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Old 08-06-2010, 04:37 PM   #1
Achiever
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Question Kindle - Critical Questions

Hellow


I just preordered a Kindle 3 right before I registered here.

Dispite all the wonderful and good features from the kindle 3 everyone should know allready, there are some critical Questions about the Amazon Kindle 3 or the Kindle in general.

It seems nobody asks them, so I will do it:


Why amazon selling the best e-reader for the lowest price? backround?

That's not normal and will lead a lot of people to buy this amazon e-reader, including me. Because allmost everyone thinks in a way like: "wow so many goodies in this new kindle e-reader and for that price? OMG - I must have it.."
ALOT of people will have an amazon reader.

Of Course amazon get alot out of selling digital letters (INFORMATION) and we'll also will have alot of nice books and storys. Good Deal for both sides, but what is the real price?

Is Amazon collecting data about the users and sending it via kindle?

I think, they do. Because your e-reader is connected 24/7 with the internet..

Update:
Defintive YES, check this out:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51371

Is amazon doing this, to analyze & study the behavior of readers all over the world ? What and when they read ?

The Biggest Player in the Internet - Google - does it, so why not amazon?
Amazon does it allready for years on their platform!
They analyze and collecting data about everything, what registred and not registred users look for and buy, to exactly send you the offer you might want.

Update:
Yes, they try to get every information they can from you!


Why amazon can and did delete Ebooks remote on the kindle?
like the ebook "George Orwells - 1984 or animal farm"

Did you hear it? A while ago amazon deleted 2 allready buyd and downloaded ebooks from the kindle without even warning the users.

read here or search for it "Amazon + 1984 + Delete" etc.

Update:
Everyone should read the books from george orwell and understand the warnings it sends to every reader.

Is there a way to disable the whispernet or Wi-Fi Connection?
(Normal Way or maybe even some Hacks or other things)

You might not want that they spy on you 24/7, so what will you do about it?

I allready buyd and collected some good ebooks on my pc, so I think I will not buy new books in the next 3 months and I don't want amazon to read or maybe delete my own books on the kindle 3.


Do you think, it will be possible to "jailbreak" the kindle or get some custom firmware on it?

That would be great ()


+.

I know amazon is a great portal, where you can buy allmost any book. It has alot of good sides of course.
But you know, everything has 2 sides, it's Yin & Yang!



I wonder what you think about this aspects.

Update:
Check out the awnsers and the thread!

Have a nice weekend!

Last edited by Achiever; 08-11-2010 at 06:30 PM. Reason: think about it!
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Old 08-06-2010, 04:58 PM   #2
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I can only respond to 5 of your points.

1) To compete with Barnes & Noble's nook, which recently dropped the price of their 3G/Wi-fi regular version to $199 and introduced a new Wi-fi only model for $149. Hence Amazon's own recent price drops and new model introduction in response.

2) I rather doubt it. Your Kindle is not connected 24/7 if you turn off the Whispernet, and I'd hate to have Amazon's 3G data bills if they tried mining people's Kindles for information that way.

4) Because the books are backed up in the Amazon-hosted account archives which are normally accessed wirelessly and people are often in the habit of deleting books off the Kindle once they've finished them, so the next time they synched, they "lost" the removed books, which, incidentally were accidentally sold in the wrong copyright region and had the cost refunded anyway.

But anyone who'd downloaded a backup copy to their own computer could have easily restored it to their Kindle, and there's really nothing Amazon could have done about it.

5) Again, you can turn Whispernet off. I rarely bother using it because it drains the battery.

6) Yes, the "duokan" people have apparently created a Chinese-language interface.

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Old 08-06-2010, 05:05 PM   #3
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I think that you're WAY overestimating the "threat" posed by Amazon. They have deleted a few books that were sold by people who didn't have the rights to sell them, like pirated Harry Potter books and 1984. The users got their money refunded and I think that whole thing was overblown just to make Amazon look as bad as possible.

Last edited by carld; 08-06-2010 at 08:03 PM. Reason: typo
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Old 08-06-2010, 05:16 PM   #4
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Can't speak for the Kindle device, but the kindle iphone app (and presumably the ipad) definitely collects usage statistics. Found them while I was ripping some of my azw files from the phone.
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Old 08-06-2010, 05:25 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AndrewLB View Post
Can't speak for the Kindle device, but the kindle iphone app (and presumably the ipad) definitely collects usage statistics. Found them while I was ripping some of my azw files from the phone.
Interesting. But the question is whether the usage statistics are then aggregated or whether they are maintained with the original information that could individually identify users.

My guess is the former--they're looking for patterns in the data that can be used to become faster/better/cheaper. Why would they be interested in what you (or I) have read? But of course that's just a guess.

I wonder if we have any Amazon people around here that could help us understand this better?
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Old 08-06-2010, 05:42 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Achiever View Post
Hellow
...

