Here are the three main questions I got about using the Kindle as a guide book. These are definitely the most practical considerations:

Q1: Does the free 3G access to buy and download new books work in lots of places?

A1: Amazingly well all over the place. Better than advertised.

Q2: Are the maps usable?

A2: Meh, usable but not great.

Q3: Were there lots of guides available in the Kindle store?

A3: Hit and miss. Which perhaps isn’t quite good enough.

Everything else about the Kindle was above and beyond exceptional. The battery lasts forever, it’s ridiculously lightweight, and it’s very comfortable to read. There’s a ton of great books (even many free titles!) available, so for novels it’s quite good. It’s just not completely solid for guide books. It’s damn close though.

Were I shopping  for a digital guide book option today — which I always am — what would I buy?I would buy an Android tablet and use Google’s eBookstore, and here’s why.

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//shawn

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Can A Kindle Replace Travel Guide Books? Part 2 of 2 is a post from: Rerunaround

1. I can’t pre-purchase guide books without knowing where I’m going exactly.
2. I don’t want to carry all those guide books even if I found a way to buy them.
3. I can’t reliably rely on the internet for looking things up while on the road.
4. I can’t reliably purchase my next destination’s guidebook in my current destination.

With this list of guide book issues it became immediately obvious that traditional guide books aren’t going to cut it. I don’t want to ditch the guide books altogether though. A quick Amazon search showed me that I could get the guide books I like digitally on the Kindle. Lonely Planet seems to currently have 50 travel guides published on the Kindle.  There’s definitely a potential issue of some countries not being on the list. Indonesia for example isn’t there (yet?).

So will the Kindle actually work for me in this situation? On the road, buying guide books remotely as I go? Are they even useful on the Kindle? Do the maps display clearly? Does it take ages to find info that I would normally have a gum wrapper marking for me? I had a lot of concerns and so I did some research and found these points about the Kindle:

1. I can purchase and download content in 100+ countries with no fees. Uses a 3G network.
2. Up to 2 weeks of battery life.
3. I can read my content on my PC and iPhone also. The iPhone I was bringing along solely for the occasional app and some games suddenly became handier.
4. Search function allows me to find info anywhere in a particular guide or even anywhere in all my books.
5. Bookmarks let me quickly jump to the few handy pages that I really need. Gum wrapper issue solved.
6. Clipboard lets me save any section of a book. So for example, I could highlight the three good hostels in a city and put all their info on one page.
7. Kindle editions seem to be even cheaper than paperbacks. Lonely Planet Japan for example is $25 in paperback and $16 in Kindle.

So far this is sounding pretty good, and it does a load of other “nice to have” things also, such as Wikipedia search. There is a full page of sales pitch on the Amazon site here* if you want all the info. The items I listed were just what applied to my specific guide book concerns.

Now that I know the Kindle can technically work for guide books, I need to consider how and when I will use it. I like to use my small pocket notebook to jot down what I will want to know before leaving for a new place. So that I have the few pieces of information I need in hand, and I can save the guide book referencing for later. No one wants to be digging out a guide book, or a kindle, in the pouring rain while a hundred and one taxi drivers all yell at you about their driving prowess and reasonable rates. As a reference tool that can be used outside the heat of the moment, the Kindle seems quite good. The size and weight are definitely better than books, the content is more accessible, and the usability with search and clipboard functions are better.

I have gone ahead and purchased a Kindle instead of any guide books. I call this Part 1 of 2 because I intend to write an update once I have spent a month or two hands on with it while traveling. Tune in sometime in March to see how it worked out.

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// shawn

ps: I also got this rad little Timbuk2 sleeve for it!
* That link will give me some dodgy kickbacks if you purchase a Kindle. Us unemployed digital nomads gotta grab the pennies where we can you know.

Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed, I appreciate it! Please be sure to stop by the site sometimes and leave a comment so I know you're still alive. I worry about you. Are you eating okay? Ok, see ya! -- Can a Kindle Replace Travel Guide Books? Part 1 of 2 is a post from: Rerunaround