Kindle: Amazon's new wireless reading device

[KneeCo]

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One thing I can attest to is that people who love books love books - meaning they actually love the physical book, not just the text.

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It wasn't long ago that you could say people love albums, not just the music but the physical disc/tape/record and, especially, the cover art.
This is still true to a certain extent, but it didn't stop ipods and itunes explosions.

Devices like these are the (not immediate but eventual) future of publishing, and the romance of a loaded book shelf wont stop them.

[Jack of Arcades]

I think the hard drive is small to increase battery life and keep the weight down. That you can leave it on so long is a plus.

Also, I like the fact that you don't need to sync it, but you can anyway.

[revots33]

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.

Unlike music, most people just read one book at a time. A $6 paperback is just as portable as the Kindle thingy. Or get a paperback free from your local library, even better.

I guess I could see a market for this among college students, if all the textbook manufacturers made their books available. But casual readers can just toss a book in their bag - no batteries required and hundreds of bucks cheaper.

And I agree, it looks very clunky like a Commodore 64 era computer.

[XXXNoahXXX]

Things people don't seem to get about this device

1)Obviously its expensive now, the price will come down.

2)Someone made this point already, but not long ago people were saying "who wants digital music! i love records and the smell and feel and coverart"

3)Bestsellers cost $9.99 on this while the list price is like $25+ for some of the ones not yet on paperback

4)It can store MP3s as well, which is pretty cool

5)Printed books get the job done....but replacing a paper library with a digital one is much better for the environment.

6)I can imagine shortly that there will be versions where you can download all your textbooks to it. Add a PDA style pointer and you could highlight your text book digitally and tranfer to your computer to study from. NO more lugging around 30 lbs. of books to class, just bring your laptop or this thing. Same goes for trips to library, etc.

[revots33]

True I agree there may be markets for this type of device as technology improves, and additional uses will be found for it that aren't yet available.

But for casual readers of novels I doubt it will be a big must-have. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong as the price goes down, the design gets better and smaller, and more people adopt it.

They've been trying to get e-book readers like this off the ground for some time with pretty much zero success. My feeling is that it's because printed books are just fine as they are. Then again I'm an old (and old-fashioned) book lover so the younger generation may feel differently.

[Borodog]

Terrible design. Should have built the thing into a "book" form factor imo. However, I have not yet held one in my hands, so it may be more impressive than I am giving it credit for from the pictures to far.

Also, $400 is insane. If I get one I'm definitely waiting for the price to fall and/or competition to enter the market.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

I think the ebook market is very different from the music market though. either way the music is coming through speakers, the source ends up not mattering very much.

with ebooks, the source is basically the same as the output device.

wrt to the other stuff this thing can do, I already touched on why I think this will ultimately be inferior to smartphones with good screens (ie iphone). and unless amazon has a monopoly on online sales of ebooks (this is I know nothing about) there is not much of a reason why you need the kindle.

edit: I am talking more about the medium term viability of this thing (2-4 years from now) than its utility right now. I just think this market is one more where convergence will happen into the pda/smartphone/mp3 device market

[cianosheehan]

I have to say also, that carrying around a library would be quite nice. There's loads of times where I 'could' listen to my mp3 player but just dont feel like it whereas it'd be nice to read something instead. And if I could select what I read at any time, whether it's a magazine or a novel or a paper or whatever, that'd be sweet.

And travelling with it and having access to magazines and newspapers while in a foreign country whose print is mainly in a different language would be really good.

[kabouter]

I want one of these for school, as a Law student it would be awesome not having to carry around those heavy books anymore. And it's great for the environment as well.

[cianosheehan]

I think they could have gotten people much more excited about it if it looked the part. But it really doesnt. Kinda suprising that the aesthetics are so bad actually. I'm not too sure about those 'next page' buttons on either side...I know they want to mimmick the physical action of turning a page, but still. Just seems too clunky. I'd like to see how the words look on the screen though.

If the Kindle was really durable, and about half the price I'd consider it.