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Today Amazon takes the wraps off the Amazon Kindle, an e-book reader they hope will transform publishing and reading. Offering an initial catalog of 80,000 titles, Amazon will sell bestsellers for $9.99 and “classics” for $1.99. The device itself has a strangely 80’s-futuristic vibe to it, with a white molded plastic body featuring angular edges and a thumb-keyboard. Kindle does have some game-changing features: an EVDO wireless connection allows you to browse the web and buy books, and the battery life is estimated at 30 hours of “reading time.” It holds roughly 200 books in internal memory (assuming you’ve bought them), and can subscribe (for a fee) to major newspapers and magazines, which are automatically delivered to the device (this may be the killer feature, in my humble opinion — I’ve always wanted a “breakfast computer” to stand in for a newspaper while I’m eating).
It all sounds pretty neat, but the test will be in how good the screen is and how well-designed the device is — will the screen compete in clarity with a printed page? Will the device be as portable as a paperback? Priced at $399, the Kindle will have to be pretty awesome to gain any marketshare. It feels deeply unlikely to me that any device will supplant traditional books any time soon, but then again, I was wrong about the Web, so I don’t exactly have a technology track record to stand on.
Newsweek has a feature about the Kindle, including some details about its creation and the publishing industry’s reaction. Have a read (online, of course!) and head over to Amazon.com if you’ve got $399 burning a hole in your pocket.
About 7 years ago I was given a gift of an eBook reader. It was an electronic reading device that sounds very similar to what is being advertised now. I would download bestsellers/classics in a specific format to the reader (for a cost) and carry a large number of books with me on the device. I absolutely loved it but then suddenly the market of books with the necessary format dried up and I had to retire my reader. It was a very handy item and I really loved it. The unit cost around $200 and the cost of books was anywhere from ‘free’ to nomal hardcover prices. So now I would have to purchase a new ‘book reader’ unit? Sorry folks, unless it is very inexpensive I am not going to buy. Once burned twice shy and all that.
posted by JaneM on 11-19-2007 at 9:11 am
I worked in retail when those e-book readers came out, and they barely moved off the shelves, even (or especially) as the price came down.
For my part, while I love to read, I also like to reread, and I would rather worry about having the shelf space for all my books, rather than the memory for ‘em…
posted by RosiePerez on 11-19-2007 at 10:24 am
I participated in the OLPC Give-One-Get-One program, partially in the hope that the XO will be functional as an e-book reader. From how the screen is described, it looks like a not bad option.
posted by Cheng-Jih Chen on 11-19-2007 at 11:06 am
Call me crazy but I don’t feel like paying 400 dollars for the opurtunity to buy books at regular price.
I would much rather skip the middle man and just buy a book made of good old fasion paper.
besides A: Does amazon think that thousands upon thousands are so lazy AND read enough books at once to justify paying 399.00 instead of just lugging around acouple books in their brief cases?
B: Is amazon counting on the price of gas going up so much that the public will no longer make the weekly trip to their local super book store like barnes and nobles and borders?
I personally love going to these wal-marts of book stores and walking around until something catches my eye. For me it replaces the long walk in the woods when it gets to cold outside. Also I have to carry a cell phone, an ipod, a nintendo DS, and my wallet in my pants already. If I have anything more to carry I’ll have to bring a backpack or brief case wherever I go. And if it gets to that then I mite as well fill it with some books so I look like an intelectual and not a tech nerd.
posted by chuck on 11-19-2007 at 11:34 am
Interesting… although I’d agree with JaneM on the problem of proprietary format and with chuck on the issue of carrying yet another gadget around. Plus, this really seems like it would need to be a try-before-you-buy product, which doesn’t fit well with the whole Amazon business model.
In the meantime, I remain a big fan of MobiPocket reader on my Palm Pilot - it’s free, as are the titles I’m most interested in (the public domain stuff).
posted by Roger on 11-19-2007 at 11:51 am
Oh, yeah - one other thing. ‘Kindle?’ What’s with the weird, slightly Farenheit 451-ish product name?
posted by Roger on 11-19-2007 at 11:57 am
I think I still prefer a physical book to read over any electronic version. It may be that I’m strange, but reading isn’t simply looking at the typeset and interpreting it. It is a mixture of the smell of paper and ink - especially with newspapers, we all know that scent. It’s the sound of a turned page, the difference between a crisp new book, a wobbly and heavy coffee table edition, or the clothlike flutter of an old favorite. It’s the physical sensation of holding the book in your hand. Again, call me a bit of a nutjob, but I can’t see an e-reader as effectively replacing a physical book.
