Kindle: Amazon's new wireless reading device

[XXXNoahXXX]

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$400 seems really reasonable for what you get. Can't believe people think it's overpriced.

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So, what is that to you, like twelve british pounds?

[Benholio]

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$400 seems really reasonable for what you get. Can't believe people think it's overpriced.

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What exactly do you get for $400? I guess if you have an existing library of compatible books you get something. Otherwise you still have to pay before you can really start using the device.

[Wires]

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$400 seems really reasonable for what you get. Can't believe people think it's overpriced.

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It definitely is overpriced. This is the first of its type to market (...I think) which is going to allow them to charge the inflated price. I remember purchasing a ProScan DVD player when DVD players first hit the market - $750. New technology is fun and the bragging rights are cool but it never comes cheap.

Wait a year or two when the competition gets in the game and improves functionality and compatibility. This Kindle 1.0 will look like a dinosaur in no time.

As of now I wouldn't buy one simply because the technology is not where I would want it to be for such a device. I'd have to buy an new one in a year. I can wait.

But if you gotta' have one then you gotta' have one. I can respect that.

[KneeCo]

from Engadget:
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Amazon isn't disclosing how many Kindles it actually had ready to go, but apparently the idea of a tiny e-book reader with free EV-DO and the visual flair of an Apple IIc hit home for quite a few people, because they sold out in just five and a half hours. Amazon's site says they'll be back in stock on the 29th, but availability is first-come, first-served, so it looks like you'll have to act fast if you want to get one before gift-giving time sets in.

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Of course they might have only stocked a small amount for the first shipment, thinking it would be good for the hype, but that's kind of an overly cynical POV, esp since they know people who do their christmas shopping online are getting busy these days.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

I like how people keep calling it "free EVDO" even though you have to pay to do things that are normally free

['Chair]

cons:
- DRM
- lack of features
- design. quite frankly, its an eye sore and it doesn't look like something I would like to hold for hours at a time.
- DRM


upside...
- (should it catch on) it will get hacked (and then become worthwhile)
- battery recharges via wireless. This seems to be the panty-dropper for me. I am unable to understand how this works and why more wireless devices don't charge like this..........................?!?! (can someone link an article to this technology? I have google'd but am unable to find much other than "hey amazon has this new product. here are the specs (regurgitate website).")

[AlexM]

The only real advantage to this is if you want to read Wikipedia while not home or have a need for a large portable library. The biggest advantage a book has, especially a paperback, is simply its comfort and flexibility to hold and an electronic device cannot match that. Also unless you're just starved for room, a bunch of books in your home looks good. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[dylan's alias]

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- battery recharges via wireless. This seems to be the panty-dropper for me. I am unable to understand how this works and why more wireless devices don't charge like this..........................?!?! (can someone link an article to this technology? I have google'd but am unable to find much other than "hey amazon has this new product. here are the specs (regurgitate website).")

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There are two potential systems I have heard of. One requires the device to have some metal points on the back, and is currently available for the RAZR:

http://www.wildcharge.com/

The other uses magnetic induction and also requires a special adapter, but is not yet available:

http://www.splashpower.com/

I'm not sure which the Kindle uses, but I'd bet on the first. The key, to me, for wireless charging would be a universal format. That way, I could charge all my devices on the same mat. If I need a different unit for each device, it isn't that much of an advantage.

[RoundTower]

I think all the cons (DRM, small selection, high price, etc) will be gone in a year or so, I expect I'll get one then.

[*TT*]

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In all honesty this seems like one of those instances where new technology doesn't necessarily improve on the old. Printed books have been around forever but guess what - they still get the job done.

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your looking at Rev C of the technology. Rev D (at least I think it will be Rev D) is flexible E-paper. I've already experienced a demo, its a flexible fabric-like sheet that has no backlighting, the e-paper uses natural light sources just like real paper. My first experiance with this next-stage technology was around '05 when the magazine industry was projecting this technology's rollout in '09-'10, until last week I was a magazine publisher (congratulate me - I quit!) so I was exposed to advanced technology concepts in order to project our future business strategies. Although its being pitched as a book reader the primary us is expected to someday be newspaper & magazine content (at least thats what i was told a few years ago) with the book publishing industry leading the way because the cost of entry is lowest for them.

Major newsstand providers such as Hudson News Group are already preparing for this change, they are decreasing their magazine allotments in most (not all) stands nationwide while switching to alternative sources of revenue such as videos and travel supplies. They are also preparing upload station technologies, for example say you want to buy the NY Times at an airport - you might have a choice of paper or uploaded via USB to your E-Paper tablet.

The magazine industry's projection is commonly around 4-5 more years until the paper decrease starts to take place, nobody knows for sure but I have been projecting 2015 as the critical mass stage for E-Paper (this is just an instinctual guess).

love it or hate it, your looking at the first step for the future; this is how content will be commonly read in 10 years.