PC World reviews Kindle

[Gideon]

How very rational.

Amen.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by Hadrien

Not sure about this for Mobipocket Creator, the one time I tried this software for RSS feeds, it even displayed comments on the Techcrunch feeds. It was full-content, but with too much content in this case (unlike the PRS-500/505, the TOC is not as convenient on the Cybook, with a nested TOC on the Sony it's very easy to browse through items in a newspaper).
As for full-content feeds: some people already republish partial content feeds into full content feeds (those are available for the BBC). I really think that what you're doing with the content extraction Kovid could be useful to a lot of people, some of them would like to have full-content feeds on their Netvibes, iPhone etc... I really wonder why you don't switch to this approach instead of just the Sony Reader. There's also some easy content extractors available like Dapper, and I hope that in the near future, any user without programming skills will be able to create their own extraction system (or that most websites will understand that they should provide full content feeds with ads).

Concerning the Amazon feature: it's a push system, instead of a pull one. People with limited technical skills might find it worth paying for those blogs, if they get them automatically every morning. That's not my case, but we're not really "average users" around here.

Well, my development work is motivated primarily by what I need, hence the support for SONY. Of course libprs500 is completely modular in design, so adding other output formats to the content extractor in the future only requires writing an html->whatever format plugin. At the moment, I don't need any other output format, so...

But if SONY ever supports epub I'll probably write html2epub.

I get the advantages of a push system, but the thing I dislike about Amazon's current implementation is that there is no flexibility. They don't seem to want to cater to the needs of power users at all. For instance, if they started a web service where users with a little skill could easily create feeds (like I do with libprs500 or you do with feedbooks), and then publish them to the wider community, that would mean access to a lot of new content. Note that I'm not saying SONY is any better, just that thanks to their first mover advantage, the tools exists to let people make full use of the potential of an ebook reading device.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by rationalbiker

I don't know for sure, but I think I'm in the minority of people thinking that Amazon has been a very successful company so far and they didn't get that way because they were lucky. They are smart and they make good business decisions, generally speaking. While the Kindle may be a risk, it is probably a reasonably well calculated risk. It is in the nature of good businesses and good businessmen to take such risks from time to time in order for their business to grow. Assuming a degree of success, what they learn from their initial implementation of the Kindle can serve to improve their next iteration (should they decide to continue the line).

So you're saying that you like the Kindle because you like Amazon. On that note, you should be aware that Amazon is a bit of a pipsqueak compared to SONY.

[rationalbiker]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

So you're saying that you like the Kindle because you like Amazon. On that note, you should be aware that Amazon is a bit of a pipsqueak compared to SONY.

Actually that is not at all what I said at all. Perhaps you missed it, but here is what I said in the post you quoted;

In other words, the Kindle is a superior device for me because it offers the features that best suit my needs.

I do like Amazon. I also like Sony. Most of my AV gear is Sony. That Sony is a larger company than Amazon is tertiary in the evaluation of what each product offers me (with the caveat the each company needs to be large enough to support it's products and services).

But there is something you need to be aware of when noting the relative size of each of these companies; Sony had around 40+ years to grow before Amazon even existed. If you want to make some kind of point about the size of these companies, perhaps it would be more relevant (though probably not) if you knew their proportionate growth rate given the respective amounts of time they have had to be in business. For instance, did Sony enjoy the same relative rate of growth in it's first 10 or 12 years that Amazon has experienced?

If there is a relevance to the company sizes that you intended that I have overlooked, please elucidate.

After all, one would think that if size had anything to do with it, Sony would have had a better offering. LOL (just kidding)

[Gideon]

Yeah, but Sony also doesn't have the most sterling reputation in taking care of their products over time. I love my PS3, I love my PSP, I love my stereo.... but even the PSP is a 1000x better hacked than as the product itself. And the PS3, with other people providing extending software, is better than what it came out of the box like (media, etc.)

Which isn't to say the 505 isn't awesome, it is... but it's awesome because of the community. If it wasn't for this community, it would be a nice, but limited e-reader with an ok selection of books and a beautiful display.

And it's not like the Amazon is all that constraining.... I've converted everything I put into lrf into .prc format without any significant amount of work (and I scanned in my own books here, so I was working from the very bare bones of it).

I have faith that lots of cool tools that make some of the more painful bits less painful will arise, I have faith we'll see a solid community appear around the Kindle doing amazing things with it as well.

But, again... I don't think it's about being superior. It's about innovative and I think the Kindle did that. My mom actually knows what one is - that, in itself, is quite the achievement on Amazon's part.

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by rationalbiker

Actually that is not at all what I said at all. Perhaps you missed it, but here is what I said in the post you quoted;



I do like Amazon. I also like Sony. Most of my AV gear is Sony. That Sony is a larger company than Amazon is tertiary in the evaluation of what each product offers me (with the caveat the each company needs to be large enough to support it's products and services).

But there is something you need to be aware of when noting the relative size of each of these companies; Sony had around 40+ years to grow before Amazon even existed. If you want to make some kind of point about the size of these companies, perhaps it would be more relevant (though probably not) if you knew their proportionate growth rate given the respective amounts of time they have had to be in business. For instance, did Sony enjoy the same relative rate of growth in it's first 10 or 12 years that Amazon has experienced?

If there is a relevance to the company sizes that you intended that I have overlooked, please elucidate.

After all, one would think that if size had anything to do with it, Sony would have had a better offering. LOL (just kidding)

Well you spent most of that post praising Amazon's virtues, so forgive me for getting confused as to your reasons for liking the Kindle.

As for comparing growth rates, that's just as irrelevant as comparing sizes, since growth rate is dependent on a lot of external factors, including the overall growth rate of the sector in which the company operates.

At any rate, I don't much care for the whole Amazon vs. SONY debate, I only jumped into this thread to point out the often overlooked aspect of Amazon's offering, the lack of support for power users.

And I should also emphasize that had Amazon launched the Kindle a year before SONY, the reverse would likely be true.

[rationalbiker]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Well you spent most of that post praising Amazon's virtues, so forgive me for getting confused as to your reasons for liking the Kindle.

One paragraph addressed Amazon's success as a company. That one paragraph represented about 1/3rd of the post so that really isn't "most of the post".

[kovidgoyal]

Originally Posted by Gideon

I have faith that lots of cool tools that make some of the more painful bits less painful will arise, I have faith we'll see a solid community appear around the Kindle doing amazing things with it as well.

I certainly hope so, and there are already the beginnings of such tools here, although they're being developed more for the Cybook than the Kindle in particular. It's just that the kind of users that tend to write tools will gravitate towards the SONY simply because it already has a well established set of power user tools. Of course, there probably are enough developers out there to service both devices, time will tell

[Hadrien]

For power users, I also consider the iLiad to be an excellent device. You can do pretty much what you want with it, and if iRex really push these possibilities forward, we can imagine all sorts of dedicated applications for the device.

[kovidgoyal]

True, unfortunately it's out of my price range (and I kinda like the 6 inch form factor)

[Alisa]

I think I will be happy to spend that kind of money on a more full-featured reader when the technology is better. If I could have even better, larger e-ink (or equivalent) screen with more tablet-pc functionality, improved stability and longer battery life, I would pay it. The cost-to-benefit ratio just isn't there for me yet with iLiad. I applaud them for making an innovative product, though.

Speaking of which, that was really what the debate was on this thread today, wasn't it? Not whether the Kindle was BETTER than the Sony or other competition, but is it INNOVATIVE. As rationalbiker pointed out, "better" really comes down to the features an individual values. Innovative is still subjective but quite a bit less so. Better is just so highly personal.