NYT review of Amazon's new "Kindle" (wireless electronic book)

[Bozita]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/technology/techspecial2/05kindle.html

December 5, 2007
‘Real Books’ Are Great, Except in Your Luggage

By SAUL HANSELL
FOR someone who is both technologically adventurous and an avid reader, this may be the perfect holiday season.

You might never have found yourself thinking, You know, this book doesn’t have enough buttons. Even so, the ability to buy any of tens of thousands of volumes virtually instantly, and to carry hundreds of volumes in your briefcase or carry-on bag, might be enough to attract you, or someone on your gift list, to the newest gadget this time of year: a wireless electronic book.

People have been trying to build e-books for years. But few people have decided to become e-readers. Two technologies are improving these devices.

First, there is E Ink, which creates crisp black-and-white displays that are easier on the eyes and use less power than the screens used on cellphones and laptop computers. Sony’s Reader, introduced last year, was the first mainstream device to use E Ink.

The second innovation is the use of wireless data networks to load books and other information onto the e-readers. The Kindle, designed by Amazon.com, which knows a thing or two about books, connects to the Internet through Sprint’s cellphone network.

The Kindle costs $399, while the Sony Reader is $299. But the wireless feature makes Amazon’s new e-reader a far more alluring product. It provides access, with just a few clicks, to a version of Amazon’s well-developed bookstore, with reader reviews, suggested titles and the rest of Amazon’s features.

more...

[I_Will]

1. Kindle=book, huh? Wasn't that a main element in "Farenheit 451"

just askin'

First intuition: torn between :sarcasm: and :tinfoilhat:

Maybe it's simply like when they tried to sell Chevy Novas in Latin America ("no va" = "it doesn't go").

[NashVegas]

2. But Can You Take It Into the Bathtub?

I'll be curious to see if this does to the book-making industry what mp3 players are doing to CDs.