A second point - how many books does one need to take on travel? Even two or three novels seems like a lot, especially if one is actually doing something else, be it business or pleasure, once the destination has been reached. Is an e-book really that convenient?
A third point, and then I’ll shut up. I worry about computer memory as a general rule, and I think I’d worry about losing an entire book collection due to some errant malfunction. At least I know the pages of the novels on my bookshelf won’t randomly turn blank - barring some obvious catastropic events. But then again if that happened, the e-reader probably wouldn’t fare much better.
posted by Katherine on 11-19-2007 at 1:27 pm
On the other hand!
I saw this and said “I’m saving my money to buy one”
1) The books are cheaper! $10 for the NY Times best sellers.
2) I don’t need any more books! I’m moving in JUNE and I’ve already started packing books. Sheesh. And for the last two years, I’ve purchased very few books.
3) Download a book when you think about it, rather than either going to the library or bookstore.
On the downside, this could get expensive! Not counting the reader, being able to buy books whenever you think of it could lead to binge-buying!
4) Holding a book while reading in bed is awkward, particularly those Neal Stephenson books, which are 800 pages and 3 lbs!!!!
5) Dictionary at a touch. Search function. Annotation. All the other gadgetry you can’t use on a book.
I listen to a lot of books on CD or MP3, so I don’t have the “I have to feel the pages of the book” disease, so the fact that I’m not holding an actual won’t bother me.
They need to lower the price, though. $400 is ridiculous. This is a $200 item, tops. You’ll be making all your money through book sales. Don’t be a BetaMax, Amazon.
posted by Moon on 11-19-2007 at 1:38 pm
Considering how easy it is to download illegal copies of music, movies and tv programs, I do not think a lot of authors are going to sign up to allow their books to be distributed in this format. It is my understanding that an author’s percentage of sales is tiny anyway. Why make it easier to bypass the bookstore?
posted by Janix on 11-19-2007 at 2:58 pm
I thought this was a somewhat impracticle idea until I read Katherine’s comment. When I travel, I bring at least 4 books with me - and if it’s, say, a one-week or more trip, I’ve been known to bring a whole suitcase full. Now, if you’ve ever had to carry around a suitcase full of books, you’ll know it’s damn heavy. One of these e-book devices would be perfect for book addicts like me.
But I don’t have the cash. Ah well.
posted by Aemi on 11-19-2007 at 3:01 pm
Ugh, *impractical. Typed too much today.
posted by Aemi on 11-19-2007 at 3:01 pm
As Katherine pointed out, for some of us, there’s an “aesthetic component” to the reading experience that cannot be duplicated in an e-book. For me, reading on my desk, with the lamp on and coffee on the side cannot be duplicated with e-bookd. That said, though, there are some points to e-books - like Moon said - not to mention environmental advantages. For the moment though, I’ll stick to my favorite method of buying books - Amazon.com’s USED books section.
posted by Elias on 11-19-2007 at 4:40 pm
I remember the E-book, and it tanked. How is this different?
Is it the newer generation of readers that is different? All these interwebs-raised whippersnappers?
I for one have been working and reading on computers for about 20 years now, and my poor eyes can’t handle any more high contrasty, backlit reading material! Computer screens flicker. Brain not like!
I’ll stick with real books, thanks, and avoid more eye strain.
posted by Karla on 11-19-2007 at 4:41 pm
I agree with Katherine on the “feeling the book” thing. It´s part of the whole experience.
And while I travel a lot thanks to my job (and have been know to lug around 6 books in a single trip), I dont think I could read for 15 straight hours on a computer screen. My eyes just get incredible tired. Even if the gadget cost $10, I still would not buy it.
posted by GTT on 11-19-2007 at 5:03 pm
Karla - this device is slightly different in that it uses “E Ink” which is NOT backlit. It’s a high contrast display that looks more like an LCD display on an old wristwatch (though much higher rez…) and refreshes relatively slowly (about one sec to re-paint the whole display).
Supposedly the new screen is much easier on the eyes — but I haven’t seen one in person to test.
posted by Higgins on 11-19-2007 at 6:32 pm