If it's a Kindle targeted at college students then I would assume it's one designed to partner with textbook manufacturers to provide Kindle versions of their textbooks. I really hope it's true, I would love to not have my backpack filled with books, but at the same time, the books would have to be offered at a steep discount, below how much you'd pay for a used book to make it worth it.
Kindle might be a great device if it was either cheap or was an open device not tied to one provider properly supported common file formats. But Amazon are trying to have their cake and eat it too by charging the earth and locking you into their service. I seriously don't understand why anyone would buy it. When the device dies or the service gets canned, you may discover all your precious DRM'd books went with it too. You can't even sell on books when you are done with them. Sony Reader isn't much better off.
eBooks demonstrate what happens when an industry can't agree on a proper standard. If they'd implemented a decent book standard with preferably passive DRM (i.e watermarking) which was independent of store or device, then the sales would skyrocket. Users would trust the format since they can buy books anywhere, back them up however they like and read them anywhere. Yes there would be piracy but there is already piracy so what would it matter? Watermarking would let them track down the culprits far easier than today too. Instead the industry has devolved into competing clans and fiefdoms fighting over scraps. The same will happen to digital movies if they don't adopt a standard.
Surely someone must be able to produce a e-ink device that properly renders documents in all the common formats? Okay, favour your own store if you must, but make the device good at other formats, and make your format open and attractive to licence with favourable terms. Even today I could buy a PDA for less than either Kindle or Sony Reader and make it read all the common formats. Where is the impediment for these devices?
And don't count on the books being much cheaper. Unless somehow Amazon can completely overthrow the price-fixing in place now, texts will still be outrageous. My wife is taking ONE class at our community college and the two books together are over $230. Tuition for the course (Biology) is $168. Something's wrong here.
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If it's a Kindle targeted at college students then I would assume it's one designed to partner with textbook manufacturers to provide Kindle versions of their textbooks. I really hope it's true, I would love to not have my backpack filled with books, but at the same time, the books would have to be offered at a steep discount, below how much you'd pay for a used book to make it worth it.
Kindle might be a great device if it was either cheap or was an open device not tied to one provider properly supported common file formats. But Amazon are trying to have their cake and eat it too by charging the earth and locking you into their service. I seriously don't understand why anyone would buy it. When the device dies or the service gets canned, you may discover all your precious DRM'd books went with it too. You can't even sell on books when you are done with them. Sony Reader isn't much better off.
eBooks demonstrate what happens when an industry can't agree on a proper standard. If they'd implemented a decent book standard with preferably passive DRM (i.e watermarking) which was independent of store or device, then the sales would skyrocket. Users would trust the format since they can buy books anywhere, back them up however they like and read them anywhere. Yes there would be piracy but there is already piracy so what would it matter? Watermarking would let them track down the culprits far easier than today too. Instead the industry has devolved into competing clans and fiefdoms fighting over scraps. The same will happen to digital movies if they don't adopt a standard.
Surely someone must be able to produce a e-ink device that properly renders documents in all the common formats? Okay, favour your own store if you must, but make the device good at other formats, and make your format open and attractive to licence with favourable terms. Even today I could buy a PDA for less than either Kindle or Sony Reader and make it read all the common formats. Where is the impediment for these devices?
And don't count on the books being much cheaper. Unless somehow Amazon can completely overthrow the price-fixing in place now, texts will still be outrageous. My wife is taking ONE class at our community college and the two books together are over $230. Tuition for the course (Biology) is $168. Something's wrong here.