![]() ![]() A person who isn’t aware of how a Kindle actually works, might be unaware their ebook is broken–after all, Amazon let them upload it and reported no problems. I’ve done that with pdf files, too.) I don’t call those ebooks. ![]() (I convert raw documents all the time since I prefer reading on my Kindle over manhandling reams of paper–I just run a Word doc through MobiPocket creator and load it up. As long the ebook is converted to either mobi or prc, the Kindle can read it. Here is Amazon’s dirty little secret regarding its Kindle. Maybe one or two who’ve never even seen a Kindle. I suspect there are a lot of people who don’t own Kindles. Since I don’t own a Nook (and have never played with one), or an iPad or iPhone or Sony reader or magic toaster, I tend to judge ebooks by what shows up on my Kindle. Part of the confusion is because I am actually talking about Kindle books (and I should make myself clearer, sorry). You can listen to MP3s or play Sudoku.Ĭool-er supports e-books in eight languages: English, of course, plus French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and traditional and simple Chinese.I talk a lot about broken ebooks, but judging from the search terms that bring visitors to this site, I suspect many people do not know what I mean. But Cool-er lacks the ability to annotate text, look up the meaning of a word or read speech out loud. Bopping around menus is a chore.Īs with other readers, you can bookmark pages, change the size of fonts and resume reading from where you left off. But any comparisons to the iPod quickly end the moment you peek at Cool-er's pedestrian software interface. Pressing one of the four side buttons on the left edge of the reader changes the screen orientation from portrait to landscape mode, a nice feature. But you have to press with some authority, which I found annoying. You turn pages by clicking a click wheel on the right corner of the device. You can read your own documents on the device.Ĭool-er takes a minimalist view on buttons and controls, which isn't a bad thing. Cool-er supports the ePub e-book standard (which Amazon doesn't) along with the TXT, JPEG and PDF formats. It's not nearly as convenient or easy.Ĭooler does match Kindle's $7.99 price on Angels & Demons (now out on paperback). You must connect a USB cable to transfer e-books from a PC or Mac, or load files from an SD card. You can search, sample and ultimately buy and download a book on the fly, in less than a minute. The thing I love about Kindle is its built-in wireless bookstore, based on a pretty fast cellular connection dubbed Whispernet. But it comes with a slot for an SD memory card to bolster storage, which Kindle doesn't have.Īfter all that, you'd think the Cool-er might be an easy choice over better-known Kindle. It has 1 gigabyte of memory for storing hundreds of books, half the memory of Kindle 2. Its 6-inch display is the same size as the Kindle 2. Cool-er creator Neil Jones says his goal was to create an "iPod moment" for e-books.Īt just over 6 ounces, Cool-er is about 40% lighter than Kindle 2. The fact that these bring to mind colorful iPod Nanos is no accident. ![]() It comes in eight colors: hot pink, racing green and the ruby model I tested, among them. The Cool-er beats the Kindle on style, at least on the surface. At first, you can't help thinking, "I'm reading an e-book." But if the book's any good, you'll soon forget that and get immersed in the story. All of these devices, Cool-er included, do a fine job of replicating the paper experience on an electronic screen. The $249 Cool-er uses similar black-and-white E Ink technology as its rivals. Price is the first place Interead intends to attack. But there's nothing light about their prices - $299 for the Sony Reader $359 for the first Kindle and its successor, Kindle 2 $489 for soon-to-arrive larger-screen Kindle DX. The chief appeal of e-readers, of course, is that you can schlep hundreds of books in a slab about the size of a paperback. Large companies (Fujitsu, Samsung) and small ones (Plastic Logic, iRex) have or will enter the market. If anything, the market promises to get even bigger. The upstart is an outfit called Interead, which this week starts shipping a svelte, lightweight and snazzy-looking new e-book reader called the Cool-er.Į-book machines had been around for a decade or so before Amazon's Kindles and Sony's Readers brought buzz and legitimacy. Still, it's a monumental leap of faith to suggest that a small fry has much of a chance at toppling the Goliath of the electronic reader market,. — - Almost everybody loves an underdog. ![]()
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