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This still fails to hold any interest to me whatsoever. I might see the value of an e-reader if it were around 150 bucks...but almost 500? I can think of an AWFUL lot of things I'd rather drop that kind of cash on...a PC, a laptop, really decent digicam or blu-ray player....root canal, liposuction etc.
I can honestly say I've seen 1 kindle out and about in the real world. I just don't see it catching on as 'big time' as Amazon might like to think, even among geeks like myself. I'm always up for a new toy, but meh...create a kindle app for i-phone and I'd be all over it, but another piece of hardware?
@Mitch: "...create a kindle app for i-phone and I'd be all over it..."
Er...um...just in case you weren't being inordinately sublime with sarcasm, there IS a Kindle app for iPhone. (And if that was meant to be humorous, sorry, you may now take me out back and shoot me.)
I don't know if it's just my luck not finding anyone complaining about it, but the Kindle 2 came out in February, about 3 months ago according to Wikipedia.
Aren't people pissed who bought the Kindle 2??? Couldn't Amazon tell the Kindle 2's screen was so squished? I've never seen one in person but just by the pictures of the K2 in people's hands...
Is there some kind of deal if you bought a Kindle 2 you can get a discounted Kindle DX?
I've seen the Kindle in the wild (it seems to have greater adoption in NYC mass transit than the Sony Reader) but for that price, it's going to be hard to justify.
That auto-rotation feature looks cool. But it would be the market-changing killer feature if, when it rotated to landscape mode, it had the ability to display two pages of a novel side by side--as if you were holding open a real book.
I guess I'll have to fill my usual role in saying this is a great move by Amazon. Yes, it's very large, but that's the advantage that everyone has been waiting for - a larger screen with native display of PDFs that can probably handle technical material better than any other reader out there. This is absolutely going to own the textbook market. I don't see a lot of people doing casual reading on it, but maybe it will be good for a stay-at-home device. I guess I can see my dad using it...
For those naysayers bringing up the tired old arguments about being overpriced, being able to get a netbook for the same price, not being able to play video, etc. here's a hint; you don't get it. But you will in a few years when every person in high school and college is carrying this or something similar.
@SonaliHamlegs: Funny. Now that you mention it, I have to say I have never seen one in actual use either. And I hang out in coffee shops and cafes a whole hella lot.
It would be great for buying all of your textbooks, but then you wouldn't have the opportunity to sell them back for 20% of what you paid. God I miss college bookstores.
@saycarramrod: Except the textbook companies are a multi billion dollar industry and they will not release textbook digitally.
Its actually a lot like the music industry... their wet dream is to sell CDs, vs textbooks. Neither wants to offer digital downloads because it would cut into their margin and they would be giving it to the demographic most likely to pirate it, copy, and give it to others for free.
With Music, it took CD burners to bridge the gap between CDs and MP3's. Maybe we'll have something like that for text books one day so we can start chipping away at the man.
First, for my college education in economics and legal studies, I received the majority of my textbooks digitally. I used various reading devices to read them in much the same way.
Second, with appropriate DRM (yuck, I know) on a proprietary reader, some textbook companies might jump at this sort of distribution model because (1) it decreases rates of cannibalization of new edition sales by older editions, (2) it decreases rates of cannibalization of current edition sales by used current editions, and (3) it decreases the cost of goods, thus increasing profits.
Third, whether we like it or not, this is where the industry is ultimately going. Amazon represents an opportunity for publishers to test the waters in a controlled environment. Of course, there will always be holdouts (not ALL of my books were digitally distributed), but eventually they will have no choice but to come along for the ride. For now, the risk/reward ratio is not to their benefit -- not even close, as zero of these devices are in the consumers' hands at this point. Nevertheless, eventually it will happen.
@tok3n ninja; can be controlled by quarter-circles: I remember spending more than this in one semester on text books. Seems reasonable for the benefits. I'd have loved something like this in college instead of carrying around 50lbs of books on my back.
i'm really excited about this since i'm starting college in the fall. i'll just buy this bugger and pirate (and subsequently seed) all of my text books and i'll be saving a boat load of money.
@Marty: I thought the Kindle was a closed format system. The only books you can read on it were books bought from the Kindle service. Was I mistaken? If so this just launched itself up to my intrigued list.
