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Books

Can you hear what I’m reading?

The other day I was browsing Audible.com looking for something to spend the 2 credits I had accumulated on. I decided to go with “iCon” the book about Steve Jobs and give the other credit to my wife. When I went to check out and download my selection, Audible asked me if I wanted to use Amazon as my Audible log in and just use the same credit card I had on file for Amazon. I clicked yes and then went about my merry business.

Last night I decided to pull out my new Kindle 3 and hop on the treadmill for some exercise. I turned on the Wifi and search for updates and archived items to see if there was a new update out or anything. To my surprise, my archived items count went from 7 to 31! I checked out the list and all of sudden all of the books I had ever purchased were now available for download on my Kindle! So, I decided to pull down the “iCon” book to my Kindle and see how it worked.

It acts just like any other media device that would play back audio files. It shows the book cover in the top right and what you’d expect to see inside the dust jacket or on the back is on the main page. At the bottom are the audio controls and you can play, pause, stop, or skip ahead 30 secs at a time. I wonder if there is a way to add a bookmark to where you stopped? I didn’t have any headphones nearby at the time, but the 2 built-in speakers sounded great. I could even listen to my book over the sound of the tread mill.

I’ll probably continue to listen to my audio books on my iPhone either through the iPod or maybe with the new Audible app (I’m a sucker for badges), but I thought this little “discovery” was kinda neat. It may be a feature that’s been available from day 1 of the first gen Kindle, but I always figured getting your Audible content on your Kidnle would involve downloading, syncing, and transferring and such.

Categories
Books

Kindle 2 sold! Kindle 3, back in black!

I decided yesterday to put my Kindle 2 up for sale on Amazon and pre-order the graphite WiFi Kindle 3. I was able to sell my Kindle in a matter of hours and got $159 for it, which is only $6 less than I paid for it. I decided to get the WiFi only version because I’m not that voracious a reader and if I’m ever planning to go on a long trip, I’ll simply load up on books before I go.

The new Kindles are only available for pre-order and won’t ship until Aug. 27, so I’ll be without a proper e-reader until then. I’ll have to revert to my Kindle iPhone app until then. I’m currently reading “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” and if I have to wait a whole month to pick back up with the story, I might as well start all over again!

On a side note, the new Mazda 3 and I are getting along smashingly! With one of my iPhone apps, Car Minder, I’ve been tracking my MPG, and I’m getting 25 MPG in the city. I know that’s not hybrid territory, or even Corolla territory, but maybe I’ve been a little heavier on the pedal than I should. This car is just fun to drive! Oh yeah, the car now has a name. She told me her name is “Misty”, mostly because of the misty blue-grey color she’s painted. Almost all of my cars have had names, there was Earl–my 2000 GMC Sonoma, Hank–my 1998 Chevy 1500, Pokey–my 1972 VW Beetle, and Joy’s 2005 Vibe, which is named Lucy. It’s been 100º or more around here lately, and I think Misty has been telling me it’s time to get her windows tinted, so we might have to make a date for her and Lucy to go to the “salon” and get some color!