Posts Tagged ‘kindle’
Jeff Bezos on the Inevitable Obsolescence of Books [Blockquote]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 28th, 2009
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tells Dan Lyons, aka FSJ, just how deep his "missionary zeal" for spreading the gospel of the Kindle runs: One day, it's going to kill books entirely. The full quote:
Lyons: Do you think that the ink-on-paper book will eventually go away?
Bezos: I do. I don't know how long it will take. You know, we love stories and we love narrative; we love to get lost in an author's world. That's not going to go away; that's going to thrive. But the physical book really has had a 500-year run. It's probably the most successful technology ever. It's hard to come up with things that have had a longer run. If Gutenberg were alive today, he would recognize the physical book and know how to operate it immediately. Given how much change there has been everywhere else, what's remarkable is how stable the book has been for so long. But no technology, not even one as elegant as the book, lasts forever.
Also, Bezos isn't afraid of the Apple tablet, even if it does do all that stuff everybody thinks it will, because the Kindle's so darn good at the book thing. A dedicated device for reading? Sounds like a shorter shelf life than books. [Slate]
Jeff Bezos on the Inevitable Obsolescence of Books [Blockquote]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 28th, 2009
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos tells Dan Lyons, aka FSJ, just how deep his "missionary zeal" for spreading the gospel of the Kindle runs: One day, it's going to kill books entirely. The full quote:
Lyons: Do you think that the ink-on-paper book will eventually go away?
Bezos: I do. I don't know how long it will take. You know, we love stories and we love narrative; we love to get lost in an author's world. That's not going to go away; that's going to thrive. But the physical book really has had a 500-year run. It's probably the most successful technology ever. It's hard to come up with things that have had a longer run. If Gutenberg were alive today, he would recognize the physical book and know how to operate it immediately. Given how much change there has been everywhere else, what's remarkable is how stable the book has been for so long. But no technology, not even one as elegant as the book, lasts forever.
Also, Bezos isn't afraid of the Apple tablet, even if it does do all that stuff everybody thinks it will, because the Kindle's so darn good at the book thing. A dedicated device for reading? Sounds like a shorter shelf life than books. [Slate]
E-reader privacy policies compared: Big Kindle is watching you
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 27th, 2009
[Thanks, Tom]
E-reader privacy policies compared: Big Kindle is watching you originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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EFF | Email this | Comments Kindle most gifted item in Amazon’s history, e-books outsell physical tomes on Christmas Day
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 27th, 2009
We're still not about say the e-book reader industry has branched out beyond the infancy stage, but one of its flagship products certainly has reason to celebrate. Amazon has announced it's hit some pretty big milestones with the Kindle. The two bullet points it's currently touting loudest is that the reader has become "the most gifted item" in the company's history -- quite an achievement given the size of the online retailer, but what's missing here is any quantitative sales data to give us even a ballpark of the number of units sold. The other big news is that on Christmas Day (we're guessing not Christmas Eve, else the press release surely would've mentioned it, too), e-book sales actually outsold physical books. Those brand new Kindle owners needed something to read, right? It'll be interesting to see if that momentum is maintained through next year, especially with some major publishers starting to show some teeth with digital delays. The Kindle bits were all part of Amazon's annual post-holiday statistical breakdown, so in case you're wondering, besides Kindle, the company is claiming its other top-selling electronics were the 8GB iPod Touch and Garmin nuvi260W, and in the wireless department the honor goes to Nokia's unlocked 5800 XpressMusic, Plantronic's 510 Bluetooth headset, and AT&T's edition of the BlackBerry Bold 9700.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Kindle most gifted item in Amazon's history, e-books outsell physical tomes on Christmas Day originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 27 Dec 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |Amazon | Email this | Comments Is Your Kindle Spying On You? (Yes.) [Ebooks]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 27th, 2009
If you don't want other people to know what you read, you probably shouldn't own an ereader. And you really shouldn't get a constantly connected Kindle or Nook, at least according to the EFF's eye-opening guide to ebook privacy.
The Kindle and Nook are tied to Amazon and Barnes & Noble's respective bookstores, meaning every purchase and every book search is recorded. Amazon's license agreement for the Kindle, for instance, notes that the Kindle's software "will provide Amazon with data about your Device and its interaction with the Service...and information related to the content on your Device and your use of it (such as automatic bookmarking of the last page read and content deletions from the Device)."
The Nook is obviously capable of phoning home in a similar manner, but it's unknown whether or not it does, at least for now. With Google Books, it's clear that what you're actually reading is logged, down to the specific page.
On the other hand, since Sony's Reader lacks 3G for a constant connection and isn't as tightly integrated with their ebook store, there's less opportunity for data collection, particularly if you stick w/ sideloaded books. Better still, says the EFF is the open-source FBReader. But you can't download books from anywhere in 3 seconds over 3G, and the experience isn't as nice.
It's the classic tradeoff: Less privacy for more convenience and a better experience, or greater privacy for a bigger hassle. What side are you on? [EFF]
Kindle Milestone: Amazon Sold More Kindle Books Than Physical Books On Xmas [Kindle]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 26th, 2009
Amazon's Kindle hit an important and startling milestone yesterday: On Christmas, the company sold more Kindle books than physical books.
