You are kidding right? You honestly can't see how this would save paper? Cost the cost of producttion in printing costs, etc?
Yes it would save paper, and most surely reduce the costs of distribution over printed matter, but the cost of purchasing the 'books' would most likely not be lowered since publishers control those prices.
But there are however the unique costs of production (plastic, glass) of operation (electricity or batteries), and the -huge- cost of ownership, and recovery if lost or damaged. One has to factor all of that in with the cost making and distributing low tech paper products. E-books can be distributed on all of those laptop PC's that are already out there - so we're talking a marginal improvement for each child at 500.00 a child for the reader, plus administration, insurance, theft, recharging, recycling, etc hassles.
I'm still considering this whole matter, as I do not own a Kindle so can not speak for it's advantages in actual use. If I want an e-book, I buy it and listen on my iPod (no reading required and entirely portable).
Currently it seems that I can actually find all of the books I want, new or at least used, for less than copyright protected Kindle books. Another SIGNIFICANT DISADVANTAGE to the Kindle user....
I doubt that one would be able to lend his Kindle book to a friend! No wonder the publishers like them.
One good guess would be OS and other user files taking up space.
The real question in my mind is why not 8 or 16 GB in a device this expensive? I know that in my case some of the periodicals I get I keep forever. It would take long to fill the device up. It's a big issue in my mind and is one element that leads to a no buy.
Frankly if this thing is to be a portable library it ought to have the capacity to be just that.
Two very good points. It makes sense for textbooks, probably paying for itself the first few years. Writing in the margins is a habit of mine as well that I would miss.
Physically printed stuff is designed as a large-as-possible-cast net to appeal to all (Sunday's newspaper). "News" needs to be rethought from the bottom up, starting with editor's picks (I'd like that job for myself...seriously) and original documents. I can switch channels easy...can't do that with a newspaper. Clearing houses are closer to originals. NYTimes et al., are just middle men...packaging people if you will. I shouldn't need them. What I would like to go with hardware like this is a selection process tailored to me, not imposed on me by some editor at a large newspaper. RSS type subscriptions seem headed in the right direction. I guess we'll find out in 5-10 years.
Do you know anything about newspapers?
The NY Times, WSJ, and most other major papers are not clearinghouses. They have dozens of their own reporters on their payrolls, as well as dozens more who are stringers. Then they have editors managing editors etc. Where do you get this idea from?
One good guess would be OS and other user files taking up space.
The real question in my mind is why not 8 or 16 GB in a device this expensive? I know that in my case some of the periodicals I get I keep forever. It would take long to fill the device up. It's a big issue in my mind and is one element that leads to a no buy.
Frankly if this thing is to be a portable library it ought to have the capacity to be just that.
Dave
Aren't all your purchases kept on Amazon's server? Therefore no need for xtralarge hard drives?
Kindle offers many more buttons per dollar than the iPhone/touch, the colorblind are no longer disadvantaged, horizontal view doesn't confusingly rotate the keyboard and controls, and PDF support brings the user into the 20th century. The Grey Lady returns with a vengeance--at a high-class price! I don't see any room for Apple here.
Yes it would save paper, and most surely reduce the costs of distribution over printed matter, but the cost of purchasing the 'books' would most likely not be lowered since publishers control those prices.
The price$ are already half for a book and have been. Go to Amazon and check it out.
Just thought I'd throw two links in about Kindle demographics...
In a nutshell, Kindle seems to have about a 50 yr. old median age, and 70% are above 40 yrs. old.
The second link has interesting comments and feedback.
Based on the target of education, it seems Amazon is aiming to shift their demographic, but I still say it won't find traction until it addresses 3 things: lower price, color, and multi-function (calendar, email, to-do/organizer, and possibly Office document editing).
I guess the real proof will be if they can develop the Kindle, while selling enough to keep this moving forward.
You guys do realize that the Apple mystery tablet is going totally annihilate the kindle dx out of existence to the point where the destruction might cause a tear to form in the space time continuum.......right?
The real question in my mind is why not 8 or 16 GB in a device this expensive?
The amount seems more than sufficient to me at this point. Just like the iPod, it shouldn't be the only place you store your content. The more NAND the more power it needs, too. Plus, incrementing the capacity with each update will help with sales. Apple seems well versed in this tactic.
