The beige/off-white color makes the thing look like it was made in 1997.

Wait so you're saying it wasn't?!

Yeah, that was the first thing I thought when I saw it too. Get with the times!

I played with picture and changed the white balance, presuming it is not really that color. Making the plastic white makes it look much better. My original though was that it looked like an old, yellowed, Apple ][.

D.

It looks like Amazon commisioned a team of ex-soviet union scientists to design this thing. I won't buy an e-reader until someone comes up with a design that has two screens that fold together like a book... and looks at minimum like someone put some thought into aesthetics.

I see residue from the tape on the bottom right side. I guess it was taped for some reason or another.

And yes it looks like my old word processor.. except mind had a handle.

Isn't that the device that Yeoman Rand carries to the bridge for Kirk to poke at for a bit (poke the device, not Rand)?

Such a great idea. We need more of these. Heck -- eBooks are probably only a measly 10 years before the early adopters jump on...

Christ, can someone explain the attraction to these things? What can it do that, I don't know, a Palm Zire couldn't do four years ago for 3/4 of the cost? Why are they so expensive? If I'm going the "e" route, why wouldn't I just download a book for my Palm?

To me, like the Apple TV, these e-book readers are a solution to a problem nobody had.

Kindle? As in throw all your books into a fire and use this from now on? Or kindle as in you need to buy about 80 $5 paperbacks in order to pay for this thing, it's about as much value as a piece of kindling? And that isn't even taking into account the cost of the ebooks themselves.

Although I've been craving an ebook since I beta - tested the Rocket eBook (illustrations and charts SUCKED on it), I wouldn't want to spend over $150. THe market niche I would see for THESE devices might be something like airfame assembly where the manuals and parts catalogs are so voluminous as to create a space problem.

Average paperbacks are 7-8 inches diagonally, 6 is too small for a regular novel and WAY too small for what I'd like a reader to do, display PDFs of scientific papers. It's only my first sem in grad school and I've probably killed several trees already. I can't read papers on my laptop because I'm too easily distracted by the internet (including a certain gadget review blog).

Kindle as in the material that will start the e-book sales inferno, if it's a positive moniker at all, otherwize see evilkingteapot's reasons.

Did't all the old tech start out white, and fade, or stain to biege as time went on?

the only people who think there's a market for eBooks are the ones trying to sell them.

If tablet PCs are unpopular, why would an ebook be aything else?

The problem with PDAs is battery life. Most have power for 8 hours which is fine for doing intermittent PDA things but I read for 2 to 4 hours at a time and having to charge daily is silly.

The 6" diagonal screen is just fine for reading novels. I mean people read newspapers and you rarely hear people griping about the font being too small or the columns being too narrow.

The problem with active backlit displays is that it is very fatiguing on the eyes. The passive display of eBooks is actually not all that different from real paper and I can read hours on end without eye strain. In fact, I read for 6 hours last night with hardly a break.

I agree that the screen is not good for technical papers and the like. Needs to be big and in colour.

I just bought a Sony Reader and I like it for reading novels and that is its main purpose. When reading a novel there really is no need for any navigation other than next and previous page. IMO, search has limited value in novels although the included PC software does let you search. For school work, annotations would be nice but not necessary for pleasure reading.

As for the Kindle, the keyboard is all but useless for reading novels. I think the unit will be too big. I like the Sony Reader because it's a bit smaller than a paperback novel so relatively easy to carry.

I'm also not sure about the EV-DO. It will depend on what the running cost will be. I have no problems buying books online via PC. It's nice to have the books backed up somewhere.

(Note: I am not a Sony fan, I really had wished it was made by someone else.)

More like 1977. When they make an ebook reader that's full-color and costs less than $100, someone might actually buy it.

How big is this thing?
Also, 400$? What are they on, crack? And how much are they selling the actual digital books for? Want to bet its the same price as the paperback/hardback?

That image is obviously just a white model, something used by designers to test the market. It is painted white, so that color doesn't play into the subjects reactions to the product. Also, if price is to be believed, and Amazon's pride is to stay intact, I would hope that they put some thought and research into how it displays text. Obviously it is easier to stare at a book for hours, instead of an lcd, so if they have developed a new way to display text, good for them.

what about being able to put on own content and what formats it supports that way?

Amazon should definitely consider lowering the upfront costs of the Kindle if they have confidence in it's user freindliness. I'm definitely leary about shelling out $400 for something I've never even touched (I touched the Sony and didn't care for the little joy stick). I might not like the Kindle if it feels like it was glued together. But as long as I could hold the thing comfortably, I suspect I could really get into buying books (anybody that is not happy with $10 is being unrealistic--and it's backed up on Amazon and Amazon is likely to be around for a long time). I already buy from Amazon compulsively. Give me something that I don't even have to synch and I'll probably go crazy buying books on my lunch break every day:-) I might go with $199. I'd shell out $99 without even thinking about it. If Amazon does a promotional sale, they should target their best book buyers. Datamine these people to find out how compulsive they are in book purchases (people that push buy or save after getting an Amazon recommendation).