

Amazon's near-$500 price tag kills Kindle DX buzz - ilamont
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2009/05/06/amazons-500-price-tag-kills-kindle-dx-buzz

======
teej
Everyone in the market for a Louis Vuitton bag is always bummed when they
realize they can't afford the $5,000 bag in the window. But once they're in
the store, the $500 bag in the back ends up looking like a great deal in
comparison.

------
jerf
Talking about college students spending $500 for this is radically premature.
There's no way that by August that a significant number of universities will
be all-digital on the book front, and they aren't going to switch for the
spring term, either.

So, the soonest case where any fraction of college students might be Kindle-
only is August-ish, _2010_. Any guesses on what this will cost by then?
Probably ~$200 or less, for something a generation or two more advanced.
(Perhaps not color by then, but higher res, I bet.)

And frankly, even in 2010 the colleges that have an all-digital option will
still be the exception. I would expect it'd be at least 2012 before a student
might reasonably choose this option.

The real question is "will anybody buy it today and subsidize further
development?" And the Kindle 1 sales seem to say yes. I don't really know
because AFAIK Amazon has not released sales numbers, but they are certainly
acting as if these things are selling fast.

~~~
duncanj
It's not all about books. The inclusion of a PDF reader makes this a big deal.
In many schools, everything you need to know for a class is in the
instructor's PDFs.

------
ivankirigin
I'd spend ~$500 a semester on books while in college. If ebooks are cheaper
(as they should be) by, say 50%, I'd save the money in a year.

~~~
DanHulton
They're not cheaper, sadly.

~~~
ivankirigin
Sigh. They just don't get it. <http://thepiratebay.org/>

------
chaosmachine
When the first iPod was released, everyone complained it was too expensive
($400), and we all know how that story ended.

~~~
ilamont
I don't think this is a great comparison. iPods were going up against portable
CD players and hard-to-use/lower capacity mp3 players. And, people could
convert their CD collections for nothing or buy a single song at a time.

If you were a student (or if you are a student) would you buy a $500 Kindle to
read textbooks, plus a lot more to download digital versions of the texts?
Unless there's a slam-dunk cost benefit that students can see, I don't think
this is going to make a huge impact on the textbook market at this price
point.

As for magazines and newspapers, I don't think most people can justify a $500
expense to read magazines and papers that they can get for much cheaper in
print or free on the Web. I subscribe to the WSJ for $90 a year and read the
NYT for free on my iPod Touch and Web browser. Even if the NYT started
charging $50 for the Touch and Web versions, it would still be just a fraction
of the investment required for reading it on the Kindle.

~~~
chaosmachine
The new Kindle can read PDF files. Just like the iPod did for songs, suddenly
you can have any book for free, if you're willing infringe copyright. That's a
big selling point in the student market (there are a number of textbook-
dedicated torrent sites). Imagine, $500 for a semester's worth of books, or
$500 for a kindle and copy the books from your friend.

~~~
ilamont
But notebooks can already read PDFs -- and they let students take notes. Why
get a second $500 device that can only do one of these functions?

~~~
unexpected
I mean, couldn't you argue that your notebook could already play MP3's, why
get an iPod?

It's the e-ink, the portability, the battery life, the weight of the device.

Everyone I know that has a Kindle loves it.

~~~
ilamont
Because laptops don't fit in your pocket.

I am sure that Kindle owners love the devices, for the reasons that you
stated. The problem I have is the price. Students and newspaper readers will
have a tough time justifying a $500 purchase, especially in this economy.

------
mbrubeck
What did people expect? The existing small Kindle costs $360. Large-screen
ebook readers from other companies cost even more than the Kindle DX. How
exactly did anyone expect that Amazon would get a larger e-ink display without
raising the price?

