3 ms·

Amazon Kindle To Debut On Monday - Ugly But Impressive

13 points by nickb 19y ago

icky 19y ago
> And the cellular connectivity, which generally costs $60 or more per month, will be included with the device for free says a source close to the company. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Now if only someone would figure out a way to decouple that from the device itself.... :-D
thinkingserious 19y ago
I can't wait to try this thing out. Currently, I love to read eBooks on my Pocket PC before going to sleep. The only problem is that sometimes, with a good page turner, I may not sleep at all!
zach 19y ago
It looks as if DeLorean made the Newton.
chaostheory 19y ago
$400? - I had enough trouble justifying an xbox 360 purchase... couldn't you just do the same thing with an iphone (or one of its knockoffs)?
- ajju 19y ago
  You can but a) Smaller screen b) E-Ink displays are much easier on the eyes (no strain) Still, 400 for a box that won't even let me read my PDFs or blogs that I can read for free. No thank you, I'll continue using my 12 inch laptop (eye straining as it is).
  - nickb 19y ago
    I read books (PDFs) on my iPhone these days. It's excellent and the resolution is amazing. Like you said, no PDF support is a dealbreaker.
    - ajju 19y ago
      That's cool. I am curious how much of a page fits on the screen at once? 100%, 75%, 50% ? In other words how many times do you have to scroll to make it through a page.
      - nickb 19y ago
        Depends on the PDF but you'd be amazed how high-rez iPhone's screen is... I really like reading on it.
ivankirigin 19y ago
This is awesome http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/19/live-from-the-amazon-kindle-launch-event/ http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/19/live-from-the-amazon-kind... The design is ugly, but the capabilities rock out.
- ajju 19y ago
  I don't know man. No native pdf support, I can't get the pdf books I already have onto it because it won't reader PDFs from the SD card. I have to PAY to read free blogs. Sounds like a lot of potential but not much utility. I suppose they have to defray the EVDO costs but it sucks.
  - deleted 19y ago
    [deleted]
  - ivankirigin 19y ago
    I would be surprised if they don't turn it into a document reader. Didn't they mention the ability to send documents to it? What format is needed? I'm sure there is a way to get even DRMed PDFs into the right format, though most people won't know how or won't bother.
    - ajju 19y ago
      You have to email the files to a pre-specified address and they convert it into the native format and push it to your device. There is a 10 cent charge per file to do this. It seems PDF conversion isn't supported (at least from reading the manual I found on Amazon) but that may change.
      - ivankirigin 19y ago
        Paying $10 to put the 100 ebooks you've purchased into this reader is reasonable after paying hundreds for the device.
        ajju 19y ago
run4yourlives 19y ago
They should really have partnered with Apple on this... gadgets are about cool factor and then function.
tlrobinson 19y ago
I plan on using the OLPC XO as an ebook reader. It's got a dual mode screen for full color indoors and grayscale in sunlight outdoors. Since it runs Linux I'm sure it could handle pretty much any format you throw at it, given the right software. $400 (including donation of a laptop to a child), so same price, but can do a hell of a lot more. Plus it looks cool. Plus you're donating a laptop to a child. One week left... http://laptopgiving.org/ http://laptopgiving.org/
Kaizyn 19y ago
This device is dead on arrival. It uses the same small 6.4", 800x600 screen as the Sony Reader and has a resolution of 167 dpi. Low quality print is at 600 dpi or more. Even if it supports PDF format, you wouldn't want to try reading pdf documents on it because you'd either have to shrink a page down to 35% or so of the full size (so it fits fully on the screen) or only render 1/3 of a page at a time. Finally, for $400, this thing is ridiculous. It's interesting that Motorola in their low-cost cell phones (the Motorola F3) uses the e-Ink display, but these book readers are sold/marketed as premium products. Ugh. Go into a Borders or a Sony shop to take a look at the Sony reader to get an idea of the screen size. The text rendering is impressive but not worth $300 or $400. e-Ink display technology is neat, but this first generation of products is lousy.
- ajmoir 19y ago
  Low quality is 300dpi old laser printer used to do fine at it. I have the Sony reader and love it, but this thing is fugly. There is different types of eink I think the phone screens are not bit mapped. On the whole I think this is going to flop. Most people do not want to carry around a tablet when a paperback is what they want. All the gizmos are a waste. Also, why add dumb features like wireless? Simplify, the ebook has a built in mp3 player, guess how many people use it? The sony could be improved by upping it's resolution to 300dpi, make the screen a little bigger. Keep the same cool form factor and remove some useless buttons. Put a front light on it. And remove the DRM, DRM will keep killing ebooks until publishers get a clue. I also think there is room for an ereader with a 300dpi letter sized display, panasonic had really cool looking prototype. Give me that in a sony style package with a pdf reader and I'll gladly fork over $1K for it. Currently working through Guttenberg, amazing how Mickey Mouse has totally corrupted the idea of public domain.
dfranke 19y ago
You weren't kidding about ugly. Looks like 1980s-era PCs.
downer 19y ago
Kindle, as in kindling, as in burn the (paper) books?

