.

Erin - I like your cover a lot. Mine has a green leather cover (kind of a light green)... but it doesn't have the "stand" feature that yours does. I got a nice Amazon gift card for my bday last month....(and it hasn't burnt a hole in my pocket yet!), so I may just order a cover like that!

I'm going to charge up my kindle and find some stuff to read...I know there's lots to read that I can get now... (but somehow, just KNOWING that the other book is out there, waiting for me......................lol).

You know, the nicest feature of the K1 was that it had a memory card and so you could "share" your books with others....the K2 doesn't have that. They got smart, I guess! LOL

I pre-ordered the K2 to arrive the day they were released - and sold my K1 on ebay (got a lot for it too) - and I was able to send the K1 off with lots of books on the memory card, too. They (the buyer) scored well.

I haven't tried the text-to-speech feature yet...I'm not much of an aural/auditory learner...so I doubt I'd like it. Never got into audio books.

I see that the K2 prices have come down quite a bit - so that's nice for people now - especially since they are raising the prices of the ebooks now. Of course, if you got it early on like me, you paid full price and may now feel a little rooked by the increases. Ho hum.

Right now Amazon lists James Patterson's future books as coming out on Kindle the same day as hardcover - so we shall see if that holds true or not. This latest book said the same thing, then a week before release, they sent an email changing the release date for 3 months off.

~Keri

PS/Greatest feature of the kindle - the instant download of the books. At Xmas time, I got on the plane....they were closing the doors and I realized I forgot to bring a "new book" with me - I opened up my Kindle, turned it on - and two mins later I had purchased and downloaded two books for the flight! You can't beat that!!

I got my K1 for Xmas in 2008. I got my K2 for Xmas in 2009...and I love my Kindle2!

I think my Kindle1's SD card is a 4gb card. I might transfer a bunch of my books to the card later. I wish the K2 had space for an SD card.

I'm considering giving/loaning my Kindle1 to my mom right now while she has a broken shoulder, since the K1 has those nice big Next Page buttons on it. I have to see if she wants to try it, or if she's intimidated by the technology. I know she's tried my dad's Kindle2 and liked it. So, if she doesnt want to use my K1, she can always borrow my dad's K2.

I love the case I have... (btw, it's the JavoEDGE Kyoto flip case, it's some sort of fabric blend, soft but durable fabric, but go look at the other styles that JavoEDGE has, they just came out with a couple of new purple colored cases! I want a purple one now!!!! their newest leather one is purple!)

I agonized for a couple of days over which case I wanted. They had a style called cherry blossom, and then they had the Kyoto one that I eventually bought. I love the look of this case. I almost bought the cherry blossom flip case tho. They're some really nice Japanese style fabrics...

I had a credit from Amazon (had a download problem a few weeks ago) and they gave me a $5 credit. I used a little bit of it emailing some fanfiction to my Kindle (like 50 cents worth or something) so I actually bought a real book the other day that I just got in the mail today.

I'm obsessed with Stargate SG-1, and Stargate Atlantis, and they havent kindleized some of the novelizations for awhile, so I broke down and spent what was left of my Amazon credit on a physical book to feed my obsession. Which is cool, since I built this nice big desk/bookcase in my room over Xmas and I needed something nice to put in the bookcase.

I still like the feel of real books (as long as they're not that heavy) so having a Kindle hasnt really changed me much on buying a regular book, I'm still going to enjoy real books...but I really love the Kindle. I think it's the gadget lover in me. Love gadgets!

I thought about getting the new Apple tablet (I just cant call it the iPad...silly name) but if I want to read on a backlit screen, I've got five computers I could do that with. (I have Kindle for PC on one of my laptops) or I can use my iTouch (which is nice to have, but hurts my eyes after a bit.) I also cant justify buying an Apple Tablet when I'd rather spend the money on a Mac Mini if I'm going to buy an Apple product. I can probably do more with a Mac Mini anyways.

I think I'm going to go count the loose change in my cow bank...see if I have enough to go to a Coinstar machine to get an Amazon gift certificate for myself. My dad took his loose change to a Coinstar machine last winter, ended up with over $100 in Amazon gift card for himself. That bought a lot of books! Loose change is a great thing to have now! and you dont have to worry about paying off a credit card bill when you have a giftcard that you got from saving loose change!

As a writer, let me answer to what I think is going on.

There is an entirely different format required to produce a Kindle than a paper book. It is time consuming to change a novel over from one format to the other. And every ebook has its own format - they are not all the same, trust me, I've looed into submiting for a few.

What is needed for a print published is easier - IMHO - for a writer once you get used to it. You need a little more techy background to figure out even what they're taking about to get the book to fit the guidelines for ebooks. And there aren't any ebook editors really yet. It's still too new for people to know what to do.

I hope that was clear - it made sense to me.

Even James Patterson is going to have to set his manuscript up properly himself for the correct format or it will not come out right on an ebook. He does not have to re-write the whole thing, but he has to re-format the whole thing, then the editor (who also does not have much of a clue and has to look line for line at the guidelines to see if it's done right) has to re-edit the book again. Then, it has to pass Kindle's people, who have to load it, do the Amazon page, etc.

I can see where that takes an extra couple months.

It's not magic, it's hard work.

Every story I submit I have a week of sweat just refomatting for the next market. I have a copy saved in as many formatted versions as places I have sent it to, and I have not even started with ebooks. It's more work getting the techs down than writting the story.