Well, good for Amazon for making this.  Luckily the Kindle is kind of in a class by itself, because in terms of industrial design (grossly misshapen 3G iPod front, 1g iPhone rip-off back), general iPhone “inspiration” (just look at the top of the screen), features (all new and improved high-res monochrome display! And no backlight?!), and file conversion…that…costs…money?!  Not to say the Kindle 2 is terrible, but it’s chock full of questionable decisions.

To be fair, Kindle’s display doesn’t need a backlight. That’s why it’s called e-paper.

But I’m afraid with “whispersync”, Amazon may not have fully worked out what they are taking on in trying to put DRM on other people’s devices. As I say, it didn’t work for Microsoft.

I am a HAPPY customer of Amazon. I think AMZN is a ponzi scheme ready to fall. The USPS has problems with Amazon according to AMZN’s latest SEC filings. AMZN’s PE is insane for a retailer with no brick and mortar stores. Amazon has never announced the actual sales of the Kindling. I think my 3 year old Mac ibook G4 can do everything and a lot more than any 1970’s looking Kindling. Apple does not need to make a netbook, or a kindling copy or NANO Iphone for that matter.

rattyuk - 09 February 2009 04:08 PM

Ironically I have about 12 in my current reading pile. Why you ask?

Just wanted to know your commitment to reading print on pulp, that is all.

FWIW dept:

I ordered two of these, figuring it would be like the iPhone and sold out immediately. Anyway, I got a guaranteed ship date for two days after the first ship, and put the second one up on eBay to see what someone would pay me just for the right to stand in line less time.

This morning the $359 Kindle 2 was bid up to $405 plus shipping, has three more days to run, and has 36 watchers on the auction. { these are potential bidders who have indicated a desire to follow this auction. } And remember, the winner must pay me in full TEN DAYS before the product is shipped by Amazon, go figure.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=200308366771#ht_3201wt_914

I’m telling you guys, this is LIKE the iPHONE, it has a CULT FOLLOWING, people starting blogs over it, fan clubs, and discussion sites. There are very few products that can get this sort of viral buzz. Wait till Oprah { ugh } does her next show about the Kindle 2, the first one caused such a rush, that you had to wait three weeks or longer to get one.

I’m posting these in the hopes that someone at my really FAVORITE company, AAPL will take notice and move in this direction.

My prediction is that I will end up selling the second Kindle 2 on eBay for $450 and pocket around $80 [ after the fees and commissions } just for asking for two, instead of one, on the first hour of selling online.

I think maybe Joy of Tech have this covered more succinctly:

Jeff Bezo’s Worst Nightmare

It seems to me that a key issue is whether a single purpose device can thrive in the mass market in the long run. 

Also key is the matter of core competency and control of key technologies. Recall what Cook had to say in the most recent con-call regarding the Apple strategy.  Apple is not going to get into markets where it does not control the key enablers or technologies.  Does Amazon control its technology?  Does it have key design competencies?  Is it skilled in manufacturing and supply chain management?

Perhaps this move by Amazon is defensive.  Perhaps they see digital books as a threat and their entry into this market is motivated by protecting their dominance in online book distribution.  If so, it would explain why they are first to market.  Speaking of which, Apple was not first to market with MP3 player, far from it.  Yet today they own 70% of the U.S. market a growing majority of many of the overseas markets.

The jury is still out. There is plenty of time for Apple (or others) to get serious about digital books.  In the meanwhile let’s keep in mind how grateful we should be for Apple restricting what they do to what they can do better than anyone else.  There are a lot of would-be failures that have never seen the light of day because of this discipline.

If Apple makes a tablet version of the iPhone or iPod Touch, then the Kindle is DEAD.
If Apple starts selling eBooks on the iTunes store (other than the ones which are already sold), allowing you to use Quicktime on any platform to read the book, then Kindle is DEAD.

The iPhone and iPod Touch are much more versatile eBook readers.

They are pocket sized, more highly portable.

They can be read in bed at night without the need for a light source.

They allow more numerous file-types and your own content.  They are VERSATILE.

They have a much better INTERNET experience.

They can show COLOR.

You can also read online Magazines, and books - such as books.google.com - in their original look formats, in full glorious color.

Heck, at zinio.com, you can read a ton of magazines for free or low cost on the iPhone, iPod Touch. This includes Popular Mechanics, MacWorld, US News, PCWorld, Esquire, Popular Photography, Car and Driver, BusinessWeek, MacUSEr, ShutterBug, etc. You can even get your jollies ogling Maxim, Penthouse, Playboy, etc.

You can’t read these in full layout and color on the Kindle.

I remember buying the RocketBook eBook Reader years ago.  It is exactly like the Kindle.  I bought books for it.  But now it is obsolete.  Those books are GONE, DEAD, and UNREADABLE by any other device.  What a WASTE.

Since the formats for the iPhone can be read on computers and other devices, they will never be lost.

The Kindle is so yesteryear.  Been there. Done that.

This last post gave me an idea. Everyone is thinking conventional books on a mobile device. That is why the Kindle is B&W.  It is just an electronic version of a B&W book. This is good for the latest fiction bestseller, but little else. But what about books that have full color? Go to a book store and check out how many non-fiction books have full colour photograph, pictures and diagrams! How would you experience this on a Kindle?  Is anyone going to buy a B&W children’s book?

It also brings up a new kind of book not possible without electronic media. How about combing written story and text, with video clips? For example a cook book. Recipes could be accompanied by a video clip showing exactly how to do this. Perfect!  Or a travel book with video clips on the destinations. The possiblities are endless and the iPhone/Touch are perfect for this.

The Kindle is like a B&W TV in the era of HDTV and digital video recorders. It has no future unless it becomes more Apple like. I’m surprised that Oprah and the public have not clued in to this yet! 

Come on Steve Jobs—think domination of the market here!

A Canadian company will be releasing new titles for the iPhone/iPod Touch with the first chapter free and then a buy-on-chapter-at-a-time or the whole book at once option. Google has already dump a few million books into its library of scanned titles, but unless you translate them to Stanza format there is no bookmarking while reading—each time you return to the book you need to hunt for your location).

Latest buzz on the Kindle. They’re in stock now.

Amazon’s Kindle 2 gets warm reception in market

NEW KINDLE released today, shipment date unconfirmed as of now.

As I said from DAY ONE, the real blockbuster market for this is in educational book sales.

Imagine, your kid with THIS, updated texts constantly, ONE BOOK to carry, never out of date, all your books in one hand.

High schools are gonna love this and the educational market is a MULTIBILLION market, just plum waiting for a solution to the “Textbook crisis” they all face annually.

As everyone knows, PRINT IS DYING….

Is this the second life for “print companies?”

Can AMAZON give them a “LAZARUS,COME FORTH!” miracle?

I just ordered one, anyone want my old one, PRISTINE condition, box, paperwork, and manuals?