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Old 09-15-2007, 07:16 PM   #16
CommanderROR
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I actually think a lot hinges on Amazon bringing lots of content for the Kindle. If they can supply bestsellers and longtail in sufficient numbers right from the start and with attractive prices, then they have a winner on their hands. If they fail on one of those fronts, then I guess even the prettiest design won't save the Kindle.
I actually hope they are going to go with mobipocket format because I have grown attached to it. It actually made me turn back to the Iliad since it's just so comfortable to throw a HTML or TXT or whatever file at the mobipocket reader and have it transformed in no time at all into something that I can then read on my Iliad...and it looks fine too with all the important bits kept intact.

Something I wonder about for the Kindle...will they make it a proper book and give it near-endless battery life or will they make an "eink tablet PC" or something like that out of it? The WiFi and stuff make me fear the latter...let's hope I'm wrong...I'm still annoyed that the wonderful potential of the Iliad is damaged so much by the meagre battery life and the long booting times...
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Old 09-18-2007, 07:45 AM   #17
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So, it will cost $400-$500, the design is awful and it will run Mobipocket - something I for one stay far away from. Doesn't sound like a winner.
I agree. When Amazon decided to jump into the ebook market with M$ in the mid 90s, I bought $200 worth of their offerings. Had real problems with using, especially displaying on mobile devices, because the M$ Reader wasn't very good.

Anyways, tried to return the stuff, and was told that I could not. So- not only was the material DRM'd, but there was no return or exchange policy. So, I stopped buying from Amazon.com......My book money now goes to local booksellers or other online sellers.

Extrapolating from the dealings that I had with Amazon, my guess is that there will be many unhappy Kindle customers.
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Old 09-18-2007, 08:13 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by CommanderROR View Post
I'm still annoyed that the wonderful potential of the Iliad is damaged so much by the meagre battery life and the long booting times...
Do you really consider the battery life of the iLiad to be "meagre"? I can read on my iLiad all day long, or for an entire transatlantic flight, without a recharge. For me, that's all that I ask. I certainly can't do that on any Tablet or Notebook PC.

When I want to read I simply switch my iLiad on, and my the time I've arranged myself comfortably in my chair, it's booted. It's only - what? - 45 seconds? That's really not very long, even in today's "must have it NOW" society .
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Old 09-18-2007, 09:06 AM   #19
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@ Harry

Out of curiosity, on the Iliad have you other uses than reading that helped justify the steep acquisition investment? Sometimes I think that drawing would do it for me but I don't do it frequently enough to warrant getting one.
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Old 09-18-2007, 09:40 AM   #20
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To be honest, Yvan, I bought an iLiad for no other reason than that it appealed to me as a "gadget". I certainly couldn't justify it economically. The 8" screen is much nicer to read on than the Reader's 6" screen, but is it worth double the price? The sensible answer is that no, it isn't, but it's still a great machine and for me personally, the pleasure I get from it makes the price worth paying.

I am fortunate enough to be both single, and in a job that pays well enough that I can occasionally afford to "splash out" on something like the iLiad just because it appeals.
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Old 09-18-2007, 10:51 AM   #21
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yvan, I love my iLiad, but it currently wouldn't be a good drawing tool. The only application that really supports freehand entry is Notes, and it's doing some kind of compression as each page is saved so that you lose resolution. Also, though the Wacom tablet should support pressure sensitivity, no software for the iLiad recognizes the input. (It's been on iRex's "to do" list for over a year.)

I think these are both software problems. I've been trying to find a decent lightweight sketch program that someone might port to the iLiad, and I've been hoping that the community development calibration team might work on pressure sensitivity next.

Regarding the Kindle, I'm hoping that Amazon doesn't limit their ebook sales to Kindle customers, but just uses this as a springboard to launch into full-scale ebook sales. Mobipocket format would be fine for now, though of course I'm still hoping that the DRM features will eventually fade from use. I'm rather curious about the keyboard, and wondering if one would be able, for example, to IM or subscribe and reply to a blog using this thing. That could make it pretty popular, even without broader functionality (e.g. PDA). I agree with everyone that content is King-- but I think these days blog content is vying for position of Empress.
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Old 09-18-2007, 11:54 AM   #22
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Thanks for that honest reply Harry. I think gadgeting is a serious enough reason to splurge, I've done it enough in the past!

