Gawker
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wtf
Times Front Page Basically Just Digg Now
This New York Times front-page story is about how the Amazon Kindle can't pronounce Barack Obama's name. That's A1 news? Really? The Times really is just a fancy blog. (Or maybe just feeling defensive.)
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6
By Ryan TateComment by DevilsAvocado: And here was me thinking Rupert Murdoch bought out the Wall Street Journal. Man moves fast. He's like a Ninja. more » | Other threads
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print is dead
A Bigger Kindle Makes Jeff Bezos Richer and Newspapers Poorer
Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled the Kindle DX, a large-screen e-reader, today at the site of the New York Times's former headquarters in Lower Manhattan. The message: He's the future and newspapers are the past. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by stanhalen: But can you use this contraption as a blanket when you're sleeping on a park bench? The broadsheet is the classic... 2 Responses | Other threads
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news corp.
News Corp. baron Rupert Murdoch has Kindle envy, wants his own e-book reader.
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armchair general
Why Amazon.com Should Buy Digg
Digg needs to sell itself. Kevin Rose's headline-voting site is drowning; the more popular it gets, the more red ink it generates. But who needs a bunch of news stories rated? Here's an idea: Amazon.com. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by ClockOnTheStove: Amazon's reviews can be wickedly entertaining as well. Case in point, Looking For - Best of David Hasselhoff: [www.amazon.com]... 1 Responses | Other threads
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copyfight
Wacky Discovery Founder Sues Amazon.com over Kindle
Discovery Communications, the owner of cable channels like FitTV and Animal Planet, is suing Amazon.com, maker of the Kindle, over an electronic-books patent taken out by its founder and CEO, John Hendricks, years ago. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by braak: Don't you actually have to have a blueprint of something before you can patent it? Like, I can't just... 3 Responses | Other threads
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twitterati
The Twitterati Drink Alone, or with Jenny 8. Lee
What's Twitter good for? Knowing that your life of quiet desperation is shared by the rich, powerful, or merely well-read, for starters. Steve Case, Sasha Frere-Jones, and Rob Corddry deserve twitty pity: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Golly Gee Holly: Why don't these people just text their twitter things?!? I have a blackberry but I don't have twitterberry. IT'S NOT... 4 Responses | Other threads
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e-books
Esquire Editor Admires the Kindle, or At Least the Hearst Replacement
Esquire editor David Granger loves the Amazon Kindle. Sort of. The e-book reader gives him hope that Internet-shortened attention spans will lengthen enough to spark a renaissance in books and magazines. He's utterly delusional. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by stoprobbers: I can't read off a screen, hurt my eyes. When society turns away from the written word -- on a PAGE... 2 Responses | Other threads
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e-books
Hearst's E-Reader: The Last Stand of a Doomed Industry
Dear media companies: Please stop trying to innovate. You're lousy at it. Hearst's supposed "Kindle killer," an electronic reader for magazines, is just the latest in a series of debacles from the moribund print-media business. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Argy: It's pretty hard to feature reader comments posted online when no one posts any. There's only so much citizens of... 2 Responses | Other threads
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jeff bezos
The Revenge of Amazon.com's 'Chuckling Maniac'
Jeff Bezos turned up on the Daily Show couch to promote Amazon.com's newest Kindle e-book reader. And as this clip shows, he laughed, and laughed, and laughed. Why wouldn't he? More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Schmalerie: I had heard about Kindle before, but never really made an effort to learn about it. After watching this... 5 Responses | Other threads
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caption contest
Apparently everything gets past security these days
Kindlespotting continues, with a reader sending us this picture of a reader on a flight from Dallas to San Francisco. Considering how much the e-book readers cost and the premium prices for the content, you'd think this reader would be in first class — then again, after paying Amazon $359 plus shipping for the gadget, maybe all he could afford was coach. Go on, write a better caption in the comments. Best one will become the new headline. Yesterday's winner in our very special caption contest: "And now that I've had Firefox dig this hole in the desert for me..." by Beachfront_Perk.
