Comments on: Amazon’s Kindle - finally the eBook revolution? http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/ Transmitting ideas, observations, and images from 42,000 km. Sat, 22 Nov 2008 05:06:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Kyle Mulka http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126236 Kyle Mulka Tue, 20 Nov 2007 07:28:29 +0000 http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126236 Andrew, Let me know when "Introduction to Neogeography" and/or your blog becomes available via the Kindle Store. Hint: Upload it here if you can: http://dtp.amazon.com/ Andrew,

Let me know when “Introduction to Neogeography” and/or your blog becomes available via the Kindle Store.

Hint:
Upload it here if you can:
http://dtp.amazon.com/

]]> By: Spatial Awareness for Kindle? « The Memory Leak http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126111 Spatial Awareness for Kindle? « The Memory Leak Tue, 20 Nov 2007 00:13:12 +0000 http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126111 [...] geospatial community has blogged about Kindle (like High Earth Orbit, Henri Bergius and Peter Batty and [...] [...] geospatial community has blogged about Kindle (like High Earth Orbit, Henri Bergius and Peter Batty and [...]

]]> By: Gordon Smith http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126085 Gordon Smith Mon, 19 Nov 2007 23:05:16 +0000 http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126085 To "kindle" is to inspire. "Kindling" is what you use to start a fire. :-) To “kindle” is to inspire. “Kindling” is what you use to start a fire. :-)

]]> By: Will King http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126072 Will King Mon, 19 Nov 2007 22:32:10 +0000 http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126072 @Dane. Agreed with many points but the humble book has one major advantage - it doesn't need batteries! If this device was ruggedized/waterproofed and could display pdfs without a hassle then I would buy at this price. The form factor and long battery life means it is ideal for viewing cad drawings (maps?) in the field - something I have been searching for. @Dane. Agreed with many points but the humble book has one major advantage - it doesn’t need batteries!

If this device was ruggedized/waterproofed and could display pdfs without a hassle then I would buy at this price. The form factor and long battery life means it is ideal for viewing cad drawings (maps?) in the field - something I have been searching for.

]]> By: Dane http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126024 Dane Mon, 19 Nov 2007 20:20:19 +0000 http://highearthorbit.com/amazons-kindle-finally-the-ebook-revolution/#comment-126024 I think it’s all about form factor, and the standard size and shape of the traditional book is pleasing. The book evolved to its present shape and form because it works well with the size of our hands, has a page width our brains comfortably scan, and a range of text size that suits our eyes when the book is comfortably readable in a resting-armed position, etc. On the other hand, books have some serious drawbacks that have always bothered me, ever since I was a kid. You have to wrestle them to keep them open, sometimes cramping your thumbs...or you have to practically break the binding of them to get them to lay fairly flat in your hands so you can read all the way to the inside of a page. They age, yellow, get musty, store poorly, take up amazing amounts of space if you have a lot of them, and weigh a ton if you have to tote them around. Their covers wear, their bindings fail, and their pages wrinkle. You can stop to scratch your nose, accidentally close your book, and lose your place. Some books are printed with squintingly-small text, which gets annoying as you hit your middle-ages. Books also have the unfortunate quality of being fairly linear and difficult to search. How many times have I read something in a book and later wanted to refer to it, or tell someone about it, and spent ages trying to find the passage again. I think the form factor and features of Kindle and some of the other book readers that have come out of late seems just about right. I can imagine snuggling up in a chair and reading from one, just like I would a book. It’s the right physical dimensions and page size (I have difficulty picturing myself curling up with a nice PDA), can adjust its text to my eyesight, holds a whole library of books in a 10 ounce package, is just as clear to view outdoors on the patio as it is in the den, will undoubtedly remember what page I’m on if I get distracted, will let me mark my place without having to use a comb or whatever’s within reach, and will let me skip around in it rapidly, leaping to chapters rather than flipping and thumbing a lot.. While I haven’t learned all the features of Kindle yet, I have to assume that if it can search Wikipedia, it may also be able to search its own contents, meaning the reader should be able to rapidly find something he/she read earlier. That’s a real plus. To me, the larger question isn’t whether this type of device is valuable; it is to me, definitely. I’ve wanted a paper book substitute for a long time. It’s whether Kindle is the right one. Amazon is playing Apple here. It wants to lock readers into a format and force them to buy their books and publications through them. They’re so protective of their book reading format that you can’t even read a PDF unless you first submit it to them for proprietary conversion to Kindle format. If I’m going to spend that sort of money on an e-book reader, I want it to be universally useful. There’s something a little insulting to be about being told, we’re going to sell you this at a premium price, and then charge you for the privilege of only being able to get your content for it by purchasing it from us. I think it’s all about form factor, and the standard size and shape of the traditional book is pleasing. The book evolved to its present shape and form because it works well with the size of our hands, has a page width our brains comfortably scan, and a range of text size that suits our eyes when the book is comfortably readable in a resting-armed position, etc. On the other hand, books have some serious drawbacks that have always bothered me, ever since I was a kid. You have to wrestle them to keep them open, sometimes cramping your thumbs…or you have to practically break the binding of them to get them to lay fairly flat in your hands so you can read all the way to the inside of a page. They age, yellow, get musty, store poorly, take up amazing amounts of space if you have a lot of them, and weigh a ton if you have to tote them around. Their covers wear, their bindings fail, and their pages wrinkle. You can stop to scratch your nose, accidentally close your book, and lose your place. Some books are printed with squintingly-small text, which gets annoying as you hit your middle-ages. Books also have the unfortunate quality of being fairly linear and difficult to search. How many times have I read something in a book and later wanted to refer to it, or tell someone about it, and spent ages trying to find the passage again.

I think the form factor and features of Kindle and some of the other book readers that have come out of late seems just about right. I can imagine snuggling up in a chair and reading from one, just like I would a book. It’s the right physical dimensions and page size (I have difficulty picturing myself curling up with a nice PDA), can adjust its text to my eyesight, holds a whole library of books in a 10 ounce package, is just as clear to view outdoors on the patio as it is in the den, will undoubtedly remember what page I’m on if I get distracted, will let me mark my place without having to use a comb or whatever’s within reach, and will let me skip around in it rapidly, leaping to chapters rather than flipping and thumbing a lot..

While I haven’t learned all the features of Kindle yet, I have to assume that if it can search Wikipedia, it may also be able to search its own contents, meaning the reader should be able to rapidly find something he/she read earlier. That’s a real plus.

To me, the larger question isn’t whether this type of device is valuable; it is to me, definitely. I’ve wanted a paper book substitute for a long time. It’s whether Kindle is the right one. Amazon is playing Apple here. It wants to lock readers into a format and force them to buy their books and publications through them. They’re so protective of their book reading format that you can’t even read a PDF unless you first submit it to them for proprietary conversion to Kindle format. If I’m going to spend that sort of money on an e-book reader, I want it to be universally useful. There’s something a little insulting to be about being told, we’re going to sell you this at a premium price, and then charge you for the privilege of only being able to get your content for it by purchasing it from us.

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