Mike Leone on 23 Nov 2007 20:00:23 -0000


[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: [PLUG] The Amazon Kindle


Matthew Rosewarne (mrosewarne@inoutbox.com) had this to say on 11/21/07 at 20:26: 
> On Wednesday 21 November 2007, JP Vossen wrote:
> > The DRM is a Bad Thing, but I wonder if it's realistic to think that a
> > non-DRM device would gain any acceptance from the big publishing
> > players.  But obviously Amazon has the clout to force them to play for
> > now, then maybe back off on the DRM later ala Amazon DRM-less
> > MP3_Downloads.  And it turns out the Amazon remembers what Kindle
> > e-books you've paid for and you can re-download them at any time.  It
> > also sounds like you can connect it to a PC (though this is never
> > required for anything) to back stuff up.
> 
> It doesn't really make sense that Amazon would push against DRM if they can 
> make money selling DRM'd content.  If you buy their product with DRM, what 
> incentive is there for Amazon to fight it?
> 
> > I've also seen bits about it being possible to sync over (via USB or
> > $0.10 email) plain text (and other formats in more steps), so The Baen
> > Free Library, Project Gutenberg(.org), Google Books and more would then
> > be accessible.
> 
> From what I've seen, it doesn't do PDFs.  I'm not sure how you could call it a 
> book reader if it doesn't read one of the most common publishing formats in 
> the world.
> 
> > The only other problem is the lack of a backlight, for reading in bed
> > w/o annoying your SO.  Not sure how water/sand proof it is either.
> 
> It's also an 800x600 screen.  For $400, why not buy yourself a refurbished 
> laptop instead?  That would be far more useful than any locked-down eBook 
> device.

Because e-book readers are a lot smaller and lighter, probably.

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug