Refurb Kindles now available for $329; please, try to contain yourselves

With Black Friday a thing of the past and the holiday season rapidly approaching, you want to hook up everyone you know with something nice. Amazon's trying to make that a bit easier on the wallet by offering up refurbished Kindles for $329 straight up -- a first for the funky little ebook reader. While it's not as much of a price reduction as we would have liked, it is a start, but with new devices and pricing rumored for early 2009, to us it just seems like too little, too late.

[Via KindleBoards]

[ILoveApple @ Nov 30th 2008 9:47AM]

I just came.

[Sam Stone @ Nov 30th 2008 9:59AM]

Ew.

[Messymeese @ Nov 30th 2008 3:34PM]

Stop stealing lines from Dane Cook.

[Stereotype @ Nov 30th 2008 4:25PM]

Welcome to the site... :)
Just so you know, we don't take kindly to AppleFanboys here...or any Fanboys for that matter.

[Bernhard @ Nov 30th 2008 9:55AM]

Thats like, $ 30?

[iEye @ Nov 30th 2008 10:06AM]

You would think that they would not try and dupe people who actually read...

[Bossy @ Nov 30th 2008 10:03AM]

I wouldnt spend a dime on this hideous thing even if it is new.

[Flashpoint @ Nov 30th 2008 11:40AM]

I bet if Apple made an eReader with twice the screen space of the iPhone, running the ipod touch OS, it would sell.

You slide your finger from the right to the left to turn pages.

the iBook.

[jjmahoney @ Nov 30th 2008 11:46AM]

I would spend more on a used old one then on one of those new ones

[Juice5942 @ Nov 30th 2008 12:06PM]

I love how people say these things are ugly, there's nothing wrong with it. It serves the function it's meant to serve. If you want to knock the design, knock the button placements, the on-off button being on the back, not being able to drag pdf's on, etc but to say it's not pretty enough for you to read a book on is silly.

[Phoenix @ Nov 30th 2008 12:59PM]

It would need to be an E-Ink screen, so the iPod Touch OS would look crap, and there wouldn't be the smoothness.

You CANNOT read seriously for a decent length of time from a regular screen.

[Sora @ Nov 30th 2008 1:14PM]

@Flashpoint

I think what you're talking about sort of exists already. There's an e-book app called "Stanza" on the App Store.

[Ted @ Nov 30th 2008 8:11PM]

^^ The design is important for a device that you would likely be using in public. Like it or not, people judge you on everything. If you're holding some device that looks like a 1980s kids toy people are going to think you have no idea how stupid it looks and probably assume you think it looks good -- therefore making you look bad. It's just how the world is. Some people don't care and good for them. (although some people wear dirty clothes, don't brush their teeth, and stink like a trash can too. It's all about how you want to present yourself to the public)

[HOOPER @ Nov 30th 2008 3:45PM]

@flashpoint:
They already made an iBook, I'm using one now :p

[Juice5942 @ Nov 30th 2008 8:44PM]

@Ted

I would suggest that anyone that requires their ebook reader represent them in their entirety get some self esteem. The fact that someone thinks their Kindle looks fine does not mean they don't care about how they present themselves, I find it hilarious you would even suggest otherwise.

[coyotej @ Nov 30th 2008 8:45PM]

@Ted - have you seen one in person? I think you overrate how "snazzy" this needs to be - an eBook reader is for reading books, not for watching media (like an iPod Touch/iPhone). I don't use a Kindle because it needs to upgrade my "style", I like it for its utility - I can travel with several books (and still buy more wirelessly, or add material to an SD card) at a time, and the screen lasts a LONG time. Sure, it's not a perfect device, but I think you judge too quickly by saying "that's the way the world is". In fact, this matters more in some markets than in others.

[allgoodnameideastakenup @ Nov 30th 2008 10:08AM]

Kindles would be nice if it supported drag and drop PDFs, since then I can store all my school text books on it.. oh well...

[VerbCat @ Nov 30th 2008 5:01PM]

You, sir, have a point there.

Instead of carrying a bunch of textbooks (the ones at my school are 2-3 lbs each), students could have ALL of their textbooks and other research/reference materials on their Kindle. Schools whine about not having enough space/money for books, but buying digital copies of stuff would probably save them a pretty penny.

The only downside I can see is students putting contraband materials on their Kindles...girlie mags, anyone?

[crsh @ Nov 30th 2008 10:20AM]

Remove the "3" in the price tag and I might consider it.

[Hotrod @ Nov 30th 2008 11:10AM]

For real. You may be able to get used/refurbished laptop with decent specs for that price.

[funnyperson1 @ Nov 30th 2008 10:21AM]

Yea this is still far too expensive. If they can release a $250 version of the new one with wifi instead of cellular data connection, I'd be on it immediately. Like most people, I have to foresight to download a book or two before leaving my house.

