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

[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

[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.

[Ervserver]

It may seem revolutionary to Martha, I bet she wished she had a Kindle while she was in the slammer

[Alisa]

Actually I think the Whispernet thing is pretty revolutionary.

[Rocketime]

Originally Posted by Alisa

Actually I think the Whispernet thing is pretty revolutionary.

Yep, wireless delivery of books in less than a minute is pretty unique. Couple that with instant access to Wiki and other resource sights with the same device is quite amazing.

[kevinpars]

I have a Kindle and love it, but I would argue that the Kindle is 'evolutionary' rather than revolutionary.

It takes something that exists and adds wireless and a quick connection to Amazon for book purchases. Good idea - but I imagine if I searched around these boards that I would find a thread discussing how great it would be to wirelessly purchase books on an ebook device.

But any exposure is good exposure so it is all good.

[JSWolf]

The iRex iLiad alread was out and it already had true wifi that can be used all over the world. All the Kindle is providing is a different flavor of wifi. So the only thing different about the Kindle is the direct access to Amazon for eBook purchases. The rest of it is not new.

[Alisa]

WiFi can be used anywhere you have an access point that you can use. That's why Amazon went with Whispernet. Most places in the US, the Sprint data network is just there. No searching for an open AP or setting up a security key. Instant access. And the integration with the store is something the iLiad doesn't have. The integrated Wikipedia search is something it doesn't have either. It's a new concept in how to use 3G wireless connections in a device.

[DaleDe]

Originally Posted by Alisa

WiFi can be used anywhere you have an access point that you can use. That's why Amazon went with Whispernet. Most places in the US, the Sprint data network is just there. No searching for an open AP or setting up a security key. Instant access. And the integration with the store is something the iLiad doesn't have. The integrated Wikipedia search is something it doesn't have either. It's a new concept in how to use 3G wireless connections in a device.

If you live in the US and have only one hardware device then 3G was the better choice. It is not however a totally new idea. Even my old eb1150 has a phone connection built in, but in the olden days it was a modem . Still usable today but not as convenient as wireless.

Dale

[lovebeta]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

The iRex iLiad alread was out and it already had true wifi that can be used all over the world. All the Kindle is providing is a different flavor of wifi. So the only thing different about the Kindle is the direct access to Amazon for eBook purchases. The rest of it is not new.

Tell me, do you think cellphone and skype phone are the same thing to the general public? Let alone that wifi on iLiad is barely functioning. Tech without a killer app is useless.

Last week I was on the road. With my kindle, I can read NYT everyday and bought and finished a memoir on the go. I can't imagine to find open wifi everyday just to download the content. That's the reason I ditched my Sony.

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by DaleDe

If you live in the US and have only one hardware device then 3G was the better choice. It is not however a totally new idea. Even my old eb1150 has a phone connection built in, but in the olden days it was a modem . Still usable today but not as convenient as wireless.

Dale

I don't know much about the eb1150 so my apologies for overlooking it. That is a great idea especially for its time. While the tech now makes it even better due to the speed and mobility, it still allows you to get content without a computer which is one of the selling points of the Kindle. And at that time even fewer people had computers and were comfortable downloading and transferring content.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by lovebeta

Tell me, do you think cellphone and skype phone are the same thing to the general public? Let alone that wifi on iLiad is barely functioning. Tech without a killer app is useless.

Last week I was on the road. With my kindle, I can read NYT everyday and bought and finished a memoir on the go. I can't imagine to find open wifi everyday just to download the content. That's the reason I ditched my Sony.

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.

[Rocketime]

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.

How many ebook readers can you purchase and download a book, update a blog or newspaper and order a magazine subscription while sitting in a 737 on the tarmac waiting for 2 hours for a mechanic to come fix the airplane?

[Ervserver]

I would have all that on my reader before leaving home, even if I had the Kindle along. For one its called being prepared, and also there is no sure thing the Kindle will get a signal, many parts of the country, world, the Kindle can't receive a signal.

Originally Posted by Rocketime

How many ebook readers can you purchase and download a book, update a blog or newspaper and order a magazine subscription while sitting in a 737 on the tarmac waiting for 2 hours for a mechanic to come fix the airplane?

[Rocketime]

Originally Posted by Ervserver

I would have all that on my reader before leaving home, even if I had the Kindle along. For one its called being prepared, and also there is no sure thing the Kindle will get a signal, many parts of the country, world, the Kindle can't receive a signal.

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?