Amazon’s Kindle Draws the Reader In (I MUST HAVE ONE!!!)

Pajamas Media ^ | May 17, 2008 | Charlie Martin

[PJ-Comix]

Must have a Kindle NOW!!! Okay, I actually am so bold as to believe I deserve a FREE Kindle plus a lifetime subscription to any e-book and other publication I desire.

I'll tell you why. Because the greatest weakness of the Kindle is lack of detailed graphics, photos, and video. However, I know how these can be provided to the subscribers WITHOUT any major change to the Kindle itself. IOW, you can read an e-book AND look at unlimited numbers of photos, graphics, and videos associated with each book or other publication without changing the e-ink screen technology.

Yes, I think this idea is well worth a FREE Kindle plus a lifetime subscription to all publications accessible via Kindle. Also my birthday is coming up soon and I am a fellow South Florida resident with Jeff Bezos. Oh, and we also share the letter "J" somewhere in our names. Okay, I'm reaching now but I think my idea about the graphics and video is well worth the freebies I mentioned.

I WANT A KINDLE!!!!!!!

[PJ-Comix]

Maybe you could provide Jeff Bezos with a Kindle song.

[LS]

My books have done really well on Kindle.

[PJ-Comix]

Have you gotten a lot of subscriptions via Kindle? And wouldn't it be great if your subscribers could also access unlimited graphics, photos, and/or videos associated with you books via Kindle without any change in the e-ink technology.

(Please start packing my Kindle now, Jeff!)

[Toadman]

I’ve been waiting to see who wins the E-ink wars and now that Amazon has pitched it’s tent, I think it’s about settled. Now to wait for the prices on the readers to come down!

[LS]

All I know is that my kindle book rankings (purchases) are doing really well. I think they rejuvenated my paper sales.

BTW, although the cover isn't up yet, my new book, "48 Liberal Lies About History" is now on Amazon pre-order and is doing ok, given that we're three months from release.

[kc8ukw]

We have a Sony Reader PRS-505 we’re very happy with. It’s similar, but instead of using the cell-phone networks, you have to plug it into a USB port on your computer. If you’re going to be primarily reading free PDFs, this is better than the Kindle, because it is free to transfer the file. However, I suspect Sony’s online store is less complete than Amazon’s.

[Paul Heinzman]

I'm torn between the Kindle and Bookeen's Cybook, which accepts open formats. I'm glad they have added some support for other formats, but I don't want to have to pay 99 cents to put them on the device. I already have hundreds, maybe thousands, of e-books in plain text or pdf files. I'd like to just be able to upload them.

[Richard Kimball]

At 400 bucks, I’ll have to pass. Looks cool, though.

[shorty_harris]

Can I check out and download books from the library (where I get 95% of my books from)? Until I can do that, I’m not interested.

[RightWhale]

If it’s worth reading it isn’t available in e-book.

[PJ-Comix]

I'm sitting at my computer waiting for my EMAIL from Jeff Bezos asking me about my Kindle ideas so that he can send me my FREE Kindle plus FREE lifetime subscription to all subscriptions.

[PJ-Comix]

The last time I got a corporate Freebie was from Baskin Robbins. It was in the San Fernando Valley in California. The day was hotter than hell. I think over 100 degrees. So I go into a Baskin Robbins and order a large (triple scoop?) chocolate truffle ice cream in a waffle cone. Okay, the guy grabs the waffle cone with his bare hand. The hand has some cuts and sores. I watch in amazement as he scoops the ice cream into the waffle cone. Now, I'm not the most fussy of people but this was too much even for me. So I tell the manager nearby that I REFUSE to eat that waffle cone because of the cuts and sores on the hand. The guy with the bad hand looked as if he were about to argue with me when suddenly a voice behind me spoke out:

"This customer is absolutely right. You can never serve cones with bare hands so give him whatever he wants absolutely free."

I turned to the voice and it was a guy with a fancy suit sitting with a couple of other guys in fancy suits. As it turned out, they were big execs from the Baskin Robbins corporate headquarters. Why they were in that particular Baskin Robbins I don't know. Maybe they were checking up on operations or, like me, just wanted ice cream because of the extreme heat outside.

The store manager gave the cut hand guy a dirty look and told him to go out back and STAY there. Then he served me up what I ordered.

The feeling was like that Annie Hall scene where some guy started arguing with the Woody Allen character about Marshall McLuhan and the Allen character actually pulled Marshall McLuhan himself from the movie line to tell the other guy he was an idiot.

Okay, I got me a freebie ice cream cone but somehow I would much rather prefer a freebie Kindle.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

I want to know more...related thread:

E Ink unveils new paper-thin display cells

Can you change the Font size?

How do I save books?

[mamelukesabre]

Do these things do color pictures?

[Alex Murphy]

Ping to read later

[kdot]

I used to have a Gemstar eBook. It wasn't new technology but it had good storage and a nice on-line store (incl. Powells.com). After getting books, magazines, and daily newspapers on it, I was sold. Then, Gemstar went out of business and POOF, no more new content. The only thing that chapped me was the price of the books. Sure, classics were virtually free, but there was little discount on new releases if the eBook versions were available at all.

The technology on the Kindle is nice (!!!) and I considered buying one, but the content price still isn't worth it to me. For example, Ann Coulter’s book “If Dems had Brains...” is $16.47 on hardback, $11.16 on paperback, and $9.99 on Kindle (Amazon prices). Not a stellar price break. Jim Nantz’s new book isn't on Kindle yet.

After the Gemstar loss, I rediscovered the local library. It's only 1 mile from my house and I can generally get any book I want on the first visit. Call me cheap, but nothing beats FREE.

So, for me, I would happily invest $400 in the Kindle if:
1. The Kindle versions were available on all new releases
2. Kindle book prices were around $5-6.

k.

[PJ-Comix]

Do these things do color pictures?

No but I know how they can be provided with NO change to the eInk technology. And for that info, I only want a free Kindle plus lifetime subscriptions to all publications. I am standing by and checking my e-mail, Jeff.

[Richard Kimball]

Wish something like that would happen to me at the Harley dealership.

[PJ-Comix]

Wish something like that would happen to me at the Harley dealership.

Try asking. Back in my single days, I sent a letter to Old Spice telling them that I loved their after shave and cologne because women would instantly swoon over me as soon as they caught a whiff of that stuff. I actually didn't ask them for any freebies but they sent me a bunch of coupons for FREE Old Spice products.