I agreed with you on one point maybe others. This isn't about who's right and who's wrong. I take your numbers at face value if you don't sight the source. And it's not even about that either. Just because people have opinions doesn't meant that they're not any more right or wrong than you are. The debate is about treating people ideas with respect and not calling them nonsense, or dismissing other's thoughts because you seem to think you were the first to make any given statement.
"And iPhone is the obvious future of e-book publishing because it has attained the kind of critical mass; the installed base, needed to produce significant sales. There are over 15 million iPhones and ten percent of them already have e-book readers on them. Compare that to the putative numbers for the Kindle and the Sony Reader. Then compare the price and the additional functionality and you see that the market advantage of IPhone will continue to dominate this new market."
"And iPhone is the obvious future of e-book publishing because it has attained the kind of critical mass; the installed base, needed to produce significant sales. There are over 15 million iPhones and ten percent of them already have e-book readers on them. Compare that to the putative numbers for the Kindle and the Sony Reader. Then compare the price and the additional functionality and you see that the market advantage of IPhone will continue to dominate this new market."
Except that the 3G is devoted to your buying from Amazon. If Apple did that with the 3G on the iPhone, people would have screamed.
This isn't a real 3G service. It's just a buying service. Let's get this right. You're paying for it when you buy books, and other content from them. It's part of the price of that content. It ain't free!
Yeah?so? The same is true with my iPhone but I don't complain there. In fact it's more true with the iPhone because the service is MUCH more expensive then the cost of books over 2 years. You don't get anything tangible with the iPhone except airtime. At least with the Kindle the cost of the service + book yields something tangible.
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Nonsense! The iPhone has about the same rez as the Kindle. It's 160 ppi. Don't tell us that you can see the difference between 160 and 167 ppi.
I never said it was just about rez. For one the iPhone has a smaller-make that MUCH smaller-screen. Anybody with a brain can see that?have you ever even seen the Kindle in person?
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Nobody pinches or squeezes when reading books on the iPhone. You scroll or turn a page, and it happens much faster than the sluggish Kindle.
You HAVE to pinch and squeeze if you need to see something that has a poorly chosen typeface (like half the Web sites out there). A paperback is around 5-6 inches, about the same size as the Kindle. You'll spend a LOT more time pinching and squeezing and scrolling on the iPhone then the Kindle. Yes its a little slow but not that slow, but that's a lot better the scrolling every 10 seconds.
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I don't think you have an iPhone at all from your description of it.
What a dumbass comment. I don't really care what you think, especially since you seem to just want to deride anybody that doesn't agree, based on your other posts here.
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The battery life is the only teur thing you've said here.
But I can read a book for several hours without an problem. You really haven't used the iPhone for this. I've read for as long as 4 hours a day on the phone, and it was still working fine.[/QUOTE]
You cannot read a book for several hours on my iPhone. Mine is already dying, and I know several other people whose batteries have noticeably started to die more quickly. I took it to the Apple store, and they admitted this will happen over time. Last time I watched a movie on my phone for 2 hours, it was at 50% when the movie finished (not to mention my eyes felt like they were going to explode). If I leave my iPhone unplugged overnight, which happens when I'm on the road and don't want to carry around my cable, its battery is at 60% or so. And like I said it's not that it will die after reading a book for 4 hours, I just don't want it to die in the middle of an important phone conversation?some of us actually use our iPhone as a phone so when you drain 40-50% of the battery just "reading" on it, that limits the amount of time you can spend on the phone.
Yeah…so? The same is true with my iPhone but I don't complain there. In fact it's more true with the iPhone because the service is MUCH more expensive then the cost of books over 2 years. You don't get anything tangible with the iPhone except airtime. At least with the Kindle the cost of the service + book yields something tangible.
"Yeah...so?" What kind of response is that?
the AT&T 3G srvice is like all other high speed data services. It doesn't limit you to anything. The Kindle's isn't even a real service. It's just a store link. It seems nice that you are getting it, but it's minimal at best.
Don't make that comparison, it doesn't exist.
If you add the cost of the "tangible" service you're getting, books, then it costs far more for what you are getting, because that's all you are getting. Once you finish reading the book, then what? You can't lend it to someone without lending the entire device. You can't sell it, because you're not allowed to. You can't even give it away without giving the entire Kindle away with it. So what great value is that? I can buy the same books at Barnes & Noble for much less.
