Amazon reveals $79 Kindle • Hacker News Board

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#11

Post by jonknee » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:00 PM UTC

shoota wrote: post #9

AzAngel wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They used to, but then the publishers forced them to accept the agency model of e-book pricing.

Actually, I believe it was Apple who promoted the agency model on the iPad which forced Amazon to convert to the agency model as well.

It was still the publishers, Apple just made themselves into a poker chip the publishers could use to play against Amazon.

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#12

Post by shoota » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:04 PM UTC

jonknee wrote: post #11

shoota wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, I believe it was Apple who promoted the agency model on the iPad which forced Amazon to convert to the agency model as well.

It was still the publishers, Apple just made themselves into a poker chip the publishers could use to play against Amazon.

Sure ultimately it was the publisher's decision to go to the agency model but if Apple and Amazon held firm it would have been a win for the consumer. Apple decided to take a swipe at one of its competitors which in the end hurt consumers by allowing for ebooks to be priced artificially.

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#13

Post by pdw » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:10 PM UTC

gerlv wrote: post #4

Price of this Kindle in the UK: £89 = $139. ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kindle-Wi-Fi-6-Ink-Display/dp/B0051Q... )

Europe gets the ad-free version, which costs $109 in the US. Add 20% UK VAT and that becomes $131 or £84. Amazon's price is pretty reasonable.

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#14

Post by raju » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:23 PM UTC

Does anyone use the Kindle for technical books? If so, how does it fare? For the $79/$99 it's not a big price to pay, but I have 10s, if not 100s of PDFs that I would like to keep and read (reading on the iPad isn't working out for me).

Any thoughts?

Update: Just saw fribblerz's comment about the DX. But I am still curious about the other Kindles.

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#15

Post by rbanffy » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:26 PM UTC

zeratul wrote: post #3

Actually, the announcement is now at the Amazon's home page. Next step: make e-books cheaper! http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-version-expensive-paperback-ver...

> Next step: make e-books cheaper!

Don't sell your freedoms that easily. I'd rather have Amazon sell the DRM-free.

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#16

Post by bretthoerner » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:33 PM UTC

raju wrote: post #14

Does anyone use the Kindle for technical books? If so, how does it fare? For the $79/$99 it's not a big price to pay, but I have 10s, if not 100s of PDFs that I would like to keep and read (reading on the iPad isn't working out for me). Any thoughts? Update: Just saw fribblerz's comment about the DX. But I am still curious about the other Kindles.

I love my Kindle, but I think it's awful for anything with graphics, tables, code, etc. Basically: if it's not free-flowing text you're not going to enjoy it on an e-ink Kindle, imo.

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#17

Post by tom_b » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:37 PM UTC

raju wrote: post #14

Does anyone use the Kindle for technical books? If so, how does it fare? For the $79/$99 it's not a big price to pay, but I have 10s, if not 100s of PDFs that I would like to keep and read (reading on the iPad isn't working out for me). Any thoughts? Update: Just saw fribblerz's comment about the DX. But I am still curious about the other Kindles.

I actually read PDFs pretty frequently on my Kindle. I usually set it to landscape mode.

I used briss to convert some big pdf books (On Lisp and I think a free version of SICP) so they would be a little more readable. briss does some clipping of the margins.

I love tech books in print form, but I prefer a tech book I can drop on the kindle now. The raw convenience of the kindle wins out for me.

If the DX gets cheap, I may be forced to grab one. I won't be upgrading to the new color device.

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#18

Post by tom_b » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:39 PM UTC

bretthoerner wrote: post #16

raju wrote: post #14

Does anyone use the Kindle for technical books? If so, how does it fare? For the $79/$99 it's not a big price to pay, but I have 10s, if not 100s of PDFs that I would like to keep and read (reading on the iPad isn't working out for me). Any thoughts? Update: Just saw fribblerz's comment about the DX. But I am still curious about the other Kindles.

I love my Kindle, but I think it's awful for anything with graphics, tables, code, etc. Basically: if it's not free-flowing text you're not going to enjoy it on an e-ink Kindle, imo.

Second that code is awful (it wraps funny, even in landscape mode). But . . . I hate buying dead tree books that expire in two versions. Admittedly not a huge concern, but still.

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#19

Post by sliverstorm » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:41 PM UTC

raju wrote: post #14

Does anyone use the Kindle for technical books? If so, how does it fare? For the $79/$99 it's not a big price to pay, but I have 10s, if not 100s of PDFs that I would like to keep and read (reading on the iPad isn't working out for me). Any thoughts? Update: Just saw fribblerz's comment about the DX. But I am still curious about the other Kindles.

You basically need a DX for PDF's. The smaller screen requires more zooming and navigating, which is a pain due to the performance lag.

Of course, this can be avoided if they are not PDF out of neccesity. If the book is all text, not heavily formatted, and you just have it in PDF for convienience, look into getting an eBook copy.

Note: I use a 2nd gen Kindle. The newer models might be a little snappier.

Re: Amazon reveals $79 Kindle

#20

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Sep 28, 2011, 5:43 PM UTC

raju wrote: post #14

Does anyone use the Kindle for technical books? If so, how does it fare? For the $79/$99 it's not a big price to pay, but I have 10s, if not 100s of PDFs that I would like to keep and read (reading on the iPad isn't working out for me). Any thoughts? Update: Just saw fribblerz's comment about the DX. But I am still curious about the other Kindles.

[deleted]