Easiest-to-use e-book manager

[constantevo]

Hi. I'm a brand new Kindle 3 owner and I'm brand new to e-books and e-book management. (I do not have 3G. I use Firefox for browsing. I'm on Windows Vista.)

A couple days ago I was reading a Kindle forum and I ran across a suggestion to use Calibre. The OP said that's it's a great way to get newspapers sent to an e-reader and that it's also a great e-book manager.

I downloaded Calibre, read the user guide, followed the instructions, and I continue to get an error message when I attempt to send the feeds I downloaded to my Kindle email address.

Calibre and its user guide is a little too tech-y for me. I'm not tech savvy enough to really understand it at all. I don't know code and I have zero interest in reading or writing code.

So I'm wondering, is there an e-book manager out there that is ultra-intuitive for people like me? Any recommendations? I got really excited about being able to get blog feeds and newspapers sent to my Kindle. I know I probably need to manage my e-books (right? I don't really know), but the blog feeds and newspapers were an exciting prospect to me.

Thanks so much.

[Worldwalker]

You might want to ask your calibre support question up in the calibre forum; almost certainly, someone knows how to fix it.

You don't have to be tech-savvy to use it, either. Having its code available for tinkering is one of its advantages, but doing so is certainly not any kind of necessity for using calibre. For example, I don't.

[constantevo]

My question was:

So I'm wondering, is there an e-book manager out there that is ultra-intuitive for people like me? Any recommendations? I got really excited about being able to get blog feeds and newspapers sent to my Kindle. I know I probably need to manage my e-books (right? I don't really know), but the blog feeds and newspapers were an exciting prospect to me.

I wasn't asking for tech support for Calibre. If I was, I would have posted a tech question in a Calibre thread.

This: You don't have to be tech-savvy to use it, either.
is obviously subjective. To me, it requires being tech savvy. Or, more tech savvy than I am. I'm a plug'n'play kind of gal.

[Filark]

Welcome to the wonderful world of ereading, Constantevo!

I have a Sony, so I can't help much, but my husband has a Kindle. We both use Calibre. It can be intimidating, but it is also an excellent program, as I'm sure you've seen if you have "viewed" the feeds you got from within the Calibre program.

One question: Why are you sending the feeds to your Kindle email address instead of hooking your Kindle up to your computer? Is it that you want continuous feeds? (Excuse my ignorance. I don't deal in feeds, although for a while I got a newsmagazine through Calibre for reading on my Sony.)

Whether you end up using Calibre, the built-in Kindle e-book manager, or something else (I don't know of any e-book managers other than Calibre and the proprietary ones), I hope you enjoy your Kindle! I can't tear my husband away from his!

[neilmarr]

Calibre. There's another? Neil

[Worldwalker]

Thank you for posting your text a second time. If you had only posted the exact same thing once, I might not have been able to understand it.

You stated that you had a calibre problem. I suggested that, instead of disregarding the benefits calibre has for you, you should post that question in the calibre support forum, where it would be answered (and most likely in a way you could understand). Given that you already have a certain amount of investment in calibre (installing it, reading docs, etc.) it would make sense, at least to me, that you would want to retain that investment instead of discarding it in favor of doing the same things over again for another program. Which would, by the way, be the one that came with your device. Since you hadn't tried asking for a fix in the calibre forum (and since Kindle email issues have generated a number of threads, although because I don't use a Kindle, I haven't read them), I suggested you should try that.

I can't fathom the mindset of someone who does not want to learn how to use their tools, whether those tools are library management programs or automobiles, and even less the ones (and I've met people like this) who wear their ignorance like a badge of honor. I couldn't talk to someone like that; my brain just doesn't work that way. So I'll assume you are not such a person (and who would want to be, anyway?) and continue. Yes, calibre can look somewhat intimidating at first glance. Sometimes at second or third, for that matter. That doesn't mean it is actually difficult to use, just that the user interface isn't what I would have chosen (but hey, if I don't like it, I'm sure Kovid will give me back twice what I paid for it!). Everything you need is right there, and the real problem is not that calibre is difficult to use, or that any given function is arcane, but that actually finding what you want can be difficult among all the things you don't need (look at the full professional version of Photoshop some time to see this taken to extremes). That's where an experienced guide can be a big help.

