Monday, December 3, 2007

Are Books Dead?

This is Kindle. Amazon's new wireless reading device. Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos describes it as a "revolutionary electronic-paper display which provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper." It seems simple enough to use with no wires or need to sync to a computer. You simple turn on your Kindle and with wireless connectivity you connect to Amazon.com and shop the Kindle Store, which has more than 90,000 books available, including 100 current New York Times® Best Sellers for $9.99, unless marked otherwise. The Kindle can currently auto-deliver wirelessly top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post and top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes. The Kindle is lighter and thinner than a typical paperback. It weighs only 10.3 ounces. It can hold over 200 titles at any time. It has a long battery life. You can leave the wireless device on and recharge it approximately every other day. You can turn the wireless device off and read for a week or more before recharging. The Kindle fully recharges in 2 hours. The Kindle costs $399.00 with no monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments. Newsweek recently wrote an article regarding the Kindle, entitled The Future of Reading. The cover states "Books Aren't Dead. (They're Just Going Digital.)" What do you think: Are books dead? Is this technology the latest craze? Will it stand the test of time?

Images taken from Amazon.com

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe that this would be a waste of time for people who can not afford this type of device, but it would be easier to get daily news on such small and portable device for the traveling business man.

Anonymous said...

I don't think books are dead just yet. Until the price of the Kindle is lowered, I think it will be more reasonable to go to the library and borrow a book or magazine. I would never pay $400 on the Kindle when it doesn't even include free newspapers or anything else for free.

Anonymous said...

lieI believe this is a waste of time and money. There is no advantage to getting this item, so why would you spend $400 on it? All it is is a digitized form of literature, and really the only thing this will do is allow for people to pirate novels.

Anonymous said...

Books aren't dead, they are just reborn as a Phoenix in the Kindle's flame.

Anonymous said...

What about the Sony(R) Reader? More information on it can be found at http://products.sel.sony.com/pa/prs/index.html Do you think it will outsell the Kindle?