
Amazon: What are you hiding? (Kindle a failure?) - nickb
http://blogs.computerworld.com/amazon_what_are_you_hiding
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Flemlord
I have a Kindle and love it. It took a month to arrive, but works perfectly. I
buy everything on the Kindle now, with the exception of technical books. I've
lost count of the number of people who have seen me reading it, played with
it, and walked away saying they were going to buy one.

Amazon is not hiding a failure--it's a huge success and this marks the turning
point for e-books.

~~~
silencio
Hmm, interesting. My boyfriend has a kindle and I've occasionally played
around with it. I love books, so I've also checked out the sony reader,
cybook, etc., and I've owned a couple of ancient ebook readers as well. I
really love the idea of ebooks and so a physical reader only makes sense to
me. The problem I've always encountered is that it's not really something I'd
want to carry around with me all the time or that I'd probably end up using
that often so I haven't even bothered to think about ordering one.

I think the ultimate reason why is that I have a jailbroken iPhone with (among
other apps) Books.app and unlike the kindle, it can do a lot more and it fits
in my pocket and my purse for when I'm not lugging around my laptop. I
obviously take it everywhere to make calls, to check email, to play Solitaire,
to hang out in IRC. As a result, I have it with me all the time so I can read
too - for example, I read most when I'm at a restaurant waiting for a takeout
order that's taking forever or when I'm in line for some event or another.
Sure, I can't get the latest books and magazines on there to read, but there
are plenty of free ebooks to read and download e.g. from manybooks.net and
textonphone.com. It's definitely not a dedicated device for ebooks, but that
is exactly why I think it's so great for them.

Finally, in just over half a year of having Books.app on my phone, I've read
over 200 ebooks (well, some of those were short stories, but the vast majority
weren't). Surprisingly enough that's more than I've read in the previous
couple years, textbooks included. I suspect I wouldn't have even come close to
that number with a kindle (etc.) just because the convenience is not there.

~~~
Flemlord
The Kindle is roughly the size of a paperback, and comes with a nice leather
case so it's not awkward to carry. But it's the integration with Amazon that
really does it for me. You can select books online, and have them sent to the
Kindle. You can also browse a Kindle-only Amazon site directly from the Kindle
over the wireless.

With any book, you can download the first 5 chapters or so as a free sample. I
have about 30 samples on the Kindle right now that I browse through when I'm
ready for my next book. Plus, about 80% of new books I'm interested in have
Kindle versions. I expect that number will be 100% soon.

~~~
silencio
The thing is, I know how small the Kindle is. In theory, it's pretty cool. But
it is definitely not something that fits in my purse or in my pocket like the
iPhone does..and even if it did it doesn't do everything the phone can
(especially with the just-released sdk).

The integration is the only reason why I would contemplate a Kindle
purchase..and yet..isn't a very compelling reason for me to do so. There
aren't many new books I am truly interested in that I don't want a dead tree
version of (easier to share with family/friends) or that I can't find an
online version of (e.g. safari books, books24x7).

I suppose it's really a personal preference thing. If the cost were slightly
lower than it is right now I may consider it for home use. Or maybe if more of
my textbooks were available..I would definitely purchase it in a split second.
But as-is..nah.

------
pg
I've seen more Macbook Airs than Kindles, despite the fact that the Air only
came out a few weeks ago.

~~~
jyu
Maybe because Kindle is constantly out of stock?

[http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-
Device...](http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Wireless-Reading-
Device/dp/B000FI73MA/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=fiona-
hardware&qid=1205095341&sr=8-1)

~~~
silencio
<http://www.apple.com/retail/macbookair/>

In the beginning MBAs were also constantly out of stock and the quoted ship
times from the online store weren't pretty. Not so much nowadays. The iPhone
release was a lot uglier in terms of availability (and popularity).

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ajju
Just a single data point but I've had a Kindle since the first week it came
out and it rocks. It is VERY usable, books are almost always cheaper for the
Kindle and being able to buy books with 1 click doesn't hurt
(Amazon..certainly hurts my wallet :)

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cstejerean
I'm disappointed with the waiting list, and more importantly with the fact
that there is no estimate upfront for how it's going to take. I can't live
with "we have no clue whatsoever when we can ship you one."

I've ordered a Kindle in December and canceled my order after two weeks since
I didn't get any emails with an update on how long it's going to take during
those 2 weeks. I don't care if it takes 3 months, just be honest and tell me
that before I place my order (or at least within a week of placing my order).

