“Amazon.com Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has created a reason to switch from bound paper books to bits — a device with a wireless connection able to download digital books on the go. The problem: Low-cost laptops and smart phones, such as Apple’s iPhone, coupled with a rich array of online content, may have already made Bezos’ $399 device obsolete,” Brian Caulfield reports for Forbes.
“Google’s Book Search project has already pumped much of the world’s printed matter into Google’s servers. Downloads of classic titles, such as Bleak House, can already be had for free. Mix Apple’s iTunes content distribution smarts with Google’s vast storehouse of content, and you’ll have an instant competitor to Kindle — one with a touch interface and the ability to play movies and music, too,” Caulfield reports.
Full article here.
checkmate
They will get it long after they have lost it!
Apple inc. already know what we want long before we know what it is we want, hence the think different?
Until I can crack its spine and feel safe using it in the bathtub, it ain’t no substitute for a book… and neither is the iPhone, for that matter.
My question is why hasn’t apple developed some kind of book distribution system with iTunes? It might have been a little bit hard to read with an iPod classic screen but with an iPhone and the itouch why not. I would have thought that selling me iBooks that I could read on my mac via iTunes would have been done already. Same model as audio books being sold on iTunes, just with PDF and a built in viewer in iTunes like video has. What do yo think?
Any book reader needs to be touch screen. Seriously.
Kindle won’t sell many copies b/c: it’s ugly, if i remember correctly Sony Reader’s screen is not covered under warranty and i’d expect the same with Kindle, the cost for hardware is very high, the overall benefit to buying Kindle vs. buying new or used books doesn’t justify the cost. Nice effort, Amazon, but come back in a few years with version 3 of hardware and online store.
The real question is: Will the technology really save forests of trees? And one has to think about the fancy bookmark makers going the way of the buggy whip makers, huh?
Seriously though, it is just the pixel density of the screens that is the controlling tech for the transition… it would seem that it is around 250 to 300 ppi like the old laser output, for minimum acceptable legibility
I wouldn’t want to fall asleep in bed while reading a book on my MPB or the Kindle e-book. My break it when I roll over. Books are the most wonderful thing ever invented; I’d hate to give them up.
If you want to see a photo of the Kindle go to: http://www.macworld.co.uk/
It looks like a product from 10+ years ago.
Crabapple, I hope Apple thinks I need a multi-touch tablet.
no real info on their wacky new drm system. Lose your Kindle? Repurchase your ebooks? Can you read these ebooks on your computer? A year from now when this fails, what will you be able to do with these purchased ebooks? Hell, you can’t even print them out. And fair use is out the window.
Dave writes “Hell, you can’t even print them out. And fair use is out the window”
Does that mean Kindle is a Micro$oft or Universal Music Group product?
@ I love glossy,
What is the itouch?
The next offering will be an itouch Leopard! when the latest Flash dual core memory becomes available!
Check the link below out and enjoy!!!
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/15539/
Also please note that Apple inc. have already bought most of the Flash memory chips even before the have been produced hence the shortage!
By the time Apple inc. have had enough Flash chips, the other makers will only then just start to make what Apple inc. have left behind.
One more thing “I love glossy”
You are right to love glossy, the majority of glossy whingers conveniently forget their experience with Cathode Ray TV’s, monitors & most of all Cashpoint Machines or ATM’s all of which incorporate a nice tough glossy screen!!!!
Hear of anyone complain about reflection from an ATM’s glossy?
My gosh. Kindle looks positively ARCHAIC. It reminds me of the old calculators that would generate receipts on paper.
I gots me a star next to my name, beeotch!
Sort of a dumb headline IMO
This ebook reader is not a iPhone or iPod touch competitor. It is for reading ebooks. It has cellular/wifi capability so that you can download on the go. I do not believe it has a browser. And no, the “rich array of content” available on the web does not compare to the kind of content that Bezos is talking about here. The emphasis is on books, not web pages. Sometimes we may forget, but those are not the same. You cannot go on the web and download (for free) the vast majority of books that are at your local Barnes and Noble.
These devices are primarily for two different audiences (some features may overlap a little). The experience of reading a book is replicated much better on the white amazon device than on an iPod touch. Don’t you think? I, for one, am kind of sick of everything under the sun being compared to an iPhone. This thingy is not a phone, not a mp3 player, and is not pretending to be. Fanboys relax, this won’t challenge the mighty iPod hegemony.
I can’t imagine trying to read a printed words on a iTouch or iPhone. I would think the eye strain would be quite problematic.
That is a LOT of money for a book reader. I would get an iPhone before I bought that thing. Same for SONY’s reader.
It looks good on you, Cubert! A nice fusion style.
Hhaha no its a $399 “book”. So paying $499-$599 when the iPhone shipped for a phone/cell+wifi internet device/iPod music+wide screen movies, and PDA functions was TOO expensive and Apple was bashed for it, but $399 for a “book” replacement that you still need to buy books to read on it is not worth bashing in the news/media? Man, dumb crowd…
I agree with “mm” – Not related, at least not very closely.
It’s, uh, Apples and oranges.
On the issue of eBooks, Two months ago I bought myself a Palm Vx for $3.99+$7.00 for shipping. I now get free titles from wowio..com, and not-free titles from ereader.com. For titles from wowio.com I use Adobe’s software for Palm OS, and ereader.com has their own reader for Palm OS [and Mac by the way]. So far I’ve managed to get a 700 page book on my Palm with space still left over. Now why would I spend $400 on yet another proprietary ebook reader? Sony had/has a great one, probably the best all around for actual readability, but it only works with ebook sellers that Sony partners with – stupid. Why won’t someone release an ebook reader that reads all ebooks.
Anyway, for $12.00 bucks I can’t go wrong and I’m getting a lot more reading done than if I had to carry real books with me. (I do miss real books though.)
Does the product name mean that your electronic reader will burst into flames at some point?
To be on the safe side, you should probably avoid downloading “Fahrenheit 451” onto this device.
The Kindle’s display is much more readable than any backlit display, especially in sunlight. The iPhone isn’t very good for extended reading and the Kindle doesn’t play MP3s. The kindle is entirely too expensive but comparing it to an iPhone is a clear case of apples vs. oranges. Next they’ll be saying that the iPhone has rendered a pen and notepad obsolete.
Stick to selling actual books Amazon, that’s all you really know how to do. By the way, where is my shipment of books that I ordered last week? Damn.
How many masochists are out there that would really like to read a full length novel on the iPhone’s 3.5 inch (diagonal) screen? A speed reader would get a blister on his finger trying to keep up. Get real!