We
have been expecting the Amazon Kindle e-ink e-book reader around Oct 15. Nobody seems to know if it will look like the pictures we have seen previously (ugly), but it's highly anticipated because of the Amazon name and their ownership of MobiPocket, with the associated huge catalog of book titles. The rumors indicate that wireless book purchasing may be in the mix, as well as an onboard keyboard.
Even more confirmations have appeared in the form of Kindle books for sale at Amazon.
Engadget is reporting that there are Kindle Edition titles showing up. The example they give is set to a hefty price of about $54, but I'm sure that mass paperback titles will be more reasonable. At least after launch.
One cannot help but feel that the new devices are a sign of e-book market progress, especially when considering those from major companies like Sony and Amazon and Panasonic. We might find that we have had the whole chicken and the egg thing wrong after all - maybe the first step is not the DRM and format solution. Maybe what's going to really drive the market expansion is the popular devices as they become affordable.
Thanks to our members anotherchance and Studio717 for the tip.