By the way, an electronic book isn't tangible property because you don't own it.
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I never said it was just about rez. For one the iPhone has a smaller-make that MUCH smaller-screen. Anybody with a brain can see that—have you ever even seen the Kindle in person?
Another person who doesn't bother to read posts.
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You HAVE to pinch and squeeze if you need to see something that has a poorly chosen typeface (like half the Web sites out there). A paperback is around 5-6 inches, about the same size as the Kindle. You'll spend a LOT more time pinching and squeezing and scrolling on the iPhone then the Kindle. Yes its a little slow but not that slow, but that's a lot better the scrolling every 10 seconds.
You were talking about reading books, not surfing the web, which you can't do with the Kindle anyway.
The Kindle is much slower when reading books, which, again, is what you were talking about, and so was I.
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What a dumbass comment. I don't really care what you think, especially since you seem to just want to deride anybody that doesn't agree, based on your other posts here.
You're talking about being a dumbass?
Some of you Kindle people think you've found the perfect device, and that you're special because of it. Get over it.
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But I can read a book for several hours without an problem. You really haven't used the iPhone for this. I've read for as long as 4 hours a day on the phone, and it was still working fine.
You cannot read a book for several hours on my iPhone. Mine is already dying, and I know several other people whose batteries have noticeably started to die more quickly. I took it to the Apple store, and they admitted this will happen over time. Last time I watched a movie on my phone for 2 hours, it was at 50% when the movie finished (not to mention my eyes felt like they were going to explode). If I leave my iPhone unplugged overnight, which happens when I'm on the road and don't want to carry around my cable, its battery is at 60% or so. And like I said it's not that it will die after reading a book for 4 hours, I just don't want it to die in the middle of an important phone conversation…some of us actually use our iPhone as a phone so when you drain 40-50% of the battery just "reading" on it, that limits the amount of time you can spend on the phone.[/QUOTE]
You see wiseguy, now you're telling me what I haven't done. not so different, is it?
I've read several dozen books on my iPhone, and I've read for several hours at a time. But I don't read for five hours straight. The longest has been four hours, and yes, it works very well for that amount of time. I just turn WiFi off since it isn't being used anyway, and the screen isn't at the highest brightness. It's just fine.
I always plug all my electronic devices in every night. It's no big deal. It only takes about 90 minutes to recharge.
We all use our devices differently. I don't spend several hours talking on the phone every day. Nor do I read from it for several hours each day. I still buy books. I just bought four a couple of days ago. This is just another method to do what I've been doing since I was a kid.
Someday, when all books, magazines, etc are available on digital devices, that will change. But now, most books are not, esp. new ones.
Just a personal observation, take it for what it's worth (which is practically nothing).
I've been following this thread out of personal amusement just to see the logic used in the debate. Sometimes it seems like Spock vs. Spongebob Squarepants. I would surmise that most people here (including myself) don't really care as much about the topic at hand as they do the debate itself. Who really cares that deeply about any gadget? Whether we admit it or not, most of these lengthy threads exist because we enjoy the challenge of mental sparring—a verbal chess game.
So far, I personally see nothing you've said to be logically incorrect (my opinion). The frustration level of those you've been "arguing" with has steadily risen. The debate between two opinionated people (everyone here including myself is opinionated by nature—that's why we bother to post) in which one party bases their case on fact and reason, and the other on fact and emotion, will continue possibly until either party's fingers begin to bleed.
I think it's human nature for people who base their decision making on emotion to have more of themselves invested in their opinion then people who base their decision making process in the absence of emotion. I can only guess this is because the former is internalizing the debate, while the latter is concentrating on the external. By the way, there is nothing wrong with buying something based on emotion (unless the purchase is somehow harmful). It's no sin to buy something you can afford with the reason you want it simply being "you feel like it."
In short, it's difficult to have a rational debate based on emotion vs. reason—I doubt this is news to you (you seem to be in the "reason" category).
Save your breath (or more accurately your fingers), it's a fools errand. Unless of course, you simply enjoy the challenge.
If it's 70% then Hearst will never buy in and will be a competitor. Geez, talk about overreaching BEFORE you have a lock on the market.
"I get 30 percent and they get the right to license my content to any portable device—not just ones made by Amazon? That, to me, is not a model. Maybe what Plastic Logic comes up with or what Hearst comes up with, might provide a good model but today Kindles are less than 1 percent penetration in the U.S. market."
