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Hands-On With The Kindle
Posted by
Zonk
on Tue Nov 27, 2007 01:23 PM
from the cheaper-e-ink-plz-k-thnx dept.
from the cheaper-e-ink-plz-k-thnx dept.
Amazon's Kindle e-book may have sold out in record time, but there's still a lot of discussion about the device's merits. Neil Gaiman likes it well enough, but it's sent Robert Scoble into a fit of apoplectic rage. For a real, meaty, hands-on look at the way the device operates in everyday life, Gamers With Jobs writer Julian Murdoch has a slice of life with the Kindle. He takes us through his Thanksgiving holiday weekend with the device, noting the quirks (good and bad) that cropped up with Amazon's new toy. "Short of reading in the tub, the Kindle is easier to read in more places, positions, and situations than a physical book ... But it's far from perfect. It is expensive. The cover, which I find completely necessary, is in desperate need of more secure attachment (Velcro works great). The book selection is less-than-perfect, although I imagine this will improve with every passing day. And Amazon needs marketing help. The Kindle's launch reeked of 'get it out fast.' The big-picture marketing efforts (like video demonstrations and blurbs from authors) were great, but simple things like communicating how freakin' easy it is to get non-Amazon content on to the device, for free, remain horribly misunderstood."
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Amazon's Ebook The Future of Reading? 354 comments
theodp writes "With a seven-page cover story on The Future of Reading, Newsweek confirms all those rumors of Amazon's imminent introduction an affordable ebook. Kindle, which is named to evoke the crackling ignition of knowledge, has the dimensions of a paperback, weighs 10.3 oz., and uses E Ink technology on a 6-inch screen powered by a battery that gets up to 30 hours from a 2-hour charge. Kindle's real breakthrough is its EVDO-like wireless connectivity, which allows it to work anywhere, not just at Wi-Fi hotspots. More than 88,000 titles will be on sale at the Kindle store at launch, with NYT best sellers priced at $9.99."
[+]
Apple: Kindle Versus The iPhone 376 comments
Bernie Campbell writes "Forbes takes a look at the recently announced Kindle ebook from Amazon, and considers the possibility that Apple may have beaten them to the punch. 'Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs has a not-so-secret weapon when it comes time to load up the iPhone with content: Google ... Google's Book Search project has already pumped much of the world's printed matter into Google's servers. Downloads of classic titles, such as Bleak House, can already be had for free. Mix Apple's iTunes content distribution smarts with Google's vast storehouse of content, and you'll have an instant competitor to Kindle -- one with a touch interface and the ability to play movies and music, too.'
[+]
Hardware: Amazon's Kindle Sells Out In 5.5 Hours 417 comments
necro81 writes "As reported on Engadget, Amazon's Kindle e-book reader has sold out. Charlie Rose's interview with Jeff Bezos reveals that the Kindle sold out within just 5-1/2 hours of going on sale. Amazon hasn't revealed how many it had in stock at launch, so it may just be that they didn't anticipate early demand. A check of the Kindle's product page shows that more will be rolling out starting December 3rd." Wired also has a brief head-to-head of the more prominent ebook readers and PCWorld has a review of the new gadget from Amazon.
[+]
The Cult of Kindle 283 comments
DaMan writes "ZDNet's Hardware 2.0 blog is pondering the Kindle this week. There have been many attempts at an ebook reader in the past; why does Amazon think it can do any better? Given the high cost and DRM issues, will cachet be enough to win them financial success? Will the 'Cult of Kindle' help guarantee Amazon's success in the ebook reader market? 'A group of people willing to give it a five star rating just because someone else didn't, willing to back up every design, engineering and marketing decision that Amazon made, willing to defend the Kindle with their last dying breath. The Kindle doesn't cost money, it saves money. That 0.75 second flash as the pages turn isn't a downside because it gives you an opportunity to take in the previous page. It doesn't harm your eyes, in fact, it fixes them. Ergonomic issues that other reviewers have bought up are dismissed by the Cult of Kindle as flaws with the reviewer, not the device. The Kindle is perfect, and the Kindle 2.0 will be a little more perfect.'"
[+]
Ask Slashdot: Which eBook Reader is the Best? 469 comments
Mistress.Erin writes "I cannot decide between Amazon's Kindle and Sony's Reader. I've read some
reviews, but their motives can be somewhat suspect. So, I come to the most tech savvy group around to ask: which eBook reader is the best? If not Kindle or Reader, then what?" We've discussed this question before, but things have changed a bit since 2005.
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Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:4, Interesting)
I don't understand why people would buy this at ~$400. May as well just go and get a low end tablet pc, which you could use for a multitude of other uses.