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By Jackson WestComment by SeattleBuzzKill: I see kindles ever single damn day on Seattle Metro route 28. Yawn. 1 Responses | Other threads
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Rumomonger
No new Kindle from Amazon this year
"There will be no new version of the Kindle this year," Amazon.com spokesman Craig Berman told The New York Times. Berman seems intent on stomping rumors of a new Kindle for Christmas. His message? Stop saving up. Buy some more e-books instead.(Photo by AP/Mark Lennihan) -
e-books
Amazon.com execs: Kindle not quite the huge hit everyone says it is
After a TechCrunch report said that Amazon.com had already sold 240,000 Kindles this year, Wall Street analyst Mark Mahaney called the Kindle "the iPod of the book world." Now Amazon.com says both Mahaney and TechCrunch spoke too soon and without talking to the right people. The right people, according to analysts from McAdams Wright Ragen, being analysts from McAdams Wright Ragen. More »
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Comment by Jordan Golson: @foobarz: I got a 2-week loaner from Amazon.com and liked it so much that I bought one. The screen is... more » | Other threads
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caption contest
Pardon me, do you have any grey poupon?
Amazon.com's electronic-book reader, the Kindle, is a rare find in the wild. The only place we've ever spotted one was in New York's subway system. And that's where a Valleywag reader found this specimen yesterday. Unfortunately, in his excitement, our volunteer paparazzo may have startled the rare creature, perhaps disturbing its mating cycle. You can tell by looking at its eyes. Can you come up with a better caption? Do so in the comments and we'll rename the post with the best one. Yesterday's winner is Sample32 with "This picture would be 10x better if it was accompanied by Australian accents."
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Comment by kimbjo: "Using Kindle is like shagging a fat girl. Fun to ride, but don't let your friends catch you with one". more » | Other threads
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amazon.com
"The Kindle is becoming the iPod of the book world"
Despite the fact that you've never seen one in person, Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney says Amazon.com will sell 378,000 Kindles this year, accounting for $1.1 billion or 4 percent of Amazon's total revenues by 2010. Earlier this year, Mahaney guessed Amazon would sell about half as many copies of the device, which he now calls Amazon's iPod. What changed? More »
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Comment by Ghede: I think it's the highly portable nature. I have three bookcases full in my room alone. Since it is also... 1 Responses | Other threads
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death of print
Attempt to spark Kindle flame leaves publishers cold at Book Expo
LOS ANGELES, CA — Consumers aren't the only ones not buying the Amazon Kindle pitch. At a presentation by Amazon.com representatives at Book Expo America on Saturday, publishers proved an equally tough sell. The reps held a special session to introduce publishers to Amazon's tools for uploading, publishing, and managing inventory for the Kindle. While the Digital Tools for Publishers system is slick and easy to use, the company wasn't particularly transparent about questions regarding the size and makeup of the market for Kindle e-books. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by ifstone: Borders books here has a Sony Reader on display that customers can play with. (It's tethered to a kiosk.) I... more » | Other threads
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amazon.com
Jeff Bezos pitches the Kindle, BookSurge to skeptical mob at Book Expo America
LOS ANGELES, CA — Jeff Bezos pitched the Kindle to attendees at Book Expo America today in downtown LA, and then sat down with Wired editor and author of The Long Tail Chris Anderson for a little chit-chat. The takeaway? Much like Apple, Bezos uses the euphemism "customer experience" for "vertical integration," especially when it comes to the new Kindle and the requirement that print-on-demand publishers work with Amazon subsidiary BookSurge. After the jump, some choice quotes from before Anderson's questions (presumably from his notes, on regular old paper, pictured here) started to veer into extreme audience irrelevance when he brought up EC2 and Bezos' space ambitions. More »
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By Jackson WestComment by colonelpanic: The Sonics, Kindle and Microsoft Bob. Three things that we wish had stayed in Seattle. More technology flops. more » | Other threads
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e-commerce
Amazon.com encourages Kindle casual encounters
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos may not be a sexless monk, but what about owners of the Kindle e-book reader? Hoping to ignite the flame of consumer desire across America, Amazon has set up a page for people to "See a Kindle in Your City."Whether you want to meet at your local coffee shop, a public park, or your favorite watering hole is up to you. We hope you enjoy meeting your fellow Kindlers.
