Leaked Kindle and accessories prices, links, images

[igorsk]

Apparently, you can do the conversion for free by using the "free.kindle.com" address, which will forward the converted file to your registered email address instead of directly to Kindle.

[RWood]

Originally Posted by wgrimm

My prediction- the Kindle will crash and burn. Sales will be dismal- just like for the Sony reader. And the reasons have been around ever since the Rocketbook/GEM flop- but no one is considering them. Yet again, I see a device that the manufacturer thinks will make them rich from "content sales." Yet again, a comparison is made to the Apple Ipod- hey, this reader will "do the same thing for books as the Ipod did for music." Where did I hear that line before? Oh, yeah, in an article about the Sony Reader.

Sorry, unless this thing comes with a High-speed book scanner, it will do no such thing. I have hundreds of music cd's I can rip to my ipod. This reader doesn't let me rip my paper books to its format- I won't even be able to read my ereader books on it, probably.

Hype and more hype, no substance. Gem 1150 mark 2.

Unlike music, most people do not read a book more than once. The people who hang around here are not most people. The majority of the people will not care if they cannot get their old books scanned. All they care about is new books that they have yet to read.

[wallcraft]

Originally Posted by CCDMan

I read a lot of BAEN books and would like to see .rtf.

The best Baen format is probably their .prc files. An alternative would be to e-mail the .rtf version, pay the $0.10 conversion charge, and (presumably) get a AZW version on the Kindle.

Another possibility, for Baen books with many images (e.g. J.B. Universe and Grantville Gazette vols 11+), is to download the .LIT and convert it to .MOBI using ConvertLIT and mobigen.exe -jpeg. The original .prc version has the images, but much smaller than will be optimal on the Kindle.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by CCDMan

lots of rural areas do not have EVDO.

It also has 1xRTT wireless which IIRC is the older more widespread protocol.

[TadW]

Originally Posted by igorsk

Apparently, you can do the conversion for free by using the "free.kindle.com" address, which will forward the converted file to your registered email address instead of directly to Kindle.

free.kindle.com sounds like Free Willy to me. Someone please free the Kindle from cruel DRM.

Seriously, this also raises copyright issues. Sure not every PDF file is meant to be sent through some other company's servers, even if it's just for conversion purposes.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Kindle doesn't need PDF support.

I think it would make it more attractive for the business travelers. I'm betting they are a big part of the target market. So many of the work-related documents I get are PDFs. If I'm on a business trip, my reading will be a mixture of business and pleasure. The annotation features make this a natural for that kind of reading.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by RWood

Unlike music, most people do not read a book more than once. The people who hang around here are not most people. The majority of the people will not care if they cannot get their old books scanned. All they care about is new books that they have yet to read.

Agreed. Life is short and there is so much to read! Books take longer to process than movies. Music sometimes is more a mood creator and can be enjoyed whilst doing something else.

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Kindle doesn't need PDF support.

I assume you mean that PDFs can be converted (if they are free of DRM) to a supported format like DOC or HTML first, correct? Do we know whether Amazon's conversion supports such files that contain images versus those without? I'm thinking about the same problem the Sony Readers have.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I'll have to see what I can accomplish with Amazon's Digital Text Platform, myself... might be a great second venue for my material.

I have looked it over: Seems you can't put things up to offer for free, and you must provide a bank account number to forward any money received from sales. It accepted the upload of one of my novels in PRC format, but the preview function seems to be having problems (or is just broken).

This could take some time, so I'll have to let you all know how things turn out later.

[TallMomof2]

Originally Posted by Alisa

I think it would make it more attractive for the business travelers. I'm betting they are a big part of the target market. So many of the work-related documents I get are PDFs. If I'm on a business trip, my reading will be a mixture of business and pleasure. The annotation features make this a natural for that kind of reading.

ITA, that's why I went to eBooks. I can carry around a small library on my PDA and as long as I wasn't trying to read outside and had access to an AC outlet every day I was fine.

If I'm standing in line at the post office I can whip out my PDA and read a few pages while I wait.

Back in the old days when I traveled for business I always had to make room in my luggage for a few books to read during down time. Nowadays all I need is my PDA which also carries my calender (no more Day Planner), contacts (no more address book) and my books.

[jharker]

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

I assume you mean that PDFs can be converted (if they are free of DRM) to a supported format like DOC or HTML first, correct? Do we know whether Amazon's conversion supports such files that contain images versus those without? I'm thinking about the same problem the Sony Readers have.

PDF and DOC have the same level of support, c.f. you upload them to Amazon which converts them. Dunno how their conversion works, though.

[vivaldirules]

Originally Posted by jharker

PDF and DOC have the same level of support, c.f. you upload them to Amazon which converts them. Dunno how their conversion works, though.

I haven't seen anywhere (manual, web site, etc.) that they (Amazon) support PDFs. As to DOCs, the question I have is do they support DOCs with images or not. I only ask that question because the routine that Sony uses for DOCs only strips out the text and you end up with very readable text but without the imbedded images.

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The Kindle is shown on the front page of Amazon.com and I did see that the Kindle is working on the site. Say it on Good Morning America.

Sorry Jon! Your other post about the tv show was so short I thought you were joking. You should probably think about using smilies more, they're an opening for the reader to the mood of your post.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by jharker

I think the Kindle will be the first killer app of e-books. They've worked around every limitation of e-ink and made it really easy to use. iRex and Sony are going to have to step up fast to match this. As a devoted iLiad owner, I have to say that the Kindle blows it out of the water for convenience and ease of use. Everything iLiad owners have wanted for a while (dictionary, bookmarking, etc.) the Kindle does out of the box.

Very nice work by Amazon. They can fix the form factor in version 2 next year.

This brings up an interesting question to me. It seems the Amazon might either viewed as a Gen3 or Sony on steroids with it's added features and higher price (at least higher than Sony). Or it might be viewed as iLiad light since it has no stylus, a smaller screen and a lower price. I wonder if there's enough of a potential market between the two points for this. Of course, being Amazon they may attract some customers that hadn't even thought about ebooks before.

[TadW]

Originally Posted by Alisa

This brings up an interesting question to me. It seems the Amazon might either viewed as a Gen3 or Sony on steroids with it's added features and higher price (at least higher than Sony).

Have you guys noticed that the Kindle only has 4 grey scales, versus the 8 grey scales of the Sony Reader PRS-505? I wonder which screen is superior...