I'm pretty sure they won't be selling it with that design...
The whole Amazon Kindle deal would excite me a great deal more if it didn't look like a US exclusive deal once more. The sony Reader has still not made it's way over here, so I guess the Kindle would take just as long...forever...
Wireless book transfer is a nice thing, but as long as the wireless data costs are so high and WiFi hotsports are not at all free and far apart here in Germany, I guess it's a no-deal at the moment.
It's something i've been raving against for years now...we have a alomost 100% coverage of mobile networks, at least GPRS is available everywhere, but for the trickle of bandwidth it offers it's just too darn expensive. Also, the kindle would need a SIM card to work, and that would meanyou either need a new mobile contract or a Kindle specific subscription...and then it depends on who they partner with...
I'd love to see something like the "Fon" project get going, where everybody just offers part of his/her WiFi and landline interent connection bandwith to the general public...that would ensure almost 100% coverage in cities, and for the outlying areas you could always go with long-range WiFi or WiMax connections to bridge the gap...and make those part of every landline DSL flatrate...but that's just my dream.
In that case a system like the Kindle or the Iliad with their wireless connection would make sense. Otherwise, just making a cheap and easy book-reader that you fill up with books at home would be perfect...
Oh wait...there is still the price issue...and the availability issue...
IF Amazon could really put some pressure on the publishers to sell the DRM (mobipocket) ebooks for significantly less than the paperback version right from the first appearance of the hardcover, then ebooks would perhaps finally start finding some real demand...
Well, I guess we won't see my dreams come true this time, but it might be a small step in the right direction anyway...we'll see...Oktober is close...if they make it to market by then...
Would it be the first time on of these eink devices is NOT delayed?