Kindle for 139

[woodstock]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/technology/29kindle.html

This is the wifi version. Apparently there is a non wifi version (cell phone network). For anyone who had the previous kind, how did that work? Did you pay a monthly fee (how much), and to whom, and did it roam internationally?

 

[woodstock]

ps. this one is 3G. Is 3G the same everywhere or would this only work in the US?

http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Read...pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1271001842&pf_rd_i=507846

The reason I ask is that I know one friend who was able to get onto Facebook using her Kindle. I'm not sure if she was able to web browse or not.

 

[ScottM]

Say no to Kindle.

http://www.slate.com/id/2212320

Fear the Kindle!

 

[flyersfan31]

Mrs Flyersfan31 has a Kindle2. We don't pay any phone/internet-type charges.

She loves it.

 

[flyersfan31]

Fear the turtle!

 

[Chip Sylverne]

Bezos said last night on Charlie Rose the 3G model is good globally. Books <$10 in 60 seconds. Display looks great. Battery good for a month. Getting hard not to have one lying around at that money.

 

[wsuffa]

Say no to Kindle.

http://www.slate.com/id/2212320

Fear the Kindle!

Like Apple isn't trying to do the same with the iPad? Gimmeabreak.

Substitute "Apple" for "Amazon" and "iPad" for "Kindle" and you'd be talking exactly the same thing.

Amazon's adopting the tried-and-true model: give away the razor and sell lots of blades.

 

[ScottM]

Like Apple isn't trying to do the same with the iPad? Gimmeabreak.

I never said it wasn't

Substitute "Apple" for "Amazon" and "iPad" for "Kindle" and you'd be talking exactly the same thing.

ADS [Apple Derangement Syndrome]

All of these new fangled eBooks are bad. You are no longer paying for the item, only a license to use it and that license can be revoke at anytime and for jsut about any reason. ePublishing is not a good thing right now.

 

[wsuffa]

I never said it wasn't

ADS [Apple Derangement Syndrome]

All of these new fangled eBooks are bad. You are no longer paying for the item, only a license to use it and that license can be revoke at anytime and for jsut about any reason. ePublishing is not a good thing right now.

I agree. There's something about holding a tangible book that you can read, lend, borrow, or resell. I enjoy browsing used bookstores and flea markets in foreign cities looking for rare or unusual editions. I recall finding some first editions at the Saturday flea market near Plainpalais in Geneve.

Beth: as to your question on 3G, IIRC Amazon has an MVNO deal with Sprint, meaning that (if that is correct) the 3G is pretty much limited to the US. But since Sprint doesn't have much of a WiFi presence compared to the other carriers, Amazon may have cut a new deal with someone else.

 

[wsuffa]

Beth: as to your question on 3G, IIRC Amazon has an MVNO deal with Sprint, meaning that (if that is correct) the 3G is pretty much limited to the US. But since Sprint doesn't have much of a WiFi presence compared to the other carriers, Amazon may have cut a new deal with someone else.

To correct what I just posted, it looks like Amazon has cut a deal with a GSM/3G provider: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200375890#whispintl

I didn't look at all the details, but it appears that the 3G works globally. It also looks like the "free" part only applies for book purchases: other downloads have a fee-per-megabyte.

 

[Ken Ibold]

There's something about holding a tangible book that you can read, lend, borrow, or resell.

Not an ebook user, and I agree that there's something about the feel of holding a book, but you can also lend, borrow or resell an ebook. Perhaps not as conveniently ...

 

[ScottM]

Not an ebook user, and I agree that there's something about the feel of holding a book, but you can also lend, borrow or resell an ebook. Perhaps not as conveniently ...

I would not be so sure about that Ken. Lending an eBook, as in transferring the files to another, is often time a violation of the license agreement.

The Kindle license specially states that you cannot lend the eBook to another person.

Use of Digital Content. Upon your payment of the applicable fees set by Amazon, Amazon grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content and to view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times, solely on the Device or as authorized by Amazon as part of the Service and solely for your personal, non-commercial use. Digital Content will be deemed licensed to you by Amazon under this Agreement unless otherwise expressly provided by Amazon.
Restrictions. Unless specifically indicated otherwise, you may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense or otherwise assign any rights to the Digital Content or any portion of it to any third party, and you may not remove any proprietary notices or labels on the Digital Content. In addition, you may not, and you will not encourage, assist or authorize any other person to, bypass, modify, defeat or circumvent security features that protect the Digital Content.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200399690&#content


This could also be interpreted as you cannot even lend your Kindle out if it has content on it as it was only licensed to the Kindle owner for their personal use.

 

[steingar]

E-books will be really good for the environment. Making paper is a dirty business, and an expensive one. E-books should be really cheap, since you're not paying for materials, just royalties and publicity.

All that said I'll stick to the analog. There is something very special in the relationship between a reader and his or her book. I'll be a dinosaur yet, if I'm not one already.