Calibre, the Kindle-friendly ebook library management program, will let you collect RSS feeds from various sources and get them on your Kindle through email or USB. The web service Kindlefeeder will do the same, and is maybe a little easier to use if you hate dealing with software.
But if you find yourself constantly stumbling across long text pieces online that you want to read later away from your computer, you might want to check out Instapaper. And if you’re carrying around a lightweight Kindle, why not start using it to read those pieces?
There are actually two free services–Instapaper and Read It Later–that let you save things in this way. You could accomplish nearly the same thing with browser bookmarks, but these services add a little extra functionality: they usually save just the text, not the surrounding framework of ads or menu options, and they provide a single destination where you can browse through and read all of things you’ve saved from all over the web.
But what’s most important is they give you the ability to route those saved pages to other devices, so you can read that long article later on your phone–or, yes, on your Kindle.
I think Instapaper does a better job at this, and it’s consequently the one I’m more familiar with, but you can use either service with only a little pre-planning.
There are two simple ways to add things you find online to your Instapaper list: by clicking the “Read Later” bookmarklet (best for content you find on websites or blogs), or via a private email address that’s automatically assigned to your account (best for copy-and-paste content). You can visit Instapaper and see your list of saved articles any time you want, or add your saved list to your RSS reader, or access it on a mobile phone, etc. But let’s look specifically at how to get to it on your Kindle.
You can access your Instapaper page directly from your Kindle’s web browser at http://www.instapaper.com, but instead of reading your saved articles through your browser, click on the Kindle image in the sidebar and save a Kindle-friendly .mobi version directly to your device. Not only will this be easier to navigate through, but you’ll have offline access to it.
Scheduling auto deliveries
If you’d rather have your Instapaper work more like a Kindle subscription, visit the Instapaper Kindle automatic delivery page, where you provide your Kindle’s email address and adjust delivery settings (how many articles, daily or weekly delivery, and so on). The page also includes very clear instructions on how to add Instapaper to your Kindle’s authorized sender list, and where to find your Kindle’s email address if you don’t already know it.
Note that if you have the latest (3rd) generation Kindle and want to ensure that Amazon never sends these automated deliveries over the 3G network–which costs 15 cents per transmission if you’re in the U.S.–then change your email address so that it’s “@free.kindle.com”. Anything routed to this version of your address will be forwarded to your personal email account and sent to the Kindle over its Wi-fi connection only.
If you’re a Read It Later user, it’s not quite as convenient to load your saved articles directly onto your Kindle. On the other hand, Read It Later integrates nicely with Calibre’s RSS feed functionality, so if you’re already using Calibre with your Kindle you can route RIL into your existing feeds, then use Calibre to automatically send the articles to your device on a schedule.
(Photo: ShironekoEuro)
By Joel September 16, 2010 - 10:38 PM
Great tips – one thing that I want to point out – you can go DIRECTLY to Instapaper.com *from* your Kindle and download your saved articles – no need to send it via email or plug in with a USB.
[Also - when sending things via Calibre, I've made a point of sending to my AOL account, since I have likewise found I can read my AOL email AND download attachments using my Kindle2.]
By britcri September 19, 2010 - 8:04 AM
I put the instaper icon on the toolbar of my laptop to read an article later. As the above comment states, its easy to use the browser on the Kindle (don’t forget to bookmark the page to find it easier next time) and touch the kindle icon to download to your Kindle.
Hey Presto its like magic!
Now my Kindle got a whole new lease of life!
I truly LOVE my Kindle 2
By Booksprung » A fast and easy way to keep your Kindle synced to Instapaper November 2, 2010 - 11:04 AM
[...] Earlier this year I explained how to get Instapaper to wirelessly send a weekly collection of articles directly to your Kindle. Of course you can also do this manually by simply downloading the Kindle-friendly file from Instapaper.com and copying it over via USB, but if you’d prefer a more automated approach, try these two free Mac and Windows programs. [...]
By No time to look for good articles? Let Delivereads do it May 26, 2011 - 4:47 PM
[...] at how many awesome tools we now have to keep ourselves stocked with high-quality reading material: Instapaper and Read It Later are great services if you’ve found an article you want to save for later; Readability and [...]