Amazon Kindle: More signs that it will be released soon

Bob Russell · 10-03-2007, 09:38 PM

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.

AnemicOak · 10-03-2007, 10:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

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.

Many of the Mass Market PB's on their site that have a corresponding Kindle edition are cheaper than the print version at least they were. I was going to link to Dragon Bones by Patricia Briggs as example as it had a Kindle edition listed earlier for 5 something, vs. $8 for the pb, but it looks like they pulled the listing.

The one Engadget shows is a textbook which of course costs more.

gmanacsa · 10-03-2007, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Russell

snip

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.

snip

I think the solution has to be end-to-end, as it was in the music market. It has to include:

- an affordable, easy-to-use and effective device for reading (like the iPod was for music)

- an affordable, easy-to-use marketplace to acquire content, with reasonable or no DRM (like iTunes and its store's not-too-hostile DRM)

- a user-friendly and efficient means to manage content (again, like iTunes)

All of these pieces have to demonstrate such a clear value for the consumer that it will get them to choose deeply-ingrained habits.

da_jane · 10-03-2007, 11:35 PM

The prices have been taken down.

CommanderROR · 10-04-2007, 06:22 AM

I guess Amazon noticed that we noticed...^^
Or maybe it was a test to see how we'd react to their pricing. Now they are holding a conference and adjusting the prices...

Might be wishful thinking, but who knows. A big Player like Amazon would know that we're watching for stuff like these "Kindle Editions" and could use the "first-reactions" as a test to see how people react to their pricing scheme.

jasonkchapman · 10-04-2007, 07:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmanacsa

I think the solution has to be end-to-end, as it was in the music market. It has to include:

- an affordable, easy-to-use and effective device for reading (like the iPod was for music)

Check (sort of. affordable is relative.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmanacsa

- an affordable, easy-to-use marketplace to acquire content, with reasonable or no DRM (like iTunes and its store's not-too-hostile DRM)

Almost check

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmanacsa

- a user-friendly and efficient means to manage content (again, like iTunes)

Probably check (pending the new version)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmanacsa

All of these pieces have to demonstrate such a clear value for the consumer that it will get them to choose deeply-ingrained habits.

Check (for me, anyway)

On this scale, Sony just about has it in the bag.

vivaldirules · 10-04-2007, 08:20 AM

And, most of all, they have to show that they're going to offer things we want to read. Don't bother me with a few tens of thousands of titles filled with public domain texts, works by desperate authors who will sign most any contract, and a few bestsellers to make it look nice. I want to see some real content forthcoming!

HarryT · 10-04-2007, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

And, most of all, they have to show that they're going to offer things we want to read. Don't bother me with a few tens of thousands of titles filled with public domain texts, works by desperate authors who will sign most any contract, and a few bestsellers to make it look nice. I want to see some real content forthcoming!

Have you taken a look at MobiPocket or Fictionwise? You'll certainly find "real content" there.

Steven Lyle Jordan · 10-04-2007, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jasonkchapman

Check (sort of. affordable is relative.)

Yeah... they still seem too high to me. C'mon, sub-$200... $150...

vivaldirules · 10-04-2007, 09:37 AM

Okay, there's real content there, Harry, but thirty or forty thousand just isn't enough, frankly. Amazon has 9.9 million, if you can believe a total with a blank search. I can buy nearly everything there that I have wanted to buy. Undoubtedly half of these are duplicates or something else. Still, we're talking millions instead of tens of thousands. At Mobipocket and Fictionwise and even Sony Connect, I see books I'm interested in, but there few that I would want to buy. The intersection between their offerings and my pbook collection, for example, is still far, far less than 5% of my total based on my recent searches. If that's all we're going to see, then this is a fringe business at best and the readers we buy will be useful toys and perhaps little more.

JSWolf · 10-04-2007, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Have you taken a look at MobiPocket or Fictionwise? You'll certainly find "real content" there.

Or PaperbackDigital or BooksOnBoard with both being cheaper then MobiPocket and Fictionwise.