Way to open the door for Apple who makes money selling devices and not content so would be happy to go 70-30 in the newpaper's favor.
University of Missouri is implementing a soft requirement for students to get either an iPhone or iPod Touch. I wonder when universities will require students to get Kindles.
University of Missouri is implementing a soft requirement for students to get either an iPhone or iPod Touch. I wonder when universities will require students to get Kindles.
i'm probably beating a dead horse, but the article has nothing remotely to do with apple. yeah i hate to be that guy sometimes.
Actually it does have a lot to do about Apple.
Everybody knows that the Apple tablet is coming and it is interesting to try to speculate what it might be like based on the kindle dx and the effects that devices like these will have on other things such as network technology and media sources.
As well as, what the Apple product will be like based on the hardware specs of the kindle and how an Apple device will most likely trounce the kindle with superior specs.
Plus a whole bunch of stuff that we haven't even considered yet.
Just a personal observation, take it for what it's worth (which is practically nothing).
I've been following this thread out of personal amusement just to see the logic used in the debate. Sometimes it seems like Spock vs. Spongebob Squarepants. I would surmise that most people here (including myself) don't really care as much about the topic at hand as they do the debate itself. Who really cares that deeply about any gadget? Whether we admit it or not, most of these lengthy threads exist because we enjoy the challenge of mental sparring?a verbal chess game.
So far, I personally see nothing you've said to be logically incorrect (my opinion). The frustration level of those you've been "arguing" with has steadily risen. The debate between two opinionated people (everyone here including myself is opinionated by nature?that's why we bother to post) in which one party bases their case on fact and reason, and the other on fact and emotion, will continue possibly until either party's fingers begin to bleed.
I think it's human nature for people who base their decision making on emotion to have more of themselves invested in their opinion then people who base their decision making process in the absence of emotion. I can only guess this is because the former is internalizing the debate, while the latter is concentrating on the external. By the way, there is nothing wrong with buying something based on emotion (unless the purchase is somehow harmful). It's no sin to buy something you can afford with the reason you want it simply being "you feel like it."
In short, it's difficult to have a rational debate based on emotion vs. reason?I doubt this is news to you (you seem to be in the "reason" category).
Save your breath (or more accurately your fingers), it's a fools errand. Unless of course, you simply enjoy the challenge.
I agree with that. All of us base opinions on emotion as well as logic. The degree to which the balance is weighted is where we differ often.
As I've said, I have nothing against the kindle as it stands now.
I don't get it. Who buys these? What's the demographic? The technology isn't bad; I get it, but really... $489/$359? to read on a e-ink, or whatever it is in black & white. If it were a $100, I'd consider getting one for my dad.
I am old enough to remember the very same question that f00fighters has asked when computers were first introduced. Now we find it very difficult to be without them. Computer monitors were once b&w and we paid $$$$. I suspect for college people to really buy them, the Kindle would have to go to a color format. On the other hand, thinking how difficult it was to haul around my college text books all over campus, I might gladly trade that experience for a gadget that weighs very little comparatively. Also, textbooks cost around $150-200 these days. Take 3 courses and we are talking $600. If one can pay around $50-75 for the books and buy the Kindle. It would easily pay for itself for the rest of one's college curriculum. I think the college demographic will be the best market for this gadget if the book price is reasonable.
One of the reasons for the high price is that you can connect to download books at any time, much like an aircard that costs around $65-70 per month for a laptop to be versatile. I thank amazon for not offering, yet another electronic gadget, we have to pay a monthly fee for data!
I am a 48 y/o female. Yes, I will be buying one. I'm an avid reader and also buy many self-help books. It would be nice to have them all in one place that could be easily referred to with a few clicks and where I could annotate and highlight. I really have a hard time writing and highlighting in my bound books.
I am old enough to remember the very same question that f00fighters has asked when computers were first introduced. Now we find it very difficult to be without them. Computer monitors were once b&w and we paid $$$$. I suspect for college people to really buy them, the Kindle would have to go to a color format. On the other hand, thinking how difficult it was to haul around my college text books all over campus, I might gladly trade that experience for a gadget that weighs very little comparatively. Also, textbooks cost around $150-200 these days. Take 3 courses and we are talking $600. If one can pay around $50-75 for the books and buy the Kindle. It would easily pay for itself for the rest of one's college curriculum. I think the college demographic will be the best market for this gadget if the book price is reasonable.
