

Citi: Yep, The Kindle's A Huge Hit. $1 Billion For Amazon In 2010 - prakash
http://www.alleyinsider.com/2008/8/citi-yep-the-kindle-s-a-huge-hit-1-billion-for-amazon-in-2010-amzn-

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sysop073
I'm currently hoping the price will fall when they release a new version, and
hoping they release a new version before I break down and buy it

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truebosko
Same. I won't buy one until the price is lower. I know you can get a lot of
free content but the current price + price of buying ebooks is too much

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netcan
I remember reading (couldn't find the link) that University texts were about
the same price on kindle as hardcover. That has got to be a big mistake.

\- University texts are expensive because of the short runs. Authors get only
a couple of $ for $100 sales. \- University texts are heavy. \- Students are
the ones carrying multiple books around daily. (all those scenarios of not
needing to pack 10 books on holiday...)

Throw in the fact that students are a great segment to introduce these sorts
of products to & it seems crazy that they haven't targeted colleges as the
inroad for this product.

I mean if you could convince Universities that: \- Lecturers can prescribe aby
books they want without worrying about being stuck with early editions or the
print houses running out. \- Lecturers can publish books themselves without a
minimum run & keep 4X the profit from 1/4 of the cost to students.

I mean they could almost make it a mandatory buy. Consider that over 3-4 years
you spend approx $1000 (including buying & selling second hand), if they could
sell college texts for $20, the total cost to students would be about 1/2 of
the cost of hardcovers with reduced hassles.

Amazon seems not to give a damn about that market. I think that they didn't do
well in negotiations with publishers. Apple might have done a better job there
I think.

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bvttf
That would kind of cut out the campus bookstore, wouldn't it?

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netcan
Well, it might. Where I went, the campus bookstore was a co-op anyway. I think
not for profit. I'd imagine for many campuses they just cost money to keep
alive. But You'd probably still need them to an extent.

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Anon84
Apple can make kindle out of the Kindle with a free (or cheap) PDF/eBook
reader for iPhone/iPod touch. Millions of people already have the devices,
many millions more already have thousands of PDFs on their hard drives and
downloading them can be as easy as using iTunes.

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jonknee
You've obviously never used an E Ink display before. The iPhone cannot
seriously compete in this space.

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kqr2
The kindle's e-ink technology is very impressive. It is easy on the eyes and
works well in sunlight -- especially compared to my iphone.

It's also nice that you can read only using one hand. Since you don't have to
turn your head or flip pages, I can actually read faster.

If Amazon can beef up its experimental web browser, the kindle would pay for
itself with its free wireless.

The only drawback to e-ink is that it is very slow. It would be hard to
leverage the technology for more interactive applications like games or video.

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d00723
Yep, We know, could they please use another color scheme. Currently there are
3 floating around the office and all of them look hideous with all the finger
prints on them.

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smhinsey
Color schemes I can take or leave, but what really bugs me about my Kindle is
the fact that both of the bottom corners are sharp. I have yet to be able to
come up with a comfortable way of holding it that doesn't result in the
corners digging into my hands. This seems like a pretty obvious mistake to me,
so hopefully they will correct it.

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dmix
I hope they bring Kindle to Canada soon. I was ready to buy one a while back
and disappointed to find that it was USA only.

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gunderson
i have a kindle and it's pretty awesome...

However it's so much like a book that i forget to turn the power off all the
time -- and it has no auto-shutoff function.

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mlinsey
Because of the nature of the e-ink display, (it pushes physical ink blobs to
and from the surface of the screen), the unit does not use any power if you
are not turning pages and not using the wireless connection.

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gunderson
Not quite true. It does use some power, b/c the battery will eventually end up
dead, even if you have the wireless connection off, if you forget to turn off
the main power switch.

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Kilimanjaro
I rather use a 9" netbook

More powerful, more versatile.

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Hates_
I wish they would release it in the UK :(

