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amazon looks to "kindle" appetite for ebooks with new device 
09.12.2006, 1:49 AM
posted by ben vershbow
Engadget has uncovered details about a soon-to-be-released upcoming/old/bogus(?) Amazon ebook reading device called the "Kindle," which appears to have an e-ink display, and will presumably compete with the Sony Reader. From the basic specs they've posted, it looks like Kindle wins: it's got more memory, it's got a keyboard, and it can connect to the network (update: though only through the EV-DO wireless standard, which connects Blackberries and some cellphones; in other words, no basic wifi). This is all assuming that the thing actually exists, which we can't verify.
Regardless, it seems the history of specialized ebook devices is doomed to repeat itself. Better displays (and e-ink is still a few years away from being really good) and more sophisticated content delivery won't, in my opinion, make these machines much more successful than their discontinued forebears like the Gemstar or the eBookMan.
Ebooks, at least the kind Sony and Amazon will be selling, dwell in a no man's land of misbegotten media forms: pale simulations of print that harness few of the possibilities of the digital (apparently, the Sony Reader won't even have searchable text!). Add highly restrictive DRM and vendor lock-in through the proprietary formats and vendor sites made for these devices and you've got something truly depressing.
Publishers need to get out of this rut. The future is in networked text, multimedia and print on demand. Ebooks and their specialized hardware are a red herring.
Teleread also comments.
Posted by ben vershbow on September 12, 2006 01:49 AM
tags: POD, amazon, ebook, kindle, multimedia, print_on_demand, publishing, sony, sonyreader, the_networked_book
comments (3):
Gary Frost on September 13, 2006 11:48 AM:Ben,
Thanks for a clear evaluation of the dedicated, screen based book device. The ebook device is in a league with other fantasy hybrids like the flying car or interactive TV. Another deception is a view that we are in the earlier stages of a one-way transition from print to screen reading, rather than into new synergies of the two modes. And another common deception is that access is equivalent to instruction and that the role of the librarian is less relevant today. In my view, just such issues are strategic to the direction of the Institute.
vrf on October 19, 2006 08:41 PM:I really can't believe you just said the future of books is print on demand. Are you serious?
E-ink may not be there yet, but I'll take it in a heartbeat over a POD POS.
Brandy on March 7, 2007 04:58 PM:I think ebook devices are great. Especially for those who like to read or travel a lot, and they don not want to carry extra luggage because of books. I can't wait for Amazon to make Kindle available for purchase. I hope that it is not as complicated for PDFs (eg.Sony reader). It would be great to be able to read EC, New Concepts, Loose ID, or Treiksileon ebooks with Eink.
