[Skywalker]

Unless you have been under a rock all this morning you probably know that Amazon has debuted the Kindle e-book reader.

The front page on Amazon has a letter from Jeff Bezos, CEO to whomsoever it may concern (or not). The product page is here

I figured I'd ask whether you think this will be earth shattering along the lines of the iPod... or easily buried along the lines of the Segway.

Personally, I'm curious... would've shelled out about $200 to check one out, but $400 defeats the curious cat within. Plus I don't know if it will work outside the US.

Then there is the fact that it doesn't support *.pdf, *.doc, and *.lit files...

[Vengeance]

The fact that it doesn't support .pdf, .doc, and . lit files means that it is probably going to blow.

[Banana]

I think this product isn't very good but it's also just the beginning. Once this sorta thing catches on and becomes more commonplace like the ipod then the prices will drop dramatically. Then again, reading isn't as popular as listening to music so it'll probably take quite a while for this sorta thing to catch on... but once it does, it'll change the book industry for sure.

[paladin]

if the OS is opensource, or if people are able to develop applications for it, you can be sure it will support other file types eventually

[Skywalker]

http://www.kottke.or...7/11/14512.html

Nice bunch of links to read from in that URL

[Spindrift]

This sort of ebook reader has been around for a few years now (2004, at least) with half a dozen different kinds available. This seems to fix none of the issues that made previous ones so unpopular; namely, proprietary formats (drm) and cost. $400 is too expensive for what you get. I can afford to buy this, but i can't justify buying this for that price, much as i would love to.

I'm one of the few people who actually reads more ebooks than paper books, so i'm their target audience for gods sake. this just isn't good enough - it could be, easily, but they seem to purposefully cripple it.

[Gothos]

man
anyone read Clarke's "2001: A Space Oddyssey"?
Floyd uses a very similar device there to read the day's papers. We're in the future, mates.

[Urb]

Would be nice if it really broke through. Fewer books in paper format would make it unnecessary to cut down so many trees. But I can see how it would easily develop along the lines of the music- and movie industry trying to regulate instead of adapting to more user friendly ways.

[Banana]

Gothos said:

anyone read Clarke's "2001: A Space Oddyssey"?
Floyd uses a very similar device there to read the day's papers. We're in the future, mates.

Actually, it's 2007 and that movie depicted the year 2001... sooo we're in the past buddy

[ch'arlz]

Spindrift;225629 said:

I'm one of the few people who actually reads more ebooks than paper books,

You're the first person I've ever heard make that statement.

I may be an old fuddyduddy, but I've tried two ebook readers and I don't think it's my fuddydudditude that finds them a poor substitute for actual books.

[Skywalker]

ch said:

You're the first person I've ever heard make that statement.

Here's the second person! Have been reading e-books ever since I got a job that requires me to move around a whole lot (between the US and Asia) and so carrying my dear dear books becomes a burden.

EDIT: And a little bird tells me the Kindle can too read MS Word docs...

[Lost Marine]

I don't see the point, I love the feel, smell, and look of real books. Plus as a member of the forestry industry I have to say that this could be terribly bad for business. I really hope it goes away. Plus those thing make my poor little head hurt.

[tharinock]

i perosnally like the idea, but not at that cost. not gonna pay $400 for a device that reads books and accesses wikipedia (which i can't use in school anyway). maybe if they put more in, like a coffee maker, nail clipper, usb, swiss army knife, first aid kit, inflatable life raft, and a pez dispenser...

for now ill just stick with real books.

[Gothos]

Banana;225817 said:

Actually, it's 2007 and that movie depicted the year 2001... sooo we're in the past buddy

semantics!
he was also taking a shuttle to a space station, and to the moon, DOH

[Spindrift]

ch said:

I may be an old fuddyduddy, but I've tried two ebook readers and I don't think it's my fuddydudditude that finds them a poor substitute for actual books.

I completely agree, but in practice it doesn't work out that way for me. For a new book by an author i love i'll go out and buy a real book, because they are superior and always will be. But i read a lot, and having a few thousand ebooks with me in a pda is just too convenient.
It's a little weird reading a full novel in ebook form at first, you feel like you're doing it wrong. But after a while you realise that while a real paper book enhances your reading experience as a whole, it doesn't affect the actual story in any way (not if the story is any good in the first place).

[Astra]

I believe Kindle is a failure.

As someone said, people spend 10 minutes to buy a book then 10 hours to read. So, the priorities should be given accordingly. Instead of making a eBook reader they made a gadged that is comfortable to use if you want to read books.
I cannot read from computer screen. Too much eye strain (here is a key - eInk, it causes as much eye strains as a paper book) and too many distractions on computer. The Internet, emails, mouse, keyboard, awkward sitting position etc.

I have Sony Reader PRS-500 and I belive its design is far superior.
I am considering purchasing a new generation PRS-505 which has a next generation eInk screen.

However, Amazon Kindle has contributed into ebook industry. It introduced far lower prices than any other shop. Within one day many shops had to follow and drop their prices. At least one good thing about Kindle

P.S. Btw., Kindle is ugly!

P.P.S. If you are interested in ebook readers visit this fotum:
Mobileread

[Flawed]

What the hell is this thing? An E Book!? What!!?

...............

Blink

.............

They have computers now?

[Astra]

Flawed;226978 said:

What the hell is this thing? An E Book!? What!!?

...............

Blink

.............

They have computers now?

It is a gadged to read ebook.
It has a new generation screen - eInk - electronic ink. The screen is completely different from modern LCD/TFT screens that we have on our desktops or mobile phones or palms.

The screen is quite big in comparison to any portable gadgets - 6".

[Astra]

Frankly speaking I wanted to start eBook reader thread long time ago here, then refused then I waited for Kindle and it killed my enthusiasm completely. Even amazon do not have Steve Erikson ebooks, although they have the biggest ebook shop in the world so far. There are a couple of publishers who absolutely refuse to publish ebooks. Tor is the biggest.

[Flawed]

astra_lestat;226980 said:

It is a gadged to read ebook.
It has a new generation screen - eInk - electronic ink. The screen is completely different from modern LCD/TFT screens that we have on our desktops or mobile phones or palms.

The screen is quite big in comparison to any portable gadgets - 6".

But does it make tea?