The worst kept internal secret ever...

[lithera]

... is released to the world.

There is a letter from Jeff Bezos on the front page of Amazon.

I would like to introduce you all to Kindle. I think that the idea here is fantastically awesome. Seriously fantastically awesome. It automatically saves your place in every book you have loaded. As well as there being an internal dictionary, there being bookmarking and notation...

I don't know if it is cool or not and at $400 it is really pricey. I'm going to see if I can get one from the people around here to borrow it, to see if I can try it out. Because, honestly, I could see this becoming a lot like my iPod. This would be something that I would just have with me all the time.

Eventually, the idea is, that I could have any book we sell on-line in my hands in 60 seconds. Which... It makes my heart give a thump. To be able to switch out books on the plane as needed if I get bored?

If only it did graphic novels...

Comments

[grymor.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy if I could load it with pdfs we don't sell, connect to MediaMiner and arbitrary message boards...

Alas, doesn't look like any of those are options.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Write him an e-mail?

[grymor.livejournal.com]

I'd be better off writing my own pdf to azw converter, and considering how the wireless works, it would be surprising if it allowed you to connect to arbitrary websites.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Well, they have to be thinking about future desired improvements.

[fireballof3.livejournal.com]

Well, it can handle .doc files, so .pdf to .doc converter?

[grymor.livejournal.com]

Actually, it can't handle doc files, you have to run them through the $0.10 per document email, where they may get translated into something usable. Add this to how badly pdf to doc converters work (at least for the gaming books I have) and it's just not worth it.

Time to investigate it's native format...

[apestyle.livejournal.com]

I like it at $199. $399 is too rich for my blood.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you. I think it'll eventually get there. First generation is always more expensive.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

"Eventually, the idea is, that I could have any book we sell on-line in my hands in 60 seconds. "

Now that's interesting.

The main problem is that we have to take Bezos's word that the images are as good as he says they are. Unless I can go to Best Buy and test it, that's a bit of a gamble.

The other question I have is if you can back up the books to a hard drive. I find myself reading books years later. Would I be able to do that with this, even if I ended up with a different Kindle?

If the answer is yes, it'll further the movement away from me having STUFF to having bit and bytes. 95% of my possessions are CDs, DVDs, books, and comics after all.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

The idea, as I've been told, is even if you get a new Kindle, anything you buy will be in your library. It won't be like iTunes where there are horror stories of losing everything. You can back books up on SD cards as well, I know.

As for electronic paper, yeah. It is a tough sell without being able to see it.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

Well send me a free unit and I'd be HAPPY to review it for Jambands ;) Not that you have the power to do so mind you.


I'd want to directly connect it to my computer now that there are terrabyte HD's. I'd probably try to end up with 3-4 backup drives if I make the move.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Heh. I'd love to get my hands on one to review it for me.

Mmmmmm. I understand that desire.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

I've been thinking about this and I see the spot where it fails. You can't easily rip a book.

The mp3 revolution happened in part because it was pretty easy to convert over your old collection. The appeal was that you could have everything you ever owned with you, so you wouldn't have to decide ahead of time what you wanted to listen to on trips. At a $10/book price, the conversion cost is pretty steep.

There definitely are things about this that thrill me, but I'm not sure if it'll be the iPod for books.

(One niche market I could see is scientists. Have all of your research manuals and dictionaries with you. That could be huge)

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Yeah. You can't. The portal is Amazon because I know we've been scanning every book that comes through us for years as part of Search inside the Book.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

And if you want to see why not being able to rip is an issue, go to:

http://amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_kinc/104-1213906-2103126?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=harry+potter&x=0&y=0

Not only will I not be able to have the Harry Potter series on this for free since I own the books, I won't be able to have it on there for any cost.

I assume that Amazon has the books scanned but if they don't have the rights to sell it this way, that's not worth much. Content providers are worried about having their product become another P2P commodity and they might be too scared to license their books.

It could be the same chicken and egg problem that destroyed many other technologies. I went from "COOL!" to "Ummmm" in as long as it took me to see what books I could read with this.