@Lukasz Fabis: but you're not actually paying for the "content" with textbooks as much as you'd think. Textbooks are a very strange economy in their own right. Textbooks are expensive for two reasons; one, there are high costs associated with printing large books in limited quantities and two, publishers establish virtual monopolies on textbooks by paying academics. Further, publishing companies maintain the monopoly and drive down the used-book competition by releasing unnecessary "updated" editions. That's where the cost of textbooks comes, not the content.
In the short term there will only be mild savings with ebook textbooks. The publishing companies will maintain their system as long as they can. But ultimately the system breaks down when there is zero (or negligible) cost of production. Just like MP3s undermined the record label business. It's not (just) because of piracy, but because free access to distribution means that many more people can enter the market without middle-men who drive up the cost and limit access to certain content.
10 years from now, when professors can self-publish their textbooks and distribute them directly to the students at minimal cost, and are no longer controlled by the publishers, that's when we'll start seeing real change, both in terms of savings for college students, and maybe even in terms of academic freedom.
06/01/09
06/01/09
06/01/09
This still fails to hold any interest to me whatsoever. I might see the value of an e-reader if it were around 150 bucks...but almost 500? I can think of an AWFUL lot of things I'd rather drop that kind of cash on...a PC, a laptop, really decent digicam or blu-ray player....root canal, liposuction etc.
I can honestly say I've seen 1 kindle out and about in the real world. I just don't see it catching on as 'big time' as Amazon might like to think, even among geeks like myself. I'm always up for a new toy, but meh...create a kindle app for i-phone and I'd be all over it, but another piece of hardware?
I'll pass. Next article please.
06/01/09
Er...um...just in case you weren't being inordinately sublime with sarcasm, there IS a Kindle app for iPhone. (And if that was meant to be humorous, sorry, you may now take me out back and shoot me.)
Anyway, I do agree with your comment overall.
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
Aren't people pissed who bought the Kindle 2??? Couldn't Amazon tell the Kindle 2's screen was so squished? I've never seen one in person but just by the pictures of the K2 in people's hands...
Is there some kind of deal if you bought a Kindle 2 you can get a discounted Kindle DX?
05/06/09
Yes, there most certainly is a way to step up to a Kindle DX at a significant savings. Two steps:
1) Craigslist or eBay your current Kindle.
2) Apply that newfound wealth towards the purchase of a new Kindle.
Voila! Major discount.
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
For those naysayers bringing up the tired old arguments about being overpriced, being able to get a netbook for the same price, not being able to play video, etc. here's a hint; you don't get it. But you will in a few years when every person in high school and college is carrying this or something similar.
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
Its actually a lot like the music industry... their wet dream is to sell CDs, vs textbooks. Neither wants to offer digital downloads because it would cut into their margin and they would be giving it to the demographic most likely to pirate it, copy, and give it to others for free.
With Music, it took CD burners to bridge the gap between CDs and MP3's. Maybe we'll have something like that for text books one day so we can start chipping away at the man.
05/06/09
First, for my college education in economics and legal studies, I received the majority of my textbooks digitally. I used various reading devices to read them in much the same way.
Second, with appropriate DRM (yuck, I know) on a proprietary reader, some textbook companies might jump at this sort of distribution model because (1) it decreases rates of cannibalization of new edition sales by older editions, (2) it decreases rates of cannibalization of current edition sales by used current editions, and (3) it decreases the cost of goods, thus increasing profits.
Third, whether we like it or not, this is where the industry is ultimately going. Amazon represents an opportunity for publishers to test the waters in a controlled environment. Of course, there will always be holdouts (not ALL of my books were digitally distributed), but eventually they will have no choice but to come along for the ride. For now, the risk/reward ratio is not to their benefit -- not even close, as zero of these devices are in the consumers' hands at this point. Nevertheless, eventually it will happen.
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/04/09
05/04/09
05/05/09
In the short term there will only be mild savings with ebook textbooks. The publishing companies will maintain their system as long as they can. But ultimately the system breaks down when there is zero (or negligible) cost of production. Just like MP3s undermined the record label business. It's not (just) because of piracy, but because free access to distribution means that many more people can enter the market without middle-men who drive up the cost and limit access to certain content.
10 years from now, when professors can self-publish their textbooks and distribute them directly to the students at minimal cost, and are no longer controlled by the publishers, that's when we'll start seeing real change, both in terms of savings for college students, and maybe even in terms of academic freedom.
05/05/09
05/04/09
05/05/09
05/04/09