Unfortunately, I work in publishing. This Amazon product is DOA in my mind. http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9820070-7.html?tag=nefd.lede $400 price tag? hahahahhahaa Tiny screen. Free wireless "whispernet", okay cool. Additional monthly charges to read free web content? Like NYT? hahahhaha Why the keyboard? reduces screen size. Tie in to Amazon? Complete lock in not that iTunes isn't innocent. Stevie Jobs and the Googloids where are you? Google is busy digitizing books. Apple is supposedly working on a tablet. Stevie, pull that last rabbit out of your magical hat. Personal Computer. GUI. Pixar. Music. iPhone......... iBook.
i'd love a product I can read ebooks (or CBR zipped comics) on that doesn't strain my eyes and give me a headache. would make reading on the train a doddle.
looks cool but i don't like how you have to pay a fee to get your rss/blogroll going on the device. I'm sure if we wait longer something more flexible will come out.
I like printed paper. Even reading on a nice sized computer screen for too long can bug me. Also you don't look as much like a douche reading an actual book vs. reading some new fad electro device.....but you still kind of look like a douche, only douches read.
I agree with you about liking printed paper: newspapers, books etc. I like the tactile feel of them, reading something that isn't glowing. But it's only a matter of time before these start to disappear for better or worse. Kids growing up today are much more used to reading off of computer screens. Newspapers and book publishers are both going through hard times. All the waste cost and production associated with printing them. Eventually there might be technology that's paper thin that you can roll up or fold like a paper or something, but with really friendly display technology and type. Just like what happened to the music industry will eventually happen to the book industry. And there will be holdouts just like the guys who only buy vinyl records. I also notice that women read books much more on the subway than guys.
It already does but it isn't durable and the cost is way to high. I saw the demo this year. The screen was as thick as a piece of construction paper, it was back lit and it rolled up into a little tube. All the non display parts were separate, the idea was to build them into a phone. ipod or watch. It was amazing but until 10 million people had bought them the cost per book would have been about $30 and the unit cost was about $500. Yikes!
I don't know about the Google dudes but the Apple people think the tech is wanting and unwieldy. Amazon's gadget seems to be a glorified version of the one that Sony re-releases every few years, which consistently bombs outside of the Japanese market. I'm with FK on this one. I like the idea of an e-book reader but am too in love with the oldskool tactile pleasures of a conventional book.
I'm really impressed with that e-ink paper they use on these things. Looks just as good as printed paper to me. I still like paper books for things like novels, but I would love one of those e-readers for all the 100 page PDF's I end up reading for school.