One of the reasons for the high price is that you can connect to download books at any time, much like an aircard that costs around $65-70 per month for a laptop to be versatile. I thank amazon for not offering, yet another electronic gadget, we have to pay a monthly fee for data!
I am a 48 y/o female. Yes, I will be buying one. I'm an avid reader and also buy many self-help books. It would be nice to have them all in one place that could be easily referred to with a few clicks and where I could annotate and highlight. I really have a hard time writing and highlighting in my bound books.
I've been seeing, not just in your post, but everywhere, a lot of ifs involved with this being useful.
There is too much we don't yet know on the textbook front. While most of the main textbook companies have supposedly signed on, just a relatively few of their books will be available. not enough for the broad student population thought to be targets for this device. We also don't know the pricing of most textbooks. The companies have pointedly avoided answering that question so far.
What happens to any notes taken on this? Are they lost if the device is broken or lost (stolen)?
As far as the "free" 3g service, well, it's just a conduit to their store. not much of a service at all. And don't think you're not paying for it. You are. It's subsumed in the price of their offerings.
music during a concert, have a BT button to change music sheets easier than paper and the conductor can BT it to each member
Wow, that would be great. Plus, you could get rid of all those big clunky music stands and have ones with a smaller footprint. On the other hand, what if there was a technical problem?
I've been seeing, not just in your post, but everywhere, a lot of ifs involved with this being useful.
There is too much we don't yet know on the textbook front. While most of the main textbook companies have supposedly signed on, just a relatively few of their books will be available. not enough for the broad student population thought to be targets for this device. We also don't know the pricing of most textbooks. The companies have pointedly avoided answering that question so far.
What happens to any notes taken on this? Are they lost if the device is broken or lost (stolen)?
As far as the "free" 3g service, well, it's just a conduit to their store. not much of a service at all. And don't think you're not paying for it. You are. It's subsumed in the price of their offerings.
There were a lot of "ifs" with the first computers too. The first ones just blinked at you. It wasn't until software companies wrote useful code for the non-programmers that the computer became useful. The rest, as they say, is history. New technology always has the unknown factor. In reading historical accounts of the landline telephone, it was not embraced either. Adults could not understand why they needed a telephone, same with computers, same with insert any new technology. However, like any new technological device, the teenage generation always finds a use for it.
Of course, you are paying for the 3G service in other ways. However, if you don't buy you don't pay, which was really my point about thanking amazon for not having a subscription based platform. If it only goes to amazon, that's okay by me, that is where the books can be bought. No different than Microsoft cornering the market by making PC makers put their software on their machines.
As far as the textbook companies, the companies that have signed on have 60% of the market share. I was looking at a few of my textbooks on my bookshelf and all 5 of them would have been offered. You are correct, no one has mentioned the price. I can assure you if it's not reasonable, students won't buy. It would be in the best interest, however, for publishers to play nice. As it stands now, the hierarchy of purchasing textbooks is that students buy 1st edition books for $$$. Then the book goes down the line for many semesters without any more money going to authors, publishers, etc. With the Kindle, one would have to purchase the book every time.
Let's say a textbook is used for 4 years including summer courses-theoretically, 16 semesters. Currently, the price for a hardbound book is $200 with the authors and publishers only getting their cut one time, we'll say 5%, $10. By offering it through Kindle at a price of $40 and receiving 5% for 16 semesters, their share would be $32. The publishers could even make a deal with the colleges such as, if 60% of your books are from us, we will underwrite the costs of a Kindle for each student. So you see, the possibilities are endless with education.
As for annotations, I'm guessing you would lose them. Perhaps that would be something for the Kindle developers to address in Kindle 3 along with a color monitor!
Wow, that would be great. Plus, you could get rid of all those big clunky music stands and have ones with a smaller footprint. On the other hand, what if there was a technical problem?
It's also way too small. no one will be able to read a full sheet of music on even the big one. Compare the diagonal page size of this, 9/7", to a diagonal of a page of sheet music, 14". Also, what about facing pages as on a music stand?
Comments
I agreed with you on one point maybe others. This isn't about who's right and who's wrong. I take your numbers at face value if you don't sight the source. And it's not even about that either. Just because people have opinions doesn't meant that they're not any more right or wrong than you are. The debate is about treating people ideas with respect and not calling them nonsense, or dismissing other's thoughts because you seem to think you were the first to make any given statement.
