Kindle DX With Kindle :

http://blogger.sanook.com/kindledx2009/2009/07/03/compare-kindle-dx-with-kindle/

“musicians and authors should be treated roughly equally.”

Of course, though “equally” has little to do with absolute price and everything to do with the costs and margins of providing a service, and they’re not the same service. But the price points in both these cases aren’t margin-driven and are instead aimed at what people consider a droppable sum on luxury data in the parts of world society where this stuff is currently being marketed. I find nearly all digital media absurdly overpriced, but know that that’s because real competition for supply has only begun – and because delivery is still only available to a privileged few.

But the real reason for this post is just to note that it’s not the Goldilocks of e-book readers, but the baby bear; if you find it fits the bill then you’re Goldilocks.

Thanks for the review.

Compare Kindle DX with Kindle :
http://blogger.sanook.com/kindledx/2009/05/17/compare-kindle-dx-with-kindle/

I’m not sold on the Kindle. As a pure “reader” I think there are better options. I think even my Rocket is superior for reading in some respects. I can annotate, underline, bookmark, do dictionary lookup, change screen orientation, via the touch screen.

But Whispernet is a killer innovation in conjunction with the Amazon store. I heavily prefer a touch screen and some form of lighting. I won’t consider a Kindle in any form until there is a touch screen and some form of integrated lighting, and support for ePub.

Sony has made a stab at lighting an eInk display with their LED edge lighting on the PRS-700. Not a complete success from what I hear. Also the Sony touch screen has some problems with glare, though fiddling with one in Borders I did not notice a problem. I think the Sony has a much nicer design. Give Amazon credit though, finally eReaders have some “sex appeal.” I roll my eyes as I listen to people gush about their Kindles, but at least they are talking about eReaders. The price issue still needs to be addressed. All the readers are way too expensive for mass appeal. The lowest price of entry is the eBookwise reader (RCA1150) which is an LCD-based reader. Cost is $136, close to where these devices need to be priced. But it is old technology.

Keep your eye on http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/05/pixel-qi/
I have been hoping this technology offshoot of the OLPC project will bear fruit. It promises to be more versatile than traditional LCD or eInk based displays. Time will tell if they can deliver on the promise.

Enjoyed reading your thoughts on the Kindle 2. Even now I would prefer my Rocket over the Kindle. If Sony adds wireless to their reader I might become a convert. I need more from Amazon to be swayed. I guess that makes me something of an eReader luddite. But that is how it is for me currently.

Thanks for your comment. You make a very good point. The cost of “free” Whispernet delivery of Kindle editions is doubtless built into the price.

For a long time, I felt the same way you do about Kindle edition pricing. Here’s what I wrote in a November 2007 article about the original Kindle (which cost $399 at the time):

“…even if the Kindle were beautiful, there would still be the problem of price. Price, meaning both the $399 cost of the device itself—a very steep admission ticket to the world of electronic reading—as well as the $9.99 that Amazon is charging for New York Times bestsellers and other new releases. Yes, $9.99 is a big markdown compared to the typical $25 cover price for a new hardcover (and even compared to the $13 to $18 you’ll pay for a hardcover at Amazon). But it’s not nearly big enough. For better or worse, consumers have gotten used to paying low-single-digit dollar amounts for electronic content. A song on iTunes still goes for $0.99, a TV show for $1.99. Netflix rentals will run you $1 or $2 per DVD, depending on how many you go through in a month. It may be a travesty that undermines all the great traditions of literature and authorship, but my bet is that people simply won’t pay $10 for access to the electronic version of a novel, which is, after all, just a few hundred kilobytes of 1s and 0s (and with an e-book you don’t even get the paper this information is usually written on)…For the Kindle system to catch on as a real alternative to print books, I think prices for new releases would need to drop to the $5 level or below.”

I guess my views have changed a little bit as we’ve watched the traditional business models for book, magazine, and newspaper publishers utterly implode. Writers need to get paid somehow. And I doubt Amazon will ever get the publishers to lower their wholesale prices for new books enough to make retail prices below the $10 range possible.

And $9.99 really is a big markdown compared to the typical $25 price tag on a hardcover. It’s also in line with what people are apparently willing to pay for an album on iTunes, and it seems fair that musicians and authors should be treated roughly equally.

In any case, my inner geek couldn’t wait any longer for the economics of e-books to change.

Not precisely true. The cost is presumably built into the $9.99 price of most Amazon e-books, which, while less than the cost of a new hardback, is still significantly more than the company charges for most paperbacks. How can delivering bits over the air cost more than having books shipped to Amazon’s warehouses; paying workers to stock them, pull orders, and prepare them for shipping; and shipping the books to buyers? (Not to mention the cost for publishers to print the books in the first place.) As a consumer, I’m very happy to pay for content, and glad to recognize the value added by a good publisher (including vetting, editing, copy editing, and preparing the electronic files). And I want to be “green.” But until the price for the e-books themselves reflects the savings that publishers and retailers would seem to reap from electronic editions, I won’t be a convert. Of course, I realize I am likely in the minority: $9.99 a book is not a barrier for most people willing to pay $300-$500 for an e-reader in the first place.