13 points by nickb 19y ago

icky 19y ago

> And the cellular connectivity, which generally costs $60 or more per month, will be included with the device for free says a source close to the company. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Now if only someone would figure out a way to decouple that from the device itself.... :-D

thinkingserious 19y ago

I can't wait to try this thing out. Currently, I love to read eBooks on my Pocket PC before going to sleep. The only problem is that sometimes, with a good page turner, I may not sleep at all!

zach 19y ago

It looks as if DeLorean made the Newton.

chaostheory 19y ago

$400? - I had enough trouble justifying an xbox 360 purchase... couldn't you just do the same thing with an iphone (or one of its knockoffs)?

ajju 19y ago
You can but a) Smaller screen b) E-Ink displays are much easier on the eyes (no strain) Still, 400 for a box that won't even let me read my PDFs or blogs that I can read for free. No thank you, I'll continue using my 12 inch laptop (eye straining as it is).
- nickb 19y ago
  I read books (PDFs) on my iPhone these days. It's excellent and the resolution is amazing. Like you said, no PDF support is a dealbreaker.
  - ajju 19y ago
    That's cool. I am curious how much of a page fits on the screen at once? 100%, 75%, 50% ? In other words how many times do you have to scroll to make it through a page.
    - nickb 19y ago
      Depends on the PDF but you'd be amazed how high-rez iPhone's screen is... I really like reading on it.

ivankirigin 19y ago

This is awesome http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/19/live-from-the-amazon-kindle-launch-event/ http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/19/live-from-the-amazon-kind... The design is ugly, but the capabilities rock out.

ajju 19y ago
I don't know man. No native pdf support, I can't get the pdf books I already have onto it because it won't reader PDFs from the SD card. I have to PAY to read free blogs. Sounds like a lot of potential but not much utility. I suppose they have to defray the EVDO costs but it sucks.
- deleted 19y ago
  [deleted]
- ivankirigin 19y ago
  I would be surprised if they don't turn it into a document reader. Didn't they mention the ability to send documents to it? What format is needed? I'm sure there is a way to get even DRMed PDFs into the right format, though most people won't know how or won't bother.
  - ajju 19y ago
    You have to email the files to a pre-specified address and they convert it into the native format and push it to your device. There is a 10 cent charge per file to do this. It seems PDF conversion isn't supported (at least from reading the manual I found on Amazon) but that may change.
    - ivankirigin 19y ago
      Paying $10 to put the 100 ebooks you've purchased into this reader is reasonable after paying hundreds for the device.
      - ajju 19y ago

run4yourlives 19y ago

They should really have partnered with Apple on this... gadgets are about cool factor and then function.

tlrobinson 19y ago

I plan on using the OLPC XO as an ebook reader. It's got a dual mode screen for full color indoors and grayscale in sunlight outdoors. Since it runs Linux I'm sure it could handle pretty much any format you throw at it, given the right software. $400 (including donation of a laptop to a child), so same price, but can do a hell of a lot more. Plus it looks cool. Plus you're donating a laptop to a child. One week left... http://laptopgiving.org/ http://laptopgiving.org/

Kaizyn 19y ago

This device is dead on arrival. It uses the same small 6.4", 800x600 screen as the Sony Reader and has a resolution of 167 dpi. Low quality print is at 600 dpi or more. Even if it supports PDF format, you wouldn't want to try reading pdf documents on it because you'd either have to shrink a page down to 35% or so of the full size (so it fits fully on the screen) or only render 1/3 of a page at a time. Finally, for $400, this thing is ridiculous. It's interesting that Motorola in their low-cost cell phones (the Motorola F3) uses the e-Ink display, but these book readers are sold/marketed as premium products. Ugh. Go into a Borders or a Sony shop to take a look at the Sony reader to get an idea of the screen size. The text rendering is impressive but not worth $300 or $400. e-Ink display technology is neat, but this first generation of products is lousy.

ajmoir 19y ago
Low quality is 300dpi old laser printer used to do fine at it. I have the Sony reader and love it, but this thing is fugly. There is different types of eink I think the phone screens are not bit mapped. On the whole I think this is going to flop. Most people do not want to carry around a tablet when a paperback is what they want. All the gizmos are a waste. Also, why add dumb features like wireless? Simplify, the ebook has a built in mp3 player, guess how many people use it? The sony could be improved by upping it's resolution to 300dpi, make the screen a little bigger. Keep the same cool form factor and remove some useless buttons. Put a front light on it. And remove the DRM, DRM will keep killing ebooks until publishers get a clue. I also think there is room for an ereader with a 300dpi letter sized display, panasonic had really cool looking prototype. Give me that in a sony style package with a pdf reader and I'll gladly fork over $1K for it. Currently working through Guttenberg, amazing how Mickey Mouse has totally corrupted the idea of public domain.

dfranke 19y ago

You weren't kidding about ugly. Looks like 1980s-era PCs.

downer 19y ago

Kindle, as in kindling, as in burn the (paper) books?