"And iPhone is the obvious future of e-book publishing because it has attained the kind of critical mass; the installed base, needed to produce significant sales. There are over 15 million iPhones and ten percent of them already have e-book readers on them. Compare that to the putative numbers for the Kindle and the Sony Reader. Then compare the price and the additional functionality and you see that the market advantage of IPhone will continue to dominate this new market."
One Author's Prospective
"And iPhone is the obvious future of e-book publishing because it has attained the kind of critical mass; the installed base, needed to produce significant sales. There are over 15 million iPhones and ten percent of them already have e-book readers on them. Compare that to the putative numbers for the Kindle and the Sony Reader. Then compare the price and the additional functionality and you see that the market advantage of IPhone will continue to dominate this new market."
One Author's Prospective
Yeah, I'm a member of Jerry's site.
Except that the 3G is devoted to your buying from Amazon. If Apple did that with the 3G on the iPhone, people would have screamed.
This isn't a real 3G service. It's just a buying service. Let's get this right. You're paying for it when you buy books, and other content from them. It's part of the price of that content. It ain't free!
Yeah?so? The same is true with my iPhone but I don't complain there. In fact it's more true with the iPhone because the service is MUCH more expensive then the cost of books over 2 years. You don't get anything tangible with the iPhone except airtime. At least with the Kindle the cost of the service + book yields something tangible.
Nonsense! The iPhone has about the same rez as the Kindle. It's 160 ppi. Don't tell us that you can see the difference between 160 and 167 ppi.
I never said it was just about rez. For one the iPhone has a smaller-make that MUCH smaller-screen. Anybody with a brain can see that?have you ever even seen the Kindle in person?
Nobody pinches or squeezes when reading books on the iPhone. You scroll or turn a page, and it happens much faster than the sluggish Kindle.
You HAVE to pinch and squeeze if you need to see something that has a poorly chosen typeface (like half the Web sites out there). A paperback is around 5-6 inches, about the same size as the Kindle. You'll spend a LOT more time pinching and squeezing and scrolling on the iPhone then the Kindle. Yes its a little slow but not that slow, but that's a lot better the scrolling every 10 seconds.
I don't think you have an iPhone at all from your description of it.
What a dumbass comment. I don't really care what you think, especially since you seem to just want to deride anybody that doesn't agree, based on your other posts here.
The battery life is the only teur thing you've said here.
But I can read a book for several hours without an problem. You really haven't used the iPhone for this. I've read for as long as 4 hours a day on the phone, and it was still working fine.[/QUOTE]
You cannot read a book for several hours on my iPhone. Mine is already dying, and I know several other people whose batteries have noticeably started to die more quickly. I took it to the Apple store, and they admitted this will happen over time. Last time I watched a movie on my phone for 2 hours, it was at 50% when the movie finished (not to mention my eyes felt like they were going to explode). If I leave my iPhone unplugged overnight, which happens when I'm on the road and don't want to carry around my cable, its battery is at 60% or so. And like I said it's not that it will die after reading a book for 4 hours, I just don't want it to die in the middle of an important phone conversation?some of us actually use our iPhone as a phone so when you drain 40-50% of the battery just "reading" on it, that limits the amount of time you can spend on the phone.
Yeah…so? The same is true with my iPhone but I don't complain there. In fact it's more true with the iPhone because the service is MUCH more expensive then the cost of books over 2 years. You don't get anything tangible with the iPhone except airtime. At least with the Kindle the cost of the service + book yields something tangible.
"Yeah...so?" What kind of response is that?
the AT&T 3G srvice is like all other high speed data services. It doesn't limit you to anything. The Kindle's isn't even a real service. It's just a store link. It seems nice that you are getting it, but it's minimal at best.
Don't make that comparison, it doesn't exist.
If you add the cost of the "tangible" service you're getting, books, then it costs far more for what you are getting, because that's all you are getting. Once you finish reading the book, then what? You can't lend it to someone without lending the entire device. You can't sell it, because you're not allowed to. You can't even give it away without giving the entire Kindle away with it. So what great value is that? I can buy the same books at Barnes & Noble for much less.
By the way, an electronic book isn't tangible property because you don't own it.
I never said it was just about rez. For one the iPhone has a smaller-make that MUCH smaller-screen. Anybody with a brain can see that—have you ever even seen the Kindle in person?
Another person who doesn't bother to read posts.
