Comments

Please, do post that review, Tom, and answer the question that's been bugging me these last few days - "Why?"

I'm still having trouble working out what problem the Kindle actually solves for me. I can fit 4 books plus the laptop into the laptop bag... and up to 20 into hold baggage without running foul of the weight rules.

I've seen comparisons of the Kindle to the iPod, but that missed the point as far as I'm concerned. A CD-walkman, or even a tape walkman, was a player for a type of media (medium?) A book is both player AND content in one easy package. The iPod was just a new type of player to replace the one I already had when that finally broke.

(This is quite apart from the whole "feeling" I associate with having a decent library, or a decent book, which having a home fileserver just doesn't do for me.)

Mark in surprisingly chilly Sussex, England

Posted by Mak Harrison at November 21, 2007 4:42 PM

Mak, Interesting topic. Over on KRConnect Kevin was talking about a UK library that revamped and has gone full on into the cafe et al. Kevin seems to want to see a fully digital library environment with cafe, shops and so on. I could feel myself clinging to my copies of Christie crying.. "nooooooooooo".

I guess I ask broader social questions e.g. what are we trading off and indeed losing by suggested commercialisation? Any man and his canine can tell you the benefits but few (in the same field) talk losses. Further: Are we teaching children that everything has to have a whizz bang effect to be interesting and worthwhile? Are we somehow starting to suggest that the paperback is archaic and unfortunate? And one can hardly rationalise prevention of paper waste when the readers may be made from non-renewable resources, create pollution in the making, can't break down in the environment and so on.

I understand portability and accessibility but as you suggest Mak, a book already has that.

I guess I'd like to see a celebration of 'library and book' in association with any contemporary changes to traditional space. By all means create a digital area and a cafe but not to overwhelm the library and replace it, but to act as companions.

Maybe I'll feel different in 5 years.

Posted by Susan Plunkett at November 21, 2007 6:27 PM

I feel strangely familiar here, I don't do a lot of reading but when I want the info It's great to flip through a few pages and find what I want. Imagine a bookshop that was just video monitors and a searchable database... not today thanks.
I like the idea of an E book but "flipability" is the big loss here.

Posted by Steve Gray at November 21, 2007 7:59 PM

Oh how I wanted this thing....The primary advantage is the number of books I can carry without renting a cart to haul them around. But....it is the ugliest piece of technology I have seen in a very long time. I would have thought Amazon would have gotten design down a little better...I will not be ordering one. Have you seen this thing??? Looks like retro TI calculator or maybe the early portable computers....this thing is really not very cool.....

Posted by Mike Neiss at November 22, 2007 10:03 AM

I'm looking forward to Tom's review. Most the reviews I've seen so far come from people that haven't even held one in their hands! I see legions of Sonyites flooding Amazon with negative reviews.

Mike has a point - it does look a little clunky. And the price point seems a little high to me, especially versus the Sony product. But I like the idea of reducing the weight of my briefcase by a few pounds. And there also appears to be a price savings in the books themselves.

But I can't see getting my WSJ downloaded every morning. There's something special about the rustle of the pages, the threat of ink stained hands and even the smell of newsprint that brings value to an actual newspaper.

Posted by Brian Tingley at November 26, 2007 1:25 PM

I love my Kindle. It's not a "pretty" device and it's not "slick," but I can carry a few dozen volumes with me and keep all of my notes and annotations (in searchable .txt format) at my fingertips.

For me the greatest value thus far is as a writing/research tool. The ability to select text, have it annotated and copied to a "notes" file, then copied to my computer (as a DRM-free .txt file) upon sync is priceless. It's already saved me a lot of "re-copying" time.

Posted by Todd Henry at November 27, 2007 9:32 PM