I give the program two weeks before "Kindle owner seeks Tina for PnP" hits the site. -
javaone
Sun has great friends, but business plan still a mystery
At the JavaOne keynote this held at the Moscone Center this morning, EVP of software Rich Green took the stage and told the assembled crowd, mostly developers, "Welcome to the revolution. Businesses used to drive technology adoption, but now it's all about consumers." Which suggests the company, known historically as an enterprise hardware and software provider, is changing focus to enable more consumer-focused applications. Not mentioned? Last week's announcement of a $34 million quarterly loss and a stock price that has hardly improved since plummeting 20 percent. But look everybody, Neil Young! More »
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By Jackson WestComment by nessence: afaik, javafx is actually going to be free to phone manufacturers as well. the real issue is sun needs to... more » | Other threads
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sex trade
Amazon.com can't tell who's getting off on the Kindle
For the makers of e-book readers, the raincoater audience — the straightish men who frequent adult bookstores for the promise of a little action in the back — are an unlikely market. They're not even there to read, for starters. But for literate smut fans, who have been choosing Amazon.com from the first day they made erotic books available in discreet, brown-wrapped boxes? If they're turning to the Kindle to deliver their porn, Amazon's not telling. Not entirely. We've got numbers on how well the same books sell in print, but not for their Kindle counterparts. Better figures might be possible if everyone's who's spindled their Kindle dropped Amazon a line.
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Comment by raincoaster: @raincoaster: Besides, I think that avatar of the raincoaster consciousness was banned three years ago. I'm on life #6 now! more » | Other threads
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books
First Lady, First Daughter prove Steve Jobs right about future of book industry
In case you missed their guest appearance on Today, Jenna and Laura Bush have collaborated with an illustrator on Read All About It!, the $17.99, 32-page tale of math machine and science whiz Tyrone, a reluctant reader until the books that his teacher read to the class actually came to life. All five-star reviews so far, with the exception of one Zebo Quad, who opines: "This book just proves that celebrities could vomit onto a blank page and publishers would publish it." It also suggests Steve Jobs was onto something when he dissed the Amazon Kindle e-book reader:It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don't read anymore. Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore.
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By theodpComment by edosan: "The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore." Yeah, this statement will hold until Jobs introduces... more » | Other threads
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nerdspotting
A real live Kindle user
When Jeff Bezos and company reported Amazon.com's earnings at the end of last quarter, they swore the Kindle was flying off the shelves. But I've never seen one in the wild. Or even heard of a sighting. Until today when I saw, thanks to Silicon Alley Insider, a photo of a girl reading a Kindle on the New York subway. Take that, Kindle-hater Steve Jobs. Have you ever seen anyone using a Newton on the subway?
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Comment by oakmot: All she needs is a headset and it would be just like the "virtual reading" sketch on Saturday Night Live... more » | Other threads
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amazon.com
Kindle book sales not beating Sony Reader, says e-book publisher
Arthur Klebanoff, CEO of e-book publisher RosettaBooks, says Kindle-compatible e-books will not outsell Sony Reader-compatible books published by his house in 2008. This despite the fact that Amazon.com execs told analysts Kindle sales were "outpacing our expectations" — and Amazon appears to be skewing search results on the site in Kindle's favor.
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Comment by mdvp: I don't think what this guy says is relevant in any major way to the actual sales of kindle books.... more » | Other threads
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amazon.com
Amazon.com's search results promote Kindle
For years, retailers have given preferential shelf space to certain products — sometimes because they are higher margin, or because the manufacturer has paid for that placement. Should Amazon.com be any different? During the holiday season, the online retailer listed its Kindle e-reader at the very top in search results for "sony reader." Clever! Even better, a search for "kindle" doesn't mention its Sony competitor at all. My personal favorite? A number of customers have tagged the Kindle with "sony reader." That's what loser-generated content gives you, I guess. -
acquisitions
Amazon.com buys Audible.com for $300 million
What's the value of the spoken word? $300 million, according to Amazon.com, which just purchased the leading digital audiobook reseller, Audible.com. The amount is a premium of more than 20 percent on yesterday's closing price. The purchase of Audible, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, shows that Amazon is serious about digital content. Amazon has sold Audible's audio downloads since May 2000, and the purchase is a natural fit as Amazon offers more content via digital delivery. But what does it mean for the consumer? More »
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Comment by macbeach: My theory is that there can never be another Microsoft (and that's a good thing(tm)). The world has learned that locking... more » | Other threads
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apple
Steve Jobs: Oh yeah, and Amazon's Kindle won't work either
Remember the comparisons between Amazon's Kindle and the iPod? Don't try them on Apple CEO Steve Jobs. The Kindle was a bad idea, Jobs told the New York Times after yesterday's Macworld keynote. "It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don't read anymore," he said. "Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore." Mmhmm, Mr. Jobs. And whose fault is that? -
e-commerce
Kindle going for $1,500 on eBay
Maybe Jeff Bezos does have a hit on its hands. TechCrunch notes that the sold-out Amazon Kindle is selling for up to $1,500 on eBay. Didn't these people skim Robert Scoble's review of the e-book reader? Or Walt Mossberg's slam? Both say the thing's a piece of crap. For the same $1,500 you can buy a well-equipped MacBook, or almost four iPhones. When the thing first came out, I considered buying one, but didn't think it was worth $400. I guess I was wrong. At these prices, it's practically the new Nintendo Wii.
