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Re: larger-format kindle
by Joshua Hutchinson 08 May '09

08 May '09

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Re: larger-format kindle
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 08 May '09

08 May '09

michael said: > Using your own statistics I thus defeat you: defeat? it's not a contest. it's a conversation. :+) we're all blind men trying to describe an elephant. > Using your own statistics I thus defeat you: > Half the US population is 150 million people. > MAYBE 1/3 of one percent have a Kindle. . . . well, if you look, i said that _among_book-buyers_, the kindle is popular, so i think i described it well... but if you want to quibble over the word "popular", i'll rescind it, in favor of "significant", so it now says: among book-buyers, the kindle is now significant... since this very small percentage of the u.s. population -- 1/3 of one percent, if we use your figure, michael -- now accounts for 1/3 of the books purchased at amazon -- at least for the titles which are available for kindle -- i think it's hard to deny that their impact is "significant"... heck, i thought the 10% figure in february was shocking, but it didn't seem to draw very much comment, i thought. this 35% figure, though, has been written up quite a bit... and everyone seems to think it's just as surprising as i do. -bowerbird ************** Remember Mom this Mother's Day! Find a florist near you now. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=florist&ncid=emlcntusyelp000000…)

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Re: larger-format kindle
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 08 May '09

08 May '09

i'm not sure what you're saying, michael, or why you're saying it. yes, the kindle is a niche product. but the niche product that is kindle is now selling a shitload of e-books. so many that it's outright surprising. lots of kindle owners report that they are reading more now than ever before, _and_ that they are buying more books... honest-to-goodness people are saying that, not amazon p.r. flacks. after literally decades of slow e-book uptake, that surprises me... and i think it's good news. but by all means, you can take it however you like. -bowerbird ************** Remember Mom this Mother's Day! Find a florist near you now. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=florist&ncid=emlcntusyelp000000…)

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Re: larger-format kindle
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 08 May '09

08 May '09

sorry, i thought i'd sent this earlier, but evidently not... *** michael said: > Since Amazon has been keeping them such a secret, > it seems obvious they are lower than we thought-- a lot of people use that argument. i'm skeptical of it. i think it's just as likely that a business would prefer to keep details of a money-making machine secret, so as not to entice the competition into the arena... the noise-makers get more attention, to be sure, but the stealth ones take more money out of your pocket. but i don't think that's the case in this situation either. the truth of the matter for this is much more direct: the e-ink factory can't make the screens fast enough. amazon sells 'em as fast as the factory can make 'em. but even here, that's not the point. you are looking at the wrong thing. the issue is not the number of kindles that have been sold. we all agree that number is small. what's fascinating is that the small number of people who own a kindle exert a disproportionate influence in the number of units moved. and no, that influence doesn't extend to amazon's bottom line, both because the e-books are priced lower than the p-books _and_ because amazon currently _subsidizes_ the e-books, precisely because it wants to move users to the future. what's important to notice here, though, is that those users are indeed migrating to the future, and quickly. -bowerbird ************** Remember Mom this Mother's Day! Find a florist near you now. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=florist&ncid=emlcntusyelp000000…)

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Another commercial site
by Greg Newby 08 May '09

08 May '09

Since we're looking at commercial sites, here's a new one. -- Greg ----- Forwarded message from Robert Billing <rbilling(a)tnglwood.demon.co.uk> ----- From: Robert Billing <rbilling(a)tnglwood.demon.co.uk> Subject: Redistribution You may recall that some time ago I wrote to you asking you if I might redistribute Project Gutenberg e-texts in a suitable format for portable readers. The site is now up complete with search tools and suggested reading lists. I have 21,000 of your texts available for instant download. Please feel free to take a look: http://www.alex-library.com If you could see you way to giving me a link on the Project Gutenberg site it would be much appreciated. Royalties will be coming your way as soon as we have some customers. -- Robert Billing MA Tanglewood Algorithms Limited Phone/Fax 01344-772849 [Software Engineering Consultancy] International +44-1344-772849 64, Pinehill Road, Crowthorne, Mobile 07770-902246 Berkshire, UK, RG45 7JR ----- End forwarded message -----

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larger-format kindle
by don kretz 08 May '09

08 May '09

I also think the biggest part of the announcement was pdf support. I think pdf now becomes a required feature for any competitive reader product.

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Re: larger-format kindle
by Joshua Hutchinson 08 May '09

08 May '09

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Re: All very well, but ...
by Joshua Hutchinson 07 May '09

07 May '09

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All very well, but ...
by Jon Richfield 07 May '09

07 May '09

but what does the new, big Kindle actually cost? I have been looking around and not actually seen prices. I certainly am interested in getting one, but i suspect that it will pay me to wait till the prices of such devices drop. (Having wanted something of the type ever since the technology was proposed over twenty years ago!) Mind you, the main reason *I* need one is for reading in bed... Cheers, Jon

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Re: larger-format kindle
by Bowerbird＠aol.com 07 May '09

07 May '09

michael said: > Not what _I_ would call a "popular" eBook reader, as the media says. book-reading itself isn't all that "popular", we must remind ourselves. half the population read one book or less (i.e., zero books) last year... and many book-readers don't _buy_ books, but rather use the library. so i'd say that -- among book-buyers -- kindles are pretty popular... -bowerbird ************** Remember Mom this Mother's Day! Find a florist near you now. (http://yellowpages.aol.com/search?query=florist&ncid=emlcntusyelp000000…)

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