So, briefly, what do you think about the Kindle now?

[JSWolf]

Sony's non-existent customer service? Sony actually has pretty good customer service. I have called them with some problems and they were sorted pretty well in a timely manor. I don't know where you got that Sony's customer server for the reader line and/or the Connect Store isn't there. In fact, it is there and it is good.

And as far as the screen of the Kindle being better then the screen of the 500.. it is because it is Vizplex. BUT, the screen of the 505 is better then the screen of the Kindle because Sony used a controller that supports 8 shades instead of 4. So if you want a better screen, go for the 505.

[gteague]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Sony's non-existent customer service? Sony actually has pretty good customer service. I have called them with some problems and they were sorted pretty well in a timely manor. I don't know where you got that Sony's customer server for the reader line and/or the Connect Store isn't there. In fact, it is there and it is good.<Del>

i based my opinion on a sony vaio which is the only product i've tried to call sony about. to be fair, it wasn't a lot worse than most other tech support at other companies. any problem, restore from scratch and reboot. and it took a long long slog down auto answer phone trees to get someone who barely spoke english with that helpful suggestion. [g]

/guy

[Jorgen]

Originally Posted by rlauzon

Overpriced reader. Overpriced DRMed eBooks.Fees up the wazoo to use the wireless (when you are in an area where it works). The DRM restrictions are even higher than for other devices. I hope everyone who pays money to rent eBooks from Amazon remembers the customers who got screwed over by their Unbox service.

Unless something changes, I'm avoiding this piece of junk like the plague.

Agree fully (as always)!

Wireless delivery sounds cool, but it is not a feature I would pay money for.
Would I like a keyboard for searches? Yes, but only if it is a plug-in device.
I have not seen a Kindle, but it is certainly not as classy a design as, say, Sony.

Quite another thing is that I would miss Fictionwise, where I am a buywise member. Great shop with good customer service. And unlike Amazon, they don't expect to get married to me for life.

[nekokami]

If Apple users prefer the Kindle (and I'm not convinced of that relationship), perhaps linux geeks prefer the iLiad. I love mine, anyway.

I think the Kindle is still priced too high for the typical reader (in developed countries, to say nothing of lower income markets). I know that's the cost of the components, but it's just too much for most people to pay for a single-function device-- even if it does include live access to Wikipedia. But I'm glad Amazon got into the market, just for the increase in visibility that this has given to eBooks.

What I'd like to see next: a deal with Powell's, or any other large pbook/ebook seller to promote a competing lower-cost less-restrictive reader/content combo. And I'm still hoping to see "book club" businesses hop onto the ebook train.

[TallMomof2]

Originally Posted by Jorgen

Quite another thing is that I would miss Fictionwise, where I am a buywise member. Great shop with good customer service. And unlike Amazon, they don't expect to get married to me for life.

You can still directly load multiformat (NO DRM) PRC files from Fictionwise. I have a couple hundred on a SD chip and they work fine.

[TallMomof2]

Originally Posted by nekokami

If Apple users prefer the Kindle (and I'm not convinced of that relationship), perhaps linux geeks prefer the iLiad. I love mine, anyway.

The Iliad was just a little too expensive for me. I'm happy with my Kindle for now.

[spooky69]

Never touched it, but here are my thoughts: I'm impressed by people's reactions, and it seems like the firmware is solid enough. Internet connectivity is a killer feature. I'm glad to hear that they got the software right, but the design of the case is impressively bad, and it looks just as unappealing as it did in what we assumed was just an early prototype. Instead of looking like a device, it looks like a machine. Whatever grave oversights led to these terrible visual aesthetics could be forgiven...if it weren't for the giant page flip buttons on the sides. What's the point of having a back/next button configuration designed for those who would grip the Kindle either by one side or both, when, in fact, they can't really hold it in either manner? I have to imagine that the giant "user-friendly" buttons were much-lauded in the design room, but their main functionality on the final product seems to be making the screen look smaller and mildly annoying early adopters for as long as they own this model. Not everyone will care about the way a product looks, but everybody will notice when a hand-held device isn't easy to to hold in your hands. I'll take another look when those buttons are fixed, but for now I'll be purchasing a Sony PRS-505.

[wallcraft]

Really really bad cover. Scroll wheel and cursor bar are a good alternative to a touch screen. Feels cheap, may not be durable. GUI is well done.

This is my 3rd device with MobiPocket's Java Reader, and it is the best implementation so far. However, it still does not allow any choices for line or margin spacing or the option to disable text justification (which looks weird at the large font sizes). Large images get rescaled to the screen, but this slows down page turns.

[CCDMan]

Overpriced DRMed eBooks.Fees up the wazoo to use the wireless (when you are in an area where it works).

Overpriced? Compared to what? Comparing to what you want them to cost, or to what you think they should cost, does not count (except to you as a potential buyer). Pricing on every damn thing in the world (except government regulated items) is determined by one thing and one thing only. MARKET FORCES.

What wireless fees? No fees unless you exceed an amount that no way would you exceed just buying books. Oh, and BTW, I am pretty rural and wireless works here fine, although too slow to browse well, but as I have said many times - IT IS NOT A BROWSER (or an email device) - that is clearly an experimental and very secondary function and one should not buy it for that purpose. It's a READER.

In fact, I think Amazon may have made a mistake by opening the wireless for anything but book selection and purchase since this invites comparison to devices that are clearly designed for browsing and/or email and therefore will be much better at those things than the Kindle.

Back to my thinking on the device as an owner (which is what I think the thread author had in mind):

Bad cover
Not great battery life
Still a little buggy (likely fixed by firmware updates at some point)
A bit pricey (device, not the books)

Otherwise pretty much all good - it is replacing my PRS-500 except for the Sony books on that that I have not yet read (only a couple).

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by CCDMan

Overpriced? Compared to what?

Compared to other DRM-encumbered products on the Internet.

Originally Posted by CCDMan

Pricing on every damn thing in the world (except government regulated items) is determined by one thing and one thing only. MARKET FORCES.

Correct. The market has set the price at $1 for disposable content.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tsgreer

But aren't the Sony Reader DRM books more expensive than Amazon's DRM books?

Don't waste your breath trying to debate DRM with Lauzon. He believes that if you gave away DRM books free, they'd still be overpriced.

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Don't waste your breath trying to debate DRM with Lauzon. He believes that if you gave away DRM books free, they'd still be overpriced.

As usual, you don't read what I post. Free is the fair market price for DRMed content.

Since DRM eliminates your First Sale rights, you do not "buy" DRMed content - you rent it. It's no different than borrowing a book from the library. Borrowing a book from the library is free. Therefore, the fair market price for DRMed content is free.

[HarryT]

I don't have any "first sale rights". That's an American legal concept. I do not live in America.

[rlauzon]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I don't have any "first sale rights". That's an American legal concept. I do not live in America.

And that means something because....???

[HarryT]

You said that it eliminates my first sales rights. I'm just saying that I don't have these rights which you claim that I do. Your argument is therefore invalid.