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Comment by Dweezil: @Jordan Golson: I disagree completely, if you're trying to define a market or reach some overwhelming point of market saturation... more » | Other threads
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recap
This week was a wash
Ahh, that feels good right there. I don't think we'll be talking about this week next week. The Facebook pile-on continued. Amazon's Kindle reader suffered a surprise media backlash. I'd hoped for another bank-employee-in-tutu photo to liven things up. Instead we got Gerstmanngate. At least we still have jobs — oh wait, Valleywag party girl Megan "Leggy" McCarthy is heading to Wired. I think I'll go curl up in the tub with my INVISIBLE PUPPY. (Photo by Jason Calacanis) -
walt mossberg
Mossberg slams Kindle — was he bitter about Newsweek exclusive?
Walt Mossberg, surprisingly slow out of the gate, has finally deigned to review Amazon.com's Kindle e-book reader. He was not kind, calling it "mediocre" and "marred by annoying flaws." He also says that Amazon "nailed the electronic-book shopping experience," which is no surprise given the success of Amazon.com, "but it has a lot to learn about designing electronic devices." Harsh words from a top reviewer who can make or break a device. Here's our question: what took him so long? More » -
amazon.com
Kindle's true origin in 18th century French Enlightenment?
I know I'm not the only one thinking Amazon.com's e-book reader Kindle sounds more like kindling, something that should be burned, rather than something that ignites ideas and revolutions — a problem that a good naming myth, well told, will not easily overcome. Fortunately for Bezos, Charlie Rose can't help but interrupt his guests and provide the answers to his own questions. In an interview, the CEO fumbled through the origin of the e-book reader's name. But why is Jeff Bezos completely failing to tell the true, compelling, and literary origins of the Kindle name? More » -
followup
Kindle e-book reader not a good e-magazine reader
A week after launching, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal remain the bestsellers for Amazon.com's e-reader, Kindle, but Time magazine has dramatically fallen to 12th place and continues to fall. Why? The display technology, eInk, is better than traditional displays at approximating the experience of text on a page, but the high-contrast, monochromatic screen is lousy at displaying images. The Kindle version of Time omits the images because of this, and Time magazine's appeal is as much in pictures as in words. More » -
quotable
"The runners-up — Amazon Clunk-o-matic, Amazon Yet Another Gadget to Carry, Amazon Your Laptop Can Already Display e-Books But, Hey, This Ugly-Ass Thing Has a State-of-the-Art-Circa-1993 Black-and-White Screen — were all deemed too cumbersome." — Simon Dumenco on alternate names for the Amazon Kindle. [AdAge]
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Comment by marcsiry: I'm sure the E-Ink screen is startlingly clear in person. It would probably be more impressive without the Timex Sinclair... more » | Other threads
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robert brunner
Meet the designer of Amazon's Kindle
Before Jonathan Ive, there was Robert Brunner, the designer behind Apple's original, iconic PowerBook. Brunner, who left design firm Pentagram this summer and now has a new product-design studio, Ammunition, worked with Amazon.com's Lab126 unit, also staffed with Apple veterans, to design the Kindle e-book reader, a source tells us.
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By Owen ThomasComment by jdhouse4: The Kindle is everything that the iPhone is not. Design basics never change, but the form does. For example, why... more » | Other threads
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kindle
Old media dead, lives in the future
Currently, the top three bestselling titles for Amazon.com's Kindle, Jeff Bezos's tree-killer killer, are newspapers and magazines: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Time magazine. Despite the fear that newspapers and magazines are dying, they are the most popular purchase on the future's book killer. These traditional publications are all available online, mostly for free. Kindle purchasers, in other words are spendthrift, hyperliterate gadget junkies who feel guilty about both the environment and the demise of old media. Who besides Craig Newmark is buying this thing? I can't wait to I buy a $20 Kindle on eBay — a past reminder of a failed future.
