It's a $400 device that they "let's" you buy books for $10!
Just go buy 40 books. By the time you read them all the e-reader will be free. This is not the reinvention of the book, it's just more useless stuff that all of us tech people are tricked into thinking we need.
The author of this article mentions some nice philosophical elements of the question of electronic books, but he skirts outside the entire DRM issue, which is the thing that is keeping me back. What, the only difference between the Sony "Reader" and this "Kindle" is that the Kindle can connect to Wi-Fi access points? Give me a break.
A _decent_ e-book reader should be able to read any document format, be easily extensible, _maybe_ support one DRM schemes as an afterthought (to appease the publisher ass-hats) and of course have every other benefit a book has: durability, portability, a touchpad or keyboard for taking notes, waterproofness for the heck of it _and_ excellent connectivity.
Every e-book device I have seen have avoided all of these requirements. I won't buy anything that isn't easier to use and better than my laptop. Not a snowball's chance in hell.
How hard can it be to make a bloody gadget that works right? Every manufacturer should be working to dislodge their heads, but it seems like it is very comfortable in there. In the publishers' orifices, that is.
I admit. If I ever get a Sony Reader, the first thing I'd do is to hack it so I can access all the text files I already have. I want to be able to read, say, the electronic copies of David Weber's scifi books that I bought, the PDFs from my software reference library, the Art of War in the original Chinese, and whatever I want off of Gutenburg.
I've seen the Sony Reader first-hand. There was a demo unit in one of the Border's in Atlanta. It looks a lot cooler than the Amazon device. It is almost as slim as an Apple iPhone. It also has a lot of random ports surrounding the device ... pretty useless if I can't get it to access the things I want it to access. Compared with the OLPC XO, it looks like it'd break if I drop it.
On the other hand, the eInk display is everything the press says it is -- the fonts are crisp and the display is a pleasure to read in standard lighting. It has no backlights -- but neither does a hardback novel. The refresh rate is too slow for animations. It takes almost as long for the page to refresh as turning a page (that's probably perceptual ... I didn't time it with a stopwatch).
"Bezos explains that it's only fair to charge less for e-books because you can't give them as gifts, and due to restrictive antipiracy software, you can't lend them out or resell them."
Wow, someone in the DRM business admitted that DRM subtracts value.
"assuredly wonderful technical features" yes, but locked down by DRM. I might buy one if/when some hackers manage to add native pdf support and free access to free blogs. Until then I'll just stick with my 12 inch laptop. (Or if I am desperate buy the Sony reader thats $100 cheaper and actually supports PDFs, even though it doesn't have wireless)
Why would somebody actually pay money out of their own pocket for a device that they don't actually own? Well, ok, telecom's a great example, but Amazon does not have the same kind of stranglehold on books... A Sony Reader with a bit of WiFi + Flash will make this lame offering look like the "Zune" of ebook readers.
I could buy a linux board for $60, put a screen on it for another $60 and do everything that thing can do plus compile, send phone calls, hack, play games, and post here on news.yc. $400 for that thing is crazy.
Can you post an email address in your profile or email me? I'm curious if you're affiliated with KIPR, a Google search for awanson goes to the KIPR message boards after news.ycombinator.com.
"every Kindle comes with a customized e-mail address. You attach your personal docs, and they are delivered to the device, can do this with docs, Jpegs."
[grumble] Bezos is a really good businessman, but he seems to have a few weaknesses. The obvious problem with his previous flop (the segue EDIT: segway) was that it looked like a piece of medical equipment...something you ride on into the grave.
Well, what about the "kindle"? It looks similarily therapeutic...maybe a device to help stroke victims re-remember their ABCs.
Just go buy 40 books. By the time you read them all the e-reader will be free. This is not the reinvention of the book, it's just more useless stuff that all of us tech people are tricked into thinking we need.