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Five Good Reasons to Own a Kindle
- 05/31/08
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My recent travels allowed me another opportunity to really put my Kindle to the test. (Because I live in Canada, several of its best features are only available to me when I head south of the border.) And having done so I can’t deny that I like it better than ever. Beyond the benefits I laid out in my recent review of the Kindle, here are five good reasons to own one.
Thousands of Free Books
Just about any book that is available in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) or in e-book format can be read on your Kindle. That gives you a vast library to build upon.
If you would like to build your library of Christian classics, visit CCEL. Browse through the library and download any of the books in PDF format. You can download books by Edwards, Bunyan, Augustine, Chesterton and just about any other classic author you can think of. There are literally thousands of titles there for the taking.
If you are a fan of John Piper, visit Desiring God and download any of Piper’s books for free in PDF format.
If you would like to catch up on classics or just browse other free e-books, visit Feedbooks. They have thousands of great titles available, all of them entirely free. Go there to download your fix of Orwell, Austen, Dickens, Tolstoy, Hawthorne…
How do you get these books to your Kindle? Easy. When you buy a Kindle, Amazon gives you an email address (your-username@kindle.com). Simply email the file to your address. Amazon will covert it and for $0.10 send it immediately and wirelessly to your Kindle. Want to save the dime? Then send the file to your-username@free.kindle.com. Amazon will convert the file (for free) and send it back to you via email (for free). You then simply copy it to your Kindle using the USB cable.
Buy Books Anywhere and Anytime
While enjoying a brief break at a recent conference, and while sitting in the back row of a university chapel, I felt the urge to buy a new book that I could enjoy while traveling home (and something that would be a little lighter to read than the Banner of Truth titles I had stuffed into my suitcase!). Within sixty seconds, using nothing but my Kindle, I had purchased a book and had begun reading it. Just like that. Using your Kindle you have access to well over 100,000 books at any time and any place.
You will also never have to worry about books going out of stock. When books run out of stock at Amazon or your local bookstore, they are always available on the Kindle. Anywhere, anytime. When the books go out of print, I suppose they’ll still be available for download to your Kindle.
Check Your Email Anywhere—For Free!
Many people pay a lot of money for the ability to check their email via their cell phone. With the Kindle you can actually check your email remotely and entirely free wherever you can get a Sprint cell phone connection. The same technology that allows you to purchase books anywhere allows you to check email anywhere. And it’s entirely free. You may wish to purchase the $3 e-book How to Use the Amazon Kindle for Email & Other Cool Tricks: Read and Answer Email Anywhere, Anytime on the Amazing Amazon Kindle… to read instructions on how to do this (and to learn some other interesting tips and tricks…like how to play Minesweeper on your Kindle).
Free Wireless Internet Everywhere
It’s true—you can use the Kindle to surf the web wirelessly…anywhere. Anywhere serviced by Sprint, at any rate. Granted it’s not going to look wonderful since the Kindle does not do color and isn’t meant to display pretty graphics, but it you want to visit sites you like to read (and remember, the Kindle is a reading device) you can do so from anywhere using the same cellular service for which everyone else pays $60/month.
Read the Bible
A quick search turned up at least eight different Bible translations already available for the Kindle (ESV, KJV, NIV, NASB, etc). They all cost less than $10. This article outlines some good suggestions for using the Kindle for Bible study. As with any other book, you can take notes, highlight passages, search for words and phrases and otherwise interact with the text of Scripture.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (34)
You’re killing me Tim.
Thou shall not covet, Thou shall not covet…
I must agree that the kindle is an amazing device. I have used the email pdf for conversion many times including the Piper books.
For those who like fantasy/sci-fi, TOR.com gives away one free book a week.
Also, note that you can add memory cards to the device to store the vast library that you will accumulate.
Oh boy! You are enthusiastic, aren’t you?
I am seriously thinking about getting one and you’re making things more than a little lopsided toward the pro side.
Wow, you have almost convinced me that electronic books may actually be more advantageous than paper ones!
Wow, you have almost convinced me that electronic books may actually be more advantageous than paper ones!
I still prefer paper, on the whole. But there’s something to be said for the e-books, for sure.
I am seriously thinking about getting one and you’re making things more than a little lopsided toward the pro side.
Just remember that on this side of the border you lose some of the functionality. And you won’t be able to buy Kindle books unless you’ve got a U.S. billing address…
Stephen Altrogge: I agree! Tim is causing me to sin. I want one badly, but am far too poor to buy one.
Perhaps one day I will get one.
Tim, have you ever checked out Wowio?
Tim,
A couple of questions:
1) When you say that you can check your email, does this include web based services such as Yahoo! and GMail? And, if so, can one send email or just read it?
