The Amazon Kindle

[juldea]

The device has been invented which has the capacity to ruin my social life and finances, and I don't think I'd be the only one going down.

The Amazon Kindle, a portable, wireless reading device. Buy it for $400 (currently), then buy your books on it from Amazon for $10 or less, download them in under a minute, and get to reading on its "electronic paper" screen technology. Turn the wireless off and its battery lasts for over a week, up to two. Also use it to read the newspaper before the paper copy gets to your neighbor's door, or magazines before they hit the stands. Check Wikipedia from anywhere. When reading a book, dogear a page, make a note, highlight - and it automatically bookmarks your spot for you. I don't know its full book list yet, but I did a quick browse of the fantasy section and on the first page were six books I wanted to read, and that was out of twelve shown, out of 1,560 total results.

I cannot express how much this device would change my life. I admit that I don't read as much as I used to mainly due to laziness. I don't own all the books I want to read, and I don't want to own all those books either, mostly because I don't want to move them, not that I don't want to pay for them. There's a library vaguely nearby but - laziness - I don't really go there much. Plus, carrying around books is difficult, they can be heavy, you can lose your place. Then there's the situation where you've left the house without your books and then realize you want them instead. Now there's a device I can fit in my purse that boom, is all my books in one. And more! I can get a book at any time! Anywhere.

There's no subscription fees, apparently. They get the money out of you when you buy the Kindle itself, currently $400, and when you buy the 'books' for however much - I see 50 cent titles and 10 dollar titles, so I guess it depends. There's no signup for wireless, they use their own network and don't charge you for it. Oh, and it's not WiFi, it's like a cell phone network, so no worrying about finding a hotspot - get your book or magazine or blog or Wikipedia from anywhere a cell phone would get signal.

I would spend way too much money on books if I had one of these, and I would interact with people a lot less, as I'd be reading more. But damn... reading more is a good thing, right?

Want.

Comments

[zrealm.livejournal.com]

I have a Sony Reader, which is similar in a lot of ways (pretty much its a bit older so the refresh time isn't as good, and of course it doesn't have wireless). E-paper has some upsides and some downsides, of course. If you want to play with it, it seems likely I'll have it at Masks...

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I would love to play with your techie toy!

[zrealm.livejournal.com]

I will definitely bring it then :)

It's nice - among other things I can load LARPs onto it and read them while going from one place to another (which I have to admit is why I bought it), though I've read a goodly number of books on it as well (several of which were cases of, "i have the legitimate book but found a less legitimate ebook", mind you)

[doc-smiley.livejournal.com]

ALSO WANT! *drool*

[tramissa.livejournal.com]

me too me too!!

[anitra.livejournal.com]

Oh man. I would spend WAAY too much money and time if I had that. Good thing the up-front price is high enough to discourage me ;)

[nightskyre.livejournal.com]

There's something else that would discourage you (even though I have a little bit of want also)

Here comes my big complaint, actually. Why can't Nintendo release some eBook software on a DS cart that takes in a microSD card with eBooks/PDF's/Word Docs on it (downloadable from wherever)? I mean, the thing OPENS like a book!

[anitra.livejournal.com]

I've already been thinking about putting a few ebooks on my iPod. (Probably starting with some from the Baen free library.)

Maybe the DS ebook concept is an opportunity for you...

[nightskyre.livejournal.com]

For me? It requires custom hardware.

I'll ask Alex.

[butsuri.livejournal.com]

With the Kindle specifically, I'm maybe a little concerned about the DRM issues. I don't have a clear idea of how restricted it is, though, & it may be that whatever problems it may have turn out to be easily circumventable. Anyway, it's very cool that Amazon is getting into this area. I've been thinking I'd like one of this class of devices for some time, & this could help to make them more mainstream.

A good site for news & information about portable e-book readers is http://www.mobileread.com.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's certainly not perfect when it comes to flexibility with sharing books or importing your own, but I think that will be worked through in the coming years. I am familiar with eBook readers in general, but having one with instant access to a well-stocked bookstore (and Wikipedia!) just flips my lid. That said, it's that same instant access which is most scary when it comes to privacy issues.

[siderea]

Oh, and it's not WiFi, it's like a cell phone network, so no worrying about finding a hotspot - get your book or magazine or blog or Wikipedia from anywhere a cell phone would get signal.

Writing this on my Palm TX across a Motorola Razr vxx on ATT's cellular network. It's pretty groovy, but instantaneous it's not. Now, it may be the bluetooth connection is my bottleneck, but I don't know.

[nightskyre.livejournal.com]

Nope. Bluetooth transfers at far higher rates than cell phones - even cell phone broadband. It's like comparing bicycles and motorcycles.

[juldea.livejournal.com]

Right, I use my Palm via ATT's network all the time and I'm aware of its speed limitations. Amazon claims otherwise for its Whispernet network that is used for the Kindles.

Whether are not its claims are substantiated, I don't know. My entire post above is the unsubstantiated marketing language of Amazon.