You guys do realize that the Apple mystery tablet is going totally annihilate the kindle dx out of existence to the point where the destruction might cause a tear to form in the space time continuum.......right?
The first few revs of a little computer called "Macintosh" were disparaged and even ridiculed for being B&W - and lots of people who liked it otherwise didn't buy.
Still, last I heard, it hung in and got past that.....
..doesn't mean Kindle will follow the same arc, but I'm watching the pioneers take the arrows with interest.....
The problem with the Kindle, and devices like them, it that they are specialized devices in a time when specialized devices are going away.
I find it hard to believe that people who frequent computer sites, and are thereby assumed to be "up" on technology, and where it's going, can't seem to see that this is just a short term solution. Amazon has no interest in selling Kindles, because they know that few people will get them. That's one reason why they have the program for the iTouch/iPhone.
Amazon wants to sell books, magazines etc. This is the razor, and the content is the blade.
Amazon is hoping that this high profile device family, I guess we can now call it, will make people think about digital media for reading.
But in a couple of years, the ATOM and ARM will be powerful enough, and need little enough power, for a computer to fit this space, and obsolete a reader.
I hope that by that time, a good screen develops, because this one is marginal at best, and yes, I've used one.
Really? I bought the lecture notes, edited the engineering sets and if a friend needed them but couldn't afford them, at the moment, we'd photocopied a set for them to use.
Most often everyone paid for the lecture notes made well by the lecture taker which involved schematics you wouldn't do without a pencil, eraser, straight edge and more. This isn't a useful note taker in Engineering fields with application schematics.
Just think: You've gotten an entire years worth of annotated lectures and textbooks on your device, and you lose it. Now, the books can be downloaded again, and you can get the lectures again, but what about all of those valuable notes?
Is there a way to back all of that up (assuming that people will do so, as we know people don't back important info up)?
I'd rather lose one annotated textbook and lecture than all at once.
One good guess would be OS and other user files taking up space.
The real question in my mind is why not 8 or 16 GB in a device this expensive? I know that in my case some of the periodicals I get I keep forever. It would take long to fill the device up. It's a big issue in my mind and is one element that leads to a no buy.
Frankly if this thing is to be a portable library it ought to have the capacity to be just that.
Dave
a 5MB song lasts 3 minutes or so. a 5MB book file is hundreds of pages and will take you a long time to read. no reason for enough storage to last you 20 years of reading since you will buy a better model several times by then
There are a select few on here that will bash everything and anything that's not Apple.
Amazon has done an amazing job with this device. ANd- they are already on their 2nd gen.
It's not that they haven't done an amazing job with the hardware. The question is whether this entire category is viable.
You really have to remember that we have no idea how many Kindle's have been sold. Amazon refuses to answer that question. Estimates have been all over the place, from 250,000 to 750,000.
While Apple doesn't break out numbers for each model in their lines, they at least do tell us how many of a line have been sold, to a certain extent. So we know how many desktops, portables, iPhones, iPods etc.
Amazon has had ONE device. The fact that they have constantly refused to give out sales figures seems a bit suspicious.
Just think: You've gotten an entire years worth of annotated lectures and textbooks on your device, and you lose it. Now, the books can be downloaded again, and you can get the lectures again, but what about all of those valuable notes?
Any eBook that is to be used in colleges a text book reader?which seems unlikely until the readers are colour capable?would have to have a robust notes taking method and be able to back itself up, perhaps even automatically like MobileMe, before it begins to be viable. And the notes taking would have to be convenient and simple to write and read quickly.
Comments
You are kidding right? You honestly can't see how this would save paper? Cost the cost of producttion in printing costs, etc?
Yes it would save paper, and most surely reduce the costs of distribution over printed matter, but the cost of purchasing the 'books' would most likely not be lowered since publishers control those prices.
But there are however the unique costs of production (plastic, glass) of operation (electricity or batteries), and the -huge- cost of ownership, and recovery if lost or damaged. One has to factor all of that in with the cost making and distributing low tech paper products. E-books can be distributed on all of those laptop PC's that are already out there - so we're talking a marginal improvement for each child at 500.00 a child for the reader, plus administration, insurance, theft, recharging, recycling, etc hassles.