2) Is one able to update their blog using a Kindle?
Thanks.
Tim, do you have a guess on how many titles you can fit on the memory provided, as well as the estimated ammount of titles you can add to a, say 1 GB SD card?
Can the Kindle be updated with a patch or other new software? I can see, by your comments, that it is not that easy to backtrack to highlighted portions, etc. I think it would be to everyone’s advantage to have a feature that would categorize notes or highlights. If this feature becomes available in a newer version can it be upgraded in the one you own?
Wow. Is it too soon to start my Christmas list?
i still can’t imagine reading a book on a digital screen. for me, i need to be able to underline and write comments/questions with a RED pen and drool on good-old-fashioned papers. i go on a date with my 9-months-old daughter to best buy every monday, but still the kindle doesn’t appear to me for some reason. thanks but i’ll pass on this one.
Just integrate it into my iPhone. Or maybe an iKindle? :-)
That’s not the correct way to use Feedbooks on the Kindle: you can download books directly from the Kindle, no need to e-mail them or to pay anything.
Take a look at: http://www.feedbooks.com/help/kindle
If this feature becomes available in a newer version can it be upgraded in the one you own?
Yes, the software can be upgraded.
When you say that you can check your email, does this include web based services such as Yahoo! and GMail? And, if so, can one send email or just read it?
Yes, you can definitely check GMail at any rate. It’s not going to be totally pretty but it will work. You’ll be able to send and receive.
Tim, do you have a guess on how many titles you can fit on the memory provided, as well as the estimated ammount of titles you can add to a, say 1 GB SD card?
You’re looking at two or three megabytes per book, I think. So you could get maybe 200 on the Kindle itself and up to a few thousand more on a SD card.
I just told myself that I was not going to spend the money for a Kindle just yet. Then you go and write this aricle. My wife is going to be mad at you…
Tim,
How is the Kindle selection of Christian books that you would recommend? What would be your top 3?
Tim -
How long has the Kindle been out? Do you think that a second generation Kindle will be introduced in the near future?
And what about if I want to put scanned class notes or my sermon notes on the Kindle - is that possible? Will it accept other formats, like Word?
I’ve been hearing a ton of good about the Kindle lately. My wife won’t tolerate another gadget right now though. I’ve learned to be content for the present with Mobipocket Reader on my Pocket PC phone. It can do everything you can with the Kindle, except for the selection of new titles. I can convert the available selection of free ebooks for it.
Hopefully you will see $40 soon, since you convinced me to buy a Kindle and I clicked into Amazon using your link. I look forward to getting mine on Wednesday.
I have been perusing the list of Christian titles on Amazon, and pdfs from other sites. Does anyone know of a listmania list on Amazon dedicated to good Christian works?
Well I pulled the trigger as well. Tim, I went into to Amazon from your site so hopefully my $40.00 will come in right behind Jerry’s. With that $80.00 you should have a good down payment to get your started on your next book, which I’m sure will also be available on Kindle!
OK, one last question.Does it take pictures?
Hey-Kindle sounds great. But I must know, what was the “light-reading book” that you downloaded? Do tell!
Does it take pictures?
We wish!
what was the “light-reading book” that you downloaded? Do tell!
Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell (Good book but has about 8 zillion swear words in it. I guess I should have expected that in a book written by and about a Navy SEAL.
With that $80.00 you should have a good down payment to get your started on your next book, which I’m sure will also be available on Kindle!
Thanks much. I’ll put that to good use, I assure you!
How long has the Kindle been out? Do you think that a second generation Kindle will be introduced in the near future?
It has been out since November. There will definitely be future generations, but it seems that they are still some time off. I wouldn’t expect them too soon.
And what about if I want to put scanned class notes or my sermon notes on the Kindle - is that possible? Will it accept other formats, like Word?
Yes, you could convert those to the Kindle. It will convert Word files as it does PDF files (or you can download software to do it yourself).
Tim,
I have been resisting, but I just gave in. Forty more dollars coming your way. Seriously, thanks for the helpful posts that aided me in my decision.
Jimmy
My only reluctance for something like this is that you cannot take notes on it. I write in books that I read. Bring on the next generation Kindle, then, maybe.
The convenience is great to hear about. I wonder if the wireless capabilities will remain free in the future…
An inexpensive tabletpc can be had for about 3x the price, and allows one to read PDFs, and has all the functionality of a laptop (Bible-study software, word-processing, etc.). No free downloads via Sprint, but hotspots are easy to come by.
Thanks for the informative review.
Tim,
As has been said numerous times already…Thank You! What a great review! I must say, though, that my wife is definitely not very excited about my excitement over this product. It’s just something else for me to save up to buy.
