Speaking of e-book readers

[yendi]

(As I did last week)

Amazon has just debuted their own e-book reader, Kindle.

Looks nifty (especially the shock protection). Just not $400 worth of nifty. Unfortunately, for my needs, I don't think I could ever see spending more than $40 on something like this, and the ability to make the technology that affordable is years away.

Comments

[litch.livejournal.com]

still pisses me off they charge more for ebooks than they do for paperbacks

[yendi]

Yeah, especially since the reader itself is hella expensive (not like videogames, in which the games subsidize the lowered cost of hardware).

[reannon.livejournal.com]

Are they insane? You can read ebooks on an ordinary Palm or iPod right now. The dedicated ebook readers failed for a reason! Best of all, when you read an ebook on your Palm, it looks like you're working.

[yendi]

It's the e-ink that makes it a selling point -- it really does (supposedly -- not that I've shelled out the money to play with one) reduce eye strain and supposedly read just like something on the printed page.

That said, it's completely an early adopter's market right now, and will be until the price plunges.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

i just read a review of a reader that seemed pretty fantastic, but i can't remember the name or where i read it.
and that's frustrating.
i cant' say i care for the look of the kindle, and the fact that its use seems so limited.

[yendi]

Maybe this review?

The Kindle does mention reading PDFs, which strikes me as an essential feature for any of these. But unless Amazon hands me one for free, I don't think it's one I'm likely to really evaluate at this price point.

[lokilokust.livejournal.com]

it wasn't that one (i had to scroll back a few pages just to make sure) and it wasn't a sony device.
although, it did also work as a decent mp3 player, according to the review, with a built a in pre-amp.
this is going to bother me all day.
(and, about the pdf issue, i wouldn't even consider getting one that didn't read pdfs. i agree with you that it's essential.)

[unquietsoul5.livejournal.com]

The costs are prohibitive, really, especially since I suspect some form of DRM will be in place so you can't transfer the documents to another storage medium or use them on another device.

That and the cost to convert your own docs (and format limits therein) make it a bit questionable. I'll wait and see if the price drops one way or the other before betting on this horse.

[jcfiala.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested in investigating what it could do, and trying it out, if it was about... $150 or so. But at $400, I'm just not willing to try shelling out money for something that's probably going to fail.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

The things that it can do look pretty good, but I'm not sold on the gadget itself. The size seems awkward, and I'd want to actually hold one in my hand before buying.

[yukon-ruby.livejournal.com]

The size is the only thing that I don't have objections to. I've used an ereader previously that was about the same size and found it quite convienient.

The price is prohibitive in and of itself, regardless of the features it possesses. Being asked to pay that much esstentially to shop at thier "Kindle Store" is silly.

Also too many buttons. A right handed user interface. A very small list of file formats to upload.

I won't be buying one.