First Kindle sighting
In Starbucks and the first Kindle I’ve seen here. I spoke with the gentleman who is quite happy with the Kindle and new to ebooks. He is the exact target market that the Kindle is designed to reach, not a heavy computer user but one who sees the benefits of having multiple books with him everywhere he goes. The book he is reading here he just bought via the Kindle’s WhisperNet while sitting at the table in Starbucks. This is very real validation of the technology for the consumer.
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I am a long time lots of time computer user and have a kindle. A good part of the kindle is, always open to where I am in the book(s) (like when I am waiting for the pc do finish some tsk) but best, i can read it out in the garden or on long walks. Even fits in the back pocket of my jeans.
Ugh! That’s one ugly Starbucks. I haven’t been to one in ages. Is that what they look like now?
I was going to say that my lifedrive with a modded battery will always be a better ereader, but today I accidentally locked it and forgot the password. 35 minutes of hard reset later, I have to reload all the gigabytes of data. Blah, I may just buy a 210 instead of going through the pain of putting wikipedia back on it.
Where are the comfy couches?
This is the first one you’ve seen in public since they launched almost three months ago on 11/19/08.
It’s noteworthy enough that you publish a picture of the guy using it.
How does that equal the conclusion that “This is very real validation of the technology for the consumer.”
I’m missing something here — because I’m drawing the opposite conclusion.
I haven’t seen the Kindle anywhere and the newness buzz has all but stopped.
Enlighten me..
I’m not saying I wouldn’t buy one on impulse. I just disagree with the story conclusion if the point is supposed to be that consumers are buying and using these in droves.
I’ve thought from the start that Kindle is nothing more than a proof of concept. This seems to be born out by the constant out of stock status.
My first thought was that Amazon wanted to test the overnight newspaper and magazine delivery mechanism with an ultimate eye toward building them into some type of free giveway on an advertising supported device — back of seats, portable devices people would use on planes, etc…
Just my .02
Wayne, I think I stated it succinctly and directly. I didn’t say that massive sales were needed to validate the tech, on the contrary that hasn’t happened so that’s not it. But I stand by my statement that this gentleman is finding the Kindle very useful which I do believe does validate the tech as I stated.
They would have more sales for sure if they had more kindles. Wait times remain long. I am biased though–I am a tablet pc user from the start, have a OQO 02 and I love my kindle–maybe more excited over it than tech purchases costing 5 times as much. Reading is great on it.
Maybe I am over-interpreting what is said in the article, but like Wayne I found the term “validation” somewhat weird in this context. It may validate that it works for this particular users’ needs, but I don’t see it as validation per se. I am sure with enough searching or luck you can find a satisfied consumer for every piece of misconceived gear out there. :)
Now, I am not saying that the Kindle and its ideas are misconceived. If I hadn’t bought my wife a Sony Reader last year, I probably would have already placed an order for a Kindle for her.
By the way, I saw a Kindle in the wild shortly after its release, at a coffee shop here in Silicon Valley.
Oh, and do all the Starbucks in Texas look that weird? ;-)
Heck maybe I’m a contrary indicator – or whatever it is when you should do / buy the opposite of what someone says…I spent a SOLID two months belittling the iPhone.
Who would want something that was so tough to type. The lack of (widespread) push email integration was going to be it’s downfall. How overpriced.
I don’t go anywhere without my iPhone today…
I really love the concept of the Kindle.