But, I did have a question about the note-taking ability. I have heard that it is possible to take notes on the device, and even to highlight (which I think appears as a box around the selected text??). How user-friendly have you found the note-taking ability and the highlighting feature?
Also, you have spoken briefly to this in another comment, but, if and when Amazon comes out with future generations of the Kindle, do you think they will take aesthetics into account? This is definitely not a huge deal, but it might be nice to have a little fancier casing, don’t you think?
I love it, though, and am looking forward to purchasing one in the hopefully not-too-distant future.
Thanks again for the all the helpful information.
I meant to ask one further question regarding the adding of books to the Kindle. Are you aware of any way to add those e-books I have on my Logos software to the Kindle? Since they are e-books, I thought there might be a way.
Thanks again.
How user-friendly have you found the note-taking ability and the highlighting feature?
Taking notes is very easy and intuitive. Accessing them later is a tiny bit more difficult, but altogether the system works well.
iff and when Amazon comes out with future generations of the Kindle, do you think they will take aesthetics into account?
I’m really not sure. To be honest, the current Kindle isn’t quite as bad as people were initially saying. It looks a little antiquated but it’s not something you need to be embarrassed to carry.
Are you aware of any way to add those e-books I have on my Logos software to the Kindle?
I guess it would depend on format. If you can get the documents in some standard e-book format, you should be able to get them onto the Kindle as well.
Okay, next question. Does anybody have any idea how to get books from Logos into e-book format to be able to put onto a Kindle?
Does anybody have any idea how to get books from Logos into e-book format to be able to put onto a Kindle?
Which Logos books do you mean? Do you mean the ones that come with the actual software? Or do you mean the free ones that you add later on?
Well, you just taught me something. I did not even know that you could add free books to the software. I was speaking specifically of the ones that come with the software.
I’ll have to check into these free books that I can add, though. I had no idea!
I have had my Kindle since Wednesday, and it has grown on me even though my first impressions were not all that favorable.
I am a bit disappointed by the fact that navigating through the Bible is not as convenient as either in a printed copy or a computer/pda. It is good for reading, but not handy for reference. If search limited you to the book that you were reading it would be much better, but it searches on all content.
Also, the web browsing is very clumsy, I can understand why they still call it “Experimental”. My Kindle has locked up several times while browsing, requiring the removal fo the back cover and the application of the bent paper clip to reset it. (If we ever go truly paperless, there will still be a need for paper clips!)
Enough of my gripes (even though there are a couple of others that I have sent to Amazon feedback), now for the positives:
1) Conversion of .doc, .pdf, .txt files, etc. is very easy, and free if you have them sent back to your computer. Even though some complicated .pdf files have some glitches (still experimental) most all of them have still been usable
2) Reading is a pleasure. You have to try it to believe it.
3) The ability to carry around a huge library in such a small package is very impressive. I am an Amateur Radio Operator, and I have copied all of my equipment manuals and public service communications manuals to mine. I have loaded 4 Bibles (ESV, NASB, KJV, NET) along with Fox’s Book of Martyrs, Calvin’s Institutes, Augustine’s Confessions, subversive writings (the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence), lots of Puritan writings, plenty of Desiring God material, and even Tim Challies’ book! I need to purchase an SD card today to handle all of the other items that I want to add.
Yes, those of us who are buying now are still “first adopters” and might still be doing some beta testing for Amazon. However, I am happy that I bought my Kindle, and look forward to the convenience and utility that it will provide.
I too have had my Kindle since Wednesday. I am very happy with it so far. It has been nice not toting around my Bible plus two or three books. Now I am just toting the Kindle.
One thing I would recommend to those trying to use a Bible on it, is to create a bookmark at the beginning of each book. This has really improved my ability to navigate through the Bible. I am not sure about all the translations, but on the HCSB version there are links at the beginning of each chapter that let you quickly move to another chapter within the same book. So I am able to open my bookmarks, quickly navigate between the five pages of bookmarks and select the book of the Bible I am interested in. Then I either push the next page button until I arrive at the specific chapter I was looking for or I choose the link I described above to change chapters (my choice depends on how many pages forward I need to go). Also, if I am wanting to go to the end of a long book (Genesis), sometimes I will choose the bookmark for the next book (Exodus) and then use the previous button to move backwards.
As others have mentioned, at first I was a little disappointed that I could not just search the book I was currently reading. And while I am still not sure what that isn’t a feature, it is not bothering me as much anymore. The way it groups the search results by book has made it easy enough to find what I am looking for. That being said, I only have about 10 items loaded so far. I am not sure how I would feel about this feature/oversight if I had 200 books loaded. We’ll see.
But again, I am very happy with it so far. It will be interesting to see how I continue to adapt and change my reading and devotional time.