You HAVE to pinch and squeeze if you need to see something that has a poorly chosen typeface (like half the Web sites out there). A paperback is around 5-6 inches, about the same size as the Kindle. You'll spend a LOT more time pinching and squeezing and scrolling on the iPhone then the Kindle. Yes its a little slow but not that slow, but that's a lot better the scrolling every 10 seconds.
You were talking about reading books, not surfing the web, which you can't do with the Kindle anyway.
The Kindle is much slower when reading books, which, again, is what you were talking about, and so was I.
What a dumbass comment. I don't really care what you think, especially since you seem to just want to deride anybody that doesn't agree, based on your other posts here.
You're talking about being a dumbass?
Some of you Kindle people think you've found the perfect device, and that you're special because of it. Get over it.
But I can read a book for several hours without an problem. You really haven't used the iPhone for this. I've read for as long as 4 hours a day on the phone, and it was still working fine.
You cannot read a book for several hours on my iPhone. Mine is already dying, and I know several other people whose batteries have noticeably started to die more quickly. I took it to the Apple store, and they admitted this will happen over time. Last time I watched a movie on my phone for 2 hours, it was at 50% when the movie finished (not to mention my eyes felt like they were going to explode). If I leave my iPhone unplugged overnight, which happens when I'm on the road and don't want to carry around my cable, its battery is at 60% or so. And like I said it's not that it will die after reading a book for 4 hours, I just don't want it to die in the middle of an important phone conversation…some of us actually use our iPhone as a phone so when you drain 40-50% of the battery just "reading" on it, that limits the amount of time you can spend on the phone.[/QUOTE]
You see wiseguy, now you're telling me what I haven't done. not so different, is it?
I've read several dozen books on my iPhone, and I've read for several hours at a time. But I don't read for five hours straight. The longest has been four hours, and yes, it works very well for that amount of time. I just turn WiFi off since it isn't being used anyway, and the screen isn't at the highest brightness. It's just fine.
I always plug all my electronic devices in every night. It's no big deal. It only takes about 90 minutes to recharge.
We all use our devices differently. I don't spend several hours talking on the phone every day. Nor do I read from it for several hours each day. I still buy books. I just bought four a couple of days ago. This is just another method to do what I've been doing since I was a kid.
Someday, when all books, magazines, etc are available on digital devices, that will change. But now, most books are not, esp. new ones.
Just a personal observation, take it for what it's worth (which is practically nothing).
I've been following this thread out of personal amusement just to see the logic used in the debate. Sometimes it seems like Spock vs. Spongebob Squarepants. I would surmise that most people here (including myself) don't really care as much about the topic at hand as they do the debate itself. Who really cares that deeply about any gadget? Whether we admit it or not, most of these lengthy threads exist because we enjoy the challenge of mental sparring—a verbal chess game.
So far, I personally see nothing you've said to be logically incorrect (my opinion). The frustration level of those you've been "arguing" with has steadily risen. The debate between two opinionated people (everyone here including myself is opinionated by nature—that's why we bother to post) in which one party bases their case on fact and reason, and the other on fact and emotion, will continue possibly until either party's fingers begin to bleed.
I think it's human nature for people who base their decision making on emotion to have more of themselves invested in their opinion then people who base their decision making process in the absence of emotion. I can only guess this is because the former is internalizing the debate, while the latter is concentrating on the external. By the way, there is nothing wrong with buying something based on emotion (unless the purchase is somehow harmful). It's no sin to buy something you can afford with the reason you want it simply being "you feel like it."
In short, it's difficult to have a rational debate based on emotion vs. reason—I doubt this is news to you (you seem to be in the "reason" category).
Save your breath (or more accurately your fingers), it's a fools errand. Unless of course, you simply enjoy the challenge.
can you imagine trying to use this thing on the beach?
people want a convergence device, now if kindle could be used as a phone but
this is a solution looking for a problem
so what are the demographics of this thing, what problem is it really solving, making better, define its market target
how is it to improve the experience of reading
and for that price why not a cheapo netbook, or just carry a paperback
now, if several newspapers subsidized this and auto loaded todays newspaper then maybe i could see a sliver of light for this thing
for me its like those preloaded memory cards with music oh yea "slotradio",
___________________
Yikes! Amazon wants 70% from newspapers.
If it's 70% then Hearst will never buy in and will be a competitor. Geez, talk about overreaching BEFORE you have a lock on the market.
