khay 10 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00...dle1_40650458_1 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7101392.stm : Online retailer Amazon has unveiled an own-brand wireless electronic book reader called Kindle. The paperback-sized device is on sale immediately in the US for $399 (£195). It can store up to 200 books in its onboard memory. Kindle does not need a PC to be loaded with books, blogs or papers - instead content arrives via wireless. Amazon said 90,000 books, including bestsellers priced at $9.99, were available for Kindle at launch. New addition "We've been working on Kindle for more than three years," said Amazon boss Jeff Bezos in a statement. "Our top design objective was for Kindle to disappear in your hands -- to get out of the way -- so you can enjoy your reading," he said. Content is delivered to the device via the EVDO wireless network - this could limit the gadget's overseas appeal as the technology is not widely used outside North America. Owners of a Kindle do not have to pay to use this wireless network, Amazon pays the access costs and only charges for any content downloaded to the reader. This does mean that any Kindle owner could be paying to read many blogs and papers they could read for free online. A subscription to the New York Times costs $13.99 per month on Kindle. A popular blog, such as BoingBoing will cost $1.99 per month for Kindle owners. Owners sending files they already own to their Kindle will incur a ten cent charge. Amazon said it took less than a minute to download a book via this network to the Kindle. Newspapers, blogs and magazines that owners have subscribed to are automatically updated on the gadget. The memory can be boosted by using SD cards but Amazon will keep back up copies of any and every book purchased for Kindle so they can always be re-loaded on the device. It has a low power digital ink screen and can last 30 hours between recharges. Those buying a Kindle gets an associated e-mail address so if that person is sent Word documents or PDF files, these are converted for reading on the device. The keyboard on the device lets people annotate and make notes on documents and send messages. The Kindle also has buttons that link it directly to the Oxford American Dictionary and Wikipedia. Amazon is not the first company to produce an e-book reader. Many other companies have tried similar devices but all have failed to win over large numbers of customers. In early November, Sony released the second version of its Reader that also sports a digital ink screen. The first version of the Reader was criticised because of the restrictive digital rights management system it used. Also this month, Epson Seiko showed off a prototype e-reader only three millimetres thick. There are no announcements about when, or if, that gadget will go on sale. I don't think I read enough to bother plus I don't really see the need for it with other mobile devices that support the internet and you can find books on-line and download them for free anyways... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammynb 3355 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 No chance of only paying for it once if you feel like rereading that book you bought 5-10 years ago then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walliver 0 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 No matter what anyone tells me, I doubt I'll ever see an electronic 'ink' that is as comfortable on the eyes as the printed stuff. Continual scrolling better than flicking a page? I'm not sure it is. Why would I want to carry around my whole library with me? I very rarely read more than one book at a time which isn't particularly heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meenzer 15531 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 I wonder if you'll be able to put your entire book collection on shuffle and read a random page from each at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammynb 3355 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 It's the remix editions that one has to be wary of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Surely people that like books..... well like books. I can see how maybe papers and stuff like that might work well in this format, and possibly for studies and such, but those are still rather niche markets. More generally are people really interested in carrying around a lot of books with them? Out side of Star Trek data slate crap (and even there it looks forced ) I can't see there being a huge market for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zico martin 89 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 I wonder if you'll be able to put your entire book collection on shuffle and read a random page from each at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Carr's Gloves 3894 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 For me the idea is a great one as I am sick of taking 3-4 books on holiday and finding space for them (I buy too many hardbacks). However for $399 and in the independant today he said don't expect the price to fall any time soon. He can shove it up his arse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14011 Posted November 20, 2007 Share Posted November 20, 2007 Why not just buy a real book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJS 4386 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Did anyone ever get one of these? I've ordered the new one for delivery at the end of the month as I'm currently sorting out my house and apart from boxes of old computer parts, I've realised I have too many books taking up space. I don't like to bin them as I tend to re-read them on an on-going basis. It seems as if theres enough content out there now going by their new Kindle book store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 44887 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Haven't got one but definitely interested so let us know what you think. Have you got the 3g one or just wireless. Is the only benefit of the 3g one that you can download books out and about? Seems you'd have to fuck up quite badly to not have a stock of books that you'd put on there wirelessly so I'm not sure of the point of the 3g one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJS 4386 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Yeah I ordered the 3g one just for the hell of it - it has a rudimentary web browser as well which would kill two birds with one stone. There's also an email delivery system for subscriptions to papers and magazines which looks useful. I've been meaning to start reading on the train for a while but can't be arsed to carry anything - especially in the summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 44887 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Would definitely be good for holidays. I take loads of books away and you only need one twat on the check in desk and you're paying charges for the weight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Get an iPad, its much better. Apparently the book reader isnt as good but i read a book on the ipad last week and it was fine. I also surfed the web, did emails, watched youtube, played music, watched a couple of tv shows, read magazines, newspapers and played games. Why would you want a Kindle instead, is the book reader massively different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJS 4386 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Get an iPad, its much better. Apparently the book reader isnt as good but i read a book on the ipad last week and it was fine. I also surfed the web, did emails, watched youtube, played music, watched a couple of tv shows, read magazines, newspapers and played games. Why would you want a Kindle instead, is the book reader massively different? I don't play games but the other activities I do in different locations/situations with an appropriate device. I just thought I'd try one specific device for one use. I also tend to read in bed which of course I could use an iPad for but again I wouldn't be doing anything else from your list at that time. I also don't think Apple products are good value for money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 I quite like 'underground' writers and I'd wonder if you can get them on this or if it's restricted to the sort of thing you'd get in Waterstones. I'm sooo cool, you see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 I quite like 'underground' writers and I'd wonder if you can get them on this or if it's restricted to the sort of thing you'd get in Waterstones. I'm sooo cool, you see. Should get an iPad then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Anyway, twice the price but ten times the fun seems good value to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 44887 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Total waste of money if you've got a decent laptop though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 True but for anyone thinking about getting a new laptop, then i'd argue the laptop is a total waste of money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Had a quick look on the kindle store and it's not great on a few authors I searched on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 44887 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 Chez, the ipad looks great and I'm dead tempted just for the gadget factor, and the fact that it just looka great to fuck around on. But it's canny limited imo - the memory isn't huge, you're still tied to a few video file formats and the lack if flash support seems something they have no plans to fix. I still kind of want one though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 I hate keyboards and mice now. Sooooo 20th century. All that is true about the iPad but if you look at where innovation is this year in the tech market its in mobile OS. I mean that from a hardware perspective too, not just software. The big growth in Chinese and other far east high-tech parts suppliers is for mobiles and therefore by defintion, tablet OS parts. In 2 years, the iPad will have 200gb of storage with minimally 2gb of RAM (figure plucked out of my arse btw). By that time HTML5 will be more prevalent too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 44887 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 If they sort all that shit out I'll get one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shackbleep 0 Posted August 11, 2010 Share Posted August 11, 2010 I'm keeping my eyes peeled for android's version of the iPad. It's on its way apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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