Jul 08 2008
Can The New Amazon e-book Reader ‘Kindle’ Some Business?
I have never really been that much of a reader, but I do like to enjoy a novel every now and then. Maybe I am just too selective, and it takes me six to eight months between each reading for this reason. Or it could be that I have five kids, and finding the time to read in between practices, concerts, graduations, and school events is near impossible. But whatever excuse I am using, I find that when I am looking for a new book, I don’t go to Barnes & Nobles, or even the free route to the library (which is the smartest option with this economy), I find it easiest to pop onto amazon.com, throw a few paperbacks in the cart, and in a couple of days I have them at my door. After all, they are only going to sit on a shelf for another couple of months by the time I get to them anyway. And the best part is, no effort on my part, no driving to a store, and I don’t even need to think about it after my ten minute e-commerce shopping spree is over.
In continuing with the lazy mode for a minute, technology has advanced enough to appeal to the lackadaisical reader such as myself. For instance, the audio books that used to be available on cassette and then their replacement, the compact disc, is now a click away on places such as amazon or itunes in the form of an mp3 file. But as much of a couch potato I may be, I could never really get into listening to the book. It’s kind of like watching the movie instead, you really miss a lot of the thoughts you visualize in your own mind when your eyes scan through the printed words. So what do we have served to us today to cure this problem?
E-books! You can buy them, download them, and read them all in one day if you so dare to take on the task. And while all of the environmentalist nuts are clapping about saving trees by offering electronic versions as opposed to the bound, printed kind, they do not realize all of the people zooming through reams of paper printing these e-books because reading on a computer screen for hours on end is enough to drive you loony. Amazon has put out an attempt to keep the “green” people happy by giving a somewhat natural feel to be home to the e-book format. They call it “Kindle”, and although it comes with a few nice options, I am not sure it passes muster.
To being with the good, it does save on paper costs. Because of that, a lot of companies offering the e-book titles can shave a buck or two on the MSRP. That being said, I did a quick search around online only to find that the price still seems comparable to buying a paperback off the shelf. But fair enough, no loss there and we are still saving the world, right? You can also wirelessly access the Amazon Kindle store, so wherever there is a wi-fi hotspot you are able to keep buying up some new titles. So think about coffee shops, long boring taxi rides, or just a day in the park (that is if your metropolitan area offers free wireless access). Even so, it’s a nice feature to never have to hook up your device to a computer or worry about syncing titles from one place to another. Some of the other nice features are its long battery life, the 200 title capacity, and the ability to read the first chapter of any book before you choose to purchase it are enough to make this a start in the right direction.
However, with a good side always comes the bad. First, it’s $400. Second, although it has a high resolution screen for optimum viewing, you are still reading off a lit screen. We could do that on our computer, and get the same eye irritations after looking at a screen for hours, so where’s the real benefit? And a laptop will give us the same wireless capabilities, plus more toys and options to play with. Not to mention, at a $400 price point, it is not far off from the cost of a laptop nowadays. And imagine holding this device in your hand after a few hours curled up on the couch. At least a paperback is bendable, and can form to the palm of your hand when you curl back the pages. A hard plastic rectangle might get tiresome after a bit. Then you have another thing to worry about charging if you are traveling or on location.
If you think I am just being a pessimist because I am a lazy reader, feel free to call it like you see it. I feel that with a $400 price tag, this thing should be helping me drive my car or making me dinner. With all of the good features, it is still hard to get that overpriced taste out of my mouth, and I am sure a lot of people are going to feel the same way. The world is shaky, economically, at the moment and I just think this nice, neat little invention came up to bat at the wrong time. Hopefully, for amazon’s sake, I am wrong.
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