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Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: carranza2 who wrote (25628)	11/25/2007 8:11:31 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 217572

"Kindle will be a bust." Not sure I'd give up on it just yet. Am in the process of reading a book downloaded from Google Books as a PDF file. Written by a distant cousin, about his transformation from a slave-loving Methodist to a slave-hating Unitarian before the Civil War. Why on earth would anybody print this book again? Who'd read it? More importantly, who'd buy it? I do love paper for all the reasons you mention. Throw it in the car, pick it up to read at red lights and while sitting in the parking lot, read it in the bathtub, read it in the living room, read it at work, read it in the park, read it on an airplane, read it in the doctor's waiting room, read it in court, read it in the bedroom, read it on the beach, carried almost effortlessly from place to place, put it on the bookshelf and read it later, put it in a box in the basement and read it decades later. Yes, yes, very much yes, one of mankind's most wonderful inventions. I have books that are hundreds of years old, and yes, still readable. Nevertheless, once you have embraced the wonder of downloading your own personal edition of a book that will never come back into print, e-books rock.

To: carranza2 who wrote (25628)	11/25/2007 8:57:18 PM
From: Cogito Ergo Sum	Respond to of 217572

I do most of my reading on electronic media now but I still like a real book for pleasure reading...

To: carranza2 who wrote (25628)	11/25/2007 9:00:55 PM
From: Gib Bogle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217572

Hmmm. I'm not so sure. First, the "many other minute but very pleasant sensory experiences involved in reading a 3D book" are related to associations very much conditioned by the experience of reading many books, particularly as a child. I was one of those children who read voraciously, but I suspect that people like that are becoming increasingly rare. These days kids grow up with TV, computers, electronic games, and have a very different set of associations. Second, why should Amazon care about how serious biblioholics react? That would be a tiny part of their target market. Third, although I have lots of books, even I might consider getting a Kindle. I don't take particular pleasure in visiting a bookshop, in fact I'm just as likely to feel turned off by the mass-market product on display. Also the bookshop often doesn't have the book I'm looking for. I seldom read a book more than once, and like the idea of paying a lot less and not having the physical thing hanging around after it's read. The last time I went on holiday I carted a few books around the world with me - it would have been much more convenient to have them all in one small package. Even better if you can actually get books delivered to wherever you happen to be when you need something to read, or when someone recommends a book to you. Fourth, I expect this device will enable font size to be specified, great when you have lost your glasses, or when staying in a hotel in Spain (where for some reason the rooms all seem to be very dimly lit.) You may be right, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Kindle turns out to be a success.

To: carranza2 who wrote (25628)	11/25/2007 9:53:00 PM
From: Snowshoe	Respond to of 217572

>>The act of grasping paper, having an idea as to how much of the book is left, and the many other minute but very pleasant sensory experiences involved in reading a 3D book are minimized, if not completely eliminated, by Kindle.<< I am going to wait for Kindle version 3.1, which will be an entire electronic book with 300 pages of flexible Kindle "paper". You set it up for Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and read it while turning the pages just like a traditional book. Then you push a button and presto, it turns into Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets!

To: carranza2 who wrote (25628)	11/25/2007 11:25:01 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 217572

Prediction: Kindle is a total winner. C2, I recall when supermarkets first started appearing. The corner store and grocer were personal, tactile, and all the other good things. But while they still exist, they fill a niche. Supermarkets have garnered the vast proportion of sales. When screw caps instead of corks were suggested, wine snobs were against it. Now, people bypass corks and select wines with screw caps. Yes, all the drama about cork screws, smelling the cork and so on were tactile, aural and all that stuff. Luddites always oppose new stuff. There will still be a book industry. But the Kindle and kin will gobble up the vast majority of the market. Reading a book in a bath is a pain when it's paper. The pages get soggy. Single-handed reading is tricky with paper. Access to the reading material will be much more convenient, instant and cheaper. There are many benefits. Think of the trees! No more murdering trees to read a book. No more greenhouse gas emissions to produce the paper and transport it. Long Live the Kindle, Mqurice