Kindle: You've got to be kidding me

Onkel Neal · 11-20-07, 11:52 PM

It never fails, a smart guy has a good idea, succeeds and garners riches and accolades... so what does he do for an encore? Tries to hype a $300 electronic book reader ?

Don't get me wrong, I love new technologies, and I'm aware in 5 years it is possible I may do a 180 and be touting the greatness of the e-book (but I doubt it), and there could be some good uses for having 200 books close at hand, but this just seems to be the opposite of what really appeals to me in reading, namely the actual feel of holding, carrying, and reading a book, turing pages, and feeling some connection to the greatest on man's technologies. I also like books to get away from computers for a while.

Peto · 11-20-07, 11:54 PM

And dropping a real book in the toilet is much less costly.

:rotfl:

CCIP · 11-21-07, 01:09 AM

Personally I've been waiting for something like this for years. It won't replace "The Book" for me, but in the end the convenience for a reader like that would be massively important for me. Mind you, a very large part of my reading is for academic and not pleasure-oriented purposes. Especially with so many academic journals going online these days... I'd sure prefer to have an easy-on-the-eyes electronic reader for those than having to print them out (I can't stand reading on the monitor for extended periods).

It'll take some time for this technology to really develop. Sure not jumping in with this one - far too expensive and oriented to actually buying books off Amazon rather than using your own digital media.

Reaves · 11-21-07, 01:10 AM

YOu can read a novel on a screen, it hurts your eyes afterawhile. I'd also find it very hard to find a comfortable reading position with one.

And it'll ensure book stores go bankrupt meaning less variety in the books you might purchase. There is nothing like looking through shelves of books for a title, it's not the same as scrolling through pages....

TarJak · 11-21-07, 02:37 AM

Got to agree with you there Neal. My wife gave me a boxed set of the Aubrey/Maturin novels containing hardbacked omnibus editions of all 21 books in the series. Beautiful binding, tissue thin high grade paper and a built in ribbon book mark in each of the volumes. The sheer joy of holding it opening it, reading and turning those pages just adds enourmously to the pleasure of sitting down for a couple of hours (minutes usually for me these days), to read in a comfortable chair.

e-Books meh! I do enough electronic reading on the net!

I can see a use in relation to technical manuals say for airline pilots who normally have to carry huge breifcases around of paper manuals, but I'm sure there are pilots who would say the same and wouldn't want them in this format either.

Maybe for another generation...

Rotary Crewman · 11-21-07, 04:03 AM

Just as I started Das Boot for the first time this technology got rolled out. I thought about how if Das Boot was available through this would I have done it. And unlike Neal I think my answer would have been yes. At first I thought this was a news story about Amazon selling e-books which in themselves are nothing new. So I thought about the pros and cons of having e-books over actual books. Actual books won by miles. But now we have something that is portable and available for purchase I might consider switching to this sort of style. Just spent a while overseas and to take a few books hit my luggage allowence on the way out, plus on a tight passenger jet the book is quite large. This little PDA device will certainly help us forces boys out.

I don't think this will be the end of books as a whole as some people prefer to carry a book and have the ability to read it where they like. But imagine having a whole library in your pocket and being able to just select any book you want (As long as you have purchased it

).

Rotary Crewman · 11-21-07, 04:13 AM

http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2...he-book-p1.php

Very apt for this thread. New technology taking over old

No one likes change

Kapitan_Phillips · 11-22-07, 04:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peto

And dropping a real book in the toilet is much less costly.

:rotfl:

Not if its Das Boot.

TteFAboB · 11-21-07, 06:51 PM

With a real book I can add notes on the sides, top and bottom of the pages, underline the text and write at the end of the chapters where there's always some empty space. No need to mention marking at which page I last stopped. An e-book has to offer that to me to be of use. However, it also has to be cheap, because I don't want to pay $300 for each further book I want to open at the same time.

Rotary Crewman · 11-21-07, 07:21 PM

You won't have too. It's $300 (Too much in my eyes) for the hardware and then $9.99 a book at the minute. I'm sure they will come right down though.

