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Amazon's e-book reader out today

By Rain Noe - November 19, 2007

in Object Culture

Today's the day Amazon starts selling its Kindle book reader, a 10.3 ounce tablet device that runs $399 and can hold about 200 books (each selling for roughly $9.99), expandable to 1,000 books. The kindle uses "electronic ink" technology, which is simple black text on a white background, with no backlighting. It also doesn't require a PC-hookup; the Kindle connects to the internet directly over EV-DO, and consumers can browse and download directly on the device.

Kindle will also feature access to Wikipedia and a dictionary. So, will the device take? Guy Kawasaki of Garage Technology Ventures has called it the "Blackberry for blogs." Time will tell if he's right, and one day they'll read about it in the history books. Or in the Kindles.

via cnet

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dbReader

15 years ago

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I was wondering what was a price margin in that $399 for Kindle-1. With such design.... seems that 300 is a pure profit.
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Leo Klein

17 years ago

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See this is the problem: On the one hand we hear it's too early to pass judgment on the thing, and then on the other, we hear it may well replace the book!

This is marketing, pure and simple.

Amazon said 'jump' and 'tech' writers from Newsweek and CNET said 'how high'?

A great article idea would be to examine how the tech journalism industry colluded in this scheme.
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Mike Pick

17 years ago

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I've seen it in person - not quite so bad as it look in pictures, but still looks like a knockoff pocket organizer. Page turning is slooooow and flashes black at every turn.

Nice packaging though.
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Greg Hinzmann

17 years ago

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This is a prime example of how marketing people are overly focused on the product feature set and are unable to objectively look at the product itself. It's as if the folks at Amazon have never seen or used a contemporary electronic product. Quick test; when you show the product to people without telling them what it is, do they go "Ooooh, I want one."? The Kindle looks like a cheap product from twenty years ago. And then there's the name. (How about a clever, literary-inspired name?)

The Kindle is likely to fail, mainly because of a lack of understanding of design. Bezos is certainly no Steve Jobs.
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LL

17 years ago

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Do we are back to the 70's? Horrible
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Maria

17 years ago

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there's something so wrong about this, but I wouldn't expect anything less from Bezos.
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john

17 years ago

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ugly,ugly,ugly.
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john

17 years ago

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This is the ugliest design I have ever seen. I heard Robert Brunner did this.
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