"I get 30 percent and they get the right to license my content to any portable device—not just ones made by Amazon? That, to me, is not a model. Maybe what Plastic Logic comes up with or what Hearst comes up with, might provide a good model but today Kindles are less than 1 percent penetration in the U.S. market."
Way to open the door for Apple who makes money selling devices and not content so would be happy to go 70-30 in the newpaper's favor.
i'm probably beating a dead horse, but the article has nothing remotely to do with apple. yeah i hate to be that guy sometimes.
Actually it does have a lot to do about Apple.
Everybody knows that the Apple tablet is coming and it is interesting to try to speculate what it might be like based on the kindle dx and the effects that devices like these will have on other things such as network technology and media sources.
As well as, what the Apple product will be like based on the hardware specs of the kindle and how an Apple device will most likely trounce the kindle with superior specs.
Plus a whole bunch of stuff that we haven't even considered yet.
melgross,
Just a personal observation, take it for what it's worth (which is practically nothing).
I've been following this thread out of personal amusement just to see the logic used in the debate. Sometimes it seems like Spock vs. Spongebob Squarepants. I would surmise that most people here (including myself) don't really care as much about the topic at hand as they do the debate itself. Who really cares that deeply about any gadget? Whether we admit it or not, most of these lengthy threads exist because we enjoy the challenge of mental sparring?a verbal chess game.
So far, I personally see nothing you've said to be logically incorrect (my opinion). The frustration level of those you've been "arguing" with has steadily risen. The debate between two opinionated people (everyone here including myself is opinionated by nature?that's why we bother to post) in which one party bases their case on fact and reason, and the other on fact and emotion, will continue possibly until either party's fingers begin to bleed.
I think it's human nature for people who base their decision making on emotion to have more of themselves invested in their opinion then people who base their decision making process in the absence of emotion. I can only guess this is because the former is internalizing the debate, while the latter is concentrating on the external. By the way, there is nothing wrong with buying something based on emotion (unless the purchase is somehow harmful). It's no sin to buy something you can afford with the reason you want it simply being "you feel like it."
In short, it's difficult to have a rational debate based on emotion vs. reason?I doubt this is news to you (you seem to be in the "reason" category).
Save your breath (or more accurately your fingers), it's a fools errand. Unless of course, you simply enjoy the challenge.
I agree with that. All of us base opinions on emotion as well as logic. The degree to which the balance is weighted is where we differ often.
As I've said, I have nothing against the kindle as it stands now.
music during a concert, have a BT button to change music sheets easier than paper and the conductor can BT it to each member
i thought of a unique use of this large kindle
music during a concert, have a BT button to change music sheets easier than paper and the conductor can BT it to each member
It would have to be bigger than that. This is only 9.7" diagonal. An 8/5 x 11 sheet of paper is almost 14" diagonal.
It might not be bright enough for many venues.
I don't get it. Who buys these? What's the demographic? The technology isn't bad; I get it, but really... $489/$359? to read on a e-ink, or whatever it is in black & white. If it were a $100, I'd consider getting one for my dad.
I am old enough to remember the very same question that f00fighters has asked when computers were first introduced. Now we find it very difficult to be without them. Computer monitors were once b&w and we paid $$$$. I suspect for college people to really buy them, the Kindle would have to go to a color format. On the other hand, thinking how difficult it was to haul around my college text books all over campus, I might gladly trade that experience for a gadget that weighs very little comparatively. Also, textbooks cost around $150-200 these days. Take 3 courses and we are talking $600. If one can pay around $50-75 for the books and buy the Kindle. It would easily pay for itself for the rest of one's college curriculum. I think the college demographic will be the best market for this gadget if the book price is reasonable.
One of the reasons for the high price is that you can connect to download books at any time, much like an aircard that costs around $65-70 per month for a laptop to be versatile. I thank amazon for not offering, yet another electronic gadget, we have to pay a monthly fee for data!
I am a 48 y/o female. Yes, I will be buying one. I'm an avid reader and also buy many self-help books. It would be nice to have them all in one place that could be easily referred to with a few clicks and where I could annotate and highlight. I really have a hard time writing and highlighting in my bound books.
