Amazon releases new Kindle; adds WiFi only model for $139

I've never seen one in person for longer than a second or two. Does the text really look as chunky on those things as that pic suggests?

 

Are the books less expensive?

I mean I buy a lot of hardcovers and spend $20 a pop, would they be cheaper on the Kindle?

DD

 

wow 10-12 dollars for digital versions of books? i can understand maybe 5-6 bucks..but 10-12 bucks?

 

Yes they would be but not as much as you might expect. I have a nook and I will never go back to reading on paper.

 

My wife reads them on her iphone, a lot of amazon books, and she swears by it. It's small, but she has it everywhere, so she likes that. I thought about getting her one, but I'm not sure she'll like it, even though I would want a larger reader, and I'm not dropping jink for a first generation iPad.

 

Yeah, that's been the biggest turn-off for e-readers for me. If I'm not getting a physical copy, I should be saving a lot more than just a couple of bucks.

 

I'm still using my old sony 505, but I've been tempted after seeing the little things you can do with a "rooted" Nook.

Will this new Kindle's contrast improvement finally put it beyond that of the original Kindle, or just back up to par? Also would this new one finally support Epub?

 

I love, love, love my Kindle and will probably be getting this upgraded version. My wife has my old Kindle 1 and I have the Kindle 2. If I get this then my son will get our Kindle 1.

Also, most new releases are $9.99 with only a very few more than that. There are also many, many, many books that are less than $9.99 and many that are free, usually old classics. I'd say that on average I spend about $6.50 per book and I receive them instantly. When I finished The Game of Thrones, I was reading The Clash of Kings within a minute. I think that super great.

 

I think that it should also be noted that there are an insane amount of free ebooks out there as well. A lot of classics are free. I've also noticed more and more free books to try to jump start you into a series. (Read the first book free, if you like it you can buy the next book in the series, if not, no loss).

 

that's what is so great about the Sony Ereaders. you're not limited by any proprietary content. you can d/l hundreds of books for free from google or check out books from your local library. you can't do that with a Kindle.

 

Half-Price Books. I know you have 'em there in Austin.

 

When you buy books, you're not paying for the paper. You're paying for the intellectual property contained within. I remember listening to an NPR reportt stating it was cheaper to print a book in the US than it was even in China.

 

no need. I can just buy the $10 app for my Ipad.

 

I am able to also use different formats for my nook as well. Technically you can convert the more popular ebook formats into a kindle friendly format pretty easily with software readily available online.

How is that any different than reading off a laptop screen? If you read a lot, E-Ink is much better for your eyes.

 

Yeah, but those are not new releases....

And I donate my books to the library when done.

DD

 

The actually physical copy of the book isn't what you're paying for though. Printing costs are not $10-$15 of the $20 hardcover.

 

Seems like y'all think this is really the wave of the future for books?

I can understand the convenience, but I wouldn't trade a physical book in my hands for anything. I have a few hundred of them, and I've read them all. I enjoy looking at them; they're great conversation starters.

Perhaps I've encountered the first technological advance that I'll have trouble adopting....