Amazon Kindle Endorsed By Oprah 197
Oprah Winfrey enthused about the Amazon Kindle on her show today — it's her "new favorite thing" — and had Jeff Bezos on to announce a $50-off offer good till Nov. 1. A plug on Oprah is ordinarily a sign that a product has crossed over into the mainstream. But her show's audience has been slipping lately, and it's unclear how many cash-strapped citizens will be willing to part with $309 (after the special offer) for a new techno-gadget, for which they then have to shell out more money for DRM-encrusted content.
"DRM-encrusted content" is optional (Score:5, Interesting)
You can use free tools to convert PDF ( and other formats ) into the e-book format that it eats. ( at least for the Gen1 Kindle.. )
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
The Oprah show has jumped the shark (Score:3, Interesting)
The Oprah show does a lot of good for people (so my mother defends), but this may be the defining moment when Oprah jumped the shark.
Saw one for the first time (Score:5, Interesting)
Got to put hands on one a couple months ago and had to admit it's pretty cool. The display is quite good, very readable. My only fear was if the battery went dead or it got old. What happens to all the books you bought?
I could just see it in the bottom of some box five years from now, dead as a barn nail, battery shot. Then what? Can you replace the battery and recover the books? What happens when Amazon stops supporting them?
The new, reinvented Oprah (Score:4, Interesting)
To me, it's always been the same story: "Here, come watch my show so you can feel good about nice things *I'm* doing with my life, when what you really care about is 1) what gift people find under their chairs and 2) that you don't have to expend any energy to get that warm, fuzzy feeling." Sigh.
Re:Wow (Score:3, Interesting)
If you have the first post, and you don't say "FIRST!!!", then you automatically get modded up.
Re:Wow (Score:1, Interesting)
I haven't had mod points in 2 years so I can't help you. /. moderation is good at one thing: reinforcing groupthink. This works when the groupthink is "we want a calm, reasonable discussion with many points of view". This is how it is supposed to work and what the meta-moderators should be enforcing.
Unfortunately, meta-moderation is just as vulnerable to groupthink. As a result, the moderation system fails miserably when the groupthink takes a specific point of view within any given discussion.
We can actually be rather impressed with /. It's fought long and hard to avoid becoming Digg. Some sites (newsvine, looking at you) last until they become moderately popular and then become steaming turds.
Even now, /. hasn't quite sunk to that level. But yeah, old gray mare ain't what she used to be.
Re:How do they do it? (Score:3, Interesting)
Wow, that was pretty convoluted. Let me give me posit a simpler theory.
The fact that Amazon sells ebook readers. That is their main product, at least from a moneymaking perspective (following the model from Apple and others). They're selling DRM locked books to lock early adopters into always using a Kindle.
You are right about why they sell DRM-free music. They're competing against Apple, so they need some sort of extra value, and the record labels would like to break away from Apple domination of the online music market.
Re:Tagged: So what? (Score:3, Interesting)
Ah... I missed the point that the book publishers might want to get around Amazon. That will be something to watch for.
I know that I do buy books from Baen online--they're DRM-free and generally an OK value (though I think they could still do better, since the online price isn't that much lower than the IRL book price).
I guess we'll all have to stay tuned.
Re:Wow (Score:3, Interesting)
I call bullshit. If you ever go to Digg, then you see Groupthink moderation. Reasoned or valid responses getting dug done to minus infinity for not fitting the mold.
At slashdot, it may be a problem here and there, but a reasoned out response is well recieved at a much higher rate.
(BTW, I like both sites for much different reasons. But I don't begin to take most of the threads there seriously.)
Re:The Oprah show has jumped the shark (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:How do they do it? (Score:5, Interesting)
i'm not assuming anything. i'm suggesting that it would be a good move on the part of both companies. that doesn't mean that i think either of them will go for it. in fact, it's very unlikely that such a deal would occur. and you seem to immediately contradict yourself right after your first sentence. first you imply that Sony would not accept a partnership with Amazon's ebook distribution system without offering any kind reason for thinking so. then you go on to state that the Sony reader has a nice design, but lacks content, whereas the Kindle looks homely but has "a MASSIVE selection of content and a terrific distribution system." well isn't that exactly what Sony needs/is missing? if a lack of content and distribution system is what's preventing the Sony Reader from succeeding, then why would they not partner up with Amazon? it seems like that would be the only logical thing for them to do.
the fact that the current Kindle doesn't use WiFi doesn't play any part in this deal. Sony Reader/PSP/Zune/iPhone users can just access the Kindle Store website [amazon.com]. it's not like EVDO is required to purchase ebooks from the Kindle Store.
and while Apple is currently making most of its money from selling iPods, the iTunes store is quickly dominating the music retail industry. in 2007 they became the 3rd largest music retailer in the U.S. with 10% market share. in 2008 it accounted for 70% of worldwide digital music sales. and despite the RIAA's claims to the otherwise, iTunes has revitalized the music industry and driven net profits up. our indie record label now receives over 75% of our music sales from iTunes alone.
so while iPod sales generated $3.36 billion in revenue for Apple in 2007, the iTunes Store brought in $1.9 billion of Apple's $2.7 billion [billboard.biz] in total music-related revenue in 2007. and iPod sales appear to be tapering off [businessweek.com] while iTunes is experiencing continued growth [seekingalpha.com]. so it's not inconceivable that iTunes will become an even bigger revenue stream for Apple in the future.
but i agree with you that the PSP/iPhone are not the ideal ebook reader for everyone. my Dad, for instance, simply can't read text printed on the PSP. so he can't really use his PSP as a web browser or an e-book reader. but that doesn't stop millions of young people from using their PSPs and cellphones to read books (if they can read web pages, then why not e-books?). the Japanese have even created an entire literary genre of serial literature that's distributed and consumed entirely by cellphones.
for older users with poorer eyesight or who have to read long, dense technical materials, a dedicated ebook reader like the Kindle is definitely a must. but that's still a niche market. and for the majority of young people whom the PSP & iPhone are aimed at, being able to read e-books on their portable devices would be a huge value add--it's actually my favorite use for the PSP.