Kindle Question

[galina]

 I saw one of these Kindles briefly the other day and they look nice.  The lady using it said that it was much kinder on her wrists than holding a heavy book with her arthritis.  She is in her seventies and delighted.

Much later I thought that this would possibly make a good birthday present for my mother who will be 90 and who has sight problems.  Basically she needs letters about half an inch tall and in bold to read comfortably.  She misses reading books although she loves her audio books.  She is not into computers at all but has recently mastered a large special phone for the elderly and enjoys texting.  Could she manage a kindle?  Are they easy to use? Can the letters be made large enough so she can read them on the screen without magnifying glasses?

Unfortunately I did not think of my mother when I saw the lady and now I cannot ask her anymore.  What would you advise?

[galina]

[manicscousers]

I got one for the same reason  :)
brilliant thing, have a look to see if your mum's favourite authors have their books on it, one of mine only has 1.
you can make the text enormous if you need, easy to use, it saves your place when you turn it off and you can read many books at once  ;D

[mat]

You are likely to need to set the Kindle up, and download books for her.  Otherwise usage of the Kindle is easy, but it will need careful and repeated demonstration.  I'd suggest only going the Kindle way if you live close enough to her to help out each time she needs a new book or has queries.  Books are best read from cover to cover.  You can move to a "specific page" but it would take more confidence for her to navigate the menus for that

Books will need a wireless connection or a PC which the Kindle can be attached to in order to get books onto it (unless you pay extra for the 3G version) so you'll need to either take a laptop to her house (with kindle books downloaded onto it already) or take her Kindle to your house (or place with wireless) OR pay extra for 3G version and you can download books at her house (assuming she has no wireless/internet as she is not "into computers"!!!

You do need to connect a Kindle to wireless (or 3G) to set it up, at least initially.

Kindles are great, but I have heard of some senior people struggling with the setting up, downloading, etc.  she should be fine with plain reading as she can text on a mobile.

As previously stated, check her "type" of books are available at a price she is prepared to pay...  I have been mainly reading books by independent (indi) authors for no or little price.

[galina]

Thank you very much manicscousers and mac.  I am glad that the machine can do what she needs and that she might be able to learn how to use it.  Proximity is a problem - we don't even live in the same country!  Obviously we would do the setting up and uploading books for her, also go through it with her.  She likes to write her own instructions as an aid memoire as we explain what to do and that solves dealing with incomprehensible manuals.  We could periodically bring her more books when we bring our laptop, as they have no broadband.

I had a look at the book choice offered for kindle and it is not great but obviously growing.  What about the free e-books, Project Gutenberg etc.  Can these be uploaded on a Kindle too?  This would increase the choice of topics she is interested in.

What I will do is this:  not surprise her with a  Kindle as a birthday present, but tell her all about it beforehand.  If she shows interest, then she will be far more motivated to get to grips with it.  If not, then another present (a few more audio books for example) would be a better choice.  I am quite prepared fo her to say that she'd only want to read the local paper  and misses reading that rather than that she misses reading books in general, even though she says she misses reading books.  We will see how she reacts.

[manicscousers]

I can also listen to my books with it, it's experimental at the moment but works  :)
don't know about the e books, still getting to grips with mine, reading how to grow in your polytunnel at the moment  ;D
btw, you only have to press 'home', select the book by name,  click to open . simples  ;D

[mat]

listening to ebooks on the Kindle, is like listening to Stephen Hawking!

Audible Books (audible.co.uk) have a membership system, which allows downloads of audible books.  It works well.  It may be an alternative.  Audible books from this company also play on the Kindle (I play them!)

Project Gutenburg books can be downloaded to the Kindle, as can books from other places, such as smashwords, which also have a lot of free books.  I transfer these books from my PC to the Kindle via the USB cable, but that is not practical for her.  They can also be emailed via the FREE kindle email address provided, but you need wireless for the free email address to work... which she does not have...  They can be emailed via the non free Kindle email address provided, but this encounters a download fee, but the books would be provided by the 3G network.  Note Amazon books are downloaded FREE via 3G.  the above is for NON Amazon books.

As you are not close to her, then the 3G option would be best, as you could order a book from Amazon, and it would download straight to her Kindle, free of charge

Be aware that you can only buy from Amazon.co.uk if you have a UK address, otherwise purchases have to be made from Amazon.com.  This will be critical depending on whether you or her is in the UK, and which address you use for you Amazon Kindle Account

[small]

My father, at 85, bought a Sony e-reader last year and is delighted with it, I wonder if that's an option since I believeit's less complex than a Kindle? Eyesight isn't so much a problem for him: he does have problems that mean he can't manage a mobile phone but he's fine with the buttons on his reader. It's also stood being dropped a few times...
I agree it's a pain to dodge round within a text, but I have several books 'on the go' on mine and it's so simple to select which bookmark to open. Mine's a real boon too for texts I can't physically hold, War and Peace is the same weight as anything else...
I'd talk to her about it. She sounds the sort of person who'd give it a go.

