Amazon Kindle To Debut On Monday - Ugly But Impressive

http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/18/amazon-kindle-to-debut-on-monday/

by nickb • 19 years ago

13 21 19 years 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• 19 years ago

It looks as if DeLorean made the Newton.

chaostheory• 19 years 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)?

ajju5• 19 years 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).

nickb2• 19 years 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.

ivankirigin4• 19 years ago

This is awesome http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/19/live-from-the-amazon-kind...

The design is ugly, but the capabilities rock out.

ajju5• 19 years 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.

ivankirigin4• 19 years 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.

run4yourlives• 19 years ago

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

tlrobinson• 19 years 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/

Kaizyn• 19 years 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• 19 years 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.

icky• 19 years 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

dfranke• 19 years ago

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

downer• 19 years ago

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

Amazon Kindle To Debut On Monday - Ugly But Impressive

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