VillageReader · 10-04-2007, 09:42 AM

Oddly enough, I went to Amazon today and searched on "Kindle", went to the electronics link, and there was an iLiad V2.

CommanderROR · 10-04-2007, 09:43 AM

@VillageReader

The same thing happened to me. I saw the picture of the ereader there and for a microsecond thought "That lloks a lot like my Iliad" before I then saw that it actually IS and Iliad...^^

Nate the great · 10-04-2007, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VillageReader

Oddly enough, I went to Amazon today and searched on "Kindle", went to the electronics link, and there was an iLiad V2.

I know. It's been there for a few days. I almost posted a link to that search result. But it's not 1 April so I didn't.

VillageReader · 10-04-2007, 10:16 AM

Wouldn't it make things interesting if the Kindle is a special edition Iliad pointing to Amazon's update site rather than iRex'?

10-03-2007, 09:38 PM	#1
Bob Russell Gadget Fan Posts: 5,217 Karma: 545637 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad, Droid Charge	Amazon Kindle: More signs that it will be released soon 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.

10-03-2007, 11:35 PM	#4
da_jane Evangelist Posts: 401 Karma: 692 Join Date: Sep 2006 Device: Sony PRS 700	The prices have been taken down. __________________ DearAuthor.Com Reviews and Commentary of romance books and the publishing industry by the two Ja(y)nes.

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10-04-2007, 06:22 AM	#5
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,021 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	I guess Amazon noticed that we noticed...^^ Or maybe it was a test to see how we'd react to their pricing. Now they are holding a conference and adjusting the prices... Might be wishful thinking, but who knows. A big Player like Amazon would know that we're watching for stuff like these "Kindle Editions" and could use the "first-reactions" as a test to see how people react to their pricing scheme.

10-04-2007, 08:20 AM	#7
vivaldirules When's Doughnut Day? Posts: 9,843 Karma: 12304195 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Houston, TX, US Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	And, most of all, they have to show that they're going to offer things we want to read. Don't bother me with a few tens of thousands of titles filled with public domain texts, works by desperate authors who will sign most any contract, and a few bestsellers to make it look nice. I want to see some real content forthcoming!

10-04-2007, 09:37 AM	#10
vivaldirules When's Doughnut Day? Posts: 9,843 Karma: 12304195 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Houston, TX, US Device: Sony PRS-505, iPad	Okay, there's real content there, Harry, but thirty or forty thousand just isn't enough, frankly. Amazon has 9.9 million, if you can believe a total with a blank search. I can buy nearly everything there that I have wanted to buy. Undoubtedly half of these are duplicates or something else. Still, we're talking millions instead of tens of thousands. At Mobipocket and Fictionwise and even Sony Connect, I see books I'm interested in, but there few that I would want to buy. The intersection between their offerings and my pbook collection, for example, is still far, far less than 5% of my total based on my recent searches. If that's all we're going to see, then this is a fringe business at best and the readers we buy will be useful toys and perhaps little more.

10-04-2007, 09:42 AM	#12
VillageReader Evangelist Posts: 430 Karma: 2718 Join Date: May 2006 Device: Iliad	Oddly enough, I went to Amazon today and searched on "Kindle", went to the electronics link, and there was an iLiad V2.

10-04-2007, 09:43 AM	#13
CommanderROR eink fanatic Posts: 2,021 Karma: 4924 Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Germany Device: STAReBOOK, iRex Iliad, Sony 505, Kindle 2	@VillageReader The same thing happened to me. I saw the picture of the ereader there and for a microsecond thought "That lloks a lot like my Iliad" before I then saw that it actually IS and Iliad...^^

10-04-2007, 10:16 AM	#15
VillageReader Evangelist Posts: 430 Karma: 2718 Join Date: May 2006 Device: Iliad	Wouldn't it make things interesting if the Kindle is a special edition Iliad pointing to Amazon's update site rather than iRex'?


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