It's still early though and Amazon has deep pockets, so this doesn't sink anything of course...

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Yeah. You have a lot of valid concerns and I share most of them. It'll be a bit wait and see sort of thing.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

It's still pretty interesting though. I might get my December column out of this :)

[lithera.livejournal.com]

*chuckles*

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

"Eventually, the idea is, that I could have any book we sell on-line in my hands in 60 seconds. "

Is that something that I could mention as an eventual goal or would that get you into NDA trouble?

[lithera.livejournal.com]

I can't say it is officialy an eventual goal but I can't see why it wouldn't be. So quoting me, probably not the way to go.

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

Well I wasn't going to quote you by name, just was wondering if you kind of were revealing a business plan. Sounds like you were speculating instead.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

I am, in fact, speculating.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

"The vision is that you should be able to get any book—not just any book in print, but any book that's ever been in print—on this device in less than a minute," says Bezos.

That's in today's Newsweek.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/70983

[thezzyzx.livejournal.com]

I like this. You do my research for me. I should do this more often ;)

[lithera.livejournal.com]

I know. I'm awesome.

I saw the quote and thought of you.

[qijm.livejournal.com]

I'm uncomfortable with the idea of spending $10 (or even $5) on something that might go away in two years if it's not a commercial success, leaving me with nothing to show for it. I kind of doubt Amazon will legally bind itself to refunding my money if at some point in the future they decide to stop supporting the format, or stop making the devices. My books, on the other hand, will last at least a few decades even if I don't take particular care of them.

[qijm.livejournal.com]

I guess the short version is that I'm intrigued, but afraid of getting screwed as an early adopter.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Which is totally valid and very understandable.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

That's perfectly fair. I think that this is coming in some shape or another. I don't know if this is that shape. I do know that the practices of the publishing industry (print more books than you could ever hope to sell and end up slagging 40% of them on average), along with the whole paper use and so on and so forth...

But still, I don't have one, I'm not planning on buying one at $400 and I want to see what happens with the whole thing. I do know that they're selling like mad, though.

[gothams3rdrobin.livejournal.com]

This is very cool indeed, though yeah, a bit rich for my blood.

I can imagine really enjoying something along these lines for storing my favourite fanfic on, as well as reading novels - though nothing quite beats having a paperback in your hands, I do often wish I didn't have to lug the heavier ones around in my bag. Be nice if the price tag for the e-books were a little lower too, but maybe that'd change as this thing takes off.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

$9.99 charge for new releases and best sellers. A lot of classics are cheaper. Much cheaper. I have to admit that paying $9.99 for something I'd be paying $24.99 for in hardback is pretty compelling. Because I can rarely wait for things to come out in paperback.

[sharkcowsheep.livejournal.com]

O_O Holy crap, electric paper. WE ARE IN THE FUTURE NOW.

Next up is magazine subscriptions on that thing?

[lithera.livejournal.com]

I know newspapers are. I think some magazines are...

[dr4b]

My question is, would this thing work in Japan?
It'd be nice to be able to grab new English books without having to run down to Shinjuku all the time, but since our cellphone towers here work completely differently, I somehow doubt it.

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Hrmmmm. I honestly don't know what the international capability is. I thought about that earlier.

I hope it's better than Fiona...

[bmessina.livejournal.com]

I was part of the beta of this thing a few years ago... A very short part, because apparently I was too negative. All I wanted to know was why I would use it over a smartphone. Because the reading area is larger? If I wanted that, why wouldn't I just use a laptop? But this is coming from a fairly savvy user... I understand that for people that want simplicity, this may be a solution. Do those people really want to pay 4 bills to make something as simple as reading a book or the paper even simpler? We shall see. My prediction is still simple:

Re: I hope it's better than Fiona...

[lithera.livejournal.com]

4 bills?

Re: I hope it's better than Fiona...

[bmessina.livejournal.com]

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bills

Re: I hope it's better than Fiona...

[lithera.livejournal.com]

Aahhhhh.

I was thinking like a subscription bill, an electricity bill or something like that.... Got it now.