The Amazon Kindle – Ebook Reader Breakthrough?
November 21, 2007 by Anne Wayman
Filed under Jobs
Yesterday Amazon launched its much touted Kindle. Called a “wireless reading device” it’s what may be the next step in ebook readers.
What interests me most about this one is the screen. Amazon says: Utilizing a new high-resolution display technology called electronic paper, Kindle provides a crisp black-and-white screen that resembles the appearance and readability of printed paper.
This is followed by three authors who seem to agree. I’m wondering how I can get my hand on one to see for myself.
Not available for shipping until Dec., 3, you can order one now… or later. It’s not cheap. The list of books available for the device is impressive; so is the fact that it’s not limited to books.
At the moment there are over 400 comments; it’s getting about 2-1/2 stars out of 5. I don’t know what this means… have 400+ people seen it? And the 1 star far outweigh 5 stars. The complaints are interesting and have a lot to do with the technology and with Amazon itself.
I’m tempted to order it with the idea I can return it if I don’t simply love it. On the other hand, maybe the price will come down like the iPhone did, or maybe the next release will be better. I’ll wait.
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I’d like to get one, Anne. Of the people on Amazon who have actually tried it, the response is overwhelmingly positive.
One thing, however, is that none of the beta testers paid for the unit, the books or the connection fees. The cost puts a damper on my enthusiasm. Not because I don’t think it’s worth it, but I don’t honestly know if I can afford it. (On top of my cell phone, my internet service provider, cable and all the other things we pay for on a monthly basis…)
If it were cheap, I would jump on it right now. Since it’s so expensive, I have to decide if I want to be an early adopter guinea pig and potentially throw away a lot of money in order to be one of the lucky first generation users.
Too bad you don’t live close, or we could share one.
Hi Tammy, yeah, sharing one would be nifty… if you could pry it from my hands… how do I get a look at a real one?
I thought, maybe, just maybe, I’d get one this year. but we’ve been hit with an unexpected financial burden this Xmas, so it’s going to have to wait.
One thing I’m a little concerned about with the Kindle is the fact that when I’m done with a book, I can’t resell it or give it to a friend. Although I did read that they are trying to work out a way to lend Kindle books from the library, that expire after a certain number of days. I like that idea a LOT. If they do that, allowing us to view books for free, for 3 weeks, then they delete themselves, that would rock.
Oh, and how to get a hold of a real one? Well, apparently it IS out, but it sold out in a matter of hours. So, people have them. Somewhere. :)
maybe I’ll put a notice in the local craigslist… I’d really like to see the epaper
yeah, the library idea is kwel!