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Amazon recently announced the Kindle, an ebook reader that uses electronic paper (E-Ink). It has been announced as a revolutionary product ("Amazon's revolutionary wireless reading device") on the Amazon website.
Revolutionary?
Is the Kindle revolutionary? I don't think so. As you can see at the mobile read wiki, many ebook readers have similar features. The page even includes the Kindle in the comparison matrix. The electronic paper was revolutionary when it came out and may well one day change how people read books, but in and of itself, it does not make the kindle revolutionary.
The free wireless connectivity is definitely a great feature. I like the fact that you can also access wikipedia from the device. Downloading a book in 1 minute is plenty fast enough.
The device itself looks quite ordinary. In fact, I was initially struck by how much room is taken up with the keys. I would have expected a bigger screen with a touch interface similar to the iPhone. That would add a coolness factor. The device is light and doesn't look ugly.
Content
Content is where this device has an edge. Everyone knows about Amazon. They have over 90,000 titles already. You have access to wikipedia as well as blogs. You can also view your own content in Word format or common image formats. Interesting that Word is supported on a Linux platform. You also can subscribe to various newspapers which is nice.
I see that the device supports MP3, but have seen little mention of audio books.
DRM
The Kindle uses Amazon's proprietary DRM format (AZW). Having DRM built in is a mistake in my opinion. If you buy a paperback, you can loan the book to anyone you like. With this DRM I presume you cannot do that. Hopefully Amazon will keep a record of all of your purchases (being careful not to hand that information over to the Feds) so that you don't have to repurchase books when the kindle is obselete (with the re-kindle?). I am not currently aware of a way to view the books outside of the Kindle. Perhaps Amazon will let you view the book online if you have bought the license. It would even have been a nice touch if Amazon would have given you free Kindle downloads for all books you have bought from Amazon.
No doubt the DRM will be cracked within weeks of release. Those that want to can put whatever content they want to on the device.
Pricing
This is where I think the Kindle fails miserably. All ebook readers up to this point have suffered from the same problem. The device is just too expensive. Sure, people will spend $400 on the latest gadget. I am even tempted myself. Although, as laptop prices come down, it gets harder and harder to justify this much money for a cripled laptop with a nicer screen.
I can see a "revolution" happening in the purhcase of ebook devices if Amazon had charged $150 for the device (similar to the eBookwise 1150). Sure, I expect that they will be making a loss at that point, but if you can only buy books at Amazon, I think they would make their money back pretty quick. The U.S. is driven by a "I want it now" philosophy. People still go to bookstores because they can have the book right now. People will buy way more books with this device because they are acting on a whim.
Lastly, $10 for a book. Are you kidding? How about $5 maximum, with most books even less expensive? I can buy a lot of used books for less than $10. I can go to the library and get the book for free.
The combination of device cost and book cost mean that I will still not own an ebook device. I would love to have one, but will have to make do with reading books on my PocketPC until a truly revolutionary device comes out.
Update
I was just catching up on some blogs. Specifically I caught up on Seth Godin's blog. In you won't find me on Amazon's new book reader, he talks about how he wanted his content on the reader for free!!! Wow! Now that would be cool.
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