The New York Times’ Virginia Heffernan reviews the Kindle and explores all-too-familiar territory—for example, the wonders of the wireless as well as the machine’s design deficiencies.
The Kindle is Oprah-hot right now, and Heffernan’s review is lively and well-written. But when, oh when, will the Times seriously take up grubby issues such as eBabel and the need for ePub? Or the perils of DRM lock-ins? Enough of this Kindle fixation! The Kindle itself, by the way, is a prime example of the eBabel issue—being unable to read encrypted PDF, for instance. I’d love to see Heffernan write on the desirability of being able to own works in E for real. If we tie e-books to proprietary technology, how can we can take them as seriously as we could otherwise? Remember Gemstar and the other vendors now out of the e-book business. What’s more, Amazon just might change its priorities someday. If nothing else, what about the PDF books Amazon once promoted?
Reminder: We’re not anti-Kindle here, and in fact, co-editor Paul Biba is a proud Kindle owner—we’re just prodding Amazon and other companies to improve their offerings. Also, I continue to be a big Times booster, because of the mix of substance and excellent packaging in the online edition. I just wish the Times would get more serious about e-books.
