“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.
Ampar,
Where did you go for all those months? I was afraid you became zune tang or something worse: one of chrissy1’s false feedback writers!
I used to read books on my Palm, but after getting my iPhone, the Palm’s interface seems so awkward! I keep wanting to using my finger to scroll through pages and I can’t (I have to tap). Most will assume that’s a minor thing (I did), but the reality is the interface is KEY for making the ebook experience natural and enjoyable. I find I do a lot more pleasure reading on my iPhone (via websites) simply because the interface makes it feel good. I love being able to zoom in, adjust the layout to the content (horizontal or vertical), and scroll smoothly.
Unfortunately the iPhone does not yet have a good ebook reader, but once the SDK is out, I expect one and it will blow away all ebook pretenders like this Kindle thing.
It needs a sensor that watches your eyeballs and pages automatically as you reach the bottom. Turn manual pages of swiping with the finger tip is so exhausting. Email me when this has been incorporated.
Did anyone else notice the CNET “first glance” which mentions the Kindle’s apparent Achilles heel – “nearly all” the content seems overpriced, they say. For example, you can subscribe to blogs on the Kindle – special Kindle versions of the blogs that cost $1 each to read! I don’t know about you, but I’m not thinking I want to pay $1 to read a blog on the little thing that I can read elsewhere for free.
If this first look is any indication, this thing may “Zune” faster than a .. well, a Zune.
silverhawk: I’ve been undercover under several names. But I would never spoof anyone since that’s why I left as Ampar. And faking a Windows troll isn’t my style.
Personally the Sony and the Kindle look impressive, but in practical use, they’re expensive, and due to size, something I’m not likely to want to carry with me. There is a eBook app for the iPhone and it works really well…It’s really just a matter of Apple making it an official app (or when the SDK comes out), and pumping the content through the existing infrastructure.
Charlie Rose is interviewing Jeff Bezos tonight.
http://www.charlierose.com/home
I wondered who was cracking book spines – stop it!
Anyway, unless this device can do instant access to any page, different fonts and smell like a 1930s Penguin, it’s hardly the same as a book.
I agree that the iPhone comparison is a stretch. The two devices have very different purposes. That said, the iPhone multitouch UI has raised overall expectations for mobile-device interaction capabilities.
From what they show in the video, Kindle navigation/UI looks awkward at best. A blackberry-style thumb wheel that moves a little selection block in a vertical track next to the screen? Barf.
My first question when I saw this was: “Where can I go get my hands on one of these and play with it?” There are no Amazon retail stores. I have a hard time imagining very many people ordering one of these based on a picture and some online videos.
Comparing apples (pardon the pun) and oranges… IMO, this device has two main attractions; easy way to download books (like the iTunes/iPod combination for music), and just as importantly, the E-Ink display technology. Although you might be able to use the iPhone for reading Email, web pages, etc., it isn’t optimized specifically for books like Kindle seems to be.
I’m as much of an Apple fanboy as anyone, but comparing Kindle to the iPhone is like comparing a desktop computer to a TV; they can both do some of the same things, but they are optimized for specific tasks.
BTW, I agree with Ryan; they need some kind of brick and mortar presence for this because there’s no way I’d buy one unless I could try using it…
Two words.
Butt. Ugly.
I have found reading eBooks is great, on my Treo.
I wish the screen were larger but it’s the content that’s killer app.
However, the Kindle is just stupid. It will be covered 10 years from now like the Atari Jaguar, the 3DO, the IBM PC Jr, etc… as DOA.
I can even hear the narrator “…and to top it off, Amazon priced it at a whopping $400 which was a lot of money in 2007. That was really the nail in the coffin. The iPod of ebooks it really wasn’t.”
The deal breaker for me (ignoring the ugly looks and price) is that I can’t convert my own TONS of text and PDF content, not without sending to Amazon and dealing with its complicated conversion routine.
At least for the Palm I can just drag and drop onto the eBook conversion program (for both Win and Mac) for a PDB file.
I would love to carry around my TONS of PDF files I have to read but…. no high res graphics?!
Why not just get a TABLET PC then?!
And heck when is Apple coming out with the OS X tablet anyway? SSHD, Inkwell, Safari… I would buy it at double the price of the Kindle.
Bezos is just out in space…. (you do know he is building a space port right?)