Many details about the Kindle
By Ryan Block 
posted November 19th 2007 11:16AM
posted November 19th 2007 11:16AM
- It doesn't use a generic RSS aggregator -- it's Amazon-selected blogs only (and they "want every blog they can get"). Blogs that are aggregated by the Kindle get a revenue share with Amazon, since it costs money to get those publications.
- The side scroller is, as we expected, a polarized PNLCD (pneumatic LCD). It looks amazing.
- It's SD only, not SDHC.
- It uses the Kindle file format (which is a variant of structured HTML), but also accepts Word and PDF files (but only via email since they need to be converted by Amazon), Mobi, HTML, plaintext, and image files like JPEG, GIF, and PNG. Sorry, no RTF.
- Oh yes, it supports Audible! Oh, and a little, unused file format called MP3.
- It has a user-replaceable, 1530mAh battery
- You can bind five or six devices to a single account, and share books you've purchased to those accounts. There's no simultaneous reading lock, so if you and your significant other are on the same Amazon account you can both read the same book at the same time on your Kindles.
- Amazon is also releasing the Digital Text Platform, which allows users to upload their own content to the Kindle store for sale and download.
- The $9.99 price point is the sweet spot, but there are books for sale from the Gutenberg project for under $1 (if you don't want to download them for free yourself), and upwards of that quoted $10 price point as well.
- Amazon wouldn't say who makes the device, just that "it's an OEM in China."
Personally, I'm with the "it's revolutionary" side on this one. Version two will probably tone down the ugly and add a touchscreen, but I already want one like crazy. I probably buy sixty or so new hardcovers a year, so this thing would save its purchase price in no time at all with those discounts.
Only one thing disappoints me. No availability in Canada. I'm thinking of getting one shipped to a friend stateside who would mail it to me. Does anyone know if the whispernet thing will work here, or, alternately, if I'll be able to load stuff onto it via usb? I'd like one, but I don't want to pay all that money for an ugly brick, ya know?
As I mentioned in a previous post, you can buy the books on the server and download to your computer and then push to the Kindle via USB. That solves the wireless network problem, particularly across the border. Have a US friend buy it for you and then send it your way.
Turns out that might not work. I made a call to their support line and was told that, due to DRM issues, they can only sell the kindle (and the kindle books) to people with US delivery and billing addresses.
Sucks. I really want one. Do you hear, Amazon? Really.
Kindle is to books as iPod is to music.
In other words, this WILL change the way books are distributed and the way retailers do business. I work in the book industry, and I think this thing is perfect for some of the people whom I know to be regular customers.
But I must ask: Why did they name it after the act of setting fire to something? Is it meant to signify that they will be "burning" the book business?
OK - this thing is ugly and over-priced, with an unhealthy dose of DRM-hobbling. but ...
the idea of wireless delivery included in the cost of a media purchase should be making ears perk up at every major PMP and PVP maker.
this is great for 3 things.
carrying I.T. books
carrying " a short history of nearly everything" by bill bryson
carrying Neuromancer
Too bad its the inevitable death of the printed word which has been losing its value anyway.In the other hand its funny people pick apart this product because it does not do things that .000001 percent people do. such as:
i cant read pdf treasure maps.
i cant see it in the dark. ( the same lamp that clips on your book clips on this)
i cant afford a 10 dollar book because i buy 100 books a month. ("a short history of nearly everything" 700 pages paper back 13 dollars. kindle price 7 bucks, albeit free if i steal it from mr. bryson.)
my pocket pc with a 4 inch screen and 3 hr battery life does this better.
and i forgot to mention:
not until i can read underwater.
buy books from the moon.
60 gig hard drive to download the library of congress.
i will not hand over secret mission plans for world domination and time travel machines to amazon for conversion. no no no sir!
this thing is ugly caca.
not till its free device and free shipping.
i dont want to pay for anything ever.ever.
i am beowulf i dont read. i conquer.
ps. drop the price to 199 ill be on this like ink on paper.
When the device is free it will be SO worth it!
PDF, and I mean ****GOOD**** PDF support is the only way I would ever buy an e-ink device again ".!"
