So it turns out very few people agree with what I said about the kindle just two days ago. In fact, according to Amazon, the gizmo sold out in five and a half hour (source: Engadget)
Regardless I stick to my initial opinion. 399 bucks is allot of dough to cough up for something that has neither the charms nor the solidity of a book, I can throw a big book to make a big noise but if i throw a kindle it’ll just make me 399$ poorer – a futile point but I thought that with my incredible ability to knock books off my bed-side table had to be mentioned. Moreover I don’t recall ever having to plug a book to recharge it for a few hours to be able to read, if I want to read I want to do it right now.
Jeff Jarvis makes a very good point in his post today about the much advertised blog content availability on the kindle. Why would I pay for something that is free on the net?
I violently agree with him. As I said already I’m very passionate about my book collection and a kindle would be of no value for me from that point of view. Either you give me a device capable of accessing any kind of content on the net (for free) or you provide me with a cheap e-book reader – Not a stupidly expensive internet-impaired Frankenstein.
At least this is my view, but it would seem that there’s a generation out there who is still not used to free blogs on the net and is quite happy to pay for the device and the content. It’s a cultural fact, they just don’t know any better.
update: Arrington bashes the Kindle
It is a peculiar move for a telecoms giant who bent over backwards to accommodate Apple and its iPhone. Could it be that AT&T already feels its time to start distancing itself from the super-hyped product and let it join the ranks of the other unimportant devices?
