4 ms·

Apparently there will be a $79 regular Kindle as well: http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-launches-79-kindle/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-l

Apparently there will be a $79 regular Kindle as well: http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-launches-79-kindle/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-launches-79-kindle...

armandososa 15y ago
Wow. That looks a lot like an old Palm device.
AndreiVajnaII 15y ago
That's the news I've been waiting for. I mean, other than the new tablet, I was interested in their plans for the e-ink reader, so that I can decide whether to wait for a new version, or buy the Kindle 3. Kindle 3 and Kindle Fire are two very different devices and it's best for them to announce their plans regarding both.
Lewisham 15y ago
Great price point. It's basically in impulse zone: "This book is 6 dollars cheaper at Kindle price... if I buy 12 it pays for itself..." but note there's no physical keyboard. Without a touch screen, it looks like it won't do note-taking, which is a bummer.
- AndreiVajnaII 15y ago
  But there's also a $99 touchscreen e-ink reader, so there you go. :) http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-touchscreen-kindle-price-release-date-pictures/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-touchscreen-kindle...
  - Lewisham 15y ago
    I'm not too hot on the touchscreen. I don't need it. I like the physical page turning buttons on my wife's Kindle 3... they have a satisfying weight to them and they sit nicely where your fingers already are. I don't want to tap tap tap my e-ink screen all day.
    - r00fus 15y ago
      I love the Kindle3, but the side paddles are a pain. I often end up holding the device in weird ways and accidentally push the paddle inadvertently. Also random keys on the keyboard cause context switches too. I'm going to be happy with a $79 or $99 kindle, as I only read on it, and never take notes or search.
- estel 15y ago
  I'd be interested to see what % of Kindle users make use of the Keyboard. I'm pretty sure that I've only ever touched it for inputting URIs when web-browsing from abroad.
  - nigham 15y ago
    I use the keyboard quite a lot, for writing notes. It's amazing how reading a non-fiction book is so much more rewarding if you make highlights and notes. If you're thorough, you can read just your highlights and notes and effectively re-read the same book a year down the line in about 10% of the time; and still refresh your memory well.
  - sthulbourn 15y ago
    I've always thought it was retarded to include a hardware keyboard on a device that will be used ~95% of the time for reading stuff. It's a really smart move to remove it.
    - achompas 15y ago
      Reading can be passive or active. As an active reader I highlight and annotate my books, so the keyboard is invaluable for me.
      - sthulbourn 15y ago
        Some sort of stylus would be a more natural fit for that. A keyboard would just slow you down (selecting text, marking it, annotating)
        achompas 15y ago
        Agreed. This might be ex post rationalization, but the keyboard helps me form thoughts. I've got no problem with it (but we definitely agree on the stylus).
  - erd 15y ago
    In the two years that I've owned my Kindle, I don't think that I've ever used the keyboard (at least not intentionally).
- smackfu 15y ago
  Looks like they will still be selling the previous version as "Kindle Keyboard" for the same price as it is now.
  - ConstantineXVI 15y ago
    I'd presume that this is just to drain any stock of the K3 they have left.
- joshuacc 15y ago
  Not to mention some textbooks which are $50 less in Kindle format. That brings the total cost of the Kindle hardware to $29 for a college student with one required book. If more than one textbook is available for Kindle, it could actually be a net bonus.
  - shoota 15y ago
    The textbooks may be cheaper but if you're like most students and only use a textbook for one class its more expensive than buying the book used and selling it when you're done with it.
    - bostonvaulter2 15y ago
      I think the kindle itself will still have fairly good resale value, although that won't make up the cost of the book.
acabal 15y ago
Kindle Touch looks really similar to the Nook Touch, which is a truly excellent product. But Nook Touch still has a killer feature for a ebook nerd like me: it reads epubs. I'm assuming the KT will still be locked in to Amazon's ridiculous .mobi format, so I'm sticking with my NT for now.
- AndreiVajnaII 15y ago
  The Kindle Touch's killer feature would be better PDF support. The Nook Touch looks totally unusable for PDFs.
  - gbog 15y ago
    It seems to me that PDF is not a format suitable for much more than printing on paper. A very important feature of Kindle is to allow choosing font size. It make it an ideal tool for elders. But PDF documents have a fixed layout that won't allow resizing font conveniently, or you have to break it in pieces.
    - anoother 15y ago
      I understand PDFs aren't a great format for books, but there are some cases in which it'd be fantastic to have them on an e-reader. For graphical content, such as technical drawings/illustrations, wireframes or just B&W document proofs, the resolution and fidelity of an E-Ink Pearl screen combined with the true WYSIWYG nature of the PDF format across digital/print would be a dream come true for me...
    - abuzzooz 15y ago
      You are right. But, I have an extensive library of PDF files that I'd like to read. I expect many people do too. Most are technical documents with equations, graphs and other images. I would love to have an e-ink based reader that will render such documents correctly. But, Amazon are probably more interested in selling their content, so I understand the lack of PDF support.
      - 15y ago

Apparently there will be a $79 regular Kindle as well: http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-launches-79-kindle/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-launches-79-kindle...

armandososa 15y ago

Wow. That looks a lot like an old Palm device.

