Got spam from three different sources yesterday when Amazon unveiled their Kindle reader. Even Adam sent me a note this morning, likening it to a PADD. I did check out the hoopla. In fact, by yesterday afternoon there were already 150+ comments from beta testers to general cynics.
I really like the idea. At the very least, it's a free Wiki browser thats has service anywhere you can use a cell phone. It doesn't try to do a lot of PDA bullshit, either. Really focused on what it's supposed to do. Color would be nice but that would also detract from the intent. Super long batter life on a highly readable screen. It does have an SD port for (much needed) additional space and you can connect it to the computer via USB so you don't have to pay to eMail things to it. Though it can't read PDF, you can convert PDFs to Mobi, which it will read.
The biggest reason I won't be buying one is the DRM. I absolutely hate not “owning” what I buy. A virus, software crash or hardware upgrade can destroy all of my purchases; I find that risk unacceptable. The only reason I have iTunes installed is because the stupid iPod requires it. I never go to the iStore except for album covers. Yet I know how to strip the Apple DRM off my songs. I'd have to find a way to remove it from the books I buy before I would ever consider this thing.
The next biggest reason is the price. It seems like a pretty extreme investment to be tied to a proprietary service. Granted, Amazon has some serious presence and will likely be around another decade. But that doesn't warrant a $400 price tag. If they pull an Apple and drop it to $200, I might be tempted.
For now, I'm still happy reading PDFs on the PDA. Definitely not as nice as what the Kindle ties together, but I'm stubborn and relatively content for now.
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You are a hypocrite. Just by purchasing an iPod you are contributing to be music DRM ecosphere. Your sole premise for using iTunes is lame -- because you own a iPod. You act as if there were no other MP3 players out there that did not use iTunes. At last count, all of them didn't. Now back to e-books. Have you ever read one? The last thing you want is a color screen. It would be like getting a first-generation iPod and complaining that it didn't play video. What are you, retarded? Moreover, the value of all the features in Amazon's new Kindle is amazing. I am not going to go over them feature by feature -- I assume you have done so and you are unimpressed. I can't help but asking whether you know that Sony's ereader uses the same screen technology, does not have free cell phone like a wireless connectivity for life with built-in access to Wikipedia, for free, costs 75% as much as they Kindle, and finally, its books, costs about as much as brand-new hardbacks? I seriously doubt that you know any of this. Amazon is the first EReader/bookseller to pass on the digital dividend inherent in e-books to the customer. Yeah, I am bummed that the existing paradigm requires that the hardware and software be paired together. However, apart from that, they Kindle is revolutionary in its first-generation. Books are not as ubiquitous as music so I do not expect it to be fairly compared to the revolution brought about by the iPod. Nevertheless, it deserves a bit more props and you have given it.
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