Oprah calls Kindle "her new favorite thing," gives everyone $50 off

Been waiting patiently for the next-generation Kindle(s) to hit the market? Growing increasingly frustrated with the wait? Thanks to the Amazon e-reader becoming Oprah Winfrey's "new favorite, favorite thing in the world (can't you see the jubilation on her face?)," you might just have to finally pull the trigger on the existing iteration. As a special offer for Oprah Show viewers (and by extension, everyone who reads this post), Amazon.com is now offering $50 off of the Kindle's $359 price tag by simply entering the code OPRAHWINFREY at checkout and envisioning Tom Cruise leaping on your computer desk. Better act fast, though -- the offer's only good through November 1st, and yes, that Tom Cruise bit is required.

[Thanks, Chad]

[Funke, Tobias Dr. @ Oct 25th 2008 6:42PM]

I sense Kindle 2.0 is in the near future.

[fred @ Oct 25th 2008 6:54PM]

You get a Kindle! You get a Kindle! You get a Kindle! You get a Kindle! You get a Kindle!

[Game_playa @ Oct 25th 2008 9:32PM]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRbhE3GRiUE&feature=related

[Saad @ Oct 26th 2008 10:50AM]

We're gonna have John Travoltaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[fragmore @ Oct 26th 2008 2:11PM]

Man Oprah is FAT!

[TareX @ Oct 25th 2008 6:45PM]

So now people are ALSO taking gadget advice from Oprah?

[Ellianth @ Oct 25th 2008 6:50PM]

Not so much taking gadget advice as pretending to take her advice and really using her for her discount power :P.

Maybe if they made the kindle less ugly I'd want one.

[(01) @ Oct 25th 2008 8:36PM]

Regardless of how you feel about Oprah, her blessing on pretty much any product is an almost guarantee of success. Her "Greatest Things" episodes gives everyone in the audience every item featured on the show, which will do a lot to boost the visibility of the Kindle.

[tom @ Oct 25th 2008 9:55PM]

Oprah is getting cheaper. A few years ago, wasn't she giving a way cars. 50 bucks off....what a pity

[lexxdiamons @ Oct 26th 2008 9:14AM]

Hey, I do not post much to Engadget and I am not sure how to start a new topic so I will just tack on to the end of this one. I quote another random, annonomous engadget poster, "the future is here!....and it sucks." Thats how I feel about a device like the kindle. I just can't justify paying 359 dollars for a device that I then have to pay 10 dollars each for books when I have a library that is perfectly free right up the block. I'll buy a Kindle as soon as they give me a reasonable all you can eat plan. 9.95, 14.95, hell even 19.95 a month seems reasonable, all they would have to do is let me download a small file that was limited to my Kindle, whats the fear of allowing a subscriber to do that? I don't get it. Same thing goes with XBOX Lives video store. I love having instant access to HD video, but 5.95 to download a movie? Blockbuster mails actual disks to my house for 9.95 a month, and I get another movie when I return it to the store. I usually get 5 or 6 HD movies a month for 9.95, why can't MS give me something similar? Same with Amazon and the Kindle?

[Bo @ Oct 25th 2008 6:51PM]

thanks much for running the topic from the kindle straight into the ground

[Jonathan @ Oct 25th 2008 6:52PM]

Well this is cool, more people will know about be interested and hopefully it'll get a lot bigger a lot sooner.

Oh and that Tom Cruise joke was so funny and original! The media hasn't exhausted that topic for jokes at all!

[Andrew T @ Oct 25th 2008 6:52PM]

I try to come to Engadget to avoid politics. and i dont think im alone. thanks for your views, but next time, I think everyone could do without them.

[Joe Baynham @ Oct 25th 2008 6:57PM]

Nope I'm not patiently waiting for the next generation. Mainly because NO WHERE ELSE BUT THE US HAS IT! So the rest of the world is "patiently" waiting for version ONE!

[Mike10010100 @ Oct 25th 2008 6:59PM]

Speak for yourself! The kindle is spreading like wildfire at my school. One of the teachers got it, then I got it, and now most of the english department wants one, a few have already ordered one, and they're thinking about making it a standard instead of textbooks.

I know amazon doesn't sell textbooks. Yet. But even considering how much space one would save by carrying around the kindle instead of 5 English books.....

[jason @ Oct 25th 2008 7:00PM]

sales from housewives just went up over 9000%

[BigD145 @ Oct 25th 2008 9:47PM]

I hope it doesn't come with a free copy of Dianetics. That could get expensive.

[Mike @ Oct 26th 2008 12:38PM]

It's over 9000!

[KevinRoseMustDy @ Oct 25th 2008 7:01PM]

You know, I am always keen to embrace "new" technology but there is something about holding an actual book in your hand.

Surely I'm not the only one?

[ethana2 @ Oct 25th 2008 7:19PM]

Nope.
I can't seem to be able to get away from you people, actually.

[Nuclear Fire @ Oct 26th 2008 12:49AM]

Nothing wrong with that, BUT have you actually tried it? Give it a shot, you might just like it.

End Green Eggs and Ham lecture.

