Kindle

[mrjohnchimpo]

Amazon interested a new reading device where you can wirelessly download books.

video here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI73MA/ref=amb_link_5873612_2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=0B1N39CZ5NZFZQ9Q09JW&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=329252801&pf_rd_i=507846

i like the display. one of the reasons why e-books aren't huge is cause reading a lot on a PC-style monitor hurts the eyes. this has some neat looking simulated paper display.

[paul]

Hmm, I have yet to see any serious reviews about the openness of the device. If I have a PDF or HTML file, can I upload it? They say I can do that with DOC, GIF, JPG, and PNG, but that's not all that useful.

What if rather than paying $9.99 at the "Kindle Store", I'd rather upload my own copy of a book from the free Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/).

A lot of past e-book devices have never taken off, because people don't like the vendor lock-in, and paying $9.99 for a virtual copy of a book is stupid when you can get a real copy from a used book store for half that or less.

The display is supposedly something remarkable and new. I would like to see what the electronic paper is like to read from. It's also interesting that they included a full qwerty keyboard. Can it run firefox and a terminal with SSH? Now that would be something useful.

[paul]

I also thought this was interesting...

Unlike WiFi, Kindle utilizes the same high-speed data network (EVDO) as advanced cell phones—so you never have to locate a hotspot.

... and ...

No monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments—we take care of the wireless delivery so you can simply click, buy, and read.

... How the heck do they do that? It uses the cell phone network, but you don't need to use a simcard, or have a cell phone account for that. I've never heard of any devices that use non-Wifi wireless. Did something change, and now it's possible for a device to get ubiquitous internet access without a cell phone account?

If so, that's awesome! No bills, and access to service, all of the time, anywhere. Seems like I must be missing something though.

[mrjohnchimpo]

one of my buddies brought up a good point as well: it's one of the ugliest things they've ever seen.

[False Alarm]

from one of the book sites i read:

So Amazon is launching their "Kindle" e-book reader today, as you might have heard elsewhere on the Intarwebs. And it looks like a real winner:


very expensive
only reads a very few file formats (which must be mailed via Amazon to the device)
a design sense reminiscent of Logan's Run
a jaw-dropping plan to charge $1.99 a month to read individual blogs...which are free on the Internet


maybe it's just cuz i'm a pretty damn slow reader, but i can't imagine myself ever really getting into e-books. i mean, the convenience of an i-pod is that you have like your whole music collection at your fingertips, but do many peeps really want or need their entire book collection at their fingertips all at once? most peeps don't need more than a handful of books for a trip. i just ain't sure i see a huge need for the things, even if they ever do get the tech right and affordable.

(never mind the tactile pleasures of actual books.)