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Amazon debuts the Kindle e-book reader

My BS detector tingles whenever I read a Steven Levy exclusive in Newsweek. And by BS, of course, I mean "big story." As in giant puff piece, spoonfed straight from the company with few details and lots of overblown proclamations. (Anyone remember his 2003 exclusive on threedegrees, Microsoft's now-discontinued attempt to get hip?)

Today's BS is a truly overwritten piece on Amazon's new e-book reader, the $400 Kindle (pictured). It's the size of a paperback, weighs 10 ounces and offers up to 30 hours of reading on a charge. It can hold about 200 books. The Kindle's secret weapon is that it can connect to the Internet wirelessly, allowing the user to browse Amazon's store, buy and download books, and visit Wikipedia and Google.

About 88,000 books are available for the Kindle; most could cost from $2 to $10. Users can subscribe to newspapers and magazines. And Amazon is taking the unusual step of charging customers $1 to $2 a month to read certain blogs. [readmore]

There's an ongoing debate over whether the Kindle is ugly. I think it looks like a prop from the "Star Trek" series. Levy, predictably, calls it "pretty attractive." I'm going to give Amazon the benefit of the doubt and guess that the Kindle will end up being more appealing than what's seen in the picture. It has to be.

There are lots of details missing from the Newsweek story. Will it have a backlight? A browser? Can it access all Web sites? How fast will it download? What kind of DRM does it have? Can it connect to a PC? What audio files can it play? We'll find out more today after Amazon's launch event in New York City.

Update: The announcement is out and more details are here and here. The Kindle plays MP3 files and its e-ink technology means it doesn't require a backlight. It has a low-tech browser that will allow it to access all Web sites but just show the basic text on them.

Sony has a new e-book reader out for $300, and the Kindle will be its main competition this holiday. So what's your verdict, Top Stockers? Would you pay $400 for Amazon's new gadget?

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Comments

 

hell no i wouldnt pay $400 for an e-reader.. ill just buy the book for $10

TripS (Posted 11.19.07 3:39 PM)

My wife and I tried the RCA e-book readers a decade ago. Loved the size and portability, but due to lack of interest from the public or for whatever reason, they stopped offering content. We now have two useless readers gathering dust in a closet somewhere. Tried e-books on my HP IPAQ, but found the format two small and was clicking to turn page every 10 seconds. I'll aproach this with some skepticism. Same could happen again as it did with the RCA readers. Public doesn't embrace concept, interest wains, quality content fades, and your left with another useless reader. Will wait and see.

Todd (Posted 11.19.07 3:44 PM)

The Sony Reader has  been out for a while now and the new one being offered is a new version.  I am a user and a fan but even Sony admits it has not sold well.  But Kindle looks like a real loser . . . I guess everyone is waiting for the iPod version.

John Stone (Posted 11.19.07 3:45 PM)

NO THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!

gruntred (Posted 11.19.07 3:53 PM)

A fool and his money...

Falice (Posted 11.19.07 3:55 PM)

B.S.!

Odhis (Posted 11.19.07 3:58 PM)

Not really.  It's ugly.  I have not seen Sony's version, but I'd would buy theirs without looking at the product based on price and the consistent sleek look all of Sony's products tend to have.

Danny Jesse (Posted 11.19.07 4:00 PM)

Teddy Kowalski is waiting.  He wants to read books on his iPhone while he is sitting on the bowl.

Akbar (Posted 11.19.07 4:06 PM)

I rec'd my Sony Reader back in July.  I love it.

I travel quite frequently for business and find that it is much easier

than toting heavy books around.

I am hoping that the posted photo is just a bad one because

this is an ugly looking unit.

Deckhnd

Kathy Hoffmann (Posted 11.19.07 4:13 PM)

Want to read e-books? Go to gutenberg.org. They got tons. For free.

dave (Posted 11.19.07 4:14 PM)

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