Cool pic and nice run down. Thanks for the post.
Edit: I dig your wallpaper as well. How excited are you that Whedon is helming The Avengers flick?
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Amazon Announces New Kindles: $139 Wi-Fi, $189 3G
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Cool pic and nice run down. Thanks for the post.
Edit: I dig your wallpaper as well. How excited are you that Whedon is helming The Avengers flick?
It would be nice to have one device that did everything.
I'm a portable techno tart and an apple tart.
OK - you don't want a phone the size of an iPad or Kindle.
What I've found is, specifically as an eBook reader...
- iPad screen is too bright
- iPad you can read in the dark, but see other limitations
- iPad is too heavy to read "normally" holding it for extended periods
- Size of page is very nice
- Colour isn't helpful for eBooks (comics, magazines etc - OK, nice)
- Can't read in strong light
- Pictures very good - but I read novels so irrelevant
- Can flip 90 degrees (not really useful for reading)
- Small (white) kindle screen is very good
- page size and number of lines/words slightly annoying being a small screen
- need a light source like a book
- can read anywhere you can read a book
- grey scale pictures quite good (although irrelevant to me)
- Big (grey) kindle screen contrast is very, very good
- I can see why it is grey, it helps make the screen appear clearer
- Big screen size is nice, fewer page turns
- Pictures are very good is grey and irrelevant to me
- It is bordering on too big and heavy, not as bad as the iPad, but still not great for a long read
- Can flip 90 degrees (not really useful for reading)
I think I've read 10 books on the iPad, 40-50 on the little white kindle and 3 on the big grey kindle.
I think the new little grey kindle is a good move. Assuming it has the good screen contrast. It's the right size and weight.
I've not touched on book availability (kindle win), book price (kindle win) or being able to watch movies, browse, run useful apps etc etc (iPad win).
If you want mobile consumer computing and a good eReader you need two "things" at the moment.
Publishers need to get their act together as well. Book availability is OK on the Kindle, but not great. Paperback release dates (not hardback) and not stocking some / enough books of all types. I'm sold on ebooks but I still need to buy some "legacy" books to keep reading what I want to when I want to.
I also think that the iPad could be improved as a user experience for all the things we use it for if it were lighter. Aluminium and glass is "cool" looking and initial feel, but it is heavy. I guess it is greenly recyclable as well. But a nasty hydrocarbon plastic iPad which is lighter might be a better device to use. Like the plastic MacBook. Not sure what the technology / ruggedness implication of this would be.
Great post, thanks for all that info. Really useful to hear the opinion of someone w/ a variety of experience on both sides.
I think I am in the minority about this, but I have both a Kindle and iPad and much prefer the iPad for ereading. Mostly because of two things. The first is I prefer the iBooks app. Second, is because I read in bed (never outdoors). I can keep the lights off and still read.
I actually think it will cut into sales, a little bit. The money people have is limited. There are people out there who have x amount of money. If they buy a $139 device, then they have more money for other stuff. Spending $139 on a Kindle will also likely prevent them from buying an iPad in addition.
The thing is, owning an iPad is not a necessity. It's a luxury item. There is nothing an iPad can do that another device cannot. There is no such thing as needing an iPad. There are some people who would rather drop $139 instead of $499 and they can just continue to use their laptop.
I don't know that we (I agree with you) are necessarily in the minority since from what anyone can tell without Amazon's cooperation there seem to already have been more iPads sold than Kindles to date.
The one absolute advantage a Kindle has is when you want to read outdoors. If you are someone who mostly reads at the beach or by the pool (in which case I wish I had your life), the Kindle is for you. But for those of us who like to read in bed at night (and this can apply to all of us), the iPad is far superior. It's nice to read with the lights out, the iPad screen dimmed to a comfortable level, and be able to enjoy a book in a condition that the Kindle would be useless in.
So ask yourself if you are at the beach more often than you are in bed. I'm not, so it's the iPad for me.
this will definitely tempt way more people including myself. I think at this price the kindle may actually take off.
I think this was a great move by amazon. It really makes the Kindle stand out from the iPad, and is quite appealing. Free 3G book downloads? That's amazing.
nobody in their right mind can think of spending hard-saved iPad money to buy a kindle! its like a premature ejaculation, you hold it till you get it, you don't take the easy way out! you save for an iPad for next year! come on!! think people think!!
for those of you who have money to spend, get both if you want to, but you will find it rare to say, while on the kindle: "this feels better than my iPad".. so for the niche of people that reads in direct sunlight AND have some sort of disability to not be able to hold an ipad for 4+ hours then yeah, ok you got what you wanted, move along, nothing to see here .
for those of you who have money to spend, get both if you want to, but you will find it rare to say, while on the kindle: "this feels better than my iPad".. so for the niche of people that reads in direct sunlight AND have some sort of disability to not be able to hold an ipad for 4+ hours then yeah, ok you got what you wanted, move along, nothing to see here .
