Monday, May 5 Martha Stewart Show » Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos - Page 2

kovidgoyal · 05-03-2008, 09:48 PM

Look at it this way. Martha is hardly likely to call Bezos on her show and introduce him as the inventor of the dull-as-tears Kindle.

Alisa · 05-03-2008, 10:18 PM

One of the things I like about the wireless is that after I'm done reading a sample, I can download the book immediately. I might buy one book in advance if I'm traveling overseas (more if I'm not sure I'd have internet access while there) but not when I'm here in the US. I've only been unable to get a signal once in the 6 months I've had the Kindle. I could buy 10 books before I get on the plane but there's a good chance I wouldn't like at least a couple of them and that would be money wasted. I prefer not paying for a book until I have a better idea if I really want it and this way I only have a gap of 10-20 seconds between finishing the sample and continuing on with the rest of the book. Even when I'm at home, it's so nice when I'm comfy and into my book not to have to disrupt things.

Alisa · 05-03-2008, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To the average person, if it works, they don't need or want to know the underlying technology. If it's a cell phone call or a skype call, they won't care as long as it works well.

What the Kindle is doing isn't really new. It's just doing the same sorts of things in a different way.

I think he was likely referring to a wifi Skype phone. If you replaced your mobile with that, it wouldn't just work wherever you wanted. You'd have to see if there was an access point you could use, connect to it, and then make your call and since that access point's range would be small, you couldn't move around much without dropping the call. If you asked most folks which they'd find more useful I'd be shocked if the vast majority didn't pick a cellphone. Whispernet doesn't work everywhere in the US but way more places than I would have wifi and it's way more mobile. It's not just a different way, it's a better way a great deal of the time.

spirits · 05-04-2008, 03:07 AM

But E-ink certainly got a lot more popular due to Amazon. I'm certain Cybook, Sony Reader, Iliad increased in sales due to Kindle's launch. Eink reading is a movement that Jeff Bezos created, and I think we should give him the credit for it.

Indigo Ink · 05-04-2008, 03:55 AM

My 2 cents - E ink was there before kindle, wifi was there before Kindle, cellular networks were there before kindle. So its a matter of what kindle did differently from its predecessors. What iLiad did differently from Sony was to put in the wifi (though many complain it does not work well) as well as allowing "writing" (besides the size of the screen - so obviously it appealed to a lot more people). What kindle did differently from the earlier e ink devices was to integrate cellular network with the eink device and then of course it had amazon store to back up for content and for advertising. And that is what makes it "better" for many (though it did not get the "writing" part from Iliad). In other words, the combination of cellular rather than wifi makes it "new" (of course thats valid for only the US) and under most circumstances that is more convenient for people in US as you are automatically a little more mobile - compared to wifi. Things would differ a bit in some cases if you dont have the sprint network in your area and would differ vastly when you are outside US.

dugbug · 05-04-2008, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

To the average person, if it works, they don't need or want to know the underlying technology. If it's a cell phone call or a skype call, they won't care as long as it works well.

What the Kindle is doing isn't really new. It's just doing the same sorts of things in a different way.

THe kindle isn't just a display. Its a back-end business model, store distribution mechanism, deals with sprint, etc. There was a lot to make this happen.

JSWolf · 05-04-2008, 08:50 AM

Can the iLiad be used to browse eBook shops and purchase and adownload Mobipocket format ebooks directly to the iLiad for reading without the need for a computer?

Barcey · 05-04-2008, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Kindle is not revolutionary as the blurb makes it seem. It's just another eink based reading device. Why is it just because it's from Amazon, it gets touted as something new and revolutionary? It's not. If it wasn't for other companies doing it first, the Kindle would never exist.

You pay the marketing people and you make whatever claims you want. The ipod wasn't the first MP3 player either but you sure would have thought it was from all the hype. I think the publicity is good for the industry. Even after the marketing campaign that Amazon has done the general public hasn't heard about the Kindle and those that have probably don't know about e-ink.

When I have travelled and people have asked me about the screen on the Cybook I've sometimes told them that it has the same display as the Kindle. I normally hear crickets chirping before they tell me they haven't heard of that either.

