In CNET news: “Amazon to debut Kindle e-book reader Monday.”
While it’s got more going for it than any of its predecessors or present competitors -? wi-fi connection, seamless integration with the biggest online store in the world, access to dozens of periodicals, keyword search for crying out loud, which the Sony Reader still bafflingly lacks -? I’m skeptical about the Kindle. If the device ($399) and individual electronic titles (barely marked down from print) weren’t so absurdly overpriced, it might make more sense to readers. Over at Teleread, David Rothman wonders about the solidity of Jeff Bezos’ long-term commitment to books.
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A Project of the Institute for the Future of the Book
I think it is called “eclipse your core product” as when Jeep sells backpacking equipment.
Books were among the foundation online products. This must relate to many factors including the installed base of book production, the systems of bibliographic access and the convergence of the screen as yet another reading mode. But I wonder if the hand held reading device can integrate well with the print book product. I suspect that simulation of print is exactly the application that is retarding acceptance. Its an ereader, but not an ebook.
Such a not-book reader suggests a non-product prospect for Amazon as a personal knowledge and entertainment avatar. The sidebars here are very suggestive. The one I like particularly is the use of Kindle as a personal publishing device with an adjoining precept of a readership of one. The old print books managed to transport formal conceptual works out of the body, now there is the option of transporting the personality and wider transaction from the body envelope.
I just received my Kindle in the mail a few days ago and I have not been able to put it down.
At first I thought this would be a nice novelty, but it has proven to be very addictive and worth every penny. The mixed reviews (of the real owners of a new kindle…not the people with absolutely nothing to do with their time other than type out a silly review on a product they don’t even own..) have some validity, but all in all – if you want this for what it is (an electronic reader), then you will be more than pleasantly surprised. This is not a web surfing, movie watching, graphic advanced electronic gadget…this is a “book”.
I love the Kindle. It is truly a wonderful piece of electronic genius!