The Book Pirate

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There is no E in Book

February 06, 2008 By: The Book Pirate Colin Matthew Category: Book News, Thoughts on Books

I saw an older gentleman on the bus today reading a book on an Amazon Kindle which made me curious about the product…

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Released only three months ago, the Amazon Kindle is the newest wave in what technology enthusiasts are hoping to be the E-Book Era. Reportedly the first shipment of Amazon Kindles (AK from here on out as I am getting tired of using proper trademarks) sold out in the first five and a half hours. Amazon however is not saying just how many AKs were in that first shipment. For all we know they have only a hand full and sold at a rate of one every twenty minutes. But you’ll have to agree that “AK sells out!” is a lot catchier than “Amazon sells 16 Kindles!”. I would be impressed with how fast it sold out if Amazon ever gets around to putting it in perspective for me. Moving on, the AK features a 4”x6” display which makes it smaller than a mass market book (not those new “brick” mass market books mind you.) Not only that but the AK also features a screen that can produce four different shades of gray. It’s very reminiscent of another electronic device that featured four different shades of the same color.

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Only the Gameboy came out in 1989 and cost $179 which would be $309 given today’s inflation rate. The AK will set you back $399 bones which is the same price as that new fangled iPhone or a Playstation 3 (40GB). So with its unimpressive display disproportionate to its cost, what makes it worth it? Well if features a QWERTY keypad as well buttons that can turn the E-Book’s pages left or right. It can also play MP3s (for audiobooks) and display JPG images (in four shades of gray) converted to the proper format and downloaded on to a SD expansion card. What makes this device stand out is the service it offers. Why pay $28 for a hardbound copy of The Duma Key by Stephen King when you can pay $10 for the AK version of it? That’s right. Cheap books. Best sellers run at $10 a pop while I have seen some classic books like The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin costing $1.29. Ignoring the fact that a lot of classic literature is available for free thanks to public domain. Authors who are still alive should like that they get 35% of the revenue from each book of theirs that gets sold. I am not sure just how good that is seeing as how I am not a published author, but it sounds better than the 4% that Apple is offering its iTunes artists. Users will also be able to download new books with the wireless network offered through Sprint. If you are traveling and you finish your book, download a new one instantly. No need to connect it to a computer to transfer the data.

Having said all this I still can’t help but feel that the E-Book format will never really take off. First off reading something on a digital screen has a different effect on a person’s eyes compared to reading something on paper. Secondly, I like the way my books look lined up along my bookshelf. Sure years from now when I run out of room to put all my books, I may think the AK is a nifty idea. But as a collector it’s hard for me to trade my hardbound books for an electronic string of 1’s and 0’s.

Lastly, it’s not cost effective. If you were to do the math (like I did) you would discover that a person could buy 67 new hardbound books (on sale via Amazon.com or local bookstore) for the same price of an AK and the same 67 books. Check out the chart to see how the AK compares to other book formats.

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The Amazon Kindle seems like a neat idea but I am not sold on it. The technology seems to be lacking for the price they are selling it at. It has some neat ideas like being able to download books via wireless network, but it will be hard to fill a bookshelf with digital books. It’s a novelty electronic that would most likely be found at The Sharper Image instead of exclusively on Amazon.com, who is more than welcome to send me one of these devises so that I can investigate it further.

  • A digital book never appealed to me. I couldn't picture myself being wrapped up in an exciting story and then worrying about battery life mid sentence. I don't think it'll take off either.
  • I think I read that the Kindle's battery life is a week if you have the wireless network turned off. I am not sure if there is an OFF switch or if it just goes in to sleep mode (or something). But battery life is a good point.
  • Although one good thing about these e-books is that they spare paper and encourage less consumption of forest land for books and what not. I guess that's a perk! I'd like to see one in person sometime soon.
  • Nicholas Tang
    It doesn't have a "digital screen" like most devices. It uses e-ink, which is not backlit and is actually very easy on the eyes - it's a completely different technology from laptops, gameboys, and every other electronic device out there. You should do a little more research, since every article I've ever read on the device explains that. ;)

    I'm a new kindle owner, and so far, so good. It's not perfect, but it's nice, and the point is not about "cost effectiveness", for me, it's about convenience, access, etc. I can download any book in their library in seconds, from anywhere I can get a digital cell signal. That's awesome. You can also preview the first chapter (give or take) of each book in their library, meaning you can sample and then only buy if you like it. Again, this is great if you've ever heard about a supposedly great book only to find out that you really don't like it yourself. Finally, not every kindle book costs $10. New hardcover releases cost $10. Typically mass market paperbacks seem to be discounted around 10%, so that $7.99 book in the store will be around $7 on the kindle.

    There are also magazines and newspapers to consider - automatic delivery of the NY Times, for instance, is around 2/3 cheaper on the Kindle than on your doorstep. If you read the NY Times, or any of the other periodicals on the Kindle, and you're ok with reading them on it, it'll save you a bunch of money there. Around $30 a month just with the NY Times alone.

    It's not perfect by any means - the refresh (when you turn pages) is mildly annoying, although after a few pages you forget about it, and the interactive features (like the browser) are pretty lame so far. But it has a huge amount of potential, and it's already pretty good when it comes to reading books, which is, after all, the point. :)
  • I guess I overlooked the E-Ink (E-Paper?) and figured it wasn't that important. Since I have not had the opportunity to use a device that uses E-Paper, I never thought it was much different from a display on other electronic devices.

    I was looking at the device from a book reader's perspective which is why I didn't bring up the newspapers and magazines. I also singled out the $10 new releases which I saw to be a main draw for the device. Saving $18 on a hardcover new release is more alluring compared to the $1 saves for mass markets.

    I see this device as comparable to the first generation iPod. Hopefully they will improve it over time, but it still doesn't seem like enough to break in to the mainstream and be popular or to get favor in my eyes. However, this is an opinion that may change should I ever find myself being able to spend time with the Kindle.
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