HarryT · 05-04-2008, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Can the iLiad be used to browse eBook shops and purchase and adownload Mobipocket format ebooks directly to the iLiad for reading without the need for a computer?

If you install a web browser, then yes, in theory. I don't know if anyone's actually tried it - web browsing on eInk screens can be a rather painful experience.

Ervserver · 05-04-2008, 03:02 PM

did Martha mention what the proper cuisine is to serve with the Kindle

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kingston

Today, Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of amazon.com, is here with his company's latest innovation, which will transform the way we read: the Kindle.

Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and raised in Texas and Florida. Jeff excelled as a student from a young age, and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton. While conducting research in 1994, Bezos devised the idea of selling books on the Internet. Bezos founded amazon.com in 1994 after making a cross-country drive from New York to Seattle, writing up the Amazon business plan on the way and setting up the original company in his garage. His work with Amazon eventually led him to become one of the most prominent dot-com entrepreneurs. Jeff joins Martha to chat about Amazon and its newest wireless reading device, the Kindle.

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/...005b09a00aRCRD

yvanleterrible · 05-04-2008, 03:09 PM

Ironic that the mother of all squirrels is also called Martha.

Ervserver · 05-05-2008, 01:06 PM

The Mrs uses the Kindle, I figured she can purchase books easily and wirelessly with the Kindle I wouldn't have to do it for her

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocketime

Ervserver,

Wow, I wish I was half as organized as you. I'm pretty much a scatter brain when it comes to planning. That's the beauty of the Kindle. I can do all my reading stuff on the fly. I've been in 9 airports across the country and I've had a signal in all of them. I travel for a living and there have been very few, if any locations I haven't had a signal as I subcribe to half a dozen blogs and leave it on all the time.

Glad to hear you are so organized, you don't really need the features of the Kindle. Since you own a Sony and you're so organized, why do you bother with the Kindle?

Rocketime · 05-05-2008, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ervserver

The Mrs uses the Kindle, I figured she can purchase books easily and wirelessly with the Kindle I wouldn't have to do it for her

Good for her. I really like the look and feel of the Sony but for everyday use I prefer the Kindle.

Ervserver · 05-05-2008, 03:24 PM

oh yes she loves it, and don't get me wrong I think the wireless feature is great but I would just have books already loaded on before arriving at the airport. She is the opposite, she has probably purchased a book or magazine or two or four while sitting on the plane

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rocketime

Good for her. I really like the look and feel of the Sony but for everyday use I prefer the Kindle.

catsittingstill · 05-05-2008, 10:50 PM

One thing I really like about the Kindle that I haven't seen mentioned yet is the search capability.

I've used it to find my place in a book when I've navigated away from my spot by mistake. ("Hmm. I remember he was talking about eating a fast food meal with Judith; I'll just search on "Judith" and see --ah, three mentions, and the three lines of text around each occurrence of the word shows that the middle one is the one I want.)

I've used it to figure out who the author was talking about when he reintroduces a character I haven't seen for six chapters. (I just searched on the name, and got the reminder I needed from the text snippets around the name on the search results screen.)

I've used it to pick the book I wanted out of seven pages of home screen when I couldn't remember the name of the book (There's a major character called "Luke" so if I search on that, the book with a lot of mentions of Luke is probably the one I want--hmm, no, not _Legacy of the Force_; it must be the other one. Yeah, _Snowball_ that was it.)

And I've only been using the Kindle for about 10 days. :-)

That I can also hop over to Wikipedia anytime, or google the web to get more details on some historical event is like the search function, only even more so. It's like reading a book with a computer with web access at my elbow. And it's really nice to be able to check the weather forecast to see if I should stop reading and bring the laundry in,--on my book.

I know you can write notes on the iLiad--but can you search for particular occurrences of words or phrases? I had thought that was unique to the Kindle at the moment.

05-03-2008, 09:48 PM	#16
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,149 Karma: 27110894 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Look at it this way. Martha is hardly likely to call Bezos on her show and introduce him as the inventor of the dull-as-tears Kindle. Last edited by kovidgoyal; 05-04-2008 at 12:03 AM.