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By Tim FaulknerComment by whyareunvs: @sample032: Actually, the WSJ is $6.50/week. If you're in NY then it's $5.00/week. more » | Other threads
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kindle
Timesman sheds a tear for Jeff Bezos
Somebody bleach Saul Hansell's hair and hand him some eyeliner. He wants you to LEAVE JEFF BEZOS ALONE! After Amazon.com shoppers and a few gadget reviewers slammed Bezos's latest pet project, the Kindle e-reader, the New York Times reporter has blogged "In Defense of Kindle." His main point is that the Kindle is a version 1.0 product which will improve over time. A touchscreen, for example, would improve the user interface. Hansell argues that some of Kindle's "missing" features — color, email, and ads — would make the device better, not worse. Yesterday, you saw our side-by-side comparison of the Kindle versus its nearest competitor, the book. Now it's time for you take sides in our latest Valleywag poll. Bonus points for anyone who composes a video response on YouTube in proper style. More » -
robert scoble
Walking, talking, reading, filming, and panting about the Kindle
Egoblogger Robert Scoble takes the video show on the road again. Fortunately, he isn't risking other lives while driving. This time, he's merely walking around his neighborhood, showing off his new gadget — Amazon.com's Kindle e-book reader — while he films and talks to himself. Why? I have no clue. Maybe Robert simply enjoys walking into things blindly. Maybe he knows his audience is most likely to view his videos if there is a chance he may walk into oncoming traffic. More »
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By Tim FaulknerComment by Remo: I lost the will to live after 3 minutes, I had forgotten how is voice makes me want to jump... more » | Other threads
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amazon.com
Kindle maker Lab126 hides in Apple's backyard
Jeff Bezos, sitting in an office in Seattle, is basking in the credit for Amazon.com's new Kindle e-reader. But who really deserves credit for it? Lab126, an Amazon subsidiary in the heart of Silicon Valley — Cupertino, Calif., Apple's hometown. With former Apple and Palm employees running the quasi-startup, some have speculated that Lab126 might be coming up with an MP3 player or handheld computer. Instead? The Kindle, which many have dinged for a design that hardly matches the iPod or Treo. ("The Pontiac Aztek of e-readers," says a friend of blogger Jason Kottke.) The good news: Lab126, which now openly takes credit for the Kindle, is hiring two more designers. If you want to do something about the Kindle's design, now's your chance.
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By Owen ThomasComment by MarniaAmphilochus: There's a huge potential to use this sort of thing in schools, replacing textbooks and library books, but this "gadget"... more » | Other threads
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amazon.com
How to ensure the Kindle fails
Rob Beschizza over at Gadget Lab made an important observation about Amazon's new electronic book reader: It's terrible. At least 38 percent of customer reviews on Amazon.com douse the Kindle with a 1-star rating. Perhaps Jeff Bezos should consider adopting Apple's old policy of automatically assigning top ratings to its own products. -
comparison
Amazon Kindle vs. the book
Amazon's new e-book reader Kindle was released today to great fanfare — and a Newsweekplanted story"exclusive." The Kindle — supposedly named after the "crackling ignition of knowledge" — holds 200 books, each downloadable for $10 over a works-anywhere-sort-of EVDO data connection, fetches the New York Times for $13 a month, and generously allows you to pay a subscription fee to have blogs like Huffington Post and TechCrunch pushed to your Kindle. That's all well and good, but how does it stack up to the book? You know, the thing that Amazon has made billions of dollars shipping to you? Our easy-to-read chart is after the jump — and you don't have to pay $2 a month to read it. More » -
gadgets
"I can pay $400 for an e-book reader, and then pay $7.99 for an electronic copy of a book, or I can just pay $7.99 for the actual book, which requires no expensive intermediary equipment to enjoy, and use that extra $400 to buy 50 more books." — Blogger John Scalzi reviews Amazon's latest toy
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By Nick DouglasComment by nirreskeya: But the advantage here would be that you can take hundreds of books with you at once without adding to... more » | Other threads
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Fri Jul 10
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