@neko
You point to something else here but in the same vein. The original price set for the Kindle device of $50 was an attempt to frame customers in a captive market but the latest revisions in the order of $400-$500 might signify a larger array of choices for customers. Maybe what you are suggesting lies somewhere in there.
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Old 09-18-2007, 12:19 PM   #23
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I wouldn't expect Mobipocket.com to shut down non-Kindle sales just because the Kindle Launches ....
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Old 09-18-2007, 12:34 PM   #24
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I wouldn't expect Mobipocket.com to shut down non-Kindle sales just because the Kindle Launches ....
No, neither would I... but we don't know yet that the Kindle will use Mobipocket. If Amazon is especially stupid, they'll create some new format (maybe a modified Mobi) that will run only on the Kindle, and only fight to get additional content into that new format.

It all depends on whether they want to sell hardware or content. Personally, I have a hard time understanding why they jumped into the hardware market, with so many less expensive readers already out there. Whether it's the EVDO connection or something to do with the way they want to use the keyboard, it had better be a huge usability improvement over existing models.

Should we start a betting pool about what color the case will actually be? I'm thinking black -- that would go a long way toward losing the "retro 80's" look.
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Old 09-18-2007, 12:38 PM   #25
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I wouldn't expect Mobipocket.com to shut down non-Kindle sales just because the Kindle Launches ....
I would say that I think the message about limiting sale meant that if Amazon put ebooks up on their site that they would maybe limit them to Kindle users. Not that MobiPocket would limit sales. But even if MobiPocket did go Kindle only, no loss. We still have PaperbackDigital (cheapest), BooksOnBoard (second cheapest), & Fictionwise (sell multiformat non-DRM including LRF). So we are not out of luck. In fact, if I was to purchase Mobi format, I would not go to MobiPocket as they are the most expensive.
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Old 09-18-2007, 12:41 PM   #26
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If Amazon is especially stupid, they'll create some new format (maybe a modified Mobi) that will run only on the Kindle, and only fight to get additional content into that new format.
I agree: that would be exceptionally stupid, even for a corp.

I ... just don't see that happening. I could be wrong, I freely admit, but if I am, I'll be (unpleasantly) surprised.

The hardware question is a good one, I suspect they might view it as a way to keep their customers "theirs" -- they wouldn't be the first to try it.

If they have a seamless enough model that folks get in pretty deep before they feel the teeth, they might manage to do it. I think that iPods have largely anesthetized a lot of folks to that sort of hazard.
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Old 09-18-2007, 12:46 PM   #27
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The hardware question is a good one, I suspect they might view it as a way to keep their customers "theirs" -- they wouldn't be the first to try it.
It's just that a rebranded Bookeen model would probably have done as well. As I said, there's going to need to be a huge usability advantage to their EVDO and keyboard combination (if that's what it will really have) in order to convince people to pay the extra.
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Old 09-18-2007, 01:03 PM   #28
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Well, there's also the factor that relatively few folks have heard of bookeen, et. al., but most of mankind has heard of Amazon. They may believe they can parlay that name recognition into a total bootstrapping of the e-book industry for the common man.

The Kindle as we suspect it to be, does bear some functionality resemblance to the iPod, after all.
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Old 09-18-2007, 01:05 PM   #29
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Hmmm... what's more interesting... the fact that Amazon might launch the Kindle on October 15, or that Amazon is going to launch an e-book "kiosk" on that day?

What do you guys make of an e-book kiosk? Something like Mobipocket Reloaded?
Probably. My guess is just like other e-tailers (J&R out of NYC comes to mind as one that lists products at Amazon without paying for a 'partner' banner at the bottom of the page), you will be able to get to Mobipocket either direct via their own web site or via Amazon. Surprised in a way that this didn't happen earlier, unless they didn't want to dilute the Kindle splash.
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Old 09-18-2007, 01:09 PM   #30
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I wonder if the recent MobiPocket shut-down might have been complicated by efforts toward gearing up for integrating it into Amazon proper.
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