I am old enough to remember the very same question that f00fighters has asked when computers were first introduced. Now we find it very difficult to be without them. Computer monitors were once b&w and we paid $$$$. I suspect for college people to really buy them, the Kindle would have to go to a color format. On the other hand, thinking how difficult it was to haul around my college text books all over campus, I might gladly trade that experience for a gadget that weighs very little comparatively. Also, textbooks cost around $150-200 these days. Take 3 courses and we are talking $600. If one can pay around $50-75 for the books and buy the Kindle. It would easily pay for itself for the rest of one's college curriculum. I think the college demographic will be the best market for this gadget if the book price is reasonable.
One of the reasons for the high price is that you can connect to download books at any time, much like an aircard that costs around $65-70 per month for a laptop to be versatile. I thank amazon for not offering, yet another electronic gadget, we have to pay a monthly fee for data!
I am a 48 y/o female. Yes, I will be buying one. I'm an avid reader and also buy many self-help books. It would be nice to have them all in one place that could be easily referred to with a few clicks and where I could annotate and highlight. I really have a hard time writing and highlighting in my bound books.
I've been seeing, not just in your post, but everywhere, a lot of ifs involved with this being useful.
There is too much we don't yet know on the textbook front. While most of the main textbook companies have supposedly signed on, just a relatively few of their books will be available. not enough for the broad student population thought to be targets for this device. We also don't know the pricing of most textbooks. The companies have pointedly avoided answering that question so far.
What happens to any notes taken on this? Are they lost if the device is broken or lost (stolen)?
As far as the "free" 3g service, well, it's just a conduit to their store. not much of a service at all. And don't think you're not paying for it. You are. It's subsumed in the price of their offerings.
i thought of a unique use of this large kindle
music during a concert, have a BT button to change music sheets easier than paper and the conductor can BT it to each member
Wow, that would be great. Plus, you could get rid of all those big clunky music stands and have ones with a smaller footprint. On the other hand, what if there was a technical problem?
I've been seeing, not just in your post, but everywhere, a lot of ifs involved with this being useful.
There is too much we don't yet know on the textbook front. While most of the main textbook companies have supposedly signed on, just a relatively few of their books will be available. not enough for the broad student population thought to be targets for this device. We also don't know the pricing of most textbooks. The companies have pointedly avoided answering that question so far.
What happens to any notes taken on this? Are they lost if the device is broken or lost (stolen)?
As far as the "free" 3g service, well, it's just a conduit to their store. not much of a service at all. And don't think you're not paying for it. You are. It's subsumed in the price of their offerings.
There were a lot of "ifs" with the first computers too. The first ones just blinked at you. It wasn't until software companies wrote useful code for the non-programmers that the computer became useful. The rest, as they say, is history. New technology always has the unknown factor. In reading historical accounts of the landline telephone, it was not embraced either. Adults could not understand why they needed a telephone, same with computers, same with insert any new technology. However, like any new technological device, the teenage generation always finds a use for it.
Of course, you are paying for the 3G service in other ways. However, if you don't buy you don't pay, which was really my point about thanking amazon for not having a subscription based platform. If it only goes to amazon, that's okay by me, that is where the books can be bought. No different than Microsoft cornering the market by making PC makers put their software on their machines.
As far as the textbook companies, the companies that have signed on have 60% of the market share. I was looking at a few of my textbooks on my bookshelf and all 5 of them would have been offered. You are correct, no one has mentioned the price. I can assure you if it's not reasonable, students won't buy. It would be in the best interest, however, for publishers to play nice. As it stands now, the hierarchy of purchasing textbooks is that students buy 1st edition books for $$$. Then the book goes down the line for many semesters without any more money going to authors, publishers, etc. With the Kindle, one would have to purchase the book every time.
Let's say a textbook is used for 4 years including summer courses-theoretically, 16 semesters. Currently, the price for a hardbound book is $200 with the authors and publishers only getting their cut one time, we'll say 5%, $10. By offering it through Kindle at a price of $40 and receiving 5% for 16 semesters, their share would be $32. The publishers could even make a deal with the colleges such as, if 60% of your books are from us, we will underwrite the costs of a Kindle for each student. So you see, the possibilities are endless with education.
As for annotations, I'm guessing you would lose them. Perhaps that would be something for the Kindle developers to address in Kindle 3 along with a color monitor!
Wow, that would be great. Plus, you could get rid of all those big clunky music stands and have ones with a smaller footprint. On the other hand, what if there was a technical problem?
It's also way too small. no one will be able to read a full sheet of music on even the big one. Compare the diagonal page size of this, 9/7", to a diagonal of a page of sheet music, 14". Also, what about facing pages as on a music stand?