Why amazon selling the best e-reader for the lowest price? backround?

That's not normal and will lead a lot of people to buy this amazon e-reader, including me. Because allmost everyone thinks in a way like: "wow so many goodies in this new kindle e-reader and for that price? OMG - I must have it.."
ALOT of people will have an amazon reader.

Of Course amazon get alot out of selling digital letters (INFORMATION) and we'll also will have alot of nice books and storys. Good Deal for both sides, but what is the real price?
....
I've ordered one too, but ....

I think the best reader at the lowest price is arguable.

The kindle is a cheap plastic device. They're probably making a profit on every kindle sold.

Many readers on the market has more advanced functionality in areas than the Kindle (For instance EPub support with SVG, Nook with the color screen. Pretty much all manufacturers have their good selling points)

Many readers on the market have more expensive build quality than the Kindle. (For instance the Sony readers)

But ofcourse, Amazon is doing a wonderfull job of marketing eBooks and moving the market for ebook devices forward ... IMHO they truly deserve a lions chare of the market. I do hope that they will promote open standards such as EPUB in the future. I think the publishers need one format, so that they can start focusing on quality in their eBooks.
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Old 08-06-2010, 06:21 PM   #7
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They did not remove the Harry Potter books, but requested that users do so, and their money was refunded. I bought those, and they did not delete my copy. I did it myself.

I don't know of many people who have the 3G on 24/7, because it drains the battery much faster than with it off.

Any company that did not track information about what its customers are purchasing would be crazy.

"alot" is not one word.
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Old 08-06-2010, 07:10 PM   #8
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Maybe you should just not buy the kindle. My wireless is only on when an update is released. Hardly 24/7, more like 24 hours in 9 months.

Harry Potter books have never been released on the kindle. 1984 was, and buyers were refunded and deletion of the book caused such a furore that Amazon are now extremely careful about protecting literary rights. They cannot stop pirating.

The kindle has already been jail broken and custom firmware can be added. DRM has likewise been broken if you choose to go that route.

Thinking about this, maybe you should just turn off your computer.

Last edited by Pushka; 08-06-2010 at 07:12 PM.
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Old 08-06-2010, 08:47 PM   #9
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You forgot that Jeff Bezos was the mastermind behind 911. KSM is just the fall guy.
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Old 08-06-2010, 08:51 PM   #10
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Harry Potter books have never been released on the kindle.
"Released" as in someone uploaded pirated OCR copies through the DTP program until Amazon deleted them from their servers, yes they were.
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Old 08-06-2010, 08:55 PM   #11
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They did not remove the Harry Potter books, but requested that users do so, and their money was refunded. I bought those, and they did not delete my copy. I did it myself.
You're right. I just lumped them together for brevity, I probably should have been a little wordier.
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Old 08-07-2010, 06:52 AM   #12
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I think its a weird kind of snobbery that limits access to books. And now the whole shebang is circulating on public torrent sites.
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Old 08-07-2010, 07:26 AM   #13
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Can we give up with the Amazon removing 1984 from peoples Kindles please? That was in the past, a mistake happened and Amazon learnt from it. Who is to say that Adobe wont when ADE checks for updates send what ebooks you have then disables ones that do not have distribution rights in your country? (IP check people, IP check). Lets look at Sony, and what about B&N, and now Kobo with their desktop software? Every one of them could enforce some form of control. I have said enough on this 1984 fiasco, it is 2010 people, 2010, let it go.
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Old 08-07-2010, 07:34 AM   #14
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I am afraid that I detect a touch of unnecessary paranoia in your post :-). Please don't mind what I say as we all tend to be wary of the Internet, striving to preserve what little privacy that's been left in this unfortunate 21st century.

The main issue that your post hinges on is whether the new Kindle (which I pre-ordered as well) is _really_ the best ebook reader at the lowest price. As someone in the thread mentioned, it is most probably just yet another plasticky gadget with new bells and whistles made with a sole purpose -- to earn money for Amazon. I see nothing wrong in that, I even applaud their well thought out financial planning. I firmly believe that my Sony Touch is much better made and a lot sturdier and better looking than the new Kindle, but still I intend to buy this new thing. Meaning that Amazon have achieved what they wanted --- they made me, just like so many other people, go ahead and buy what I do not actually _need_ but feel that I _may_ feel better if I got it because I _might_ need it.

This last line that I wrote is the essence of good financial "philosophy", in a nutshell, of course.

My suggestion for you: chill out and enjoy reading on your Kindle, that's what it was made for. Another piece of advice, if I may (I am a teacher, thus don't feel offended, please) -- do use "bought" for the past tense of buy, please... :-)

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Old 08-07-2010, 08:08 AM   #15
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If you're worried about this kinda thing, best buy your books used, at small shops that don't track your purchases. Pay cash. Maybe wear a disguise, lol.
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