Re: New Kindle DX introduced - is bigger better?

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

I agree djf

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Bob Frankston" <Bob19-0501 () bobf frankston com>
Date: May 7, 2009 3:22:45 PM EDT
To: <dave () farber net>, "'ip'" <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: RE: [IP] Re:    New Kindle DX introduced - is bigger better?

There’s a far bigger problem with the Kindle as a text book  
replacement – page turning is far too slow for skimming and exploring  
ideas. The Kindle is wonderful for linear reading of a story and has  
some other very nice characteristics. It’s a very clever design and as  
such is very good for the intended application but has a steep slope  
as you shift away from its design point.


-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 14:22
To: ip
Subject: [IP] Re: New Kindle DX introduced - is bigger better?



Begin forwarded message:

From: Adam Thornton <adam () io com>
Date: May 7, 2009 2:09:34 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   New Kindle DX introduced - is bigger better?

For IP, if you like.

On May 7, 2009, at 11:56 AM, David Farber wrote:

>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Joshua Tinnin <krinklyfig () gmail com>

...


> The market
> could easily be students if the textbook angle works out, though I
> would
> hope they'd stop exorting ... excuse me, I'd hope they'd start
> charging
> less due to reduced costs.

I think this is where the real play is, actually.

The Kindle is a tightly sandboxed device, as I understand it, and it's
already got DRM baked in.

So I'm guessing that the real play is going to be getting the hardware
subsidized to some degree by colleges, and then providing course
materials and textbooks to the Kindle at a bit less than paper
textbook prices.  The trick, of course, will be that the licenses are
non-transferrable and that the books expire after the school term
ends.  This then will remove that tendency that so irritates textbook
publishers, for students to buy used copies of the textbook.

However, a student that has the means for a Kindle almost certainly
has the means for a notebook computer, which can be nearly as good a
reader and more generally useful.  That. in turn, implies that for the
Kindle to succeed, the textbook content will need to be (and more
importantly, to stay) Kindle-only.  I don't know how impractical
extracting Kindle content to a more interoperable format will turn out
to be.

Any newspaper that thinks the Kindle will save it is delusional.
Which isn't to say there probably aren't several that have convinced
themselves that it will.

I personally think I would find the small form factor device much more
useful than the DX. It's not yet quite to the point where I want one
for myself, but I had an interesting realization a couple days ago.
My mom's birthday is coming up--as is Mother's Day--and although she
loves to read, her eyesight has become pretty poor.  The selection of
things available as large-print editions does not intersect very much
with her reading tastes.  The Kindle--which actually does have
editions of many of the books I wanted to get her--would be an obvious
choice here, simply because the print can be blown up quite large, and
the reading experience, although not on a par with an expensively-
printed hardback, is certainly easier on the eyes than 1980s-mass-
market-paperbacks.

I didn't get her one--at least not yet--because I don't know that
she'd use it: although it does most of what a book does, it may not
feel enough like a book to be a substitute for her.  I don't think
it'll make a good surprise gift, but if one of her friends gets one so
she can test-drive it, I would want to revisit the question.

Adam




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