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Sleepdance

That's why Kindle rocks!

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Some time ago I read somewhere that in America, 98% of books are released in leas than 100 copies, what means that only 2% are released to the wider public if you want to interpretate it that way. This by itself doesn't really matter until someone that is interested in specific book can't find any copies duo to the lack of production. Here is where the Kindle(or any other E-reader) comes in. Amazon should:

a)completly refresh the Kindle shop(more categories, let's say based on language, country,....)

b)sometimes put some 'indie' writers in their advertising

c)add support for more languages

d)try to not just make Kindles avilable, but also, as stupid as it sounds, get them in those stupid talk shows so the general public would get it

e)at the start, give every new some sort of cupon, that gives you some(5) books for free to get you doing

f)if you don't want to earn anything on the book, should do at least something that the book would be free(if not when relesed maybe after 11 monts or something)

g)every normal book that is made avilable through Amazon after certain date, should have a Kindle ekvivalent

h)Amazon should become only a platform provider, not a publisher(in the cases when a publisher wants to put it's book up, not for 'indies', who don't want to lose time with birocracy. For them, Amazon is a perfect publisher).

i)the prices should be significantly lower than the printed ones(here is around 30E for a new book!)

I'll maybe add some more when I think of them and would be glad to add yours.

And to you, yes you, you old granny who says that this things are killing books I say that NO; THEY AREN'T KILLING BOOKS, THEY ARE JUST CHANGING THE MEDIUM THE BOOK IS PRESENTED TO YOU AND EXPANDING THE ACCESABILITY FOR BOOKS, THAT ON THEIR OWN AS ONLY PRINTED WOULDN'T! Sorry, I get pissed off when I hear something like this.

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Yes.

...

What? Let me give you a list of things the Kindle doesn't do; that's why it rocks! :grin:

As long as eReaders are so goddamn expensive, I'm not getting one. When you can get one for 50 or 60 bucks, then it becomes an interesting proposition.

Maybe Kindle isn't the one that's going to do it right. Ah, I'm sure it'll work itself out in time. Maybe a tablet where you can just go to a digital bookstore and buy whatever you want from whichever vendor. Competition in both hardware and software, in my opinion!

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Man, I've been tracking down sources for my Candidate's Thesis and most of them being pdf files I've been dying for an electronic book reader. Too expensive though :(

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Why are you wasting time telling us this Sleepdance? You need to get to Amazon HQ in Seattle right away so you can submit that list to them in person.

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I completely ignore Amazon's Kindle service in favor of Amazon's Audible service, but I fully endorse all of the things you typed. Maybe when I get an iPad I'll start caring more about eBooks. =/

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Am I allowed to say I hate ebooks because trying to read off a screen for long periods of time gives me a migrane? When working on my thesis, most of my sources were also pdfs. I had to print the fuckers because otherwise it was too much for me.

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Kindle, and other e-readers that work with e-ink technology, might not give you that problem. It's more like looking at paper than at a screen.

I am super-psyched to get an e-reader, but not right now. As it is, the technology of e-readers is still too slow and budding. I want it to be faster, more versatile and less rigidly protected against, for instance, home-made PDF's. The business model stinks on all sides: e-books are almost always the same price as regular books, which is bullshit because there are zero production costs. Some e-readers put you in a vice, whereby they only accept one proprietary form of PDF or won't let you 'own' the PDF in the first place, keeping it on their servers. This is all besides the insane cost of the thing.

When all these matters are dealt with in a few years, and the 'format wars' are over (it's risky betting on any one of them now), I'll get one.

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I probably forgot to mention, that this is my opinion about all e-readers, only that I used Kindle as an example because I had most contact with. I'm totally with you on the price, but you must also know, that e-books are curently in it's birth-faze and of course they are expencive. But imagine, with time, when more and more people will buy them, the price will fall(you can sell more copies at lower price and still make better profit). When this happens, and it won't for quite some time, the points I made earlier will make more sense.

P.S.:I'm sorta weird visionary, sorta utopical guy, who has from time to time ideas that don't make any sense to anyone, but I figured that it is better for those ideas to be sad than forgotten(I'll maybe post something about democracy etc.... in the future I hope).

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I so so so want to get one. I'm sick of lugging large books around - but yes, 160 quid is a little much (Sony PRS thing that waterstones is flogging). E-ink screens are pretty bloody good though.

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The specs read like this:

50% better contrast (looks even more like real paper).

You can read in bright sunlight.

Lighter than before.

20% faster page loads.

Holds 3500 books.

Can be used for a month without charging(!).

Includes wifi.

Reads PDFs and Word documents.

Can be used to surf the net (basic browser).

On top of all this, it's the cheapest Kindle they've ever made: Only $139

It all seems pretty nifty, to me.

Also: If you get the more expensive 3G + wifi version, you get completely free 3G access in 100 different countries. (I don't think I'd ever use it, but it's a nice feature!)

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That sounds really good, including the price! Can you put PDF's en DOC's on it via USB or does it need to go through some official channel? What I'm asking is, how open is the system?

I was actually preparing to wait another few generations before making a purchase, but this seems like a big step forward already.

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That sounds really good, including the price! Can you put PDF's en DOC's on it via USB or does it need to go through some official channel? What I'm asking is, how open is the system?

I was actually preparing to wait another few generations before making a purchase, but this seems like a big step forward already.

Yep. You can transfer whatever you want through USB, apparently. Sure does look good!

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Apparently it'll be $99 before too long. I've been toying with the idea of an e-reader. It'd certainly be useful while I'm here in Sweden, save money and space.

Come to think of it, this might be a good shout for Christmas :tup:

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I can't imagine that that will happen for a while considering that they sold out of preorders at last a month before it shipped.

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Is it possible to get this Kindle 3 in Finland? Amazon is a bit tricky with everything else except books, movies and video games.

When is the third Kindle coming out?

That looks really sweet and with such a low price point, it certainly looks like a device I could own.

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Uk. Amazon ships Kindles only inside UK, so you have to order one from America, but since the dollar is lower than pound you could get it at about the same cost even if you include shipping.

Anyway, I've been playing around with the new Kindle. It's still, well..Kindle, but a very perfected one. The UI and the OS(OK, a program that runs it) are pretty much the same. If you already own one it's not so important to upgrade(exapt for PDFs). I did try the reading a little and it's exactly the same, although I had to return it pretty fast so there may be some little changes.

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I'm especially looking forward to reading my own PDF's directly on the machine, as it costs a bundle to keep printing out screenplays and whatever. How is the purchasing of books, do you need a credit card, or are there like Warcraft points or what? :)

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I'm especially looking forward to reading my own PDF's directly on the machine, as it costs a bundle to keep printing out screenplays and whatever. How is the purchasing of books, do you need a credit card, or are there like Warcraft points or what? :)

I think it uses real people moneys.

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Uk. Amazon ships Kindles only inside UK, so you have to order one from America, but since the dollar is lower than pound you could get it at about the same cost even if you include shipping.

Anyway, I've been playing around with the new Kindle. It's still, well..Kindle, but a very perfected one. The UI and the OS(OK, a program that runs it) are pretty much the same. If you already own one it's not so important to upgrade(exapt for PDFs). I did try the reading a little and it's exactly the same, although I had to return it pretty fast so there may be some little changes.

Does it really look like paper?

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