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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

#21

Post by alecco »

evilduck wrote: post #19
barrkel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Books about specific versions of software, yes. On the other hand other technical books, like CS, are a very different case and age slowly.

But following your example, Amazon sells "Learning Python" 2009 paperback for $34.64, while the Kindle /license/ version for the same edition is $25.75! And note the paperback version includes shipping costs. Paying 3/4 of the price for just a license on a single device is ridiculous, IMHO.

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

#22

Post by pmcginn »

alecco wrote: post #21
evilduck wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Books about specific versions of software, yes. On the other hand other technical books, like CS, are a very different case and age slowly. But following your example, Amazon sells "Learning Python" 2009 paperback for $34.64, while the Kindle /license/ version for the same edition is $25.75! And note the paperback version includes shipping costs. Paying 3/4 of the price for just a license on a single device is ridicu…

Sorry, but does Learning Python 2009 really have a single-device restriction?

Every single book I've purchased for my Kindle will work on my android phone, my Windows VM, and my Kindle. If I had an iPhone/iPad/iPod I could read on those as well. And they all sync, which means I am quite literally always have dozens of books with me. If I run down to the store and grab nothing more than my keys, phone, and wallet, I can catch up with my Instapaper queue while I wait on line.

If I go on a short weekend trip, I don't have to use up a fifth of my luggage on books so that I can have a book for the plane ride there and another for the ride back. If I'm stuck in an airport with nothing to read, I can jump online and download any one of over 600,000 titles (and that's just from Amazon! I also have the option of grabbing a free book from manybooks on my phone and emailing it to my kindle account.) If you want to talk about ridiculous pricing, go pay fucking $29.95 for a new hardcover in an airport and try not to appreciate having greater convenience and selection at under half the price in the space of half of a magazine in your bag.

I've been accused of being minimalist or utilitarian, and I can't wait for the day when I can afford to rebuy all of my hardcovers in an ebook format and dump the lot of them on a local library.

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

#23

Post by chrisbolt »

dotBen wrote: post #10
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…

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. My partner is an author with a mainstream publisher and actually, Kindle offers a lot of opportunity for writers to publish independently and make more $$$. An indie publisher can take take 75% of the profits from their Kindle sales. If Kindle as a format takes off then it removes the power…

DRM on Kindle is optional.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-19882_3-10439335-250.html

And iTunes didn't go mp3, they just dropped DRM. It's still mp4.

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

#24

Post by [deleted] »

pmcginn wrote: post #22
alecco wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Books about specific versions of software, yes. On the other hand other technical books, like CS, are a very different case and age slowly. But following your example, Amazon sells "Learning Python" 2009 paperback for $34.64, while the Kindle /license/ version for the same edition is $25.75! And note the paperback version includes shipping costs. Paying 3/4 of the price for just a license on a single device is ridicu…

Sorry, but does Learning Python 2009 really have a single-device restriction? Every single book I've purchased for my Kindle will work on my android phone, my Windows VM, and my Kindle. If I had an iPhone/iPad/iPod I could read on those as well. And they all sync, which means I am quite literally always have dozens of books with me. If I run down to the store and grab nothing more than my keys, phone, and wallet, I c…

[deleted]

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

#25

Post by aberkowitz »

zzzmarcus wrote: post #20

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 pe…

In every new medium is missing a few endearing qualities of its predecessor - qualities which can never be replicated no matter how hard you try.

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

#26

Post by barrkel »

evilduck wrote: post #19
barrkel wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Almost every computer-related book I buy is theory or pragmatics related in the compilers, languages and type theory field. They're good for decades, for the most part.

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

#27

Post by bambax »

The only thing that prevents me from using a Kindle is DRM: I want to be able to backup and really "own" the books I buy, and read them in whichever device I choose (or Notepad).

Does Amazon realize how terrifying the '1984 incident' was?

On the other hand, Amazon doesn't need to lift DRM: a crack would suffice. Any news on this front?

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

#28

Post by gst »

bambax wrote: post #27

The only thing that prevents me from using a Kindle is DRM: I want to be able to backup and really "own" the books I buy, and read them in whichever device I choose (or Notepad). Does Amazon realize how terrifying the '1984 incident' was? On the other hand, Amazon doesn't need to lift DRM: a crack would suffice. Any news on this front?

Sure - just Google for "mobidedrm.py" (and verify that you have the latest version - there are some old versions out there).

One note of caution: Most Amazon books are encoded in the Mobipocket format and can be easily cracked. However, there are some (few) books in another format (AZW) which cannot be cracked yet. It is possible to find out in which format a book is before you buy it.

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

#29

Post by jerrell »

zzzmarcus wrote: post #20

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 pe…

That's a nice idea!

To be honest though, my concern about bookcases is more about accessibility and DRM than it is about the physical and aesthetic value.

There is something special about physically browsing shelves, but what really worries me is that my collection of books will have no single 'library' containing them in 20 years - whether physical or electronic.

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

#30

Post by golgo13 »

I love going to my local book stores here in Austin. I feel kinda bad when I buy something for the Kindle app on my iPad instead of the physical books. But having the ability to read a book on the iPad, or my laptop or my T-Mobile MyTouch is a killer feature.
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