Remember the revolutionary gadget that brought avid readers to an electronic surface? Well you probably don’t because Amazon’s hype about their product didn’t amount to what they had hoped. This is referring to Amazon’s Kindle.
It’s an electronic pad that has a black and white screen that allows you to read articles on a white paper, black ink looking surface. It’s not actually a bad idea. It gives several advantages over buying the daily paper. You can get read many different types of genres on one piece of equipment from; newspapers, online articles, ebooks, and popular literature transferred to digital print. No more fumbling through stacks of papers that you’d like to look through; everything’s organized into one machine. Its thin and has a broad surface that allows you to read easily just like a book’s print size. What Amazon wanted to do with it was to create the same experience people get from reading the newspaper, on to a digital piece of equipment.
Here are the problems. It runs off battery, so you’ll have to keep accounted for the amount of time you have before you have to rush to the wall and be plugged in. It is ONLY a black and white screen designed to make print look nice so there are no video or color picture capabilities. The biggest downfall of the kindle however, is the price. These things run at $359 a piece. No wonder people feel just fine skipping the black and white digital screen for a real paper that costs only $.50 a piece.
Here’s where it gets better. Amazon is now releasing a new version called the Kindle DX. Larger screen, longer battery life, higher price. What? Amazon is generously releasing their new product at $489. The major problem with the Kindles was that they were so expensive in the first place. Not too many people even cared to buy one because of the high price verses lack of compatibility. CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos said “Kindle DX on the inside is a very significant computer. It is a very expensive device to manufacture. We are offering it as inexpensively as we can.” The Kindles are expected to be shipped out this summer.
One thing they may be useful is for academic purposes. Several Universities including Pace University are partnering with Amazon in issuing students a large screened Kindle instead of textbooks. This could potentially help save students hundreds of dollars on textbooks and excessive backpack weight. Important factors would them come into play however. If students invest in a Kindle, would the textbooks in digital print then be provided by the schools for free? The only way that the Kindle would be found useful is through economic success, which it hasn’t achieved yet. We’ll see if the new Kindle revolutionizes the way we read after its release this summer.
More on the Kindle at -
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124162110396691937.html
http://www.tgdaily.com/html_tmp/content-view-42333-97.html
http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/42308/113/
I think this is a really interesting idea. I heard about the kindle last year and wondered if people would actually use something like it. I’m not sure if i would be interested in something like this, or if it would just be a hassle since i don’t read too many books. It would be really nice for textbooks if they came on it, but judging by the black and white screen i’m guessing there aren’t too many. We’ll just have to see how this does in the future.
-seth
http://sethssuperblog.wordpress.com
I really think this might be a waste of time. It seems like a great idea in theory. Everything is going green now but most newspapers and magazines can be found on the internet which everyone already has. And I don’t think that text book publishers would allow there books to go on the Kindle for free. I feel like if I have to pay for the text I’d rather physically have it then have to stare at a screen. Maybe if the gadget did more it’d be successfull so hopefully they’ll come up with something.
These are an interesting idea.. but I feel like they will never actually catch on. I mean most people can now read most books and articles on there computers and yes they are bulky and tough to lug around, but they keep getting increasingly small. the new netbooks.. and the netbooks are almost cheaper the the kindle and other such products… make me wonder why anybody would really want to buy one.
The kindle seems like one of the most honest and genuine efforts to “re-kindle” people’s ability to sit down and realistically read something tangible, and not on a computer screen, even though this device itself has a screen. Either way you look at it, it’s not a bad idea, and it certainly has somewhat of a market. I guess we will see where this one goes.
ooops
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