[mat]

Personally I think there's more book choice for the Kindle than the Sony, and with the clout of Amazon in the USofA and UK, can only get bigger. 

The Kindle is very easy to read books on; anyone could read a book on there.  It's the practicalities of the OP and her mother living in different countries, which could prove interesting, due to the Amazon.com/co.uk rules.  At least the Kindle has a free 3G option, which for Amazon books will be easy.  It's the non Amazon books which would be harder for the OP to get onto her mothers reader.

Having seen both the Sony and Kindle, I don't think either is any easier to "use", but I am happy to be proven wrong  ;D

Galina, which country is your mother in?  Which country are you in?

[galina]

Personally I think there's more book choice for the Kindle than the Sony, and with the clout of Amazon in the USofA and UK, can only get bigger.  

It's the non Amazon books which would be harder for the OP to get onto her mothers reader.

Having seen both the Sony and Kindle, I don't think either is any easier to "use", but I am happy to be proven wrong  ;D

Galina, which country is your mother in?  Which country are you in?

I live in the UK, my parents live in Germany.  I went on Amazon.de which sent me to Amazon.com and the choice of books in German is not exactly wonderful.  Much more choice on Project Gutenberg.   Amazon.com wanted to know which country the Kindle would be used in and all the German Kindle books come from Amazon.com.  I think it would be easier to top her Kindle up on visits.  Amazon is very flexible - I have an Amazon.de account and have been sending presents to my parents from here for years and paying with my UK credit card.  Really helpful for larger items, like her microwave (which she also mastered at 89).  And for german language audiobooks.  I digress.

If a transfer is just a matter of an USB cable, it would be easy to upload to her Kindle from our computer  (always provided she wants a Kindle of course).  

Small, now you've put the cat amongst the pigeons!  There are other, similar readers?  Must go investigate.

Manic scouser,  now listening as well as reading would be fabulous, even if it is in an artificial voice.  I wonder whether this feature is available in german?  She could then do both listen and read.  This would be so good.  

My mother used to be a member of the local book circle, a group who tackled a book every two weeks and then met to discuss it at one of their houses.  She used to like the social side of that and usually grumbled at the choice of books  :).  But had to give it up, because she could not manage so much reading with her large magnifier.

More research to see whether the listening option is available.  Great stuff!

[Alimo]

I suppose if you chose the 3G version, and register it in the uk, then you could buy the books for her on amazon.uk and they would be instantly downloaded to her kindle.

The 3G kindle's batteries run out faster than the wifi one - I read my kindle every day, I got it for Christmas, and have read a dozen books since then.  I've had to charge up the batteries 3 times only... mine is a wifi kindle - and I love it!

Perhaps give the kindle support people a phone call (others have said they're very helpful) and discuss the options.

Alison

[GodfreyRob]

I suppose if you chose the 3G version, and register it in the uk, then you could buy the books for her on amazon.uk and they would be instantly downloaded to her kindle.

The 3G kindle's batteries run out faster than the wifi one - I read my kindle every day, I got it for Christmas, and have read a dozen books since then.  I've had to charge up the batteries 3 times only... mine is a wifi kindle - and I love it!

Perhaps give the kindle support people a phone call (others have said they're very helpful) and discuss the options.

Alison

Turn off the wi-fi when you have downloaded the book(s) you want and the batteries last much longer - like 3 to 4 weeks.

[mat]

Unfortunately Alimo, Amazon rules for Kindle book purchases are different to other purchases, due to DRM (digital rights management) on books...  >:(  As Galina lives in the UK, but the Kindle will be in Germany, and as the account details will be in Germany, it is likely that the Kindle will need to be registered to Amazon.com.

It can be purchased from Amazon.co.uk, delivered to a UK address, but then when Galina registers it to her mothers address in Germany and takes it to Germany, it will pop up that purchases will need to be made from Amazon.com...  If Galina registers it to her own UK address, then she could buy from the UK site, but Amazon may start to realise the Kindle is always in Germany and "start to complain".  It's all very complicated, and all due to publishers insisting on digital rights management... grrrr....

This is in fact a bonus, as more free books are available from .com... BUT there's another downside, that Europe is not considered USofA, but rest of World, which means not all the USA offers are available in Europe!!!

I have seen many grumbles on the Amazon Kindle forum about this (around Christmas time)  mainly from people who do not have a UK address (because of travelling) but wish to buy from Amazon UK with £ gift vouchers "mother has given them" but Amazon will not let them...

[Alimo]

I hadn,t realised - that's not good.

Alison

[galina]

Thanks, Mat, for the explanation why I was directed from away  .de  to .com for both the kindle and the ebooks.