Amazon misses the mark (I think) with Kindle reading device...

[Manedwolf]

It looks like a piece from a fax machine made in the 90's. That's just not attractive at all. When will companies learn to let artists design the casing, not the production engineers? Also, no touchscreen. Scrolling is with a wheel.

Secondly, it's overpriced. Instead of going with the inkjet printer model, it's $400  , but every book is $9, free blogs cost $1 a month EACH to read, and sending a file to it costs 10 cents. Text files are proprietary. Basically, everything you can do with it costs you money to do.

I just don't see people going for it. Honestly, what can this do that this...



...which is nearly 15 years old and has been retrofitted for wireless by enthusiasts and DID have a stylus touchscreen from the start...can't do?

I don't see the advance.

[Perd Hapley]

What are those things, and who uses them for what?  Are they e-books, or something?  Those will never sell, so who cares?

[Manedwolf]

e-book reader, yes. Amazon thinks it's their amazing breakthrough product, and I don't think it is. Bezos has been having expensive rollout parties.

Not until they become as simple as a leather book cover with a few e-ink pages you physically flip back and forth. Then they'll sell. Not till then.

The Newton at the bottom was an early PDA that was just too wide and long in dimension to do well, (the Palm succeeded because it fit in a pocket instead) but it's had a resurgence among hobbyists because of its large screen, long life with standard AA batteries, non-volatile memory and ability to take a current 802.11G wireless card in the original internal slot.

[yesitsloaded]

When will companies learn to let artists design the casing, not the production engineers?

When they want them to stop being functional. You should see the crap some automotive stylists that have no clue of machining or metal forming have tried to push through.

[Manedwolf]

When will companies learn to let artists design the casing, not the production engineers?

When they want them to stop being functional. You should see the crap some automotive stylists that have no clue of machining or metal forming have tried to push through.

What I meant was things that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional, and that entice the user to pick it up.

Apple does it with the iPod Touch, iPhone, iPod, and their laptops.
Sony does it with the VAIO laptops and the PSP.
Dell kinda does it with theirs, until they fly apart, then they look crappy.
Nintendo does it with the Wii.
Several cellphone makers do it, various hit and miss models.

Hell, even ancient companies like Digital did it, with some of their earlier curvy terminals that drew the user in to touch it.

Some companies, though, don't get it.

[yesitsloaded]

I like to think that was industrial engineers doing an ergonomics study and then concluding to do that than a bunch of artists holding a drum circle and drawing a concept sketch.

[Manedwolf]

I like to think that was industrial engineers doing an ergonomics study and then concluding to do that than a bunch of artists holding a drum circle and drawing a concept sketch.

A 90-degree angle where the heel of your hand goes when holding it is not ergonomics by any stretch of the imagination.

BTW, ergonomics engineers and design aesthetics artists don't have "drum circles".

I think you're confusing working commercial artists with useless "artistes", who tend to be bums.

[yesitsloaded]

I never said good engineers.

[Brad Johnson]

Judging by the size in relation to the pencil, I'd say the keyboard was made to be thumbed.

Brad

[Iain]

I don't think it will sell either, but mainly because it is expensive and it costs something to do anything with it.

On the plus side I'm glad to see e ink used, my mobile phone uses it and I'm impressed with the technology. Long battery life is one plus, and it is easier to read than lcd.

If I were going to drop any money on something to entertain me on the move/away from home I'd probably go with an Asus eee. An inexpensive e ink using ebook with 20+ hour battery life would be a big seller - if the DaVinci Code cost about $5.

[Manedwolf]

I think if the price point was $199, people might pick it up. But not $400.

If every bit of content cost, as I said, they could have gone the inkjet printer route. The printer is only $79, but they keep selling you ink.

If it's a delivery tool for expensive content, they could have made it a loss leader. I suspect they're worried about when, not if it'll be hacked, since if it uses standard wireless chips, it will be. They don't want to repeat the iOpener's failure, when the $99 loss-leader device that cost $400 to produce was immediately hacked and used as a cheap flatpanel Windows machine. But in doing so, I think they're losing their market of people who might be interested. $400 is a lot for a single-use device.

[mtnbkr]

I've read a few books in electronic format (PDF, e-books, etc on PDAs, Smartphones, and PCs).  I'll stick with inexpensive paper books that can be read even without batteries.

Not everything has to be electronic.

Chris

[Manedwolf]

There's exactly one book format that I can see being useful in eBook format, and that's massive medical journals. But that's an extremely limited market that can't sustain a device.

We get them at work, and even the periodicals would injure your back if you tried to carry one with you to read an article.

[SomeKid]

Not so maned. Keep in mind, per Federal Law, all medical records have to be electronic (soon anyway, something like 10 years left on that mandate.)

Hospitals would need multiples (at least one per unit, and over time they will break/need replaced, plus new hospitals being made would require these).

Doctors offices would need them.

Individual physicians and nurses would probably want them. Future nursing/medical students would get them.

Since medical records have to be electronic, why not have an electronic book reader, than can also do medical records? It would sell very well I think.

