I may have faults, but being wrong ain't one of them - Jimmy Hoffa
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Amazon cuts Kindle price
ONLINE RETAILER Amazon has been bigging up its Kindle e-book reader, causing librarians everywhere to shhhh loudly.
The firm, which once you could have called a bookseller, has rejigged the Kindle DX, shaved it down to just over a third of an inch and improved the way it delivers pictures. On paper it sounds almost as good as a book would, on paper.
Despite possibly being the last nail in the luddite movement's coffin, the Kindle is apparently good news for readers as it lets them carry around thousands of books at once, something that as far as we know, no one has ever really wanted to do.
Perhaps recognising this, or more likely still reeling from the sickening welcome that the Ipad got, Amazon has cut the price of the Kindle, paring it down to a penny dreadful-like $379, whereas before it was more of a signed first edition $489.
"There's no turning back once you read on our beautiful new Kindle DX screen," enthused Steve Kessel, SVP at Amazon for the Kindle. "With 50 per cent better contrast and darker fonts, you'll find it easier than ever to read wherever you happen to be, whether it's outside in bright sunlight or under the low light of your living room. We're excited to offer the new Kindle DX with free 3G wireless at the lower price of $379."
Despite the money off, the Kindle DX has still been updated though, and has things like a 9-inch screen, a new graphite case and a high contrast electronic ink display.
You can pre-order it now from Amazon, or choose to ignore it and go patronise a real bookstore or library. µ
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You call yourself an avid reader, then tell us you manage to read about 1 to 1.5 book a month! You might be avid, but to me you sure are slow, you would need 50 hours of battery life,'cause otherwise you would spend as much time charging as reading if you didn't have a kindle.
Thank you Les. I don't know why we don't see more complaints about the price of e-books. That is the main reason I returned my Nook. The average book was $9.99. I usually buy paperbacks and they are only $7.99. Until the price is lower, I'd rather buy a hard copy and then I can share it as much as I want, not worry about it getting deleted, the seller or author deciding to terminate the license(I doubt this would happen but they have the ability to unlike a hard copy), etc.
In my short time with the Nook, I did not see enough deals on books I like to justify keeping it.
And to top it off, aren't publishers discussing whether to raise the price? How expensive is this technology? The 'luddite' way is better until they can make it more price competitive.
WTF, just cosmetic changes and still no SDHC connector, so way too expensive, even before VAT and carriage.
Amazon, you are idiots!
Bet this is obsolete soon!
I expected Amazon to lower the price a lot more than this. But, I guess they can now justify NOT lowering the price much by pointing to the new screen technology. 50% better contrast sounds cool, but hard to tell until we actually see it. I didn't think the current Vizplex screens were bad at all, so I expect to be totally satisfied by this new screen as well.
Am still hoping they lower the price of this baby by the time Kindle 3 arrives. Thanks again for bringing the news. You can see more of my comments on this news on my new post: http://ebookreader-ben.com/amazons-latest-kindle-dx-has-50-better-contrast-than-nook/
I see people saying why pay for a kindle when you can get a netbook instead for about the same price. Well that's just a ridiculous notion and only someone that hasn't actually held and used a Kindle would say something like that.
First of all there's the battery. A kindle can last something like 50 hours whereas a netbook will last 4 hours tops? Even those that claim 6 hours that's only if you use some dumbed down energy-saving linux version.
Secondly, the weight! The convenience etc. Truth be told I'm an avid reader, I have a huge collection of paper books and when I bought the Kindle I was skeptical.. but now that I've had it for 2 months and have read 2 full books on it and am 3/4 way done with the 3rd book.. I can assure you that once you go kindle you NEVER go back. You may think you'll miss the smell and feel of paper books but the truth is the kindle is so awesome and convenient it's superior to paper books in every imaginable way.
No wonder our Apple types say the Ipad isn't that outrageous! And $379 is still *way* too high, by about 90%, for a gadget that basically only shows text, and on which I'd be gouged for "content".
By the way, Jerry Pournelle (ancient geezer from the former "Byte" magazine), has fallen in love with the Ipad, and says it's *far* preferable to the Kindle for reading, besides all else:
chaosmanorreviews.com
He has a good point about usefulness of touch interface to flick "pages" back and forth.
You seen the price of e-books? In almost all cases (for the books I read) the e-book costs more than a physical copy! It should be at least half the price as they have no material cost. Especially as most come with DRM. That's why I won't buy an e-book reader at this time.
The regular 6" kindle is $190, and this morning woot.com had it for $150. Still at that price, I'll stick with my standard books. If the books are of questionable quality, there's always the public library to visit where they can be had for free.
I think the problem is that e-book reader manufacturers have not yet realized the price they are charging is still way too high. Why would I pay $379 for a Kindle DX when I can buy a decent netbook for $250 and download the free kindle app. Why would I consider paying more money for a device that can only do one thing? With a netbook I can read, surf the web, watch a movie, play some older games, just about anything I can think of. With an e-book reader I am restricted to one form of entertainment. The power saving e-ink screen is nice but it just isn't worth paying anything near the cost of a PC. When they get the price down below $100 I think e-book readers will finally start to catch on.