[stealthcow]

Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store

i'll be getting one of these as soon as they are released in the UK - the possibilities are endless!

[Tom_E]

Originally Posted by stealthcow

Amazon.com: Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device: Kindle Store

i'll be getting one of these as soon as they are released in the UK - the possibilities are endless!

Does look cool – and about time too.

[oli]

Not quite as sexy as the iPod is it

[stealthcow]

bet the green brigade will love it - save millions of trees

if they can get "the metro" on it every morning for me, then we're definately onto a winner!

[stealthcow]

reading has never been sexy

[Larixk]

really seems crappy to me. Why not just read off screen?

[Maerk]

Book covers are often very sexy, mmm foil and subtle embossing.

This thing looks like some reject 1970s thing, and not in a complimentary retro way. I'm in favour of it in theory but they need to get to work on the revised "lite" design pronto :/

I'd rather carry around a proper book really though.

[stealthcow]

Originally Posted by Larixk

really seems crappy to me. Why not just read off screen?

have you ever tried to read a novel from your computer screen?

[Tom_E]

Can Amazon wean us off paper?

[stealthcow]

ive noticed a lot of people are complaining about the fact that you cant read the stuff on your pc etc - personally, i dont care.... ive never read a book on a pc and i hope i never do

[Transmogrify]

I would prefer one of these.

It's a bit less ugly, a bit more manageable and a bit cheaper, although missing a few features of the Kindle (wifi, for instance)

Bit more about the pair of them:

Poll: Amazon Kindle vs Sony Reader Bitchfight

I DO want the sony model though.

[stealthcow]

i suppose what we need is the ipaper from apple to take the idea and make it look good

[Tom_E]

Originally Posted by stealthcow

i suppose what we need is the ipaper from apple to take the idea and make it look good

Now you're talking. I'd buy two.

[mike_m]

Not everyone thinks it's great.

My original enthusiasm has ebbed after reading those blog posts..

[Larixk]

I suppose there might be a (niche) market for a solution somewhere in between computer screens and paper books, I just don't think this is it.

[Transmogrify]

Regarding one of the comments on that site:

Totally agree. It's nonsense. Will I take it in the bath? No. Can I leave it by the side of the pool/beach when I'm on holiday? No. Can I lend it to a friend? No. When it's on my bookshelf, will it impress people with oh-how-so-well-read, clever and intellectual I am? No. Will I get mugged when reading it on the tube? Yes. Will people think I'm deeply concentrating on a giant calculator? Yes.

Would he take his laptop/desktop/phone/radio in the bath? No. Would he leave his phone/laptop/desktop/other expensive piece of equipment by the side of the pool/beach while on holiday? No. Can he lend it to a friend? No (well, he could), but he can lend/copy the data to a friend.

It's NOT a replacement for a book anymore more than a computer is a replacement for a notebook (of the paper variety) and pen or a text message is for proper conversation.

I don't understand these nay-sayers. This isn't "the end of the book as we know it". The same kind of comments were uttered when the car and plane was invented or the video recorder or the ipod (and earlier MP3 players) or many other inventions that we now take for granted.

Yes, this Kindle looks like shite and it's missing features that Amazon should have implemented etc. etc. it's not perfect, but this, the sony reader and less than a handful of other similar devices are first generation. They tend to be shite. Kindle mk. 2 or 3 and sony reader mk. 3 or 4 might just be the job though.

[Hunch]

Originally Posted by stealthcow

finally, an electronic book!

Finally!?

One of the things I like about books is I can drop them, take them in the bath, and in particular sling them into my bag without a second thought. I wouldn't want to do any of that with a $400 e-reader. The only use I can see for this is for a reference library (e.g. a whole stack of programming books in a single unit). For novels, nah... Who reads more than 1 book at the same time?

i'll be getting one of these as soon as they are released in the UK - the possibilities are endless!

Endless? Really? Sounds a bit like you've swallowed Amazon's hype. What exactly are the endless possibilities for this thing other than reading stuff?

Originally Posted by oli

Not quite as sexy as the iPod is it

Looks horrendous if you ask me.

[Transmogrify]

Originally Posted by Hunch

One of the things I like about books is I can drop them, take them in the bath, and in particular sling them into my bag without a second thought.

It's not a book though. If I bought a book for $400, I'd treat it in the same way as I'd treat a $400 electronic device.

[Hunch]

Yeah, but that's my whole point. When you have to treat it as an electronic device, it loses a lot of the appeal of a book. You might well buy a $400 book, but they're the exception rather than the rule. In this case you'd have to treat everything you read with kid gloves whether it's an obscure highly priced academic text, or Harry bloody Potter.

[Transmogrify]

I suppose my point is it's in additional to books you can abuse. I have some paperback books that are abused and bent and torn and the whole works and I have other books that didn't necessarily cost a lot of money but that are a bit more personal and ones I want to keep in a good condition.

I doubt I would use an ebook reader device to read fiction, I'd use this more for technical manuals etc. that I have in PDF format and that I currently read off my screen. If I want to read a story, I'll read a proper book. This is a completely different thing in my opinion.