[CaramelZappa @ Oct 26th 2008 4:47AM]

That's what I always said until I saw Sony's reader face to face. I went from "that's something I would never get" to "How many paychecks is this gonna cost?"

[groggle @ Oct 26th 2008 12:38PM]

Me, myself, I still like a flaming torch better than a flashlight...

[Steve @ Oct 28th 2008 2:02PM]

"You know, I am always keen to embrace "new" technology but there is something about holding an actual book in your hand."

I agree. It's not that the book is superior or should be the dominant format, but it does possess a pleasing aesthetic. The torch vs. flashlight comparison actually captures the same idea quite well. Similarly, incandescent/fluorescent lights vs. kerosene lamps. The new tech is far more convenient, and I would prefer to use it most of the time. But every once in a while, the old stuff is nice just for the way it _feels_. Why do you think people like to go camping (in a tent, not an RV)?

[Chris @ Oct 25th 2008 7:02PM]

I'm very content with reading ebooks and .pdfs on my PSP with BookR.

[Wwhat @ Oct 25th 2008 7:25PM]

You are very easily pleased, I'm guessing you also don't want a HDTV and bluray player because you can watch stuff on your PSP, in almost the same quality.

[Kspraydad @ Oct 25th 2008 8:04PM]

Actually...I'm with Chris on this one...

[chansthename @ Oct 25th 2008 8:08PM]

I read ebooks on my Color screen pda. Only problem is there's too much backlight at night

[magus-21 @ Oct 25th 2008 8:29PM]

I hope you enjoy having to recharge that PSP every goddang night. And the doctor's bills when the PSP's backlight causes severe eyestrain after an hour or two of reading.

[lorddshadow @ Oct 26th 2008 1:07AM]

hope you enjoy reading in the dark. OH WAIT...

[thatguy @ Oct 25th 2008 7:11PM]

The Kindle has now officially become my least favorite thing.

[Blondie @ Oct 25th 2008 7:12PM]

haha

win

[Taylor @ Oct 25th 2008 7:11PM]

I almost feel like this is fraud. This is a paid endorsement, not a true review of a well known INDEPENDENT gadget reviewer.

[cesium @ Oct 25th 2008 7:13PM]

Uhhh nothing is being reviewed here...

[Jinto @ Oct 25th 2008 7:28PM]

This IS tech news. The Kindle, $50.00 off. That is one of the most sought after tech things, besides cool tech itself: cheep tech.

I do believe, however, that Engaged does sell posts... but I don't think this is one of them.

[chansthename @ Oct 25th 2008 8:21PM]

yea try the apple reviews if you want advertisements

[Frogboy @ Oct 27th 2008 12:02PM]

I think he's talking about Oprah, not Engadget. Of course, Oprah is acting more as a celebrity endorser as opposed to a reviewer but I think that's what he was referring to.

[HOOPER @ Oct 25th 2008 7:22PM]

BASICALLY Flashpoint loses at everything forever.

[TopaZ @ Oct 25th 2008 7:22PM]

From that picture, it looks like Oprah's "new favorite thing" is steak.

[Wwhat @ Oct 25th 2008 7:26PM]

New? Uhm, where to start.

[wodheila @ Oct 25th 2008 7:26PM]

I'll bet she's thinking "I wish this were an F'n sammich" in my hand. God almighty someone get her a bypass!

[Reader @ Oct 25th 2008 7:44PM]

NOM NOM NOM NOM

[Charles R Hamilton @ Oct 26th 2008 9:00PM]

Don't hate on the Oprah because she is fat. Hate her because she is an idiot.

[naz @ Oct 25th 2008 7:24PM]

what no car?

[BobTurbo @ Oct 25th 2008 7:26PM]

I hope it electrocutes her.

[Ford Mustang @ Oct 25th 2008 7:35PM]

I wouldn't buy that big ugly unitasker if she gave me 90% off.

[Wwhat @ Oct 25th 2008 7:58PM]

Hudreds of thousands of others do though, they sold out in no time when they released it first.
Did you ever try it at all? Ever seen one IRL? Read about the details on it?

[Kspraydad @ Oct 25th 2008 8:08PM]

Wwhat...you seem rather earnest in your defence of this this?

Shareholder?
Fanboy??!!
Amazon Astroturfer?

What gives...really?

[Chris @ Oct 25th 2008 8:19PM]

@Wwhat,
True true, ive never actually seen a Kindle in real life.

[Wwhat @ Oct 25th 2008 8:58PM]

I don't have one, and could not get one here if I wanted, but to dismiss the thing like that seems silly, it's a device that has its niche, it allows amazon users to comfortably (e-ink is less eyestrain) read their electronic versions of books and buy and have them delivered almost everywhere (in the US) wirelessly and instantly.
Surely anybody can see there's a use for that, that there are a group of people for whom it is very convenient and nice.
Personally I don't like that it's so tied to the mothercompany and that you have to convert anything you want to read not bought from them through their server, but that's a more legitimate complaint than presented by ford, to say it's a 1-use device is like complaining shoes are worthless because you only use them for walking.