just treated myself to the new amazon kindle!

[quidditys_shore]

being a gadget bloke i've fancied the amazon kindle since they were launched in 2007, BUT they were only out in america!

that was until now! i went to order a book from amazon yesterday only to find that new version has been launched, this time in the uk! i've had to get in the queue as they are already out of stock

£109 for a wifi ebook reader that stores up to 3500 books & can read for a month on a single charge!

cant wait to get it!

 

[Ben M]

Ooh, this is the new model I take it? Nice one.

Although +1 to the "I don't see what's wrong with a book" brigade.

 

[ianrauk]

Been looking at getting one too. Very handy for business trips & holidays and to de-clutter the house a little.

 

[quidditys_shore]

Ooh, this is the new model I take it? Nice one.

Although +1 to the "I don't see what's wrong with a book" brigade.

i do like my books so would still buy the "ones to keep" (clive barker & terry pratchett) but for everything else it will just save me HUGE amounts of space! also just got the millenium trilogy (after seeing the film the girlwith the dragon tattoo) in the 3 for £10 at asda. on the kindle they'd cost me about £8 so a bit of a saving too

 

[palinurus]

I was tempted, but I like to read in the bath too much.

 

[marinyork]

Whatever one thinks of the actual device the £109 price point for the non-3G one is very decent positioning. If you start talking about the sort of price they are selling for in america which will happen in future I think it'll become very tempting for people.

 

[palinurus]

I know I'm going to get one. I could put it in a big ziplok bag. Bit of air in it and it'd float nicely.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I like a musty old tome

 

[MacB]

I do like the idea, you've got to report back on how you get on, we've got groaning bookcases, books in the garage, books in the loft, books in cupboards. I also gave a, hopefully pleasant, shock to the charity bookshop in North Camp a couple of years ago. I walked in with one of those big rectangular plastic crates full of books. The big brightly coloured ones that you can use for storage, kids toys etc. The ladies said that's a lot of books......I had 8 more of these crates to bring in!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NickM]

Why would somebody who already has a house full of books want one of these devices? They are almost certainly put together by people whose working lives are very miserable. And they probably contain resources which could either be put to better use or saved for the future.

If you have lots of books already, why not read some of them again? Any decent book is bound to have subtleties you missed first time through.

Or you could always swap your existing books with other people for new reading material... or take up Bookcrossing...

 

[Brains]

I was tempted, but I like to read in the bath too much.

me too.

I'm sure the bath and beach version will be along by next summer

 

[Over The Hill]

One day it will break down with all your books on it!

I suppose it must be worth it and that is the way of things but I really hate reading things on a screen.

There is a wider implication of this too-

At the moment - the author needs to get some interest in their book for it to be published at some expense. This serves as some sort of vetting process on crap books. Someone else other than the author has to like it for it to be published.

With on line publishing, books are published for nothing and so we will be flooded with crap books when all the publishers and book shops are put out of business.

 

[ColinJ]

With on line publishing, books are published for nothing and so we will be flooded with crap books when all the publishers and book shops are put out of business.

True, but at least then it is the readers who decide whether something is worth reading, rather than the publishers. Also, the authors will get a much bigger share of any book sales.

I think that mainstream paper books will gradually be phased out, but if people still want them then somebody would always be willing to run a print-on-demand operation to cater for that market. They will just cost more than they do now...

Agreed - there is something nice about a paper book, but if electronic book readers carry on being developed at the rate they are now, then we will probably end up with something that looks and feels almost exactly like a 'real' book anyway, costs about £25, runs on solar power and has enough capacity to store millions of books. I think that will be a good thing.

 

[ufkacbln]

I have used a Sony one for the last couple of years and wouldn't be without it. I have all my manuals on it, work books, lots of web pages, itenaries, places of interst and twenty odd books.

Invaluable if you like to read when away.

 

[PBancroft]

I have a Sony eReader. I was tempted by the Kindle but went for the Sony simply for the ePub support. Lots of free books from Gutenberg! I will probably upgrade to a Kindle in a few years when the tech has matured and they have relaxed their policy a bit... and they're cheaper.