[Michael Witt @ Nov 30th 2008 12:03PM]

The cell service is FREE! You don't pay for it, amazon pays for it. Amazon pays for it with some of the cost of each book/newspaper/whatever.

[RikF @ Nov 30th 2008 12:17PM]

So, if Amazon is taking part of the price you pay and gives it to the cell provider, who is paying for it again?

[Danger @ Dec 1st 2008 12:10AM]

I wouldn't mind rocking an SD-card only version if they could drop it to around $200. Spending a few minutes putting a book onto a memory card is nothing compared to the hours spent reading it.

Maybe a little off topic- but is the keyboard really necessary? A little D-pad would shrink it down a lot and everyone knows that D-pads equal sex appeal.

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 30th 2008 10:23AM]

Yawnsville, daddy-o.

Yawnsville.

[Carld @ Nov 30th 2008 10:28AM]

Kindle's are back up in the $600-$1,000 range on ebay.

[Oli D @ Nov 30th 2008 11:28AM]

i saw a ppc mac mini on ebay for £900 ...

Ebay doesnt make sense

[Tohe @ Nov 30th 2008 10:29AM]

Someone hand the Kindle a shovel please.

[Sparrowfilms @ Nov 30th 2008 10:41AM]

I got mine brand new a few weeks ago for $309 (thanks to Oprah).

http://www.engadget.com/2008/10/25/oprah-calls-kindle-her-new-favorite-thing-gives-everyone-50/

[Mike C. @ Nov 30th 2008 10:46AM]

You can complain all you want about the price, but Amazon has long sold out of it's stock, so I don't think the laws of supply and demand are on the side of tightwads.

[adml_shake @ Nov 30th 2008 5:42PM]

Or course they sold out, they didn't make that many of them to start with. So when they couldn't fill the orders because of "demand" they could put that notice on amazons front page and make it seem like they were cranking them out as fast as they could but just couldn't keep up. When in actuality they just weren't making that many of them so amazon could artificially inflate how in demand these things were.

[mike @ Nov 30th 2008 10:54AM]

Nice

[Royal Rimple @ Nov 30th 2008 11:00AM]

The link says used Kindles are $360...

[Royal Rimple @ Nov 30th 2008 11:04AM]

Whoops. Looks like the $329 refurbished models are all sold out. My bad.

[bjsguess @ Nov 30th 2008 1:14PM]

There will always be a market for published books. Some people will prefer books over a Kindle.

That said, the publishing industry needs to learn what the music and movie industries are begrudgingly learning. The digital age is here and there isn't much you can do about it. You can either try to get out and front and lead or sit back and let it run you over.

[mike @ Nov 30th 2008 11:12AM]

As someone who works in Publishing i am concerned. Yes, by not physically printing the book we are saving money, plus the reader can carry as many books as he wants with Kindle.

BUT printing books is not really all that expensive for a publisher and what concerns me the most is that Amazon will have this power to force publishers to sell book to them at a much cheaper price or else the publisher will not be available at all on Kindle.

Right now Publishers sell book at about half the price you see on the book to retailers (Barnes&Noble, Amazon) but with Kindle now there's no need to print actual book, everything is digital, so Amazon will ask for even lower price.

I have no problems with e-books but i really want to see some heavy competition to Kindle, there's that Sony E-book which i like more than Kindle, but that is not a real competitor.

I also fear that Kindle will start offering College Books, that will be a real killer, having college books on Kindle will give us a generation of people who for 4 years (while in college) do nothing but read from a screen rather than from an actual book, after that i doubt they will ever go back to a real book.

Also i hate to sound like a guy who opposes progress, but most books are printed here in USA, and those binderies provide a lot of good paying jobs, all the way from blue color to finance and most are good paying. Also right now Publishers hire people who oversee the production of books and people who track the inventory and warehouses, if the book is digital there's no need for all that. Plus Publishers hire Design Artists to make beautiful covers, that job will also be eliminated.

[allgoodnameideastakenup @ Nov 30th 2008 11:15AM]

" ..plus the reader can carry as many books as HE wants with Kindle."
Are you saying girls don't read books?

[cajie @ Nov 30th 2008 11:19AM]

Yeah. I say knock down all the trees to print the books just so that people can continue with their "good paying" jobs.

Trees and forests are highly overrated anyway.

[travis.Taylor @ Nov 30th 2008 11:19AM]

He is actually the proper pronoun to use when referring to both males and females. I hate it when people get all offended when people use the word 'he' in the correct way.

