NYT Kindle obit

[carld]

And KFC, just what are those 11 herbs and spices? Hmmm?

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by ppw

Another analogy is dedicated scanners vs. multifunction machines.

For a minority of people, a dedicated device is preferred. But for the majority of people, a multi-function device is suffice. Amazon's kindle hardware afters the minority while Apple' Ipad afters the mass. Amazon can not rely on the minorities to keep updating their devices as their business model because there would be no growth.

The scanner vs multifunction device is a good example of just why it can still be a good thing to have separate devices, separate functions tied together in a package that is generally bulkier, no cheaper and a single point of failure i.e. your printer breaks and you have also lost your scanner.

As far as amazon, have you not being paying attention to the various Kindle for ... apps that are out there for pc, mac, blackberry, idevices and android? The actual Kindle hardware makes money in its own right and while that is still true then you will keep seeing new models if they offer sufficent benefits to the existing owners, their business model relies on nothing more than selling books and they are clearly not locked into any particular hardware to do that.

[kjk]

Originally Posted by ppw

An analogy of Kindle vs. Ipad can be made is dedicated GPS devices vs. smart phones. I believe the current state of GPS is the future state of dedicated reading device.

Another analogy is dedicated scanners vs. multifunction machines.

For a minority of people, a dedicated device is preferred. But for the majority of people, a multi-function device is suffice. Amazon's kindle hardware afters the minority while Apple' Ipad afters the mass. Amazon can not rely on the minorities to keep updating their devices as their business model because there would be no growth.

There is no way I'm buying another home printer without scanner/copy/print functions, that's for sure.

[Crowl]

A point to make about that 10th or 20th generation kindle, those could easily end up being multifunction devices too, providing that any additional features don't compromise the reading experience then why wouldn't they add other media, after all amazon already have music and video download services they would be happy to have you buy stuff from I am sure.

[Kali Yuga]

*sigh*

Good technologies rarely go away. For every highly touted example (e.g. PDA into Smartphone), there are numerous counter-examples: Radios, video game consoles, fax machines, scanners, photocopiers, DVD players, amplifiers, home theater receivers could all be rolled into a single home theater PC. Hasn't happened yet.

In the interim, devices like the Kindle are cheaper, lighter, are less distracting, have 15x longer battery lives, and (arguably) better screens for plain ol' reading.

And if the personal anecdote is of any use, my iPad has been gathering dust ever since I finished Plants vs Zombies. The larger screen is OK for reading, but the anti-aliasing on the text sucks, it's too heavy and bulky to read on the subway, and the cost of a Kindle 3 is the same as 1 year of low-end 3g service for the iPad. I have yet to really need to utilize the big advantage of the iPad, namely the ability to buy ebooks from multiple vendors.

More critically, the author of the article fails to understand that not all book purchasers are created equal. 50% of punters buy 10 books or less per year; people who buy more than that are increasingly likely to want a device that is optimized for reading -- and generate a disproportionate amount of the industry's revenues.

Apple has a lot of work to do before it blasts the Kindle out of the water.

[ppw]

Originally Posted by Crowl

As far as amazon, have you not being paying attention to the various Kindle for ... apps that are out there for pc, mac, blackberry, idevices and android? The actual Kindle hardware makes money in its own right and while that is still true then you will keep seeing new models if they offer sufficent benefits to the existing owners, their business model relies on nothing more than selling books and they are clearly not locked into any particular hardware to do that.

I think the discussion here is Kindle hardware. As for kindle apps, that's probably another discussion. In fact Jeff Bezos purposely created two separate divisions (Kindle hardware and Kindle software) within Amazon. I believe it's a hedge in case one would not dominate the market. I stand by that Kindle hardware's future is murky at best. Keeping sales figures secret just adds to the doubts.

[GeoffC]

why buy a penknife with a single blade when you can buy a Swiss Army Knife ....

it's less bulky for one reason, fewer things to go 'wrong' ....

[J. Strnad]

Yeah, why buy a screwdriver, a corkscrew, a pair of scissors, a toothpick, a nail file or any of that other stuff separately when it all comes in a Swiss Army knife? I predict that within five years, scissors will be obsolete.

[Logseman]

Why buy a toothpick at all?

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by carld

And KFC, just what are those 11 herbs and spices? Hmmm?

At least *FIVE* websites exist that attempt to convince you they've figured it out.

Derek

[delphidb96]

Originally Posted by kjk

There is no way I'm buying another home printer without scanner/copy/print functions, that's for sure.

Exactly why I bought an Artisan 710...

Derek

[Viseguy]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

I think the article is essentially right - 50 years from now there probably won't be any dedicated e-readers, but something that can duplicate the easy reading screen with the other functionality of the iPad (and probably other stuff we can only dream of. ...

Agree -- but I think it'll be a lot sooner than that. At the rate technology advances these days, I'd give it 10 to 15 years, maybe less.

Originally Posted by JeremyR

... And hopefully buttons).

Definitely buttons! As long as there are opposable thumbs, we will always have buttons.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

Yeah, why buy a screwdriver, a corkscrew, a pair of scissors, a toothpick, a nail file or any of that other stuff separately when it all comes in a Swiss Army knife? I predict that within five years, scissors will be obsolete.

I have to say, now that the txtr app has been made for the iPad, with a well formatted ePub with nice embedded fonts, it looks way way better then iBooks. Look in the Apple forum at the txtr app thread where I've posted screen shots. But, I do have to say that even if I had an iPad, a good eink reader is a nice compliment and more portable.

[catsittingstill]

Originally Posted by Kali Yuga

....and the cost of a Kindle 3 is the same as 1 year of low-end 3g service for the iPad. ....

This.

I haven't thought much about this recently (thought about it a lot when I first got a Kindle, again when I considered iPod Touch vs iPhone) but this is a big deal. At least, it's a big deal for me. I would rather save my pennies and buy something big than commit myself to more monthly bills.

The iPad is very shiny. Literally. I might want one someday--a WiFi one. But I want a K3 *first*.

And regarding PDAs disappearing into smartphones--I don't want to have my PDA held for ransom every month. Show me a pay-go smartphone and I'll think about it. In the meantime, an iPod touch works pretty darn well as a PDA, which is a big part of why I got one.

[MikeFromHC]

Originally Posted by Marioninyc

Hans -- You may be right, but I've had this one-task vs multi-function conversation with friends -- even ones who read (but none yet with any who read e-books or actually own a kindle, nook or Sony E-Reader). A lot of people for whatever reason FEEL passionately about this one-function thing and are convinced that EVERYONE wants something that does it all. Time will tell.

Maybe not everyone but enough to make the future of a dedicated reader questionable in the short run and gone in the long run.
Dedicated word processors went the way of the Dodo long before the PC caught up with what they could do.
It's hard to find a throw-away cell phone that only serves as a phone.
MP3 players have video,photos, sound recording, FM radio in addition to playing sounds. (And I dumped my last one for a phone that plays MP3's until the phone rings.)
Maybe cheap and inexpensive dedicated readers will stay around but chances are they will have the kind of crappy software that my Novel has and that is a pain for somebody that reads a lot.