My TouchPad Today: Kindle Library Books - Not Ready for Prime Time?

Since an announcement from Amazon earlier this year I had eagerly been awaiting the debut of borrowing Kindle library books.

A few weeks ago I heard that the program had begun and went about getting myself in on the action

It wasn't extremely difficult, but it certainly wasn't a breeze either.

Here -- more or less -- is a recap of my experience...

- Learned on Overdrive.com that I would need a valid library card and would be borrowing through the regional library network of which my town is a member
- Discovered that my local library card had expired, but couldn't be renewed online
- Visited the library and told the librarian that I wanted to renew/reactivate my card so that I could borrow Kindle books.
- Asked for my current phone number by the librarian as she reactivated my card and updated my "account"
- Discovered, online back at home, that my regional library network needs my local library card/account to have an email address added to it
- Sent email to the local library asking them to add my email address to my card/account
- Found the following afternoon that I was able to register for electronic borrowing with my regional library network, although my local library never confirmed/acknowledged that my email address was added to my account
- Perused the slim offerings available from my regional library network on Overdrive.com... most of what's available is already out on loan or has one or more borrowers on a wait list
- Put myself on a wait list for Piecework by Pete Hamill

Fast forward to last week...

- Received email advising that my requested Kindle book was now available
- Followed link to my regional library network
- Sent to Amazon for the download part of the checkout process

My Current Recommendation/Bottom Line...

- Great concept that will become useful with some refinement of the Overdrive.com /regional library network/local library parts of the picture
- Selection of books will hopefully improve in the future. Though for now, a number of publishers are dragging their feet on making electronic library copies available
- There's no need to hurry in getting onboard with Kindle borrowing, unless you have the constitution to deal with a system/program that is not quite ready for prime time



This post was written on my TouchPad


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My TouchPad Today: Poke the Box (Video Mini-Review)

A couple of days ago I read the Seth Godin book Poke the Box on my HP TouchPad, using theAmazon Kindle app.

"The Domino Project is a new way to think about publishing. Founded by Seth Godin and powered by Amazon, its trying to change the way books are built, sold and spread.

Format agnostic. Kindle, audiobook, paperback, collectible… all good."

See my mini-review of Poke the Box on YouTube.

Amazon Kindle App - Day 2

In the past 24 hours I've had a chance to dive a little deeper into the Amazon Kindle app on the HP TouchPad.  Clearly no "wow" factor here... not that there actually needs to be one.  Its just a reader ap combined with the ability to download and synch books purchased from Amazon.

Animated Page Turns

I get the idea that some people feel the need to have the visual metaphor of turning a page on an e-reader -- or they just think its "cool"-- but its a loser in the present incarnation... slow, clunky and cheap-looking.

'Nuf said!

First Impression: Kindle App

I saw early this morning on PreCentral that the Amazon Kindle app for the HP TouchPad had finally arrived.  As is usually the case, the comments along with the postings were a mess of conflicting "stuff", rendering the post to -- perhaps what it should be -- a note saying "Its here. Go check it out for yourself".

I did a brief spin around the app.  No "wow" factor here. Just an app that, if you are a Kindle user, is familiar and navigable enough when you take into account that the Kindle on any non-Kindle device ain't a Kindle. Don't get yourself bogged down in details like page turn animations or side-loading books.

Amazon has pretty much "got it right" with their Kindle devices.

Kindle apps for non-Kindle devices, such as this one for the TouchPad, are probably the best a reasonable person can expect. It does a reasonable job of making a book readable on a tablet device.

Last thought... If e-ink displays were at the point of being viable for a tablet like the TouchPad, then we'd have something to flap our gums about.

Battery Life?

I haven't had the opportunity to fully run down the battery yet and get a feel for how long the TouchPad will actually run on a charge, but I can say that it seems to sip power more slowly than any device (other than an Amazon Kindle) I've ever owned.