It would be nice to have one device that did everything.
I'm a portable techno tart and an apple tart.
OK - you don't want a phone the size of an iPad or Kindle.
What I've found is, specifically as an eBook reader...
- iPad screen is too bright
- iPad you can read in the dark, but see other limitations
- iPad is too heavy to read "normally" holding it for extended periods
- Size of page is very nice
- Colour isn't helpful for eBooks (comics, magazines etc - OK, nice)
- Can't read in strong light
- Pictures very good - but I read novels so irrelevant
- Can flip 90 degrees (not really useful for reading)
- Small (white) kindle screen is very good
- page size and number of lines/words slightly annoying being a small screen
- need a light source like a book
- can read anywhere you can read a book
- grey scale pictures quite good (although irrelevant to me)
- Big (grey) kindle screen contrast is very, very good
- I can see why it is grey, it helps make the screen appear clearer
- Big screen size is nice, fewer page turns
- Pictures are very good is grey and irrelevant to me
- It is bordering on too big and heavy, not as bad as the iPad, but still not great for a long read
- Can flip 90 degrees (not really useful for reading)
I think I've read 10 books on the iPad, 40-50 on the little white kindle and 3 on the big grey kindle.
I think the new little grey kindle is a good move. Assuming it has the good screen contrast. It's the right size and weight.
I've not touched on book availability (kindle win), book price (kindle win) or being able to watch movies, browse, run useful apps etc etc (iPad win).
If you want mobile consumer computing and a good eReader you need two "things" at the moment.
Publishers need to get their act together as well. Book availability is OK on the Kindle, but not great. Paperback release dates (not hardback) and not stocking some / enough books of all types. I'm sold on ebooks but I still need to buy some "legacy" books to keep reading what I want to when I want to.
I also think that the iPad could be improved as a user experience for all the things we use it for if it were lighter. Aluminium and glass is "cool" looking and initial feel, but it is heavy. I guess it is greenly recyclable as well. But a nasty hydrocarbon plastic iPad which is lighter might be a better device to use. Like the plastic MacBook. Not sure what the technology / ruggedness implication of this would be.
This is one of the dumbest comparisons I've ever read. iPad screen too bright? Turn it down! Kindle's terrible screen that you overpay for by $130 currently looks great?
unbelievable.
well, if my main interest was reading books i could easily see myself saying I'm not going to spend $500 on a wifi iPad but instead buy a 3G Kindle for $189. Yes, less functionality but as said if reading is the main use then this would be a good choice.
I'm thinking about getting a 3G Kindle for reading on the beach because it is the better screen, more robust device and less finacial damage if it breaks or gets stolen.
This is one of the dumbest comparisons I've ever read. iPad screen too bright? Turn it down! Kindle's terrible screen that you overpay for by $130 currently looks great?
unbelievable.
the iPad screen is too bright for reading in the dark even when you turn the brightness down. The kindle has the far superior screen to read out side or in rooms with strong overhead lights like airports.
The comparison is valid and not dumb at all. You just don't understand it.
Now this is an excellent reason to get a Kindle. It's now cheap enough you can justify buying one simply to have a device to use in bright sunshine. The rest of the time you use the iPad for everything, but when you want to go to where the salt air is blowing and the sun is shining and sand is getting into things, a cheap Kindle is better for throwing into the beach bag.
Amazon is pricing this as a cheap companion device.
I've got both, and they've kind of fit into different roles. When I want to just sit down and read a book, Kindle wins. If I want to read while walking on the treadmill at the gym, Kindle wins because I'm not going to take the iPad to the gym.
When I'm doing other things or trying to unwind before bed, iPad wins out. Usually I start out reading some web pages or watching a video then decide I want to keep reading some book. Weight isn't really an issue for me, and if the screen is dimmed or reverse contrast it's not too hard to read.
I like the iBooks app better than the Kindle app, but I like being able to sync between Kindle and iPad. But the Kindle store is awesome on the Kindle, and terrible on the iPad. Also, the dictionary is so slow and cumbersome on the Kindle I often won't bother using it and skip the word. But on the iPad Kindle, there's no dictionary at all! iBooks wins there - super fast interface.
Sounds like you've never commuted to work on a train or traveled for business. Lots of people want to be able to open briefcase/messenger bag, turn on Kindle, and be able to read today's WSJ or NYT.
The lack of color is a no-buy for me. I understand and like the eInk but there are some things I read which do have color. If we are talking about a true replacement for physical books, the reason I would buy a Kindle, then it needs to handle text as well as color. The iPad is great at color but not as good as black/gray eInk tech where the Kindle wins out. I really like the Kindle's lower weight as I can't hold the iPad as easily to really read a book comfortably in many different positions.