Rotary Crewman · 11-23-07, 03:49 AM

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7107118.stm

Sale results are in for the Kindle

Onkel Neal · 11-23-07, 10:35 AM

Sales results?

Quote:

A notice on the Kindle pages on the Amazon web store said "heavy customer demand" for the device meant it would be out of stock until 3 December.

That's not a sales report. So, they had 200 copies in stock and sold them... that report sounds more like "this product is so great, we sold out and cannot keep up with orders; so, see? It is a great product and since everyone else is getting it, you should want one too!".

AVGWarhawk · 11-23-07, 10:58 AM

$300.00 up front. $9.99 per book. Sorry, it still does not add up for me. I purchase all my books from Amazon. I purchased only used books. My price and including shipping is usually under $12.00 per book. I do not need to recharge or change the batteries in my books. I can read them over and over, refer back to them, make notes or resell them if I wish. I have enough electronic gizzmoes in my life, do not need another.

Rotary Crewman · 11-23-07, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Sales results?

Quote:

A notice on the Kindle pages on the Amazon web store said "heavy customer demand" for the device meant it would be out of stock until 3 December.

That's not a sales report. So, they had 200 copies in stock and sold them... that report sounds more like "this product is so great, we sold out and cannot keep up with orders; so, see? It is a great product and since everyone else is getting it, you should want one too!".

goldorak · 11-24-07, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

It never fails, a smart guy has a good idea, succeeds and garners riches and accolades... so what does he do for an encore? Tries to hype a $300 electronic book reader ?

Don't get me wrong, I love new technologies, and I'm aware in 5 years it is possible I may do a 180 and be touting the greatness of the e-book (but I doubt it), and there could be some good uses for having 200 books close at hand, but this just seems to be the opposite of what really appeals to me in reading, namely the actual feel of holding, carrying, and reading a book, turing pages, and feeling some connection to the greatest on man's technologies. I also like books to get away from computers for a while.

I agree, the feeling of having a real book in your hands is something that an e-reader will never reproduce.
Then there is the thorny question of DRM : physical books last decades if not centuries not so with time-bomb drm e-books.
Give me an e-reader with drm-free e-books and i'll try it, but anything less and it goes strait out the window.

11-20-07, 11:52 PM	#1
Onkel Neal Born to Run Silent Join Date: Jan 1997 Location: Cougar Trap, Texas Posts: 21,385 Downloads: 541 Uploads: 224	Kindle: You've got to be kidding me It never fails, a smart guy has a good idea, succeeds and garners riches and accolades... so what does he do for an encore? Tries to hype a $300 electronic book reader ? Don't get me wrong, I love new technologies, and I'm aware in 5 years it is possible I may do a 180 and be touting the greatness of the e-book (but I doubt it), and there could be some good uses for having 200 books close at hand, but this just seems to be the opposite of what really appeals to me in reading, namely the actual feel of holding, carrying, and reading a book, turing pages, and feeling some connection to the greatest on man's technologies. I also like books to get away from computers for a while. __________________ SUBSIM - 26 Years on the Web

11-20-07, 11:54 PM	#2
Peto Ace of the Deep Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: The details of my life are quite inconsequential Posts: 1,049 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	And dropping a real book in the toilet is much less costly. :rotfl: __________________ If your target has a 30 degree AOB, the range from his base course line equals the current range divided by 2.

11-21-07, 01:09 AM	#3
CCIP Navy Seal Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Waterloo, Canada Posts: 8,700 Downloads: 29 Uploads: 2	Personally I've been waiting for something like this for years. It won't replace "The Book" for me, but in the end the convenience for a reader like that would be massively important for me. Mind you, a very large part of my reading is for academic and not pleasure-oriented purposes. Especially with so many academic journals going online these days... I'd sure prefer to have an easy-on-the-eyes electronic reader for those than having to print them out (I can't stand reading on the monitor for extended periods). It'll take some time for this technology to really develop. Sure not jumping in with this one - far too expensive and oriented to actually buying books off Amazon rather than using your own digital media. __________________ There are only forty people in the world and five of them are hamburgers. -Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) Last edited by CCIP; 11-21-07 at 01:20 AM.