I'm still considering this whole matter, as I do not own a Kindle so can not speak for it's advantages in actual use. If I want an e-book, I buy it and listen on my iPod (no reading required and entirely portable).
Currently it seems that I can actually find all of the books I want, new or at least used, for less than copyright protected Kindle books. Another SIGNIFICANT DISADVANTAGE to the Kindle user....
I doubt that one would be able to lend his Kindle book to a friend! No wonder the publishers like them.
Why the 3.3GB, why not 3GB or 4GB?
One good guess would be OS and other user files taking up space.
The real question in my mind is why not 8 or 16 GB in a device this expensive? I know that in my case some of the periodicals I get I keep forever. It would take long to fill the device up. It's a big issue in my mind and is one element that leads to a no buy.
Frankly if this thing is to be a portable library it ought to have the capacity to be just that.
Dave
Two very good points. It makes sense for textbooks, probably paying for itself the first few years. Writing in the margins is a habit of mine as well that I would miss.
Physically printed stuff is designed as a large-as-possible-cast net to appeal to all (Sunday's newspaper). "News" needs to be rethought from the bottom up, starting with editor's picks (I'd like that job for myself...seriously) and original documents. I can switch channels easy...can't do that with a newspaper. Clearing houses are closer to originals. NYTimes et al., are just middle men...packaging people if you will. I shouldn't need them. What I would like to go with hardware like this is a selection process tailored to me, not imposed on me by some editor at a large newspaper. RSS type subscriptions seem headed in the right direction. I guess we'll find out in 5-10 years.
Do you know anything about newspapers?
The NY Times, WSJ, and most other major papers are not clearinghouses. They have dozens of their own reporters on their payrolls, as well as dozens more who are stringers. Then they have editors managing editors etc. Where do you get this idea from?
One good guess would be OS and other user files taking up space.
The real question in my mind is why not 8 or 16 GB in a device this expensive? I know that in my case some of the periodicals I get I keep forever. It would take long to fill the device up. It's a big issue in my mind and is one element that leads to a no buy.
Frankly if this thing is to be a portable library it ought to have the capacity to be just that.
Dave
Aren't all your purchases kept on Amazon's server? Therefore no need for xtralarge hard drives?
Kindle offers many more buttons per dollar than the iPhone/touch, the colorblind are no longer disadvantaged, horizontal view doesn't confusingly rotate the keyboard and controls, and PDF support brings the user into the 20th century. The Grey Lady returns with a vengeance--at a high-class price! I don't see any room for Apple here.
So you see all of the disadvantage as advantages?
Or are you just kidding?
Yes it would save paper, and most surely reduce the costs of distribution over printed matter, but the cost of purchasing the 'books' would most likely not be lowered since publishers control those prices.
The price$ are already half for a book and have been. Go to Amazon and check it out.
So you see all of the disadvantage as advantages?
Or are you just kidding?
He's Fooing you .
Just thought I'd throw two links in about Kindle demographics...
In a nutshell, Kindle seems to have about a 50 yr. old median age, and 70% are above 40 yrs. old.
The second link has interesting comments and feedback.
Based on the target of education, it seems Amazon is aiming to shift their demographic, but I still say it won't find traction until it addresses 3 things: lower price, color, and multi-function (calendar, email, to-do/organizer, and possibly Office document editing).
I guess the real proof will be if they can develop the Kindle, while selling enough to keep this moving forward.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/gadgetreviews/?p=3845
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10170028-1.html
Well look at the advances from 1st gen to 2nd. It seems to me to be developing at a rather fast pace.
Amazon unveils 9.7-inch Kindle DX
That's a little graphic for a tech site, don't you think?
You guys do realize that the Apple mystery tablet is going totally annihilate the kindle dx out of existence to the point where the destruction might cause a tear to form in the space time continuum.......right?
The real question in my mind is why not 8 or 16 GB in a device this expensive?
The amount seems more than sufficient to me at this point. Just like the iPod, it shouldn't be the only place you store your content. The more NAND the more power it needs, too. Plus, incrementing the capacity with each update will help with sales. Apple seems well versed in this tactic.
