At the risk of going against the general thrust of this thread, this seems like a sensible move by Amazon (though probably too little too late). How many posters have actually tried a Kindle? I did, the other day (nice man on the London Tube was using one, so I asked if I could have a go). This was the small version - very spiffy, light, and no more laughable than a Blackberry with its little buttons. I was very impressed with it *as an e-reader*. I have no illusions about its ability to compete with the Forthcoming Device (which, yes, I will be ordering two of), but don't assume it's crap unless you've actually tried reading on it...
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Amazon Releasing Software Development Kit to Bring Apps to Kindle
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I don't get why people are saying it's too late. Apple has yet to announce their iTablet device, let alone begin to ship it.
Amazon already has a device on the market. All they have to do is make a few hardware changes, some sofware adjustments, and voila! Cometition to whatever underwhelming Apple product is discussed next week...
Amazon already has a device on the market. All they have to do is make a few hardware changes, some sofware adjustments, and voila! Cometition to whatever underwhelming Apple product is discussed next week...
i just don't understand how they think they come close to anything that even smells like an apple...
It seems that the limitations of the Kindle OS would be a factor in holding back this little dynamo in the e-book/tablet arena.
The web browser limitations, alone, would seem to drag it down significantly, as a contender for the next generation tablet reader market, not to mention its modest resources of worthwhile apps, games, features, media capabilities; designed to run on an OS capable of handling them.
By this logic, why have a Kindle at all? I mean, books came out LONG before it did. If the reports are true, and the tablet from Apple is only a month or so away, then your availability argument falls completely flat. I couldn't see Apple, at this point, putting out anything as dreary as a Kindle, and it would take a complete redesign of the Kindle to really give it the media factor that would help it really shine with anything besides the most rudimentary apps. And honestly, making the assumption that next week's Apple product will be "underwhelming" is the same asinine thinking that has their competition running scared or desperately trying to copy them today.
Mr. Game and Watch FTW!
Points for the Mr. Game and Watch reference!
Kindle games? Sweet!!! Bloop bloop bleep bloop.
Points for the Mr. Game and Watch reference!
Why Kindle?
* Price point - $259 vs a rumoured $1K.
* Dedicated eBook reader
A lot of people seem to miss the point that not everyone is loaded with money / has the desire to spend money on a more expensive device, when the Kindle - in this case - does the task they need, well enough.
Which makes e-ink completely usable for all the other functions that the Kindle is now trying to do in an effort to stop their slide into irrelevancy due to the Apple tablet.
Oh wait, it doesn't.
Probably any point I put here you'll just feign being insulted or hurt some more. Beats me how you can take offense at lighthearted jesting. Feel free to maybe ask a question if you're confused by a point though. Implying people were talking about a completely different subject (history of e-ink, people attempting to insult you, etc...) doesn't work so great at encouraging communication.
What, not to have a Apple Tablet? If all you want to do is read electronic books,and not have to spend too much money, then Kindle is a good choice.
Agreed.
...yeah you're right. well im sold.<-- (he is throwing up btw.)
The Apple tablet is not for everyone.. You seem to think that an Apple Tablet should be the choice for all - one device fits everyone. But I'm sorry, this is not the case.
Sure, the Apple tablet will be great and sell well, but it won't fit everyones needs or desires, especially if the price point is important.
ok but really.... last night i was at target and i saw the sony ereaders which are the kindles competition. i played with it for a good 5 mins and it was beyond awful. i would rather bring a wheel burrow full of books with me on a trip than one of these retarded readers.
i know they are at different price points, the sony being $199. but comparativley, they are selling a peice of **** with a sony label on it.
if i was trying to decide between an amazingly functional peice of hardware that supported e-books/mags (apple tablet) among many other things for around $1000, or a crippled POS (kindle,sony) for $300ish....i would either get the apple, or by a paper copy of whatever book i wanted to read.
the problem here is that the apple tablet is for everyone... more so than any other ebook reader to date...AND IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN RELEASED YET!
Your speaking for *yourself*, which is perfectly fine, of course.. and you want to do more than just read books, you want to do a *whole lot more*.. the Kindle wouldn't be a good fit.
However, you are missing my point: My point was - if you don't have the desire / cannot afford to spend $1K, given that if: all you want to do is to read electronic books - then wouldn't the Kindle ( or, Sony , as you pointed out) be a better choice, over the Apple Tablet? I know a few people who have the Sony ebook reader, and they like it a lot - they just use it to read books. They need nothing more, so for them, the Tablet is complete overkill.. it does too much. If they could install a few apps [ on their e-reader) they would find useful, they may do, but it would very much be secondary.