I also think Amazon needs to get to a better standard for eBook publishing. Their format is difficult to do from a publishing stand point compared to what Apple is using via "open source" publishing. I mention this because I work with producing content and have done a few books. We recently looked at eBooks and are going with the iBook store to start out just due to the difficulty in getting formatting in to a Kindle version. Great for a large publisher but smaller ones like us is difficult.
I do like the fact there is a Kindle app for the iPad. This I think is essential for the future. I can see a day where both the iPad and Kindle live in harmony. The iPad working to be more of a laptop replacement and the Kindle really being a physical book replacement. I can read a book on the Kindle and then later read the same book on my iPad through the Kindle app and pick up a day later in the same spot on my Kindle.
Bottom line for me - glad to see the Kindle continue and improve. Competition is good and there is room for improvement. I hope the competition drives better availability of all type of books and paper media.
One last side note - I think a winning feature of an ebook reader would be a smell function where a book would have that paper smell
I also think Amazon needs to get to a better standard for eBook publishing. Their format is difficult to do from a publishing stand point compared to what Apple is using via "open source" publishing. I mention this because I work with producing content and have done a few books. We recently looked at eBooks and are going with the iBook store to start out just due to the difficulty in getting formatting in to a Kindle version. Great for a large publisher but smaller ones like us is difficult.
I do like the fact there is a Kindle app for the iPad. This I think is essential for the future. I can see a day where both the iPad and Kindle live in harmony. The iPad working to be more of a laptop replacement and the Kindle really being a physical book replacement. I can read a book on the Kindle and then later read the same book on my iPad through the Kindle app and pick up a day later in the same spot on my Kindle.
Bottom line for me - glad to see the Kindle continue and improve. Competition is good and there is room for improvement. I hope the competition drives better availability of all type of books and paper media.
One last side note - I think a winning feature of an ebook reader would be a smell function where a book would have that paper smell
And they can afford to, because most people won't pirate books (a lot of people don't know that it's possible). They don't really care about making a significant profit on the hardware, although it was nice to do so in the past.
I'd expect to see eReaders under $100 bucks (probably the Wi-Fi versions) this Christmas. They'll be extremely popular.
Also, they function well in the sun, and as you said, the lower price is a much bigger incentive to use the device everywhere (versus an iPad, which is more fragile and more attractive for theft). When the $99 device breaks, you're upset, but unless you're loaded you're going to be more than upset if the $499 device gets damaged.
One last side note - I think a winning feature of an ebook reader would be a smell function where a book would have that paper smell
Go patent that idea quickly.
Exactly what I was thinking. Being "limited" to only downloading new e-books when I'm in range of a Wi-Fi network... isn't a significant limitation at all. Plus, at $139, the price is finally making some sense.
I know people who love their iPads - my daughter being one - but in its current form I haven't been able to justify getting one for myself. I've got an iPod Touch, and I've got a MacBook Air. The iPad isn't really all that much smaller than my laptop, and the main downside to my Touch is the e-reading experience on the small screen. This new Kindle would fill that niche nicely, and at a price I don't have to think too hard about.
The main shortcoming is still sharing. Amazon *has* to get over this silly limitation that all linked devices (for sharing) have to be registered with the same account. And you still can't buy an ebook as a present for someone! No, you have to buy a gift certificate and basically say "here, use this to buy 'Bonfire of the Vanities'" (sorry, drew a blank on current titles).
Affordable color e-ink is still a while out. If I recall correctly Fujitsu makes one but it's near a thousand bucks, and Japan only.
I'm sure Amazon is going to address that. They want people to buy the books from them
Given that there are Kindle and B&N apps for the iPad I see no reason to buy books directly via iTunes. They'd have to be substantially cheaper.
Keeping stuff in sync is going to be key, and it's an area where wi-fi only eReader owners (such as myself) could miss out.
Agreed!
I've trash talked the iPad to my Apple loving friends, but the truth is that tablets are going to be huge, their price is not at the point for mass adoption. I think $300 will be the point where iPad like devices will sell like crazy (although Apple has sold quite a few at the current prices -they're on pace for 13M by year end, I believe)
One last side note - I think a winning feature of an ebook reader would be a smell function where a book would have that paper smell
I don't care about the paper smell, but a surprising (to me, anyways) number of people do.
I would buy it IF...
I would totally buy a Kindle if instead of $139 and $189 they were at the $13.99 and $18.99 price points. Looks like they're continuing to fall in that direction so I'll just still with my iPad and wait it out a bit longer.
I would totally buy a Kindle if instead of $139 and $189 they were at the $13.99 and $18.99 price points. Looks like they're continuing to fall in that direction so I'll just still with my iPad and wait it out a bit longer.