11-21-07, 01:10 AM	#4
Reaves The Old Man Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 1,509 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	YOu can read a novel on a screen, it hurts your eyes afterawhile. I'd also find it very hard to find a comfortable reading position with one. And it'll ensure book stores go bankrupt meaning less variety in the books you might purchase. There is nothing like looking through shelves of books for a title, it's not the same as scrolling through pages.... __________________

11-21-07, 04:03 AM	#6
Rotary Crewman Sonar Guy Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The cold part of a Helicopter, the back. Posts: 395 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Just as I started Das Boot for the first time this technology got rolled out. I thought about how if Das Boot was available through this would I have done it. And unlike Neal I think my answer would have been yes. At first I thought this was a news story about Amazon selling e-books which in themselves are nothing new. So I thought about the pros and cons of having e-books over actual books. Actual books won by miles. But now we have something that is portable and available for purchase I might consider switching to this sort of style. Just spent a while overseas and to take a few books hit my luggage allowence on the way out, plus on a tight passenger jet the book is quite large. This little PDA device will certainly help us forces boys out. I don't think this will be the end of books as a whole as some people prefer to carry a book and have the ability to read it where they like. But imagine having a whole library in your pocket and being able to just select any book you want (As long as you have purchased it ). __________________

11-21-07, 02:37 AM	#5
TarJak Fleet Admiral Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 17,052 Downloads: 150 Uploads: 8	Got to agree with you there Neal. My wife gave me a boxed set of the Aubrey/Maturin novels containing hardbacked omnibus editions of all 21 books in the series. Beautiful binding, tissue thin high grade paper and a built in ribbon book mark in each of the volumes. The sheer joy of holding it opening it, reading and turning those pages just adds enourmously to the pleasure of sitting down for a couple of hours (minutes usually for me these days), to read in a comfortable chair. e-Books meh! I do enough electronic reading on the net! I can see a use in relation to technical manuals say for airline pilots who normally have to carry huge breifcases around of paper manuals, but I'm sure there are pilots who would say the same and wouldn't want them in this format either. Maybe for another generation...

11-21-07, 04:13 AM	#7
Rotary Crewman Sonar Guy Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The cold part of a Helicopter, the back. Posts: 395 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	http://www.boreme.com/boreme/funny-2...he-book-p1.php Very apt for this thread. New technology taking over old No one likes change __________________

11-21-07, 06:51 PM	#9
TteFAboB Admiral Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 2,247 Downloads: 4 Uploads: 0	With a real book I can add notes on the sides, top and bottom of the pages, underline the text and write at the end of the chapters where there's always some empty space. No need to mention marking at which page I last stopped. An e-book has to offer that to me to be of use. However, it also has to be cheap, because I don't want to pay $300 for each further book I want to open at the same time. __________________ "Tout ce qui est exagéré est insignifiant." ("All that is exaggerated is insignificant.") - Talleyrand

11-21-07, 07:21 PM	#10
Rotary Crewman Sonar Guy Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The cold part of a Helicopter, the back. Posts: 395 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	You won't have too. It's $300 (Too much in my eyes) for the hardware and then $9.99 a book at the minute. I'm sure they will come right down though. __________________

11-23-07, 03:49 AM	#11
Rotary Crewman Sonar Guy Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The cold part of a Helicopter, the back. Posts: 395 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7107118.stm Sale results are in for the Kindle __________________

11-23-07, 10:58 AM	#13
AVGWarhawk Lucky Jack Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: In a 1954 Buick. Posts: 28,281 Downloads: 90 Uploads: 0	$300.00 up front. $9.99 per book. Sorry, it still does not add up for me. I purchase all my books from Amazon. I purchased only used books. My price and including shipping is usually under $12.00 per book. I do not need to recharge or change the batteries in my books. I can read them over and over, refer back to them, make notes or resell them if I wish. I have enough electronic gizzmoes in my life, do not need another. __________________ “You're painfully alive in a drugged and dying culture.” ― Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road