Comments on: Will the iPhone Kill the Kindle?

By: BobbyJones

BobbyJones — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 14:33:46 +0000

iPhone is killing Kindle now, you know we can now read e-books through it. But I still have a question hanging on my mind, when are they going to make it possible to grind wow gold on any phone or specifically on iPhone?

By: Steve P.

Steve P. — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:56:38 +0000

the mahaney figures have been proven false, amazon themselves called them “extremely high”.

By: PatrickSamphire

PatrickSamphire — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 13:07:59 +0000

For me, there are lots of problems with both Sony Reader and Kindle, in terms of functionality. See, with an iPod and music, I can rip my already-owned cds, back up on cd or other device anything I buy from iTunes (and play/transfer it to another device), carry every song I could ever hope to own around with me in something that fits in my pocket, store music in a non-proprietary format (MP3), put on my own material if I want to, and so on.

Both Kindle and Sony Reader do the text-equivalent of some of these things, but not nearly enough of them.

As one of the anonymouses says, they are both essentially beta right now, and they *are* easier to read than backlit screens, but until the stop trying to lock in their own content to their own devices and start to cover issues around transferring data between devices and backup, they aren’t anything I’d be willing to invest in.

By: Dan Grossman

Dan Grossman — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:20:15 +0000

@VodkaFish: That’s what Kindle is. It’s got the same style “electronic ink” screen… plus Amazon.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 02:03:45 +0000

One key thing that everyone is leaving out, is that the Kindle is basically in a paidbeta right now. People – like my boss – who bought into it are paying for the R&D needed for a better second version. Also, a second version is likely to be cheaper. The screen is pretty much an electric Etch-A-Sketch and if you smash it at all or drop it – like what happened to my bosses during it’s first shipment – the screen is obliterated immediately. All things considered, the Kindle is incredible compared to the I-anything in concept.

My opinion is that the Kindle is a great idea, but sucks in it’s current form. Wait for the next one to come out (I bet it happens right before next Father’s Day), and you won’t be getting hosed on it.

By: Gabe

Gabe — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:33:51 +0000

I really wanted a kindle for my birthday last year, but when the product sold out, I started to look around for an alternative on my BlackBerry (wait for it). I found MobiPocket, downloaded a book OTA and started to read.

You know what, it’s not half bad. Given the fact that my phone is with me everywhere, and I’m super used to reading emails on my BB anyway – the truth is that reading a book is much less jarring on a mobile than you’d think. You just need to give yourself some time to get over your first negative reaction, and then you’ll find tremendous joy in being able to pick up and read *anytime* you have a few spare minutes, and the ability to carry 10 different books in your pocket at once.

It’s a revelation – and even when (if) I upgrade to the iPhone, I *won’t* be buying a Kindle.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:19:31 +0000

I should clarify (to assure everyone that I am actually replying to the main post and not blathering for my own edification): I think the Kindle’s price is crazy for a device that essentially allows you to read, and although it will eliminate the need for carrying many books at once, it is in the end, just one more device taking up space in my purse. (PDA, Phone, mp3 player, and a book reader? I’d rather take my $8 paperback.) I would choose to read off the iPhone’s smaller backlit screen any day if only because it does so many other things I need.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:14:46 +0000

This issue is one of my biggest soapboxes as I am still using a brick of a cell phone because I refuse to purchase a new one until they could give me the functionality of a phone, an mp3 player, a PDA, and a bookreader all in one device. The iPhone managed to toss in a GPS as well, which is a plus, but I am really concerned about reading on it. I would be okay with the iPhone being a little bit thicker, and having a panel that opened off of it like a book, with a Sony-reader-type screen inside for reading lengthier material. That would double the screen real estate, and take care of the low-glare versus high-glare issues.
The price of books in electronic form is a slightly different issue– but still pertinent and rather alarming. They want us to pay $10 for a digital version, when a paperback costs $8? There are no materials to account for, and I can’t believe that they don’t have (at least the newer books) in digital form somewhere already. I wish I knew to whom I could write a letter and demand justice!

By: VodkaFish

VodkaFish — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 18:13:57 +0000

I can’t read anything long on my iPhone, the backlight hurts. Go outside and there’s no comparison. It’s glare vs legibility. For people who read books often and everywhere, it’s a reader, whether it’s Kindle or Sony Reader or something similar.

By: Pete D.

Pete D. — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:26:56 +0000

I show my kindle side by side with my ipod touch running eReader and 9 out of 10 people prefer the touch hands down. The kindle screen contrast is awful when you see it side by side with a touch. The touch has 7-8 hour battery life with a modest amount of backlighting, which is more than sufficient for almost any purpose. It *has* a backlight unlike kindle. The human interface is about a zillion times better than the ridiculous jog dial on kindle.

The screen size issue is really a straw man. I find I can read smaller point sizes easily on touch because the screen is so darn crisp and clear, so I don’t need that huge clunky screen. The only reason the screen needs to be so big on kindle is because the resolution and contrast are just so terrible on the first gen e-ink devices. And that horrendous black flashing when turning pages gives me a headache.

I know a lot of kindle owners have bought into the amazon hype but really if you compare the kindle screen side by side it is just sad looking compared to ipod touch/iphone.