The reason I suggested the calibre forum is that it is full of people (tech-savvy and otherwise) who have done just about anything that just about anyone might want to do with calibre. If you need to know how to do something, there is someone in that forum who will explain exactly how to do it, step one, step two, step three, so anyone can follow. That's one of the things I love about calibre: while I've never had to ask "how do I do this?" it's comforting to know that if I do, there are hundreds of my fellow users (not to mention the calibre developers) there who can give me the answers I need. And they can give you the answers you need.

Because really, that's what your question comes down to: you need an ebook manager that will do accomplish certain tasks. Given that your choices are pretty much the Kindle software or calibre, it seemed to make sense to suggest asking the people who know how to tell a non-tech-savvy person how to use calibre to do what you need, especially given that you hadn't even tried.

[constantevo]

Originally Posted by Filark

One question: Why are you sending the feeds to your Kindle email address instead of hooking your Kindle up to your computer? Is it that you want continuous feeds? (Excuse my ignorance. I don't deal in feeds, although for a while I got a newsmagazine through Calibre for reading on my Sony.)

Filark, thank you for your helpful response. Yes, my intention was to have the feeds sent continuously. A Calibre user from another forum was able to help me earlier today by walking me through the email part of the set wizard. The changes she recommended made all the difference and now the feeds are being sent to my Kindle.

Now I have to figure out how to get my blog feeds to do the same.

[constantevo]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

Thank you for posting your text a second time. If you had only posted the exact same thing once, I might not have been able to understand it.

You stated that you had a calibre problem. I suggested that, instead of disregarding the benefits calibre has for you, you should post that question in the calibre support forum, where it would be answered (and most likely in a way you could understand). Given that you already have a certain amount of investment in calibre (installing it, reading docs, etc.) it would make sense, at least to me, that you would want to retain that investment instead of discarding it in favor of doing the same things over again for another program. Which would, by the way, be the one that came with your device. Since you hadn't tried asking for a fix in the calibre forum (and since Kindle email issues have generated a number of threads, although because I don't use a Kindle, I haven't read them), I suggested you should try that.

I can't fathom the mindset of someone who does not want to learn how to use their tools, whether those tools are library management programs or automobiles, and even less the ones (and I've met people like this) who wear their ignorance like a badge of honor. I couldn't talk to someone like that; my brain just doesn't work that way. So I'll assume you are not such a person (and who would want to be, anyway?) and continue. Yes, calibre can look somewhat intimidating at first glance. Sometimes at second or third, for that matter. That doesn't mean it is actually difficult to use, just that the user interface isn't what I would have chosen (but hey, if I don't like it, I'm sure Kovid will give me back twice what I paid for it!). Everything you need is right there, and the real problem is not that calibre is difficult to use, or that any given function is arcane, but that actually finding what you want can be difficult among all the things you don't need (look at the full professional version of Photoshop some time to see this taken to extremes). That's where an experienced guide can be a big help.

The reason I suggested the calibre forum is that it is full of people (tech-savvy and otherwise) who have done just about anything that just about anyone might want to do with calibre. If you need to know how to do something, there is someone in that forum who will explain exactly how to do it, step one, step two, step three, so anyone can follow. That's one of the things I love about calibre: while I've never had to ask "how do I do this?" it's comforting to know that if I do, there are hundreds of my fellow users (not to mention the calibre developers) there who can give me the answers I need. And they can give you the answers you need.

Because really, that's what your question comes down to: you need an ebook manager that will do accomplish certain tasks. Given that your choices are pretty much the Kindle software or calibre, it seemed to make sense to suggest asking the people who know how to tell a non-tech-savvy person how to use calibre to do what you need, especially given that you hadn't even tried.

I don't appreciate your tone and I also don't appreciate your assumptions. Your response isn't helpful because it reads as patronizing.

Perhaps we're simply speaking past each other in which case, we can each go our separate ways.

[Worldwalker]

I had a whole long reply written up to you. Then I realized that it was unnecessary. Anyone who cares can read my posts, and read your posts, and see who said what.

Though I do have to point out that I was right: I said you should ask for help in the calibre forums, and after trying everything else, even the zombie, er, chat box, you finally did ... and they helped you.

[constantevo]

Originally Posted by Worldwalker

I had a whole long reply written up to you. Then I realized that it was unnecessary. Anyone who cares can read my posts, and read your posts, and see who said what.

Though I do have to point out that I was right: I said you should ask for help in the calibre forums, and after trying everything else, even the zombie, er, chat box, you finally did ... and they helped you.

Actually, they didn't help me. A friendly, patient person on another forum helped me. It's like you're not even reading my posts.

But if saying, "You're right!" is what will make you leave me alone, then by all means, "You're right!"