Someone give me a push

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

Aside from the Sony store, where are you able to get content that that the Kindle cannot (or doesn't already have)?

Or easily enough converted.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Tattncat

I got the 505 --More content available from many more sources, a lot of them free.

That has not been my experience. There are very few sources that do not have books in mobi format that can be read on the Kindle. A lot of them free.

[charadeur]

Well 11 days since my order and the Kindle still has not shipped. I guess one down side to the Kindle right now is the slow shipping. It seems to me that Amazon has done a poor job of anticipating the demand. I also feel a little let down that they did not offer free overnight shipping or some other concession for the backorder delay. I have considered canceling the order and getting the 505 at this point. They said up front it would be 2 or 3 weeks but I had hopes they would be quicker.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by charadeur

Well 11 days since my order and the Kindle still has not shipped. I guess one down side to the Kindle right now is the slow shipping. It seems to me that Amazon has done a poor job of anticipating the demand. I also feel a little let down that they did not offer free overnight shipping or some other concession for the backorder delay. I have considered canceling the order and getting the 505 at this point. They said up front it would be 2 or 3 weeks but I had hopes they would be quicker.

3 weeks wait is much better than the current 11 week wait. Don't cancel. When Kindles are backed up like this sales of them on eBay usually go for more than retail.

BOb

[charadeur]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

3 weeks wait is much better than the current 11 week wait. Don't cancel. When Kindles are backed up like this sales of them on eBay usually go for more than retail.

BOb

Your kidding me? They are now saying 11 weeks? That has got to hurt sales a lot. What a mistake on Amazons part.

Holey bat s%^& batman. You are right about the ebay thing. I wish I had a dozen of these for sale right now. One buy it now price is $995. Heck I might put mine on ebay when it comes in if I can get that price for it. Then I can order both and a few books.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by charadeur

Your kidding me? They are now saying 11 weeks? That has got to hurt sales a lot. What a mistake on Amazons part.

Holey bat s%^& batman. You are right about the ebay thing. I wish I had a dozen of these for sale right now. One buy it now price is $995. Heck I might put mine on ebay when it comes in if I can get that price for it. Then I can order both and a few books.

Honestly, I think the mistake was underestimating Oprah's power to influence the market.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Honestly, I think the mistake was underestimating Oprah's power to influence the market.

It's a good problem for Amazon to have. I wish I had a product that I was selling which was 11 weeks back ordered.

BOb

[daesdaemar]

Originally Posted by charadeur

I have been reading for two days and I have it narrowed down to the two most popular models. Kindle or Sony 505. What I think I have learned so far:

Sony
Pro:

1. Open format allows for most file types to be used.
2. Ergonomics are better.
3. Design is more aesthetically pleasing

Con:

1. Available content is not as good as Amazon
2. You must own a Kindle and do some questionably legal things to get Amazon content on your Kindle.

Kindle
Pro: Easy download of Amazon content.
Con:

1. Poor ergonomics
2. Bigger and heavier
3. Requires running pearl scrips and much screwing around to get content purchased elsewhere onto the Kindle.

Is this a fair summery? Features seem to no be debated much between the two. I really like the Sony better but the content thing is holding me back. Can anyone convince me that anything I can get for the Kindle is available somewhere for the Sony? Or perhaps convince me that the Kindle is not all that ergonomically bad or such an ugly duckling?

I sat on the fence a long time with this same decision. I ultimately decided on the Sony 505. I'm very happy with it. With the various tools found on this forum I have been able to download literally hundreds of books and convert them appropriately. I don't think I would have been able to do the same for the Kindle. The wireless buying would be nice, but ultimately seems just a convenience.

[charadeur]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

It's a good problem for Amazon to have. I wish I had a product that I was selling which was 11 weeks back ordered.

BOb

It's great to have that kind of demand. Not good that you can't meet the demand. Many people will choose other gifts or buy the Sony. Not being able to meet the demand by xmas will lose sales.

If Amazon knew Oprah was going to promote the Kindle there is a VP of Marketing and a VP of Production at Amazon pointing fingers at each other right now.

Spelling edit.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by charadeur

It's great to have that kind of demand. Not good that you can't meet the demand. Many people will choose other gifts or buy the Sony. Not being able to meet the demand by xmas will lose sales.

If Amazon knew Oprah was going to promote the Kindle there is a VP of Marketing and a VP of Production at Amazon pointing fingers at each other right now.

Spelling edit.

Many people ARE disappointed that the waiting list is so long.
However, if they have done their research and discovered that the Kindle is the one they really want, they will order and wait, and hopefully not annoy people by whining about something they have no control over.

Why settle for second best?

[Alisa]

Originally Posted by charadeur

It's great to have that kind of demand. Not good that you can't meet the demand. Many people will choose other gifts or buy the Sony. Not being able to meet the demand by xmas will lose sales.

If Amazon knew Oprah was going to promote the Kindle there is a VP of Marketing and a VP of Production at Amazon pointing fingers at each other right now.

Spelling edit.

Ramping up manufacturing is not something you can always do instantaneously. It usually takes awhile. You've got to source the parts and, in this case, there are a couple parts that aren't produced in mass amounts. The screen and the controller can only be bought from single sources. They may not be able to get as many as they need to significantly increase the rate of production. Plus their contract manufacturer may not have the capacity to devote to increasing production right away. I doubt they had a ton of lead time coming into the Oprah thing. It's sad that many people won't have them for Christmas but the publicity they're getting from Oprah is too good to pass up, IMO.

[charadeur]

Originally Posted by Alisa

Ramping up manufacturing is not something you can always do instantaneously. It usually takes awhile. You've got to source the parts and, in this case, there are a couple parts that aren't produced in mass amounts. The screen and the controller can only be bought from single sources. They may not be able to get as many as they need to significantly increase the rate of production. Plus their contract manufacturer may not have the capacity to devote to increasing production right away. I doubt they had a ton of lead time coming into the Oprah thing. It's sad that many people won't have them for Christmas but the publicity they're getting from Oprah is too good to pass up, IMO.

I won't speculate on lead time and I have a good understanding of how production works. I would agree the publicity was obviously too good to pass up. No one can argue that they will lose some sales because of the back orders. Lost sales is not what a company wants. Still I am sure they are very happy that sales are over what was projected.

[charadeur]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

Many people ARE disappointed that the waiting list is so long.
However, if they have done their research and discovered that the Kindle is the one they really want, they will order and wait, and hopefully not annoy people by whining about something they have no control over.

Why settle for second best?

I had no idea some people were so overly sensitive and easily annoyed of any criticism of Amazon no matter how minor. Feel free to add me you your ignore list to avoid future annoyances.

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by charadeur

I had no idea some people were so overly sensitive and easily annoyed of any criticism of Amazon no matter how minor. Feel free to add me you your ignore list to avoid future annoyances.

Done!

[tech_au]

Do I sense another A is better than B battle brewing here
I get the feeling 2009 is going to be Sony vs Amazon.
We can add it to the Beta vs VHS, HDDVD vs Bluray, PC vs Mac and so one