I'm not the NYT's typical top-ten reader, so I'm not sure something like this would immediately appeal. The last few books I've read were printed from 10 to 50 years ago, which would place them well beyond this device. Pros and Cons just don't weigh enough in favour and like I said, what does this do that a tablet couldn't do? Maybe when they drop it to ~$50 and I can sync it like my iPod to my favourite content feeds each morning it would hold some promise.
Also, books don't require batteries. I've got several devices around now, which all have some form of rechargeable (and expensive to replace) cells. I worry a bit about the availability of replacement cells several years down the road.
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:5, Interesting)
+ Reader has to be under $100.
+ Books have to be half the price of print books or lower.
+ No bullshit DRM. I better be able to back the content up, copy it to my ipod, save it on my hard drive. Whatever.
+ I better be able to resell it, just like I can resell a used book. Otherwise, all of this is just a run-around way for the publishing industry to attacked the used book trade, which they hate more than almost anything else on earth (including their loathing of public libraries).
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:5, Informative)
"Hypothetical" competitor to the kindle? There already are such devices which predate Amazon's own release as well. This one [bookeen.com] looks good. Again, a highish price but it looks better than Amazon's own (Linux support being one of, though not the top, reason for that). Sadly, like the Kindle, it has also sold out completely, but I'm seriously thinking of putting one on order.
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:4, Interesting)
Well if you see the DRM on the Kindle as a selling point, then that does narrow the field (though the device I linked to does support MobiPocket which is one of the most popular DRM book formats, I'm told). However, DRM is a minus point to me. The frustration it can cause me can actually push a purchase into negative value to my life. There are alternatives to DRM. For example, I have purchased numerous PDF books with watermarks. And given that production and distribution costs fall to close to zero for the publisher, you can even dispense with security altogether and still make a healthy profit as BAEN books seem to do.
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:5, Insightful)
-They are
-Explain to me how you do this with paper books?
-Good point, something that must be addressed by congress. So get involved.
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:5, Insightful)
Electronic digital data is very fragile in comparison to it's analog counterpart. The benefits of that fragility however is the ability to cheaply make exact duplicate copies of the data.
When you have digital data with DRM, you have the worst of both worlds essentially.
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:5, Insightful)
Don't think it can happen? It already has. http://www.google.ca/search?q=mlb+drm [google.ca]
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:5, Informative)
How about free [mobipocket.com]? Provided, of course, that you provide your own Blackberry, Palm, Smarter-Than-Thou-Phone, PC or other geek-faux-wang. If you don't already have one you can probably find something acceptable at or near your $100 price point. It won't have the big e-Paper screen that the Kindle does, but I have no troubles using a smaller display.
e-Book pricing is all over the place right now, with titles ranging anywhere from free [baen.com], free [manybooks.net], or free [gutenberg.org], all the way to about the same as printed books [mobipocket.com]. As the market grows expect to see more pressure on prices which should force things down a bit, but don't hold your breath.
Some books ship with bullshit included while others come pas-des-merde-des-vasche. With a good reader you can feed it anything from flat ASCII text, HTML or PDF files through to insanely encrypted tracts of bull and have something readable come out the other end. The choice is yours.
Yes, you can absolutely resell the hardware that you read books on just like you resell a used book. Reselling _data_ is a trickier problem, as it is nothing like a used book. Besides, the only way for second hand ebooks to have any value would be if they included "Bullshit DRM". Which do you want, resale or steerpoopage?
Sprint EV-DO might be part of it. (Score:5, Interesting)
Take a look at the specs [amazon.com].
This thing doesn't sync, nor use WiFi. Instead, it downloads content through Sprint's wireless 3G network (the same one that their phones use). There is no subscription fee for this (the data service). It will also download newspaper and magazine subscriptions daily (no syncing or need to find a WiFi hotspot).
Perhaps their pricing model is built around including some type of specially negotiated data plan with Sprint that is amortized over the projected lifetime of the device. (Just speculation).
PDAs: $150. Why get a Kindle? (Score:4, Informative)
I've been using one for over 2 years as my eBook reader of choice, and almost never open a regular book now. Toss PalmFiction on it, and you have a top notch e-book reader that can read HTML, MS Word, RTF, Text, PalmDoc and a number of other DRM-unencumbered formats.
Want a more integrated experience? There are over 10 other e-book readers for the PalmOS, some which have their own DRM-encumbered formats, some where you can purchase directly from the eBook app, etc.
Project Gutenberg encodes their documents in Plucker format, which has a native PalmOS reader.
The T|X has WiFi and Bluetooth support, and can connect to the internet via cellphone BT link, WiFi router, USB uplink with a computer, or even IrDA.
It has a 320x480 (2.5" x 3.5") screen, which might seem small, but works really well for reading text. Text can be displayed at any size and be linked to dictionary lookup/wikipedia/etc. Plus, the device fits in my pocket, so I'm actually likely to have it when I want to read a book.
