ProKindle, all of the advantages you list are inherent to digital media and therefore can be accomplished with other devices. When cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, internet tablets, PDAs, and even laptop computers are converging, why would a consumer pay several hundred dollars for a separate device that offers limited functionality?

I, myself, am a Kindle champion as well, and I think that there are a number of intangible “cost” savings and benefits to consider for you skeptics out there.

First of all, think of the convenience the Kindle provides you. Now, you can read all of your favorite newspapers, blogs, books, magazines etc. anywhere and everywhere. You do not have to worry about the weight and size of your reading material and about how you will transport it on the move.

Second, you can do and learn more with what would have been wasted down time while you wait for this or that. You can just pull it out whenever you have a few minutes here and there.

Third, think of the environmental cost savings. If we, as a collected whole, begin to do more and more of our reading from “paper-like” digital devices, we will be cutting down less trees, maintaining and even increasing oxygen levels and perhaps even fighting global warming.

Fourth, you begin reading content that you may have otherwise missed and will become more and more educated/cultured as you seek out new and different reading materials.

All in all, while $359 for this device plus the cost of the books etc. seems high, you are getting a great deal of value out of it, be it value from convenience, value from supplementary education, value from environmental protection or other value.

I still would reccommend this to anyone! Please visit http://www.prokindle.com!

I just survived a short unexpected hospital stay. On day one my wife dropped off her Kindle for me. I downloaded and read two books in two days. No Barnes and Noble trip, no hassles, no favors to ask. Just laid in bed and picked up a couple of books I had been thinking about reading and did it. That’s the beauty of the Kindle for me. It’s so easy and I really like the e-ink a lot.

Amazon’s Kindle ebooks are much cheaper than MobiPocket’s or eReader’s.

Digital edition of Alan Greenspan’s The Age of Turbulence:
- $10 from Amazon’s Kindle store
- $35 from MobiPocket
- $35 from eReader (though they also offer what appears to be a reduced subscribers-only price of $27 but the link is broken so I couldn’t find further information)

The regular print-edition hardcover price from Amazon.com is $35 (though it appears to be on sale at the moment for $24).

With a choice between print and digital editions for the same price, are the advantages of the ebook format sufficient to sway the customer?

By comparison, Amazon’s decision to charge $10 for the digital edition of a newly published book (regular hardcover price: $35) makes sense (to me!).

Of course, the Kindle and Amazon’s eBook service are not available in Canada!

@borax99

You’ve got to check the MobileRead forums.

One of the lead sales tech for Astak has been keeping an ongoing dialogue with members about all the devices will include, features, asking for suggestions, keeping us up to date on availability, etc.

You and Alan are both right about the specs. But we (MobileRead members) get the inside scoop since the Astak rep has been very forthcoming so far.

Hey wait a minute, I just checked the specs page for the Astak device:

http://www.astak.com/97Ebook_Reader.html

“E-Book formats: TXT, PDF, RTF, HTML/CHM”

… so no pdb, darn it !!!

Thanks for the tip, Alan, I will look into the Astak Mentor.

As for the DRM-despisers out there, my take on it is that some form of DRM is inevitable – and the ereader DRM, being linked to your personal credit card number, is the least intrusive method I have seen so far. Call me old school, but I can’t stand any form of DRM that links to a machine ID (hear that, Microsoft Reader).

Once the Kindle gets into the 250-$300 region, I’ll consider one. As it stands, it takes too much scratch for a device I won’t use very much.

If anything this highlights the evilness of DRM. The inability to take your content wherever you want and being artificially limited by some arbitrary “anti-piracy” dreck just annoys me immensely. Of course, that’s why I still refuse to buy any DRM:ed material at all.

People have always copied, people will always copy, and the content producers need to just suck it up and accept that they won’t get paid by 100% of the people viewing the content. As long as they make healthy profits anyway, what’s the big deal? Ah well.