MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Amazon Kindle might be the worst thing that could happen to e-books?

JerryEF · 11-19-2007, 04:02 PM

While I agree with many of the points initially raised, I suspect that this may be the best thing to happen to ebooks. One of the several reasons that ebooks have not been more successful is they require certain amount of computer competence to get everything working correctly. While this may all have been a major non-event for those of us who are computer savvy. For the average guy on the street who has a hard enough time keeping up with his email and web browsing software, it has been too much to expect. Along comes Amazon with a (pub-ugly) device that makes the ebook purchasing process a simple and seamless process. The ipod experience showed us that it is possible to simplify a process that had been way too out there for the average Joe. Amazon, I hope, will do the same for ebooks.

The DRM issues drive me nuts too. On the other hand, my wire, sister, children, in-laws and most of my friends have no idea what DRMs, PDFs, PRCs or .ePubs are and don’t really care to know. They have seen me reading with various dedicated and non-dedicated ebook readers over the years and have been intrigued. Limited titles (becoming lass and less of an issue as time has moved on), and technical silliness have kept all of them stuck in the 19th and 20th century paper books. Some of them have made the leap to ipods because the process was made very simple by Apple.

My wife is waiting to see my Kindle to show up (tomorrow!!!) and she may be willing to join in if it is all as advertised. She had no questions about PDF compatibility, DRM or other geeky crap that many of focus on. She wanted to know if she could get many of the books on the Oprah list. She buys books now on Amazon with one-click and loves it. I showed her the new Kindle format on the book pages and how she would only have to OneClick on it and the book would magically appear on her ebook reader. If it is that simple, and Amazon can keep get the publishers to provide more and more books in eformat, this simplicity will sell the concept. We can only all prey that eventually Amazon will release a version that is a little easier on the eye, and maybe more open to other formats … but, hopefully, that may only be a concern for those of that may then turn out to be on the fringe.

11-19-2007, 04:02 PM	#40
JerryEF Senior Member Posts: 10 Karma: 50 Join Date: Nov 2007 Device: DellX51v / Amazon Kindle	May be the best thing to happen to e-books... While I agree with many of the points initially raised, I suspect that this may be the best thing to happen to ebooks. One of the several reasons that ebooks have not been more successful is they require certain amount of computer competence to get everything working correctly. While this may all have been a major non-event for those of us who are computer savvy. For the average guy on the street who has a hard enough time keeping up with his email and web browsing software, it has been too much to expect. Along comes Amazon with a (pub-ugly) device that makes the ebook purchasing process a simple and seamless process. The ipod experience showed us that it is possible to simplify a process that had been way too out there for the average Joe. Amazon, I hope, will do the same for ebooks. The DRM issues drive me nuts too. On the other hand, my wire, sister, children, in-laws and most of my friends have no idea what DRMs, PDFs, PRCs or .ePubs are and don’t really care to know. They have seen me reading with various dedicated and non-dedicated ebook readers over the years and have been intrigued. Limited titles (becoming lass and less of an issue as time has moved on), and technical silliness have kept all of them stuck in the 19th and 20th century paper books. Some of them have made the leap to ipods because the process was made very simple by Apple. My wife is waiting to see my Kindle to show up (tomorrow!!!) and she may be willing to join in if it is all as advertised. She had no questions about PDF compatibility, DRM or other geeky crap that many of focus on. She wanted to know if she could get many of the books on the Oprah list. She buys books now on Amazon with one-click and loves it. I showed her the new Kindle format on the book pages and how she would only have to OneClick on it and the book would magically appear on her ebook reader. If it is that simple, and Amazon can keep get the publishers to provide more and more books in eformat, this simplicity will sell the concept. We can only all prey that eventually Amazon will release a version that is a little easier on the eye, and maybe more open to other formats … but, hopefully, that may only be a concern for those of that may then turn out to be on the fringe.