Comments on: Amazon Kindle, the e-book reader that actually makes it?

By: Kindle’s out and ugly, but cool?

Kindle’s out and ugly, but cool? — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:35:19 +0000

[...] for the heads up, Ben). And there’s not a lot of anything new to know - mostly what I said about the Kindle yesterday I still believe [...]

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:35:46 +0000

Well it’s out and it’s still ugly. While the library looks to be a decent start I’m sure they’ll be beefing it up as quickly as possible. No comic/manga though. *sniff* And what’s up with having to pay for blog subscriptions? Lame.

On a side note, what’s up with e-readers not having user-adjustable backlighting on them? I understand that backlighting makes a screen harder to read in daylight or whatever but how hard is it to make it so that you can turn it off/on and adjust the brightness? Or is it just not technically feasible with this electronic paper technology?

By: felix

felix — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:11:01 +0000

Yeah, there is much doubt about the success of this device. Price is going to be a big problem, especially if they aren’t showing up in stores where people can actually fondle them. Well, fortunately for me, you’re going to buy me one today. Don’t worry, I’ll let you check it out.

By: howie

howie — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 04:09:15 +0000

I think the $399 price tag is going to be a major barrier to entry here. Many people aren’t sold on the idea that this thing is something they will ever use or not (and by people i mean me.) I hate reading tons of content on a screen and even if this device solves those problems, I won’t know that until i use one for a few hours. They really need to get this out in front of people to sell them i think. I could get me an iPhone or PS3 for that price. $150 and wifi instead of EVDO might have been a better route to go, but i suppose i MAY not have the business acumen Jeff Bezos does.

By: Poyla

Poyla — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:24:39 +0000

I agree with Ben, it looks like the Buck Rogers version of a speak n spell. For all of you with toy-less childhoods, here is the speak n Spell: http://www.speaknspell.co.uk/

I bet when the iphone came out the folks that designed this were both in awe and really really really pissed. Please! Back to the drawing board on the design! I agree with Felix too, MORE SCREEN LESS KEYBOARD (he yells as if the makers of this thing might listen to him)

By: felix

felix — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:47:28 +0000

My admittedly could be completely wrong about this understanding is that the EVDO connection is paid for by Amazon! It’s free for you. Which makes it triply awesome (went for the gusto there, skipping doubly!) I wonder what they’ve done to protect themselves from hackers who will inevitably pull this thing apart - I mean, $399 for free, unlimited EVDO service pays for itself pretty quickly…

Yeah, the images I’ve seen floating around the net do not make it look overly appetizing. The best description I’ve seen so far is a Star Wars snow speeder, but not in a good way. I’d like to see more screen, less keyboard.

Yeah, the library will definitely be the key. My guess is that it starts out at the very low end of *just* decent enough, but hopefully goes up quickly from there. I mean, if they had a good sf library and I could get free 1st chapter previews very easily, I suspect I’d be reading a hell of a lot more than I am now.

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 19:25:04 +0000

While I love the concept the make-or-break deal for me would be the available library. Bonus if it’s able to display manga/comics too. =) But do we need to sign up for EVDO service? And what the hell’s up with the hardware design? From what I’ve seen so far on the tech blogs that thing doesn’t look appetizing at all. My ideal would be a larger iPhone/iPod Touch-like device with a couple more buttons and a scroll wheel.