Been buried since early morning, so didn't get a chance to even look at my RSS until now. Amazon released Kindle, an eBook reader. It's really strange. Described as "the iPod of reading." Has an EVDO cellular modem in it to connect with Amazon. It costs $399, but has no monthly charge. $9.99 to download a book. All first chapters free.

And it will surf the web ("basic" web surfing, so might not that great yet) and do email. And $.99/ month for blog subscriptions (RSS?)

This is not going to work, but really interesting / strange / frightening business model to give away the computer and the wireless connection, but then sit as gatekeeper and charge for everything.
- jim 11-19-2007 11:55 pm

I also think this will be a dud, for a variety of reasons. Too expensive, too closed, not general purpose enough.

Also, tying this to device to EVDO rather than HSDPA means this is a North American product. You wouldn't catch Steve Jobs making that mistake. Poorly played, Bezos.

On a tangential note, I don't understand the "EVDO (or similar) but no WiFi". Cellular networks are a) slow and b) not ubiquitous. Adding WiFi can really augment the network, at the cost of *gasp* loss of control by the service provider. (BTW, my Q smartphone has no WiFi.)
- mark 11-20-2007 4:04 am


"This is not going to work..."

Kindle sells out in 5 1/2 hours. I should get a job as a tech analyst.
- jim 11-21-2007 10:02 pm


Time will tell whether the initial euphoria lasts. PS3 sold out also.

A friend worked at NuvoMedia, maker of the RocketBook. His take on it is that Msft spread FUD by saying, "Great concept, but you should wait until we release our stuff." I don't buy it. The MP3 player market didn't wait for Msft, and would have taken off even without Apple's major role.

If the electronic book didn't take off 10 years ago, why would it take off now? Memory, battery life, connectivity and content catalog are better now, but were adequate then.

- mark 11-21-2007 10:51 pm


Nice to know that the printing press is still a great technology.
- L.M. 11-21-2007 11:05 pm


Papyrus (and equivalents) and ink are teh awesome.

A common aspect of book, newspaper or magazine purchase is sharing them. Until there's ubiquity of electronic readers and sensible (or no, or hacked) DRM, that's hard to do without paper.
- mark 11-21-2007 11:52 pm


forbes on kindle

- mark 11-22-2007 12:24 am


Have either of you noticed a difference between the way you read on-line and the way you read traditional publications?
- L.M. 11-22-2007 3:15 am


Yes. On-line mags & papers tends to target specific info, either that I'm searching for or following a link. While I tend to browse (in the pre-web connotation) paper/print publications.

Esp. with blogs, on-line tends to be a branching link-driven operation.

Both have their places.
- mark 11-22-2007 3:19 am


I agree. I tend to focus well on print publications. Never browse magazines. (but then I only open three magazines and read them from cover to cover) My on-line reading is downright epileptic, I'm all over the place and I read it all too fast with great impatience. That said, I'm reading more on-line than I do in print.
- L.M. 11-22-2007 4:15 am





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