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How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

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Re: How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

#11

Post by sliverstorm »

alecco wrote: post #7

I refuse to pay full price for a digital edition you don't own and can't resell or lend. Most of my best books are in the hands of friends and family or given away to somebody who would use them. If the electronic version had a reduced price I wouldn't mind. Even if it was for a limited time, like renting the book. But full price? You got to be kidding. Also the authors are still getting scammed by the industry and o…

Very few ebooks I've bought have been full price. They are typically 50-75%. I suspect you see equal pricing mostly on very new books. I also expect the market to shift. I have been known multiple times in the past to pay $0.99 for a nicely formatted digital edition of a public work I could download (raw text or broken formatting) for free or buy at a booksale for $0.49; one of these days, people will pay MORE for ALL digital books, because it will be worth more to them.

> Also the authors are still getting scammed by the industry and only see a tiny fraction of what the buyer pays. This is not it.

Ok, first I think the idea that we should reject groundbreaking advances because they haven't fixed every problem by themselves is insane. Second, it really is opening the door for authors to get a larger cut. The industry had the authors by the neck because the authors depended on a lot of the value the industry added (publishing, editing, advertising, etc). Many authors still rely on those things, but with digital distribution it is now POSSIBLE, for authors who are willing, to do it (at least mostly) on your own.

Re: How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

#12

Post by sliverstorm »

russellallen wrote: post #8

I've got floppy disks and zip drives and old, dead hard drives full of stuff which I can't run or read. And that's for files that I created on hardware I own. Amazon as a company is only 15 years old - will it be around in 50 years? Any given Kindle will only last for a few years - will I always be able to afford to buy a new one? Will they always be available to buy? It is a big issue for me that I can't buy an eboo…

If you are concerned you will not be able to download them in the future, archive them now. With sane file storage and backups, you can keep them around. I have managed to hang on to files I made when I was 12 all the way up to present adulthood; surely an adult can manage to do the same. (hint: it's a lot easier to do once you accept the dominance of .doc and .jpg, and sign up for Dropbox)

As for Kindles only lasting a few years- they may introduce a new version, but the beauty of computers as appliances is they will last as long as their battery and 120 volts hang around. I have an ipod from the beginning of ipods; the only reason I haven't repaired the battery is I no longer depend on it to listen to music.

Lastly, before you worry if your Kindle will last for the decades-to-centuries range, and elect to use books instead, recall that books themselves must be carefully printed, stored and used to last 50 years.

Re: How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

#14

Post by kjuhygtfrde »

sliverstorm wrote: post #13
kjuhygtfrde wrote: post #2

He read his parents books! They had been licensed for the original purchasers use only - it's this sort of piracy that funds drug dealing and terrorism

There really is nothing more un-American.

...queue scary advert voice ....

You wouldn't borrow another person's car or wife - reading other people's books is theft.

Re: How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

#15

Post by kjuhygtfrde »

sliverstorm wrote: post #12
russellallen wrote: post #8

I've got floppy disks and zip drives and old, dead hard drives full of stuff which I can't run or read. And that's for files that I created on hardware I own. Amazon as a company is only 15 years old - will it be around in 50 years? Any given Kindle will only last for a few years - will I always be able to afford to buy a new one? Will they always be available to buy? It is a big issue for me that I can't buy an eboo…

If you are concerned you will not be able to download them in the future, archive them now. With sane file storage and backups, you can keep them around. I have managed to hang on to files I made when I was 12 all the way up to present adulthood; surely an adult can manage to do the same. (hint: it's a lot easier to do once you accept the dominance of .doc and .jpg, and sign up for Dropbox) As for Kindles only lastin…

You are probably too young to remember the days before MS Office domination.

It's a good job that some of the stuff before Windows95 actually got printed out.

ps. suppose Amazon decide to stop Kindle, or get a better deal from the publisher - or just decide all your existing ebooks don't work on kindle 4. Just like Walmart did with their online music service. With the wonders of DRM you can't back up a copy of the ebook, it only works as long as Amazon's licence servers work.