Yes, this is obviously the result of everyone who got a Kindle for Christmas (lots of folks) firing it up and ordering a bunch of eBooks on a day in which most physical-book readers weren't shopping. But it's still important and impressive.
The Kindle's economics are still lousy for Amazon: The company loses money on new releases and makes only a modest amount on older titles, thus losing an estimated $1 per Kindle book.
That said, Amazon's strategy is clearly to drive "ubiquity," and based on stats like those above, it is succeeding. The more Kindle books Amazon sells, the more leverage it will have over publishers when it tries to force them to cut wholesale prices. If Amazon's Kindle momentum continues, the day publishers have to capitulate will come sooner rather than later.
And, despite publishers' cries, this is not necessarily bad for publishers: If publishers cut wholesale prices, Amazon will be able to cut retail prices. If the retail prices are cut to nominal levels—$2.99 or $3.99 per copy—sales velocity should soar. Publishers and writers will make less per unit, but the increased volume should make up a lot of the difference.
Amazon's release below.
See also:
Amazon's Latest Kindle Deal Is Watershed, Will Increase Pressure On Publishers
Amazon Making No Headway With Publishers On Kindle Book Pricing
Amazon Kindle is the Most Gifted Item Ever on Amazon.comOn Christmas Day, for the First Time Ever, Customers Purchased More Kindle Books Than Physical BooksSEATTLE, Dec 26, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced that Kindle has become the most gifted item in Amazon's history. On Christmas Day, for the first time ever, customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books. The Kindle Store now includes over 390,000 books and the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read, including New York TimesBestsellersand New Releases.
"We are grateful to our customers for making Kindle the most gifted item ever in our history," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "On behalf of Amazon.com employees around the world, we wish everyone happy holidays and happy reading!"
On Amazon's peak day, Dec. 14, 2009, customers ordered over 9.5 million items worldwide, which is a record-breaking 110 items per second.
Amazon Worldwide 2009 Holiday Facts (includes www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.co.jp and www.amazon.ca):
- Amazon shipped to over 178 countries.
- One of our most remote shipments contained the EMU Australia Toddler Boot and was delivered to Atqasuk, Alaska.
- On the peak day this season, Amazon's worldwide fulfillment network shipped over 7 million units.
- Amazon shipped over 200,000 units to APO/FPO addresses.
- Amazon shipped more than 99 percent of orders in time to meet holiday deadlines worldwide.
Amazon.com 2009 Holiday Facts (www.amazon.com only):
- Amazon customers purchased enough fruit cake to equal the weight of a 1967 Volkswagen Bug.
- Amazon customers bought enough gingerbread house kits that if stacked on top of each other would be as tall as the Sears Tower.
- If all the computers customers purchased this holiday were stacked one on top of the other, they would be more than twice as high as Mt. Everest.
- Amazon customers bought over 50 times more Light Therapy devices this holiday season than there are sunny days in Seattle the entire year.
- For the holiday time period alone, Amazon customers purchased enough shoot-and-share camcorders to supply 50 years' worth of non-stop YouTube watching.
- Amazon customers bought enough Levi's jeans to clothe everyone at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
- Amazon customers purchased so many Blu-ray disc players that if you lined them up side to side, they would stretch for more than 27 miles.
- During the 2009 holiday season, Amazon customers bought enough 8 GB iPod touches to play 442 years of continuous music.
- In 2009, Amazon customers purchased enough heart rate monitor watches to put one on the wrist of everyone who finished the New York City marathons in 2008 and 2009.
- Amazon customers purchased enough Frustration-Free Package items to eliminate over 32,000 pounds of frustrating plastic materials, such as plastic clamshells.
- The last One-Day Prime order that was delivered in time for Christmas, was placed on Dec. 23 at 9:17 p.m. Pacific and shipped to Boca Raton, Florida for delivery on Dec. 24. The item was a pair of Yellow Gold 8-8.5mm Freshwater Cultured Pearl Stud Earrings.
- The last Local Express Delivery order that was delivered in time for Christmas, was placed by a Prime member and went to Seattle. It was a Kindle that was ordered at 1:43 p.m. on Christmas Eve and delivered at 4:57 p.m. that evening.
