Kindle: The Holy Grail or the last gasp of eBooks? : OUPblog This is a very interesting development, especially as it has the power of Amazon behind it. Carry something the size and weight of one book, but with 200+ books' worth of reading onboard. It's intriguing...
Amazon has a demo here.
7 comments:
This does look like an improvement on ebook readers I've seen before. It adds some value to the reading experience (text search, inbuilt dictionary, RSS integration) which is what is needed for there to be uptake. However you'll always struggle with the loss of being able to lend the books to your mates once you read them - that's where value is lost for the majority of people I think.
Sod that for a game of soldiers, Peter. This way you don't have to agonise about which book to take on the train/plane. I want one!
I'm with you on this one Rob...holidays would never be the same again - run out of books? Not with this little marvel!
Price is still a factor and it is not as cool as an ipod. For me that is a key driver in all of this. Only when e-readers are cool will they take off. Fundamentally it's not an either or debate.
Yes, Richard, coolness is all - but i think they are getting there. maybe they should rope in the Apple design time for the next version.
I like the book as an object and I can understand the reluctance to switch over to electronics. This is the same debate as when we all went from the LP to the CD by first complaining and later finding it a cool device after all. Then we switched to ipod and found it also cool to be able to carry the content of many CD's in an even smaller device. It will only add value to the books themselves, just like some original LP are now very expensive for collectors.
Hey Yves- welcome to Topsyturvydom, old friend. I don't see this thing replacing books - yet - but as you say, it could be the ipod of the book world.
Also apologies for my typos earlier - Apple design TEAM, obviously...
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