Amazon Kindle - Electronic Reading Device

[ZeeJustin]

Was exploring around Kurzweilai.net (http://Kurzweilai.net) , and yet another one of his predictions is coming true with remarkable accuracy in regards to time. It's not cheap or widely used yet, but I think it will be before the decade is over.

The TL;DR version from Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983)

6 minute introductory video from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Amazon-com-kindle/dp/B000FI73MA)

Read some of the 650 reviews posted on Amazon in the past 4 days, and the reviews are all over the place, but I guess that's to be expected when most of the people reviewing don't have the product yet.

Here are what some of the reviews were saying:

Pros: discounts on book, display that's very easy on the eyes, very portable, very comfortable, smooth easy to use features, large memory, purchases automatically backed up online in case something happens to your kindle, access to books, blogs and magazines,

Cons: $400, will probably be obsolete in 5 years and the format won't be transferable to your new device, the service does not work everywhere that cell phones work, not fully compatible with other products (PDA's perhaps?), limited number of books (around 70,000ish right now, more coming), very limited number of magazines (so far), some products (all?) are only available without pictures

I don't have one, but it seems like a great introduction to an up and coming technology that IMO will basically completely replace books (except for their appeal as artifacts).

[vhawk01]

This seems fantastic to me. While I dont see myself paying 400 dollars for a first-gen Kindle, what is more exciting to me is to envision all of the possibilities that this type of technology has to offer. As voice-recognition and AI language software gets better and better, we'll no longer need to pay people to narrate books. Instead of holding a book-sized Kindle I can hold an iPod sized "Spark" that will instantly download and read my books to me, all for a fraction of the cost. Combine this with Tablet PC technology and all of my lecture materials for all my classes can be placed on my Kindle, where I can write in notes, highlight and underline things, and basically instead of carrying around a hundred pounds worth of notes and syllabus and textbooks, my entire coursework can fit on this little paperback sized thing.

Combine the iPhone and the Kindle and I've got nearly my entire life all on this single, user-friendly device. New advances in wireless battery charging and remote power means my Kindle never runs out of juice.

Its honestly really exciting.

[ZeeJustin]

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Combine the iPhone and the Kindle and I've got nearly my entire life all on this single, user-friendly device.

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Yup, that's basically what we're going to see. Also include credit card, driver's license etc. in that list of "things in 1". Also some health stuff like blood pressure monitor. Palm pilots were only the beginning.

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Its honestly really exciting.

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Yeah, I think so too. Really looking forward to having all my documents with me everywhere I go.

[yukoncpa]

I will definitely buy something like this when the price drops. However - is it just me, or is staring into a direct light source for hours each day, a strain on my eyes? It seems like reading a book, that uses reflective light, as opposed to a direct light source, is more relaxing. My prejudices won’t detract from the value of something like the Kindle, but still, I can’t help but think, that books won’t become obsolete just yet.

[furyshade]

they have some differnet way of showing the print, i dont think it is like looking at a computer screen

[yukoncpa]

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they have some differnet way of showing the print, i dont think it is like looking at a computer screen



[/ QUOTE ] That's actually what I was wondering. Thanks for the info.

[Phil153]

Can you explain what this is and what it has to do with the Nerd Rapture/Kurzweil?

Does the thing read books for you and summarize the information? I don't understand. All I got was that it was basically an iPod that displayed PDFs

[MaxWeiss]

Remote power I think is the most interesting part. It's really hard to send juice through airwaves but it is possible. For a while I was trying to figure out how to make a USB thingy which had one end in the computer and one end on your USB device and so every USB device could be wireless. I did a lot of looking into sending power wirelessly and it's possible but it's really at the early stages. I also realized I know nothing about electrical engineering, but that's a whole other story.

[TheCutter]

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they have some differnet way of showing the print, i dont think it is like looking at a computer screen

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It uses epaper, it looks just like normal paper, no own light source, so you need to use a lamp to read it in the dark. Reading this is in no way more tiring than reading a normal book.

[Nielsio]

Pretty nice gimmick. Not sure how well this is going to compete with devices who have full internet operability though.

[CrayZee]

I have this pathological fascination w/ gadgets and gizmos... I haven't compared the specs but how is this different than the Sony reader that came out awhile ago, it also uses e-paper tech.

I messed w/ the Sony version at Fry's and, more recently, Costco. Pretty cool, you can press down on the screen w/ your fingers and no LCD liquid effects happen. Much, much easier on the eyes than standard display technology.

The one thing I don't like about "one page books" is that you can't fully use your spacial memory (i.e. flipping pages)...but that's made up w/ search functions I suppose.

[vhawk01]

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Pretty nice gimmick. Not sure how well this is going to compete with devices who have full internet operability though.

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Well, the advantages are that it has really good battery life and it stores around 200 books at a time.

[Nielsio]

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Pretty nice gimmick. Not sure how well this is going to compete with devices who have full internet operability though.

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Well, the advantages are that it has really good battery life and it stores around 200 books at a time.

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lol

[vhawk01]

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Pretty nice gimmick. Not sure how well this is going to compete with devices who have full internet operability though.

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Well, the advantages are that it has really good battery life and it stores around 200 books at a time.

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lol

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Your PDA holds more than that? I'm not talking .doc's here

Oh you mean internet access. Well again, these are scanned books with the specialized display. It isnt meant to replace the internet its meant to replace the paperback.

[Nielsio]

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Pretty nice gimmick. Not sure how well this is going to compete with devices who have full internet operability though.

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Well, the advantages are that it has really good battery life and it stores around 200 books at a time.

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lol

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Your PDA holds more than that? I'm not talking .doc's here

Oh you mean internet access. Well again, these are scanned books with the specialized display. It isnt meant to replace the internet its meant to replace the paperback.

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I don't think they're scanned. You can choose font size and the lines and rows readjust to fit the screen. That's not a scan.

[ZeeJustin]

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Can you explain what this is and what it has to do with the Nerd Rapture/Kurzweil?

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He basically said that devices like this will make books obsolete. This technology is almost there.

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All I got was that it was basically an iPod that displayed PDFs

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It's lighter than a single book, a screen that is easier on the eyes than a book (let alone a screen), it can access hundreds of thousands of books, who knows how many blogs and magazines, is wireless, adds search functions/highlight functions/tons of other stuff you could never get from an ipod or iphone.

Why would anyone ever use a book again once this becomes cheap?

[AE6]

If I actually made a habit of buying books, I would be all over this thing in an instant. As is, pretty much all the books I read are from the library. The benefits of weight, convenience, etc. really aren't enough to justify shelling out $9.99 per rather than the zero I pay now.