Amazon's Kindle - Cool or Crap?

So the Amazon Kindlehas hit the streets.

I've been watching this and it definitely is good, feature packed idea (even if its design is "90's ugly"). Clearly Amazon is hoping to do for e-books what Apple did for digital music. $400 is a lot of dough though - you can buy a small laptop with enough juice to read ebooks for that money.

Still - if they do it right, they could capture the market in the same way Apple did w/iTunes. The only problem I see as a possibility is proprietary formatting. If they are Corporate America 'think inside the box' types then they are the ones controlling what goes on the device. So if you have content you want to get on the Kindle you have no other choice but to drink their Kool-Aid.

While I'm sure that looks great on forecasts for revenue and such (in an unproven market), for the end user it sucks big time.

Creative Commons "licensing" for free distribution of creative works (podcasting, ebooks, etc) has revolutionized the way authors and content creators can digitize and distribute their work. The Kindle would be a great platform for this, but I think unlike Apple's wisdom in allowing podcasts on their network/device for free, I don't think Amazon will do the same.

Even more to the point, with iTunes you can rip a CD you already own and shove it into iTunes and onto your iPod without dealing with proprietary formats or having the ball and chain of DRM to deal with. I wonder if the Kindle will let you take an e-book you already own and shove it onto that device? If anyone knows, leave a comment. I'd be interested in hearing more about that particular point and frankly, I'm too lazy to do the research myself.

Books, magazines and comics are DYING for a platform like this but its a tough call. For me, reading on something like an iPhone/PDA is waaaaaaaay too small. But the Kindle is freakishly big - nearly 5" x 8". It looks too big to haul around if you're already carrying a laptop and some kind of phone/blackberry.

Also - its U-G-L-Y. At least, I think so.



I don't get why you need that much keyboard. Wouldn't it be better to have more screen and maybe make the keyboard slide out in a drawer, like some cell phones? I mean if you're going to make the commitment to haul that thing around anyway, what's another ounce for a slide-out keyboard?

Some sites are comparing the Kindle with Apple's iPhone, which isn't really fair. The Kindle is not an LCD touch screen, and probably shouldn't be. But still, if you compare it with even the first iPods from way back, one thing they do have in common is they are both devices aiming to provide the consumer with a means of purchasing content from the hardware creators.

The iPod was great when it first came out because of the software that made it work, and the superior hardware design. At the end of the day, it played MP3 files, but the software that let you manage (and purchase) your content simply did not exist anywhere else. Enter the iTunes store and BLAMMO - a few years later they OWN the market.

Can the Kindle do the same? Time will tell, but I think the size and FUGLY design of thing are definitely not making me want to run out and get one.

If they were really smart, Amazon will offer the consumer a two-for-one-deal - buy the print book and get the Kindleversion too for only a few dollars more (or the reverse). Or something.

If anyone has one of these units and can leave a comment, I'm interested in seeing how you like (or dislike) it.