The main purpose of all that typing? I think the medical field COULD sustain the device.

[atomd]

This junk just reminds me of everything else they are trying to pawn off on us. Not only do you have to pay a pile of money for these crap devices to begin with, you have to pay them fees for every single thing you do with them. If you decide you don't want to continue to pay or their service goes away, you're left with a really expensive paperweight. They no longer want to sell you any actual useful items that have resale value, they want to turn everything into a "service" so they can keep their hands in your wallet. And as far as Apple goes, they are one of the worst offenders out there. Their proprietary garbage and itunes are just bad for consumers in general.

[French G.]

My wife the writer figures that print books and magazines will never go away due to people's desire for a tactile experience when relaxing to read. I figure this thing will go the way of the dodo bird.

[Manedwolf]

And as far as Apple goes, they are one of the worst offenders out there. Their proprietary garbage and itunes are just bad for consumers in general.

Er...huh? You know you can rip all your CDs to MP3 format, not AAC, and put them on an iPod, right? Without buying a single other item?

Besides, AAC is not an Apple codec. It's a public codec created by the Motion Picture Entertainment Group as part of MPEG-4. Apple just picked it up. So did XM, their satellite radio is broadcast in AAC.

Didn't know that, I bet.

[atomd]

Er...huh? You know you can rip all your CDs to MP3 format, not AAC, and put them on an iPod, right? Without buying a single other item?

Besides, AAC is not an Apple codec. It's a public codec created by the Motion Picture Entertainment Group as part of MPEG-4. Apple just picked it up. So did XM, their satellite radio is broadcast in AAC.

Didn't know that, I bet.

Yes, actually...I did. I was referring to itunes as far as music rights goes, not CDs. When I said proprietary, I was speaking about their hardware and most of their software in general, not AAC specifically.

[Mabs2]

Using Apple as an example is a bad idea...because most of their products have horrible aesthetics.  Have you seen that new keyboard they made?

[Kaylee]

eeg.. I think you're right. It is kind of a shame to finally get electronic ink tech working properly, and then house it in an interface like that. Ugh.

Now, the same ink-screen inside more natural materials (say, brushed metal and/or wood case with a leaver "bookcover") with as you say a touch/writing sensitive screen and a more sensible pricing model... that'd be awesome.

 

[Regolith]

I could see myself picking up something like that....if it were cheaper, more aesthetically pleasing, and didn't cost money just to read a free blog or send a text file. 

If it were, say, $99, cost $5 an e-book, and had expandable memory ala SD cards, then hell yes I'd buy it.  As of right now....$400?  Hell no.

I don't buy expensive devices that are severely limited due to proprietary/costly requirements.  Hence the reason I don't buy Apple products.

[Vodka7]

As a book nerd, I'd love one, but come on Amazon, no PDF support?  How does that make any sense, especially if you're trying to crack any professional field whatsoever? (and it's not just doctors--I know several engineers who would love to be able to keep a few manuals with them in the field "just in case.")

The best comment I've heard about the Kindle was one likening it to the *first* iPod.  Big, ugly, awkward controls, no support for alternate codecs (well, I guess Apple really hasn't made any headway on that last one *coughcough*flac/ape/ogg*coughcough*).  iPods are everywhere now, but I bet half the people on this board have never even seen a first generation iPod in person, let alone owned one.  So, I have a lot of hope for the Kindle's future, but I'm definitely not buying one now.  Make it $200-300, give it PDF support, and charge me an everything-included monthly fee instead of $2/month for each individual RSS feed, and I'm there.

[atomd]

*coughcough*flac/ape/ogg*

I thought ogg was going really going to go mainstream for a moment there. I was coming across ogg files pretty often. Flac is really good too but too many people don't know what the advantage of it would be and are happy with their crappy quality 128k mp3s.

[MechAg94]

I think pdf, text file, or Word file support is a must.  Pdf would make a huge difference.  Some of the hard back books I have bought come with a CD with basically free books in electronic form.  They read fine on the computer, but a carry-around reader would be nice.  Proprietary format would suck though.  IMO, they need to put in some sort of open format and be able to import other formats from PC/MAC.

I would also like the see a bigger screen.  Make it about the size of your average hard back book at least.  Also, if the screen is easy on the eyes, I would say that is a good thing.  The thickess looks okay.  They make those leather interview folders that are have pocket and an 8.5X11 notepad in them.  That is about the size I was thinking.  That could give you a full page view or the ability to zoom for those with poorer vision. 

In all honesty, why not just make this a small carry-around book-reader/word processor/internet explorer/email-reader device.  That is all most people use a computer for anyway.  Add in a weak version of excel and solitaire and you are golden.

[MillCreek]

In all honesty, why not just make this a small carry-around book-reader/word processor/internet explorer/email-reader device.  That is all most people use a computer for anyway. 

I would definitely pay money for that, and am looking at the Asus eee PC with a great deal of interest.  I would wait for a second generation that could run XP, but I think the concept and form factor is very interesting.