One of my biggest interests is technology. Not that I’m the first one in line to buy the latest gadget, but I’m probably not too far behind. I had the opportunity to explore the new Kindle, Amazon.com’s wireless reading device. I have to say it’s pretty darn cool! The “electronic paper” is a 600×800 pixel, 167-pixels per-inch screen covered with a layer of transparent electrodes, a technology designed by E Ink of Cambridge, MA. The display is very crisp, the text is sharp and easy to read (and it does kinda look like paper). The electronic pages “turn” with a simple click and the reader can bookmark passages and write notes using the keypad. The Kindle comes with 256 megabytes of internal flash memory, with 180 megs available for storage (which equates to about 200 books). Its wireless connectivity means you can download a book directly from the Kindle and, according to Amazon, the process takes less than a minute. It runs on a modified version of the Linux 2.6.10 kernel, so the modified source code is freely available for developers to play around with. It also uses an easily replaceable lithium-polymer battery and Amazon says with the wireless connectivity turned off, you can read for a week on one battery charge.
Cool indeed!
So, I’m not going to buy one.
Why? Because reading a book is an experience to savor. Imagine the sound of the rain as it descends outside your window…the gentle litany is soothing and the quiet rumbling of distant thunder relaxes your mind. The chill in the air is dispelled by the warmth of the cup clasped between your palms. You inhale the evaporating steam and take a sip…the liquid warm and pleasing. The candle’s flicker draws your attention to the table where a book beckons. You replace the drink in your hand with the familiar tome…the nostalgic fragrance of time permeates your memory as you turn the book to that one dog-eared page…
And therein lies my heart. Therein is my joy.
Tags: Amazon.com, book, E-Ink, Kindle, Linux, reading, wireless
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July 13, 2008 at 9:05 am
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July 11, 2008 at 9:09 pm
Debbie
I agree. Books should be something you can hold, experience, with pages, REAL pages. I won’t buy it either. I don’t even like audio books. I like to use my own imagination, picture the characters, places, hear their voices in my mind … not my ear.
Debbie: I’m with you. Another drawback to the Kindle is that you no longer get to shop for books. One of my favorite attractions is a used book store. Whenever I travel, that’s one of the first places I look for. I don’t necessarily have to buy anything, just the vintage musty smell makes the trip worthwhile. Oh, and if they happen to have a coffee bar, well that’s pretty close to heaven!
- JOS
July 12, 2008 at 9:13 am
Eric
JOS, one of the things you don’t mention in your post is Kindle’s price: $359.00. And the books themselves are $9.99 each. From a purely economic standpoint, the first book you buy would cost $359.99. This means the first 10 books a person buys will cost $55.88 each, the first 20 will cost $27.94 each, etc. The Kindle reader will have to buy 56 books before he breaks even and the Kindle starts paying for itself. Eric
Eric: I thought about that, but figured different people place different values on the cost of a book. Something I do like about the Kindle is one can subscribe to daily newspapers, and they’re delivered wirelessly. I could pay $349/yr for the print copy of the Wall Street Journal or I could pay $120/yr with the Kindle. Not a bad deal and the Kindle will pay for itself in less than 2 years.
July 12, 2008 at 10:37 am
writerchick
Hey JOS,
Wow, you got positively poetic in this post. I like your writing style, very nice and comfortable.
As to the reader…you painted a great picture but I kept envisioning an actual book - not an electronic reader propped in my lap. I’ve yet to see any computer, notebook or laptop that I can curl up with in my big ol’ leather chair. A book on the other hand is most curl-up-able. I know they take up space and gather dust and wear out but I just don’t think I’ll ever prefer reading a story on an electronic page. Call me crazy.
Annie
Thanks, Annie. I consider that quite a compliment coming from you. Sometimes the muse will just hit me on the head and the words will flow from the wound.
“Curl-up-able”, now there’s a great adjective and it fits perfectly. Curlupableness is a quality that’s definitely lost in the cold, hard, plastic Kindle.
- JOS
July 13, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Michael Lomker
The math that Eric suggested is also a lot more difficult than he suggests. You can download as many free books off of the Internet as you wish onto the Kindle, indeed, with an add-on SIM card you could have thousands of free books in the palm of your hand. Foregoing the free content, many new books cost more than $9.99 to purchase. It’s the cost savings between a new hardcover or bestseller (which you would have purchased anyway) and the e-book that should count toward defraying the cost of the device.
Will it be worth it for everyone? No. If you normally buy your books used then it’ll never pay for itself.
I personally subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, which JOS is correct about it being much cheaper. I also subscribe to a couple weekly news magazines (Time, etc) and I like being able to read the contents each week without wasting the extra trees. For me the only real downside is that pictures don’t work well. It’s a great tool for written content.
Thanks, Michael. I agree, I believe the Kindle would be great for newspapers and magazines, and I could see myself using it for that alone. You also make a good point about the cost of new hardcovers versus the e-book in determining the Kindle’s ROI. With the advent of free e-books from dealers like WOWIO, one might never have to pay for a book again. Still, for me, there’s something about holding those pages in your hand and the smell of the paper and the ink.
- JOS