Comments on: Kindle to debut in October…costing $400-500 (and what about the Cybook?)

By: Literaturwelt. Das Blog. » Blog Archive » Amazon Kindle

Literaturwelt. Das Blog. » Blog Archive » Amazon Kindle — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 07:31:32 +0000

[...] 2007 ist der Amazon Kindle auf dem Markt, ein neuer Versuch, E-Book-Lesegeräte zu forcieren. Lange genug angekündigt war er. Mittels drahtloser Internetverbindung (mobiles 3G Netzwerk) können Zeitungen und Blogs [...]

By: Ayrkain

Ayrkain — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 01:00:26 +0000

Having used a Sony Reader since launch, my killer app would be PDF’s. I don’t want it bad enough to get an Iliad, but I’d really like to see a sub-$500 eInk machine that could render PDF’s decently.

Mobipocket’s odd server behavior awhile back makes me nervous about their activated books staying activated. If your signal is bad or you have no wifi, are you left stranded without your books. Yuck.

Also, the Sony Reader does read TXT/RTF files with no conversion (from an SD card, no less), so I’m not sure why (other than perhaps cosmetic reasons) one would mess with LRF any further. I’ve read a good many torrented ebooks this way, myself.

Lastly, the comments on Engadget were pretty revealing. People would much rather have a pretty device from a company they hate (Sony) than an ugly device from a company they like.

By: pond

pond — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 20:33:28 +0000

I agree with Mr Nagle about wifi killing the battery. Better have a shutoff switch!

But I suspect the wifi is also in there for the newspaper/periodicals subscription deals mentioned in the article. The publisher of the New York Times was quoted last year saying he intended to be all-digital in a few short years — and this is the NY Times itself. To do that, the Times is sure enough going to have to partner up sometime quick, and the Kindle might be the first step there.

Check into Starbucks, dial in the latest edition, read away.

By: Robert Nagle

Robert Nagle — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:28:02 +0000

I have nothing against wifi. The problem is that it uses battery. For the battery life to last as long as the Sony Reader, web surfing can’t be too long. That also means there needs to be an on-off switch for wifi and a clear indicator light of when it turns on. I guess it would be nice to have a timer that automatically fetches RSS feeds and newspapers, etc. But you could just as easily do this through the laptop/PC. Laptops have more power and capability to fetch this stuff.

A usb on the other hand is a quick connection and a mouseclick from the PC (or maybe a syncing tool).

The question depends on whether the syncing tool/conversion tools are able to be housed in the device itself, or must reside on the more powerful computer.

Tamas: “Who wants an all RSS reader anyway?” Most reading on the web could just as easily be done via a RSS reader. RSS has proven to be a very portable format; I’d almost prefer an ebook reader to be able to read the RSS feed itself than to convert it to some binary file.

By: Joseph Gray

Joseph Gray — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:13:07 +0000

I can only hope that the released version of the Kindle doesn’t look like that early picture. That has to be the ugliest, most cumbersome looking gadget I have ever seen.

By: Alan Wallcraft

Alan Wallcraft — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:50:38 +0000

Based on the original FCC filing, “wirelessly connect to an e-book store” means using an EVDO (cell phone) network, not WiFi. This may have changed, since WiFi is becoming more popular, but you don’t need WiFi’s potentially higher bandwidth for most e-books.

By: Tamas Simon

Tamas Simon — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:48:32 +0000

I agree with Deena
As “literacy” diclines so does “on-screen literacy” increase.
Attention spans get shorter, people read less books and novels and more articles and blog posts.
which means… having an RSS reader is a must have.
And if they want to enter into e-newspapers – something that they definitely should do – then instant access is crucial.

But there’s more…
The .epub standard is pretty much packaged XHTML; in other words web pages.
The only software that can process .epub at the moment is Adobe Digital Editions; which uses WebKit – the same HTML rendering engine that powers Apple’s Safari browser on Mac, Windows and on the iPods.
So once you can get .epubs it would take little effort to have a web browser.

And who on Earth wants an RSS-only-reader anyway?
Wouldn’t you want to read the whole article in a “normal” way, in a browser? – especially when the feed only contains a teaser…

If you think about it… this sheds a whole different light on the iPod-Touch/iPhone.
To pick the Sony Reader or the Cybook or the Amazon Kindle over an iPod the only reason is having the e-Ink screen… but you loose having a multi-purpose device.

I guess until eInk comes in color and fast enough to have video we cannot have everything.

Maybe the OLPC display would help?
Maybe eInk should be a secondary display for a PC or a PDA?

By: Deena

Deena — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:44:46 +0000

You asked, “Who cares about wifi access?”

Young people do. My son wasn’t the least interested in e-books or e-book reading until he caught a glimpse of my Nokia 770. “You can surf the web on that?” Then he took it and didn’t give it back for more than a day–when it ran out of juice. He’s a reader, but he wouldn’t buy a standalone e-book reader, nor, he says, would any of his friends.