Amazon.com's Hot Holiday Bestsellers (Nov. 15 through Dec. 19, based on units ordered):
- Electronics: Kindle Wireless Reading Device; Apple iPod touch 8 GB; and Garmin nuvi 260W 4.3-inch GPS
- Toys: Scrabble Slam Cards; The Settlers of Catan; and Scene It? Twilight Deluxe Edition
- Video Games and Hardware: Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board; New Super Mario Bros; and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- Sports & Outdoors: Razor A Kick Scooter; Victorinox Swiss Army Champion Plus Pocket Knife; and P90X Extreme Home Fitness Workout Program
- DVD: "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince;" "Star Trek;" and "Up"
- Books: "Going Rogue" by Sarah Palin; "The Lost Symbol" by Dan Brown; and "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
- Music: "I Dreamed A Dream" by Susan Boyle; "My Christmas" by Andrea Bocelli; and "Crazy Love" by Michael Bublé
- Jewelry: Sterling Silver Marcasite & Garnet Glass Heart Pendant; 10k White Gold Diamond 3-Stone Heart Pendant; and 18k White Gold Round Diamond 4-Prong Stud Earrings
- Watches: Casio Men's Waveceptor Atomic Dual-Time Watch; Invicta Men's II Collection Chronograph Stainless Steel Blue Dial Watch; and Timex Kids' Camouflage Stretch Band Watch
- Beauty: Sephora Brand Color Play Palette II; Santa's Lump of Coal Christmas Soap; and Sephora Brand Ultimate Blockbuster
- Home & Garden: Keurig My K-Cup Reusable Coffee Filter; Vinturi Essential Wine Aerator; and Oster Electric Wine-Bottle Opener
- Clothing & Accessories: The Mountain Three Wolf Moon Short Sleeve Tee; Levi's Men's 550 Relaxed Fit Jean; and Levi's Men's 501 Jean
- Shoes and Handbags (Amazon.com and Endless.com): Steve Madden Women's Bonanza Tall Shafted Flat Boot; Hunter Original Tall Welly Boot; and EMU Australia Women's Hip Boot
- Health & Personal Care: Omron HJ-112 Digital Pocket Pedometer; Philips Sonicare Essence 5300 Power Toothbrush; and Farouk CHI 1 Inch Ceramic Flat Hairstyling Iron
- Gourmet Food: Bon Appetit Gift Basket; Grand Ghirardelli Chocolate Gift Basket; and 50's Decade Box Gift Basket
- Home Improvement: Black & Decker MSW100 Ready Wrench; Bosch Laser Distance Measuring Device; and Joby Gorillatorch Adjustable and Flexible Tripod Flashlight
- Automotive Parts & Accessories: Wagan 12V Heated Seat Cushion; 3M Headlight Lens Restoration System; and Autel MaxiScan MS300 CAN OBD-II Scan Tool
- Baby: Baby Einstein Takealong Tunes; Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether; and Baby Einstein Bendy Ball
- Software: Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007; Adobe Photoshop Elements 8; and Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition
- Grocery: Coffee People Donut Shop K-Cups for Keurig Brewers; Coffee People K-Cup Santa's Buzz; and Vita Coco 100% Pure Coconut Water
- Wireless: Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Unlocked Phone; Plantronics 510 Bluetooth Headset; and BlackBerry Bold 9700 Phone (AT&T)
Is Amazon Working Backward?
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Technology on December 25th, 2009
Remainders – The Good, Bad and Ugly Things We Didn’t Post (and Why) [Remainders]
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 24th, 2009
Happy Festivus, readers! You lot have disappointed me in so many ways, I'm deciding to punish you with these Remainders four: HDMI prepares new 3D-ready spec, Kindle DRM stripped, Steve Jobs takes a $1 salary, and snow snow snow snow!
HDMI Spec Updated to Ensure HD 3D Compatibility
The fine folks who work on HDMI have updated work on the 1.4 spec to make sure it can communicate all that upcoming Avatar-inspired HD 3D nonsense between display and source. Frankly, all this stuff is way over my head, and that's okay because dual-1080p streams in the home are still a ways off. From what I understand, HDMI will meet soon to discuss implementing the "Top/Bottom" format of 3D into HDMI, and the group is working to ensure that older 3D hardware will still work with the updated spec. Luckily, I have not been asked to participate in this discussion. But rest assured, HDMI is on the case. [Engadget]
Kindle eBooks Hacked!
An enterprising hacker named Labba has apparently managed to create a program that strips the DRM off Kindle-formatted ebooks, turning them into unprotected PDFs. The hack seems kind of too complicated to use right now, but Labba's working on a more consumer-friendly version as well. This isn't just hacking the Kindle to accept other formats—this is straight-up DRM elimination. Big win for hackers, not so hot for Amazon. [Engadget]
Steve Jobs Takes $1 Annual Salary for 2009
There've been a bunch of stories today about Steve Jobs' $1 salary that make it sound like a philanthropic exercise or some kind of response to the current recession—but Apple fans know that Steve Jobs has taken a $1 salary for about a decade. Of course, it's not like he needs a paycheck; his stock in Apple is valued at $1.1 billion, and his stock in Disney at $4.5 billion. Interestingly, he is usually reimbursed for miscellaneous expenses; last year, he was reimbursed $871,000, but this year only $4,000. He has been out on sick leave for a long time, but still, that's a big difference. This has been making the rounds (today I saw it on the AP, NYTimes, and HuffPo), but I'm sure you guys already knew it—so I tossed it into Remainders. [AP]
The Weather Outside Is Goddamn Frightful
Here are pictures of snow! [Boston.com]
Amazon Kindle gets its DRM stripped (for the time being)
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Gadget News, Technology on December 23rd, 2009
Amazon Kindle gets its DRM stripped (for the time being) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Dec 2009 18:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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BBC | Hacking.org | Email this | Comments Late-Coming Shipping Promotions Drive Online Shopping
Posted by: Gadget Boy in Technology on December 22nd, 2009