Re: How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

#16

Post by [deleted] »

kjuhygtfrde wrote: post #15
sliverstorm wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are concerned you will not be able to download them in the future, archive them now. With sane file storage and backups, you can keep them around. I have managed to hang on to files I made when I was 12 all the way up to present adulthood; surely an adult can manage to do the same. (hint: it's a lot easier to do once you accept the dominance of .doc and .jpg, and sign up for Dropbox) As for Kindles only lastin…

You are probably too young to remember the days before MS Office domination. It's a good job that some of the stuff before Windows95 actually got printed out. ps. suppose Amazon decide to stop Kindle, or get a better deal from the publisher - or just decide all your existing ebooks don't work on kindle 4. Just like Walmart did with their online music service. With the wonders of DRM you can't back up a copy of the eb…

[deleted]

Re: How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

#17

Post by sliverstorm »

kjuhygtfrde wrote: post #15
sliverstorm wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are concerned you will not be able to download them in the future, archive them now. With sane file storage and backups, you can keep them around. I have managed to hang on to files I made when I was 12 all the way up to present adulthood; surely an adult can manage to do the same. (hint: it's a lot easier to do once you accept the dominance of .doc and .jpg, and sign up for Dropbox) As for Kindles only lastin…

You are probably too young to remember the days before MS Office domination. It's a good job that some of the stuff before Windows95 actually got printed out. ps. suppose Amazon decide to stop Kindle, or get a better deal from the publisher - or just decide all your existing ebooks don't work on kindle 4. Just like Walmart did with their online music service. With the wonders of DRM you can't back up a copy of the eb…

I know it's not a panacea. I'm basically betting they will either survive, move to an open format, or someone will crack the .azw

Re: How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

#18

Post by jseliger »

petercooper wrote: post #4

I was pretty negative on the Kindle over time. Mostly because of its abysmal typography and fonts. But I bought a Kindle 3 because "it's so cheap" and because I plan to release some books for it and wanted to test direct. And.. I'm won over. The typography still isn't great, but the form factor and the ease with which I can read the screen for longer periods is much welcomed.

I bought one a while ago and find I don't use it as much as I'd hoped: http://jseliger.com/2010/09/29/the-last-word-on-this-version... .

Re: How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

#19

Post by evilduck »

barrkel wrote: post #9
alecco wrote: post #7

I refuse to pay full price for a digital edition you don't own and can't resell or lend. Most of my best books are in the hands of friends and family or given away to somebody who would use them. If the electronic version had a reduced price I wouldn't mind. Even if it was for a limited time, like renting the book. But full price? You got to be kidding. Also the authors are still getting scammed by the industry and o…

This is key: digital edition books are way overpriced compared to second-hand books. Personally, I slightly prefer second-hand fiction books to new books. There's something about the book being a bit worn, having some history in human hands, rather than being the product of mechanized industry and being shipped out of a factory into your hands. And I delight in having a book that's perfect for lending (usually means…

Fiction maybe, but nonfiction, especially computer related books, second-hand is near worthless. How valuable is a book on Python 2.2 today? Cost cutting with digital versions is a very welcome change.

Re: How I got a preview of the Kindle 3 – and totally geeked out

#20

Post by zzzmarcus »

Here's an idea:

A touch screen bookshelf replacement. A large screen you could hang up as a virtual bookshelf with an interface similar to Delicious Monster / iBooks.

You could flip through your books and still see the cover art and enjoy browsing them in a size comparable to that of as a paper book.

Your kids could still see that books have "physical" presence in your house.

You could still show your books off to people visiting your house.

The shelf would also incorporate sharing. You could drag a book from your shelf to one of your devices shown as an icon on the screen or share it via an email address.

As a starting point you could have this an app for Google TV and Apple TV (when/if they open it to apps), but ideally it'd be touch screen.

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