I have to agree. I wish the Kindle really addressed the problems which a book reader device could solve: save paper, lower costs to readers and make books more available to new readers. While this device saves paper, it falls short on the other two items.
1. I understand that publishing books, even e-books, does cost money. But I am not convinced its costs are more than the cost of say, publishing a song (and maybe even, in some cases, an album). I have some idea of the fiction publishing industry and these high costs are not going back to the authors.
2. I want to be able to share books with my friends. I can hand them my copy of a book, so why can't I give them my digital copy, or sell it on eBay. Figure this out. I am not saying COPY the book, I am saying: digitally sign it so it's unique and authentic, and let me sell it "used". Yes, I realize that's not your revenue model, but tough.
3. I want to be able to use my Kindle in a box, with a fox, in a house, with a mouse. In Africa, in a lead-lined room with no cell signal. I cannot use the subscription model because I don't have Sprint coverage? Lame. Figure out how to send me these updates electronically. I am willing to sync them. Oh, and the book previews, too. They only work with Sprint. Silly.
4 Yeah, the buttons. Not all people hold books in a sitting upright position. "Curl up with a Kindle" does not work-I've tried.
5. If you really needed to charge $400 and high book prices to get this kind of tech rolling-And I do think it needs to get rolling-then WHY did you start in the consumer fiction market? Who wants to pay MORE for a book they will likely only read once? I expect many fiction book choices are impulse purchases. What I don't understand is why Amazon didn't target the student textbook market first, and revolutionize it. Here, textbook prices break the bank, are super heavy and hard to carry around for studying, and students actually use the dictionary feature and the "take notes/highlight" features and search features. The screen is too small, but generally, the student would want to keep all their textbooks around for four+ years for reference. The price tag, especially if the textbook cost was even 75% of what it is retail hardcover, would make this kind of market ideal, and train a generation to use the technology, iron out issues with backing up textbook and notes data, and drive a whole new exciting industry around education.
kf6nvr
· 10 months ago
I really like your comments on the textbook market. The resolution would have to be higher and the screen would have to be a bit larger (though the device may already be big enough for a larger enough screen). The search and annotation features would have to get better. But, given the cost of text books is often nearly $100 a piece, if they were $60 on the Kindle, the device would pay for itself in just a few of quarters. And if it reduced the weight of text books, it would pay for itself in lower health costs. Even in high school -- and lower grades -- the weight of text books has started to cause back problems. Replace them all with a device that weighs under a pound and doesn't have the problem of falling out pages? Yeah. That works.
As for #2... The consumer fiction market really needs the used book market as well as the lending book market. Why can't I check out a book for the Kindle at my local library? I can do this with audio books and physical books (and DVDs, etc.) -- all for free. Why not e-books? As with music, DRM shouldn't exist on them, but even if it did, the lending and used sales could readily be tracked.
Laurie (perlgurl.org)
· 10 months ago
I see the college market as "private cost" and the lower grades as "public cost." And that was sort of my intention: let the students already paying for their textbooks (and who have a vested interest in not losing them, etc.) drive the first few generations, and also hopefully bring the cost down enough such that students in the lower grades could conceivably use a Kindle (or similar device) for school much like they would a graphing calculator. Provided the school could back up the originals textbook files, they could license them in bulk. Schooll library loan could go digital on certain items. It seems to me like a no-brainer. The consumer market is much harder to crack, and much more cost-conscious.
Dan
· 10 months ago
Also... the new Kindle no longer has a memory card slot. Planned obsolescence? The faster page turning and extra shades of gray are interesting, but not without wi-fi and the removal of the memory card from the first model.
kf6nvr
· 10 months ago
Interesting! Somehow, I missed that. We relied on the memory card for putting other stuff on to the Kindle we tried given we have no access to it's wireless. (We do have coverage, but not Sprint coverage and it apparently doesn't roam.)
All Comments
1. I understand that publishing books, even e-books, does cost money. But I am not convinced its costs are more than the cost of say, publishing a song (and maybe even, in some cases, an album). I have some idea of the fiction publishing industry and these high costs are not going back to the authors.
2. I want to be able to share books with my friends. I can hand them my copy of a book, so why can't I give them my digital copy, or sell it on eBay. Figure this out. I am not saying COPY the book, I am saying: digitally sign it so it's unique and authentic, and let me sell it "used". Yes, I realize that's not your revenue model, but tough.
3. I want to be able to use my Kindle in a box, with a fox, in a house, with a mouse. In Africa, in a lead-lined room with no cell signal. I cannot use the subscription model because I don't have Sprint coverage? Lame. Figure out how to send me these updates electronically. I am willing to sync them. Oh, and the book previews, too. They only work with Sprint. Silly.
4 Yeah, the buttons. Not all people hold books in a sitting upright position. "Curl up with a Kindle" does not work-I've tried.
5. If you really needed to charge $400 and high book prices to get this kind of tech rolling-And I do think it needs to get rolling-then WHY did you start in the consumer fiction market? Who wants to pay MORE for a book they will likely only read once? I expect many fiction book choices are impulse purchases. What I don't understand is why Amazon didn't target the student textbook market first, and revolutionize it. Here, textbook prices break the bank, are super heavy and hard to carry around for studying, and students actually use the dictionary feature and the "take notes/highlight" features and search features. The screen is too small, but generally, the student would want to keep all their textbooks around for four+ years for reference. The price tag, especially if the textbook cost was even 75% of what it is retail hardcover, would make this kind of market ideal, and train a generation to use the technology, iron out issues with backing up textbook and notes data, and drive a whole new exciting industry around education.
As for #2... The consumer fiction market really needs the used book market as well as the lending book market. Why can't I check out a book for the Kindle at my local library? I can do this with audio books and physical books (and DVDs, etc.) -- all for free. Why not e-books? As with music, DRM shouldn't exist on them, but even if it did, the lending and used sales could readily be tracked.
Thanks!