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05-03-2008, 10:18 PM	#17
Alisa Gadget Geek Posts: 2,324 Karma: 22221 Join Date: Aug 2007 Device: Paperwhite, Kindle 3 (retired), Skindle 1.2 (retired)	One of the things I like about the wireless is that after I'm done reading a sample, I can download the book immediately. I might buy one book in advance if I'm traveling overseas (more if I'm not sure I'd have internet access while there) but not when I'm here in the US. I've only been unable to get a signal once in the 6 months I've had the Kindle. I could buy 10 books before I get on the plane but there's a good chance I wouldn't like at least a couple of them and that would be money wasted. I prefer not paying for a book until I have a better idea if I really want it and this way I only have a gap of 10-20 seconds between finishing the sample and continuing on with the rest of the book. Even when I'm at home, it's so nice when I'm comfy and into my book not to have to disrupt things.

05-04-2008, 03:07 AM	#19
spirits Connoisseur Posts: 61 Karma: 321 Join Date: Feb 2008 Device: Kindle	But E-ink certainly got a lot more popular due to Amazon. I'm certain Cybook, Sony Reader, Iliad increased in sales due to Kindle's launch. Eink reading is a movement that Jeff Bezos created, and I think we should give him the credit for it.

05-04-2008, 03:55 AM	#20
Indigo Ink The curious one! Posts: 82 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: India Device: Kindle 3, Nook, Ebookman 901	My 2 cents - E ink was there before kindle, wifi was there before Kindle, cellular networks were there before kindle. So its a matter of what kindle did differently from its predecessors. What iLiad did differently from Sony was to put in the wifi (though many complain it does not work well) as well as allowing "writing" (besides the size of the screen - so obviously it appealed to a lot more people). What kindle did differently from the earlier e ink devices was to integrate cellular network with the eink device and then of course it had amazon store to back up for content and for advertising. And that is what makes it "better" for many (though it did not get the "writing" part from Iliad). In other words, the combination of cellular rather than wifi makes it "new" (of course thats valid for only the US) and under most circumstances that is more convenient for people in US as you are automatically a little more mobile - compared to wifi. Things would differ a bit in some cases if you dont have the sprint network in your area and would differ vastly when you are outside US.

05-04-2008, 08:50 AM	#22
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 78,958 Karma: 144284074 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Can the iLiad be used to browse eBook shops and purchase and adownload Mobipocket format ebooks directly to the iLiad for reading without the need for a computer?

05-04-2008, 03:09 PM	#26
yvanleterrible Reborn Paper User Posts: 8,616 Karma: 15446734 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Que Nada Device: iPhone8, iPad Air	Ironic that the mother of all squirrels is also called Martha.

05-05-2008, 10:50 PM	#30
catsittingstill Guru Posts: 643 Karma: 551634 Join Date: Dec 2007 Device: Kindle 1.0.8, iPod Touch, Kindle Keyboard	One thing I really like about the Kindle that I haven't seen mentioned yet is the search capability. I've used it to find my place in a book when I've navigated away from my spot by mistake. ("Hmm. I remember he was talking about eating a fast food meal with Judith; I'll just search on "Judith" and see --ah, three mentions, and the three lines of text around each occurrence of the word shows that the middle one is the one I want.) I've used it to figure out who the author was talking about when he reintroduces a character I haven't seen for six chapters. (I just searched on the name, and got the reminder I needed from the text snippets around the name on the search results screen.) I've used it to pick the book I wanted out of seven pages of home screen when I couldn't remember the name of the book (There's a major character called "Luke" so if I search on that, the book with a lot of mentions of Luke is probably the one I want--hmm, no, not _Legacy of the Force_; it must be the other one. Yeah, _Snowball_ that was it.) And I've only been using the Kindle for about 10 days. :-) That I can also hop over to Wikipedia anytime, or google the web to get more details on some historical event is like the search function, only even more so. It's like reading a book with a computer with web access at my elbow. And it's really nice to be able to check the weather forecast to see if I should stop reading and bring the laundry in,--on my book. I know you can write notes on the iLiad--but can you search for particular occurrences of words or phrases? I had thought that was unique to the Kindle at the moment.