[Tohe @ Nov 30th 2008 11:32AM]

The beauty of digital distribution is that it gives producers (publishers), the opportunity to leverage on the value of their product. In other words, a publishing company could offer digital books from its website. In my view it is all about perspective and value. The publishing world just needs to reinvent itself, you guys can be as professional in the digital era as you were (are) in print, and you can still bring on board designers, marketers and even expand to other positions for it related operations.

[FLaSHBaCK @ Nov 30th 2008 11:48AM]

@cajie
Really? going to play the tree card? the amount of trees cut down to make paper is insignificant to the amount of new trees planted each year AND many many many companies now use recycled paper in their books.

[Rob @ Nov 30th 2008 11:48AM]

I was reading and giving you the benefit of the doubt until you touch on the "printed in the USA" and college books.
There are a lot of books, specially kids books, that are now printed in China. That's terrible. We don't even print our books anymore. Maybe we should have the Chinese printing our currency, after all, they own us.

Then college books are ridiculously overpriced. $200+ for a textbook that is revised every few years. WTF??? The whole institution of higher learning is way too much of a ripoff. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it. But, tuition rising to the tune of 15% annually is silly. With so much money spent on football teams and building their stadiums rather than on education. Oh, how about all those bs courses that serve no purpose other than keeping incompetent professors employed. But, that's a whole different conversation.

As mentioned by other poster, selling the books electronically rather than print saves paper and trees. I'm all for that.

[RikF @ Nov 30th 2008 12:17PM]

@Flashback

And the paper production process is now completely non-polluting. And the movement of huge amounts of heavy paper is now done in entirely carbon neutral ways.

Oh, wait...

[David Lomax @ Nov 30th 2008 12:40PM]

On the one hand, you say that printing books doesn't cost all that much money, but on the other hand, you say that the publishing industry supports a whole lot of jobs. The prospect of job loss is a terrible thing, but the bare fact of the matter may be that those jobs are as redundant as any that have been made obsolete by the apparently inexorable march of technological progress. While there are many examples of this sort of thing in the heyday of the industrial revolution, let me suggest one that's closer to now: CDs. Did you argue a few years ago that downloadable music would cost jobs at CD production and duplication plants, or in the warehousing, distribution and retailing of those products? I say rejoice in the loss of those jobs. Are we worse off several generations on from the loss of millions of back-breaking, soul-destroying jobs that were made obsolete by farm machinery and assembly lines? This sort of progress never eliminates jobs that are fulfilling. If a number of book-warehouse joes have to look for new jobs (which sucks), perhaps their children or grandchildren will end up finding more fulfilling jobs (which really doesn't suck). By all means, think of the near-future in these matters, but think of the far-future as well. If your only argument for physical books printed on tree-corpses is that it keeps people employed, then it's a weak argument.

And as regards the "Amazon as monopoly" fear, the thing is, if ebooks take off (as I figure they will) then surely competition and market forces will even things out in the long run. (Of course, I thought that about iTunes, so I could be totally wrong here...)

[Ken J @ Nov 30th 2008 4:18PM]

Sorry bro, but the publisher job is as necessary as a car salesman. With things going the way they are, middleman jobs are becoming obsolete. The whole intellectual property industry is heading fast towards a brick wall.

[genius @ Nov 30th 2008 7:57PM]

yeah, it's really nice that workers at publishing company's are making $25+/hr on the backs of broke college kids

[Ken J @ Nov 30th 2008 11:40AM]

This thing fails in design on so many levels. #1 failure is its price. Get rid of the EVDO and just use WiFi. Trim back the features until the price is reasonable. And hire a reputable design firm to design the enclosure AND the interface. Geez guys doing shit right ain't that hard. This thing should have had a replacement last year.

[Ethan @ Nov 30th 2008 11:52AM]

I think you're only ever going to move these things in numbers by directly demonstrating it to them.

[Erv @ Nov 30th 2008 11:53AM]

Let the suckers pay as much as they want for Kindle, who cares. DO it now as the Kindle II is even larger and has no memory expansion slot

[Adam @ Nov 30th 2008 11:54AM]

Mike, clearly you do not have any real experience with publishing on the Kindle. Amazon does not in anyway force publishers to set specific prices. Amazon works out the $9.99 deal on bestsellers, and in some cases underwrites the price.

I don't think there is anyone that can make a valid argument that the iPod is a bad thing. It changed the music industry into a more consumer friendly one. The music industry has been adapting to that change, and there are a HUGE amount of artists that have greatly benefited from it.

The same thing WILL happen to the print media industry. Consumers always want things to be easier, and as a Kindle owner for about 6 months I can assure you the entire process is far easier, and just like with the music industry, is opening up the market to a lot of independent publishers/authors.

I understand your fear with the idea that the person who actually creates the intellectual property will no longer need a publisher outside of possible advertising. But in all things, getting rid of the profiteering middle men is always a good thing.