The Kindle And Me (Tech Thursday)

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of Kindle: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device. It's the new ebook reader from Amazon. Why will this one succeed where others have failed? Two reasons: EVDO and Amazon.

EVDO. This is what separates the Kindle from the competition. Imagine riding on a commuter train and thinking "I'd like to read the latest Grisham novel" and it shows up in seconds on your Kindle. Another cool thing about the Kindle is that you wake up in the morning and your newspaper is already there!

Amazon. Amazon has the clout in the world of business to make this product sell. In addition, they offer authors the ability to easily put their work on the Kindle. They also seem to be pricing the books right. Most books are about half the price of their physical editions.

How successful will it be? In this generation of the product, I believe that it will sell enough among early adopters to encourage Amazon to come out with the next generation. In the next generation, I predict the product will be established as a solid niche player. It appeals especially to those people who spend time traveling either by plane or by train. By the third generation of the product, it has the potential to go main stream. Maybe one day we'll all be reading things like they do on Star Trek, on a hand held device like the Kindle.

What about me? I won't be buying one anytime soon. It's cool but a little too pricey for me. On the other hand, I did put my book, Escape From Email Hell - 10 Email Edicts You Need To Know in the Kindle store. If you own a Kindle, consider downloading a copy.

For a great review of the product from someone who has one, check out my friend Lisa Haneberg's post My New Kindle .

Comments

[Michael Puhala]

I downloaded your book on my Kindle -- I am a big proponent of escaping the anti-productivity black-hole that is email. It's great to hear about a book I am interested in reading and have instant access to it!

One comment about your post. The Kindle does not have WiFi but rather it offers wireless connectivity through Sprint's EVDO cell network. WiFi necessitates the need to find a WiFi hot-spot (i.e. Starbucks) where as Amazon's Whispernet (their official name for the wireless connectivity) is available anywhere you have cell phone coverage.

[Charles Wilkes]

I've had my Kindle since Dec. 4th now, and love it absolutely. It's much easier on my eyes than my computer, and I can read in brightly lit areas, even in bright sunlight -- and I love the outdoors so this is great.

Turning pages is so fast and effortless -- just my right thumb -- that it happens about the same time as it takes my eyes to move from one line to the next -- so I never lose my chain of thought whrn turning pages as I do with analog (old style) books.

Unadvertised, but the Kindle is the best audiobook player I have ever seen. And with my 8 GB SDHC Hich Capacity memory card inserted, I have over 8 GB of memory leting it hold more content than I will ever have time or money to fill up, even with audiobooks which take a lot more room than an ordinary digital book.

Whatever you do, don't pay attention to the nae sayers who badmouth the Kindle without ever using or touching one, or even having never even seen one. They know nothing about it, and just love to flame anything that is new to make it look like they know somthing they don't.

Charles Wilkes, San Jose, Claif.

[Craig Huggart]

Michael:

Thanks for pointing out my error. I think I corrected this and will take a closer look later.

Merry Christmas!

Craig

[avagee]

A cell phone can make a great eReader for simple prose. I have read quite substantial books on my phone. Adding books to something I carry with me always means that there is nothing extra to remember to carry or charge - a productivity, environmental, and $$ bonus. The limited nature of the phone actually seems to help create the intimate 'in the book' feeling.

I get books from http://www.booksinmyphone.com I have internet connectivity on my phone so I can install directly from their mobile website, but you can also install from a PC. They have hundreds of free books that should run in any java enabled phone.

[Craig Huggart]

Charles:

Thanks for the comment. Sounds like you love the Kindle. I hope it's a big hit.

You are the first I've heard talking about the audio quality. I'm glad you shared that.

Enjoy your Kindle!

Craig

[Craig Huggart]

Avagee:

Thanks for the info. I think for most people your solution is the best one: give me books in a format I can read on a device I have.

Glad you shared the link.

By the way, my book, Escape From Email Hell, is available as a pdf via Lulu.com (see the widget in the left side bar).

Have a great one,

Craig