Apart from the eBook features, the device can link to common calendaring and address book apps, browse the web, etc., act as a VoIP phone if you install a microphone, be used to watch movies, listen to music, CREATE content and take advantage of the thousands of software applications written for the PalmOS platform.
Oh, and it can run Linux too
Re:Pricing is the big hurdle (Score:5, Informative)
- Cheaper
- Lighter
- Smaller
- Doesn't overheat. (Sadly, TabletPCs aren't that friendly in that regard.)
- More battery friendly
- Easier on the eyes
- EV-DO syncing. (Wikipedia in places your Tablet PC would find challenging.)
It's a specialized device. It's not necessarily for you. I wouldn't say it's a total waste, either. If not for the early adopter price, I'd have one right now.
Misunderstood, no: intentional (Score:3, Insightful)
And it is in Amazon's interest to show people who might otherwise buy material how to avoid buying material... how?
Re:Misunderstood, no: intentional (Score:4, Interesting)
Free as in Beer? (Score:5, Insightful)
If I'm not tied to a single source for my books then I may consider it, but I still enjoy they actual book feelings though. Weight, smell, etc... Some parts of reading a book have nothing to do with what is written... At least for me.
Re:Free as in Beer? (Score:4, Funny)
That's like saying you won't drive a car because you like the smell of a horse's ass.
Kindle (Score:4, Funny)
Shock! (Score:2)
I wanted to see the "fit of apoplectic rage" (Score:4, Funny)
Oh my.
Re:I wanted to see the "fit of apoplectic rage" (Score:5, Funny)
easier than a book? (Score:1)
I don't understand how this could be true. Seems like it would be heavier, more sensitive to water/rain/mist/fog, harder to see in bright sunlight, etc etc...
What am I missing?
An analogy (Score:5, Funny)
Re:An analogy (Score:4, Interesting)
As for non-fiction/newspapers/magazines, these are the kind of things I read on the train. Turning a page is quite tricky when you're jammed in like sardines or you only have one hand free. I think ebooks certainly have the potential to make reading more convenient in various ways.
Extra, Extra! Read All About It! (Score:2, Funny)
Please don't link to video. (Score:5, Insightful)
Please. Just pass them by.
Re:Please don't link to video. (Score:4, Insightful)
While I agree with your point, I don't know if I'd go quite that far. A lot of content, especially in the realm of creative works, is more fully enjoyable in multimedia format. I'd rather hear a band play a song than read the sheet music; I'd rather watch actors perform Shakespeare than read the script.
But for a non-creative work like a gadget review? Put the digicam down. Text will carry the essential value of the content just fine.
Re:Please don't link to video. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Please don't link to video. (Score:5, Insightful)
For us guys your statement holds. However the huge 'romance' novel industry argues that for most women text porn is preferred over visual. Whatever. Wonder if Bezos has made sure to have lots of that sort of stuff ready to sell on the Kindle.
(And no, with eight gray levels and 800x600 resolution forget jpeg/gif.)
not so much pricing of the unit, as the content (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:not so much pricing of the unit, as the content (Score:5, Insightful)
I agree that the price of ebooks will likely come down as the demand for them increases, but I doubt they will get to be as cheap as you want them.
Re:not so much pricing of the unit, as the content (Score:5, Informative)
A 50,000 word novel with an average word length of 5 characters (plus 1 for spaces or punctuation), is only 300k. Let's even up it to 150k word novel that's a bit wordy, maybe 9 characters a word (plus 1 for spaces or punctuation). That's still just 1.5mb, half the size of a song. As long as we're talking just plain text, it's pretty cheap. You could even compress it, and text compresses very well.
I can understand having to pay the people who write and maintain the software, the editors, authors, marketing people, possibly artists for cover art.. but bandwidth for the actual transport of the written text is so small that it really shouldn't have that much of an effect on the final price. I can't imagine that the bandwidth costs to transfer 1.5mb of text is greater than several hundred pages of paper, glue, ink, and physical transport to a store (and the store clerks, and all other costs associated with physical retail).
Re:not so much pricing of the unit, as the content (Score:5, Insightful)
bandwidth cost is much lower than the same costs for physical books which include not only printing but also shipping and handling, which alone is probably more than the bandwidth on a per book basis. The grandparent might be a bit off on the $1 number but he is right that nobody is going to pay the same price for a text file that they would pay for a paperback.
Books arent like music, they dont have as much replay vaule, your not sitting on a train thinking, "man, if only I had that book I finished last week I would read it again right now." Most people read one book at a time, or a few books at a time in some cases and there is much less value in carrying your entire library with you. So given all that, why would you buy a device to do that just to pay the same price for the book as you would for a nice bound copy?
Doesn't handle PDFs? (Score:3, Informative)
If it doesn't, why would anyone buy it?
Re:Doesn't handle PDFs? (Score:5, Informative)