Amazon Kindle

[Savage]

Just ordered an Amazon Kindle a few days ago. Unfortunately it says it won't ship for about 2 more months. Maybe I'll write up a review once I have a chance to test it out.

[Angela]

I love my Kindle! I hope you love yours, too.

[Adrienne]

I love my kindle too! Hope you love it.
What flipped you on giving it a chance?

Angela and I talking about it like it is the best thing since sliced fruit?

Adrienne

[Savage]

I had $175 in Amazon gift credit, so that's half the price. Also, my book is on Kindle, so that made me curious to see how it looks. The hardcover is still outselling the Kindle version on Amazon 100 to 1, but it's a start.

The main reason I bought one is that I buy and read lots of books, and they eventually create clutter in my home office. I can see the advantage of keeping books in digital form. This should also work nicely with PhotoReading if the page-turning on the Kindle is fast enough. I'll still have to deal with some physical books because publishers and authors often send them to me, but hopefully I can buy more electronic versions for myself.

Other features like searchability seem useful too.

I think this technology will eventually catch on, and paper books will become less popular, but that will probably take a while.

[Adrienne]

i love amazon credit.

For me, the flipping is not fast enough for photoreading. But i dont photoread fiction, i like to enjoy the story, more then finish it. I do get non fiction books on it but not if my intent is to photoread it. It is one thing i hope they fix in future versions.

I have a small library. about 2 thousand books. after i got my kindle, it is very nice to be able to give books away and buy digital copies. My friends are really enjoying it to.. they are getting the books

[vMike]

too bad it's only available in US for now

[cacheborn]

Thanks for sharing this. It has lot of really cool features.
In some books, mainly scientific, you have to refer to appendix every now and then for notes/references. I wonder how you can do that in Kindle. Although they did not show it in the demonstration video, I am sure they must have used some clever trick.

[Xanafax]

Yeah vMike it sucks.

I totally want one!

[supertom]

do the book companies earn the same from the sales ?? Its cheaper to produce so im guessing thats where the cheaper price comes from

[Angela]

Originally Posted by cacheborn

In some books, mainly scientific, you have to refer to appendix every now and then for notes/references. I wonder how you can do that in Kindle. Although they did not show it in the demonstration video, I am sure they must have used some clever trick.

It's easy to search by a variety of means, including using the appendix and flipping back and forth between appendix and text. You can also easily and quickly set your own bookmarks and write your own notes.

For me, the page flipping is quick enough, but I had to get used to pushing the right button (sometimes I push "previous page" when I mean "next page" and it messes with my mind).

The only real drawback is when I've wanted to share a book with someone -- you just can't hand them a copy when you're through. Oh, and also that not every book is available on Kindle yet... sometimes I get a bit frustrated when I'm ready but Amazon is not.

And one GREAT thing is that Kindle versions are less expensive! $9.99 or less even for the biggest and most popular books.

[Blueskied]

Pretty crazy that Amazon pushes the Kindle. If this thing becomes popular, the book industry will be the next music biz (illegal downloads). I guess Amazon wants to secure its market position before someone else brings out a similar device.

[JimOfferman]

Originally Posted by Blueskied

If this thing becomes popular, the book industry will be the next music biz (illegal downloads).

Not while people still prefer to read in dead tree format.

You can already (illegally) download many popular books as easily as the latest records, but most people still prefer to read on paper.

Hopefully, when the time comes, the book industry will not make the same mistakes as the record industry (the music industry entails much, much more than CDs and downloads alone).

[Savage]

Tech Crunch reports the Kindle 2 is supposed to ship this quarter, so I might cancel my Kindle order and get a Kindle 2 instead, esp. since my order won't ship for 2 more months.

Anyone seen any confirmation about a Kindle 2 ship date?

[fdr]

Amazon has been very tight-lipped about the 2.0 version, despite the many rumors that have swirled around it since fall. I've been waiting eagerly for 2.0 myself, resisting temptation to buy the Sony reader instead (because I believe Amazon's connection to the Kindle renders it of higher future value, even though Sony's made a better device so far). The 2.0 has fixed a few of the original Kindle's design flaws, though not all, and the price is going to come down, too. TechCrunch's guess about a release date is as good as any -- though I can't imagine they'll launch 2.0 before they've shipped their order backlog of the first version, which sounds like it won't be until 2Q. They'd have a lot of angry customers if they did that.

I was a huge fan of electronic readers back when the first came out some years ago -- I adored being able to highlight, search, etc. in all my books; read in the dark without a book light or eye strain; and take an entire bookshelf with me in my bag. The ability to instantly download a book for much less than the hardcover price is all that was missing from the e-reader's success before. This technology is the publishing industry's only shot at survival.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by JimOfferman

...most people still prefer to read on paper.
.

I used to be one of those people, until I tried my Kindle. You remind me of one advantage and disadvantage: I miss the physical sensation of picking up and opening a book at random, and seeing the thickness of how much more of the book there is to read (I had a traumatic experience reading one book that I felt would be longer, but ended suddenly. I would have liked to "know" that it was ending by sensing the remaining pages.) And: my eyes are changing a bit and my vision has not yet "settled down" so I very much appreciate being able to easily change the text size on the Kindle.

[Xanafax]

Does anyone know when the UK release of the Kindle is?

[dwixi]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Just ordered an Amazon Kindle a few days ago. Unfortunately it says it won't ship for about 2 more months. Maybe I'll write up a review once I have a chance to test it out.

Affiliate link?

[Adrienne]

Originally Posted by fdr

Amazon has been very tight-lipped about the 2.0 version, despite the many rumors that have swirled around it since fall. I've been waiting eagerly for 2.0 myself, resisting temptation to buy the Sony reader instead (because I believe Amazon's connection to the Kindle renders it of higher future value, even though Sony's made a better device so far). The 2.0 has fixed a few of the original Kindle's design flaws, though not all, and the price is going to come down, too. TechCrunch's guess about a release date is as good as any -- though I can't imagine they'll launch 2.0 before they've shipped their order backlog of the first version, which sounds like it won't be until 2Q. They'd have a lot of angry customers if they did that.

I was a huge fan of electronic readers back when the first came out some years ago -- I adored being able to highlight, search, etc. in all my books; read in the dark without a book light or eye strain; and take an entire bookshelf with me in my bag. The ability to instantly download a book for much less than the hardcover price is all that was missing from the e-reader's success before. This technology is the publishing industry's only shot at survival.

the web has been talking about kindle 2.0 for months now. Originally web rumor was there would be 2.0 version by july of last year. Then after that passed, people speculated it would definitely be out for people to get for christmas season 2008.
And there was the speculation that the last two times they ran out and had huge backlogs, that they after they sold out their stock again would come out with a 2.0 and so far they have not.
Amazon people have said they are working on it but they dont know when it will be released. It could be a few months, it could be another year or longer.
I have no idea what amazon is doing, or when 2.0 kindle will make an appreciate. I thought about waiting when i got mine back in july since 2.0 was right around the corner said the web. i am glad i did not wait.
I have gotten a ton of use of of my kindle. and when a 2.0 comes out, maybe i will upgrade, but it depends on the new features. no one has details yet on what this new kindle is supposed to look like or have, so no one even knows what they are waiting for.
Adrienne