

Kindle: Most Highlighted Passages of All Time - cosbynator
http://kindle.amazon.com/popular_highlights

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rpledge
Is it just me that thinks it's a little creepy that Amazon knows what I
highlight? (Well, theoretically anyways, I don't own a kindle)

~~~
amalcon
I was considering buying a Kindle within the next month or two. This story
literally just made up my mind.

No, it's not just you.

~~~
lionhearted
> I was considering buying a Kindle within the next month or two. This story
> literally just made up my mind.

If you're a regular reader, get _some_ kind of e-ink ebook reader even if not
the Kindle. It's been amazing for me getting all the out of print classics for
free off Gutenberg.org and taking the time to read philosophy, history, the
best fiction of all time, and so on. I've got a Kindle and am very happy with
it, but get something even if not the Kindle.

I'm reading different, often deeper things than I used to read, I'm reading
more, and it's _light_ \- I travel so that's a huge plus for me. Also, I never
finish a book mid-airplane or mid-train and get stuck looking out the window
any more.

~~~
greyman
I was considering to buy one, but a big drawback for me is that I can't read
on it in the dark, which is almost all my reading time - my wife sleeps next
to me and I don't want to switch on the light, so I current use a netbook
(where I can also read Amazon or B&N books using their software). But I know
there exist a small lamp which can be attached to a Kindle - but, can someone
confirm it is convenient way to read that way?

~~~
lionhearted
> I was considering to buy one, but a big drawback for me is that I can't read
> on it in the dark, which is almost all my reading time - my wife sleeps next
> to me and I don't want to switch on the light, so I current use a netbook

That makes sense, yeah. You can read on your netbook for long periods of time
without your eyes hurting, though? I've never really been able to read things
that require a lot of studying to get through on the computer without breaks.
Seneca's "On the Shortness of Life" took me like five sessions with short
breaks to get through on my laptop, where I could normally read something like
that in one sitting on paper or e-ink.

> But I know there exist a small lamp which can be attached to a Kindle - but,
> can someone confirm it is convenient way to read that way?

I've been looking for something like that myself, could be quite a boon.

~~~
greyman
Maybe I am a minority, but my eyes don't hurt...as a programmer, I am used to
a computer screen. But it's true that i don't read for long periods of time,
usually 1-2 hours, max 3. But reading 2 hours on my netbook is not a problem
for me.

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dpritchett
How do publishers and authors feel about this? Is Amazon giving away the
sizzle or the steak?

For some deeper books this might impel me to make a purchase. For collections
of shallow platitudes (e.g. my predilection for self-help books) the "top
highlights" view is all I'll need.

Here's an example of a book I considered buying but didn't - _The Talent
Code_. Now I've got the high notes in a free, easily digestable format:
[http://kindle.amazon.com/work/talent-code-greatness-born-
gro...](http://kindle.amazon.com/work/talent-code-greatness-born-
grown/B001KTZNHA)

Edit: And here are the highlights from _Hackers and Painters_ :
[http://kindle.amazon.com/work/hackers-painters-big-ideas-
com...](http://kindle.amazon.com/work/hackers-painters-big-ideas-
computer/B001CZLSWG)

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lionhearted
That's a lot of deep sounding pseudo-wisdom right there.

~~~
jf
Just wait until 4chan starts highlighting things.

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tokenadult
Now why did I know that most passages that have been highlighted by readers
are from lowbrow popular books, with many of the highlighted passages being
platitudes?

P.S. When you read a book that you own, do you highlight passages of the text,
or do you keep a notebook (electronically or on paper) of the most important
points in the book? At the risk of setting up a bogus dichotomy, I think many
people who take notes from books seem not to highlight them, and perhaps the
converse is true as well.

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memetichazard
Why is:

PRINCESS ON THE PEA (From the tale by Hans Christian Andersen)THE UGLY
DUCKLING

at #19? or:

AND THE BEAN-STALK (Said to be an allegory of the Teutonic Al-fader, The tale
written in French by Charles Perrault)JACK THE GIANT KILLER (From the old
British legend told by Geoffrey of Monmouth, of Corineus the Trojan)LITTLE RED
RIDING HOOD (From the French tale by Charles Perrault)THE THREE BEARS

at #22? And it shows the number of highlights - around 700 for each. Is this a
case of accidental highlighting, some people organizing to highlight random
sections of text from free books to mess up the stats, or a bug?

Edit: I have no idea how to use markdown. Argh! I thought two spaces at the
end of the line added a line break?

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ardit33
To verybody that is complainin about privacy: You have the choice, to turn
off/on, popular highlights, backup or not your anotations, etc. They are
clearly marked on the "Settings".

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ashishbharthi
There should be a way to disable it appearing from their website.

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gojomo
Gladwell must be so proud to be nestled between Dan Brown and William P. Young
atop these charts.