Just so I know we are all on the same planet.....
You guys do realize that the Apple mystery tablet is going totally annihilate the kindle dx out of existence to the point where the destruction might cause a tear to form in the space time continuum.......right?
Yeah but like when- St Crispin's Day 2011?
The first few revs of a little computer called "Macintosh" were disparaged and even ridiculed for being B&W - and lots of people who liked it otherwise didn't buy.
Still, last I heard, it hung in and got past that.....
..doesn't mean Kindle will follow the same arc, but I'm watching the pioneers take the arrows with interest.....
The problem with the Kindle, and devices like them, it that they are specialized devices in a time when specialized devices are going away.
I find it hard to believe that people who frequent computer sites, and are thereby assumed to be "up" on technology, and where it's going, can't seem to see that this is just a short term solution. Amazon has no interest in selling Kindles, because they know that few people will get them. That's one reason why they have the program for the iTouch/iPhone.
Amazon wants to sell books, magazines etc. This is the razor, and the content is the blade.
Amazon is hoping that this high profile device family, I guess we can now call it, will make people think about digital media for reading.
But in a couple of years, the ATOM and ARM will be powerful enough, and need little enough power, for a computer to fit this space, and obsolete a reader.
I hope that by that time, a good screen develops, because this one is marginal at best, and yes, I've used one.
This is the razor, and the content is the blade.
Most... expensive... razor... EVER!
This one looks much better than the previous one.
Apple don't need to make ebook reader, they only need a touch tablet. The reader can be a software by Amazon.
I agree , a nice touch tablet .
wifi
internet
osx
all the app's from iphone store < kndle app is free >
colour
usb
firewire
dvd player
multi touch
all glass top
unibody bottom
camera
video
250 g hd
NVIDIA graphics
The GeForce 9600M GT
2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x1GB
help what else can 1 add ???
all this for 899 $
Really? I bought the lecture notes, edited the engineering sets and if a friend needed them but couldn't afford them, at the moment, we'd photocopied a set for them to use.
Most often everyone paid for the lecture notes made well by the lecture taker which involved schematics you wouldn't do without a pencil, eraser, straight edge and more. This isn't a useful note taker in Engineering fields with application schematics.
Just think: You've gotten an entire years worth of annotated lectures and textbooks on your device, and you lose it. Now, the books can be downloaded again, and you can get the lectures again, but what about all of those valuable notes?
Is there a way to back all of that up (assuming that people will do so, as we know people don't back important info up)?
I'd rather lose one annotated textbook and lecture than all at once.
One good guess would be OS and other user files taking up space.
The real question in my mind is why not 8 or 16 GB in a device this expensive? I know that in my case some of the periodicals I get I keep forever. It would take long to fill the device up. It's a big issue in my mind and is one element that leads to a no buy.
Frankly if this thing is to be a portable library it ought to have the capacity to be just that.
Dave
a 5MB song lasts 3 minutes or so. a 5MB book file is hundreds of pages and will take you a long time to read. no reason for enough storage to last you 20 years of reading since you will buy a better model several times by then
There are a select few on here that will bash everything and anything that's not Apple.
Amazon has done an amazing job with this device. ANd- they are already on their 2nd gen.
It's not that they haven't done an amazing job with the hardware. The question is whether this entire category is viable.
You really have to remember that we have no idea how many Kindle's have been sold. Amazon refuses to answer that question. Estimates have been all over the place, from 250,000 to 750,000.
While Apple doesn't break out numbers for each model in their lines, they at least do tell us how many of a line have been sold, to a certain extent. So we know how many desktops, portables, iPhones, iPods etc.
Amazon has had ONE device. The fact that they have constantly refused to give out sales figures seems a bit suspicious.
Just think: You've gotten an entire years worth of annotated lectures and textbooks on your device, and you lose it. Now, the books can be downloaded again, and you can get the lectures again, but what about all of those valuable notes?
Any eBook that is to be used in colleges a text book reader?which seems unlikely until the readers are colour capable?would have to have a robust notes taking method and be able to back itself up, perhaps even automatically like MobileMe, before it begins to be viable. And the notes taking would have to be convenient and simple to write and read quickly.