AndreiVajnaII 15y ago

That's the news I've been waiting for. I mean, other than the new tablet, I was interested in their plans for the e-ink reader, so that I can decide whether to wait for a new version, or buy the Kindle 3. Kindle 3 and Kindle Fire are two very different devices and it's best for them to announce their plans regarding both.

Lewisham 15y ago

Great price point. It's basically in impulse zone: "This book is 6 dollars cheaper at Kindle price... if I buy 12 it pays for itself..." but note there's no physical keyboard. Without a touch screen, it looks like it won't do note-taking, which is a bummer.

AndreiVajnaII 15y ago
But there's also a $99 touchscreen e-ink reader, so there you go. :) http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-touchscreen-kindle-price-release-date-pictures/ http://thisismynext.com/2011/09/28/amazon-touchscreen-kindle...
- Lewisham 15y ago
  I'm not too hot on the touchscreen. I don't need it. I like the physical page turning buttons on my wife's Kindle 3... they have a satisfying weight to them and they sit nicely where your fingers already are. I don't want to tap tap tap my e-ink screen all day.
  - r00fus 15y ago
    I love the Kindle3, but the side paddles are a pain. I often end up holding the device in weird ways and accidentally push the paddle inadvertently. Also random keys on the keyboard cause context switches too. I'm going to be happy with a $79 or $99 kindle, as I only read on it, and never take notes or search.
estel 15y ago
I'd be interested to see what % of Kindle users make use of the Keyboard. I'm pretty sure that I've only ever touched it for inputting URIs when web-browsing from abroad.
- nigham 15y ago
  I use the keyboard quite a lot, for writing notes. It's amazing how reading a non-fiction book is so much more rewarding if you make highlights and notes. If you're thorough, you can read just your highlights and notes and effectively re-read the same book a year down the line in about 10% of the time; and still refresh your memory well.
- sthulbourn 15y ago
  I've always thought it was retarded to include a hardware keyboard on a device that will be used ~95% of the time for reading stuff. It's a really smart move to remove it.
  - achompas 15y ago
    Reading can be passive or active. As an active reader I highlight and annotate my books, so the keyboard is invaluable for me.
    - sthulbourn 15y ago
      Some sort of stylus would be a more natural fit for that. A keyboard would just slow you down (selecting text, marking it, annotating)
      - achompas 15y ago
        Agreed. This might be ex post rationalization, but the keyboard helps me form thoughts. I've got no problem with it (but we definitely agree on the stylus).
- erd 15y ago
  In the two years that I've owned my Kindle, I don't think that I've ever used the keyboard (at least not intentionally).
smackfu 15y ago
Looks like they will still be selling the previous version as "Kindle Keyboard" for the same price as it is now.
- ConstantineXVI 15y ago
  I'd presume that this is just to drain any stock of the K3 they have left.
joshuacc 15y ago
Not to mention some textbooks which are $50 less in Kindle format. That brings the total cost of the Kindle hardware to $29 for a college student with one required book. If more than one textbook is available for Kindle, it could actually be a net bonus.
- shoota 15y ago
  The textbooks may be cheaper but if you're like most students and only use a textbook for one class its more expensive than buying the book used and selling it when you're done with it.
  - bostonvaulter2 15y ago
    I think the kindle itself will still have fairly good resale value, although that won't make up the cost of the book.

acabal 15y ago

Kindle Touch looks really similar to the Nook Touch, which is a truly excellent product. But Nook Touch still has a killer feature for a ebook nerd like me: it reads epubs. I'm assuming the KT will still be locked in to Amazon's ridiculous .mobi format, so I'm sticking with my NT for now.

AndreiVajnaII 15y ago
The Kindle Touch's killer feature would be better PDF support. The Nook Touch looks totally unusable for PDFs.
- gbog 15y ago
  It seems to me that PDF is not a format suitable for much more than printing on paper. A very important feature of Kindle is to allow choosing font size. It make it an ideal tool for elders. But PDF documents have a fixed layout that won't allow resizing font conveniently, or you have to break it in pieces.
  - anoother 15y ago
    I understand PDFs aren't a great format for books, but there are some cases in which it'd be fantastic to have them on an e-reader. For graphical content, such as technical drawings/illustrations, wireframes or just B&W document proofs, the resolution and fidelity of an E-Ink Pearl screen combined with the true WYSIWYG nature of the PDF format across digital/print would be a dream come true for me...
  - abuzzooz 15y ago
    You are right. But, I have an extensive library of PDF files that I'd like to read. I expect many people do too. Most are technical documents with equations, graphs and other images. I would love to have an e-ink based reader that will render such documents correctly. But, Amazon are probably more interested in selling their content, so I understand the lack of PDF support.
    - 15y ago