The Sony reader can do the job, but its a pain, somebody wrote a small utility to crop, dialate, and convert a pdf to Sony reader format but you still have to read it in landscape and the text quality is less than optimal. The Iliad is a "little bit" better, but $699 is too much but a bit better. I would pay that much if the PDF support was perfect.
Ironically bad PDF support is not really the fault of these devices but more with the format really, but because I have so many good books and magazines in PDF it would be hard to switch to another format. I am still waiting for that oober conversion tool to get me off of PDF completely.
I would even pay more than $399 for it in a second.
The price difference between a book i checked paperback and then kindle was only aroudn $2... is that really only hoiw much the physical material costs to produce a book?
i think the idea is wonderful, but it seems a bit odd that the difference is so small. id still rather have a physical copy. when the "eprice" is half the physical price, then it seems worth while buying this device.
Authors don't have concerts.
It's not about saving you money. It's about saving Amazon money spent on warehouse space, headcount, and health benefits.
Maybe Koala :) I think if the Kindle was 50-150$ it would be a good idea, and the books would have to come down to aroudn 3-9$
I am curious about the Audible support. Reading the support page you need WinDoz to authorize the kindle device. Does this mean no .AA support for Apple FB like myself? I am a happy DRM victim of audible with my ipod, but kindle with no mac authorization support sukx.
I love the idea of an electronic book, however the design looks like extracted from a 1979 K-Mart Clock Radio we had... yes, the one with the "flip-board" display and the "frog croaking" sound.
Please make it work in Mexico :)
but also accepts Word and PDF files (but only via email since they need to be converted by Amazon),
Sorry, fails.
No need to be converted by Amazon. Get MobiPocket's MobiCreator (free) and do it yourself. Or, get files converted for free by emailing them to yourID@free.kindle.com and they'll mail the converted files back to yourID@youremail.address.
Ah, that's good. I wish it read encrypted Mobi, though.
Even though Kindle costs so much, I think we should do our best to make sure every middle and high school student gets one. Don't you think it is time our kids and we stopped wasting hours watching stupid videos on Youtube, or playing the same video games over and over, and do something that really matters, like reading? I think the pros of Kindle compensate for its cons the moment you hold Kindle in your hands and read the first sentence of your ebook. Please see http://TheGadget.org for the rest of my comment.
I use the Kindle's Advanced setting for its Experimental Web to browse the Web. I was on a long bus trip and browsed the news, visited the Gutenberg Project site, bought a book, and downloaded a TXT book. I rationalized the cost as $20/month for 12 months of EVDO subscription and $159 for the e-reader. Sprint's site lists 450 minutes at $39.99, so I could have rationalized it as paying for 12 months $479.88 and getting $80 worth of e-books and a free Kindle.
Want to know why I'm interested? I live in the tropics. I moved over a thousand pounds of books with me when I came out here. They're now deteriorating before my very eyes. I figure the paperbacks that came out with me have maybe five more years on them. I still buy paperbacks to the tune of $150+ per month. I buy hardbacks, too. (They deteriorate as well, though more slowly because of the lower acid paper.)
More than half my book collection consists of out of print titles. I can replace them, sort of, by very VERY carefully cruising used bookstores and booksellers. But they'll still rot. They'll still eventually fall apart. It's not a real fix, in my mind, and will easily cost as much as replacing them in electronic form.
I still have electronic files I had on my computer when I moved. They're just as legible (har). If I replace my out of print books with Kindle e-books as they rot away, I'll eventually have my whole library, minus the book mold, minus the huge shelf space problem, and I can read them on something that's not getting all yellow and crackly.
I do think there are some books I won't replace this way. I'm a machinist. I have books with full sized drawings in them. Nope, they stay. I'll scan those myself in order to save them. Same with my graphic novels, all my photography books, art books, etc. But for my paperbooks, reference books, and technical manuals? This is a wonderful solution.
I'm in.
O.K, when will Barnes and Noble offer to buy out the
whole mess with some kind of merger with Google?
Is it just a matter of time?