Monday, November 19, 2007

Amazon Kindle: The Re-readin-ing

Just a quick note: Amazon Kindle is out! This is big because its the first e-ink device to launch with a good library of titles, IMO.

Yes, I've already ordered mine. Cool features include:

  1. EVDO Wireless Internet Access - Anywhere, always on, for FREE! No service contracts, no worries!
  2. Free Wikipedia access - The power of the world's shared brain anywhere on a great screen
  3. E-ink display - no backlight need apply, no eye strain, it looks like printed paper
  4. Wireless purchase books where ever you are
  5. 3 thousand launch titles in Sci-Fi/Fantasy alone (88k total)
  6. Email content to your kindle wirelessly
  7. Just In: You can go to arbitrary web pages! (according to the device manual)

There are some disappointments. I don't think a $400 device is going to really revolutionize things, but I hope it will get cheaper as time. Also, its not shipping with PDF support. Hopefully that will change, but it does support MOBI files, which I hear there are PDF -> MOBI file converters.

Anyway, I'll be getting the device tomorrow, so more on it then! Welcome to the future!

2 comments:

Buffalo said...

Lots of exciting stuff in the Ben blog today.

No PDF support? Boo.

Well, as you know I love all things eink without bounds so I'll be very interested to see your impressions of this device. If through some sort of Jeff Bezos-powered supermagic its able to display readable 8.5x11 pages on its little screen (maybe through some sort of telepathic zoom functionality?) you can be sure I'll buy one. I read 8.5x11 pdfs all the time these days so functional epaper would be insanely awesome.

Ben said...

Yeah, the no PDF support is a major downer, especially since I have all those drivethrurpg.com ebooks that I want to read.

But since the content is there, it seems like this should be a good thing even if real PDF support never arrives.

definitely more when I have it