If you need to do more than just read books and within your price range - the Tablet would be an excellent choice, given all the rumours.
Everyone is missing the point (including Amazon)
If they are opening the Kindle up to compete with the tablet, best of luck to them. The kindle is NOT a tablet and never will be. Nor, would someone like myself, buy it for that purpose. The reason people LOVE their kindles is because it DOES NOT HAVE A BACKLIT SCREEN. The tablet from Apple will have a backlit screen, thus I would say at least 50% of current kindle owners would not even consider replacing their kindle with a tablet.
If you talk to your optometrist, you will quickly understand why having a flashlight (albeit a dim one) shining into your eyes is a bad thing when you are trying to read a book, which is why the kindle has been so successful, it is the closest thing to a REAL book reading experience, VERY easy on your eyes... So I do believe that the kindle will continue to do ok, although if Amazon starts trying to make it something it isn't, that won't go over very well.
If they are opening the Kindle up to compete with the tablet, best of luck to them. The kindle is NOT a tablet and never will be. Nor, would someone like myself, buy it for that purpose. The reason people LOVE their kindles is because it DOES NOT HAVE A BACKLIT SCREEN. The tablet from Apple will have a backlit screen, thus I would say at least 50% of current kindle owners would not even consider replacing their kindle with a tablet.
If you talk to your optometrist, you will quickly understand why having a flashlight (albeit a dim one) shining into your eyes is a bad thing when you are trying to read a book, which is why the kindle has been so successful, it is the closest thing to a REAL book reading experience, VERY easy on your eyes... So I do believe that the kindle will continue to do ok, although if Amazon starts trying to make it something it isn't, that won't go over very well.
absolutely im speaking for myself...who else?
these friends you speak of....did they stampede at toys r us during the furby revolution as well?
Even without the rumored tablet, Apple already has long had two Kindle-killers, the iPhone and iPod touch.
These already offer e-reader functions, including Amazon's Kindle app itself. Amazon has sold a paltry 2.5 million of these, hoping to add maybe a couple hundred thousand this holiday quarter. It hasn't taken off. And once everyone else follows Apple's tablet lead and begins to make tablets that aren't junk (won't take long), these e-readers and Kindles will be relics on eBay. The decision to add app functionality is an attempt to get the Kindle moving and get it competitive. But as it stands, this move is worth about as much as thermal underwear in Death Valley at high noon.
Apple will sell upwards of 20 million iPhone and iPod touch devices in the holiday quarter alone. This is around 40 times the Kindle sales estimated by analysts. Adding in the holiday quarter estimates, Apple has sold roughly 75 million iPhones and iPod touches combined allof which (you need OS 2.0) are capable of using Amazon's Kindle app, plus a huge selection of other e-reader apps. 3 million Kindles vs. 75 million iPhones and iPod touche. For quite a while now, the far and away number one electronic reading device in the world is from Apple, not Amazon.
Amazon trying to pull an Apple = fail.
Hopefully Amazon has a tablet in the works. LOL.
These already offer e-reader functions, including Amazon's Kindle app itself. Amazon has sold a paltry 2.5 million of these, hoping to add maybe a couple hundred thousand this holiday quarter. It hasn't taken off. And once everyone else follows Apple's tablet lead and begins to make tablets that aren't junk (won't take long), these e-readers and Kindles will be relics on eBay. The decision to add app functionality is an attempt to get the Kindle moving and get it competitive. But as it stands, this move is worth about as much as thermal underwear in Death Valley at high noon.
Apple will sell upwards of 20 million iPhone and iPod touch devices in the holiday quarter alone. This is around 40 times the Kindle sales estimated by analysts. Adding in the holiday quarter estimates, Apple has sold roughly 75 million iPhones and iPod touches combined allof which (you need OS 2.0) are capable of using Amazon's Kindle app, plus a huge selection of other e-reader apps. 3 million Kindles vs. 75 million iPhones and iPod touche. For quite a while now, the far and away number one electronic reading device in the world is from Apple, not Amazon.
Amazon trying to pull an Apple = fail.
Hopefully Amazon has a tablet in the works. LOL.
absolutely im speaking for myself...who else?
these friends you speak of....did they stampede at toys r us during the furby revolution as well?
LOL! I'm not sure, I'll have to ask!
However, the ebook reader of their choice fits there needs - the price point of $1K would have been way too much, for what they required out of a product, and the functionality they require.