Amazon Kindle is a Hit | Hacker News Reader

Amazon Kindle is a Hit

ryanspoon.com

26 pointskimboslice41 comments

“On a title-by-title basis, of the 130,000 titles available on Kindle and in physical form, Kindle sales now make up over 12% of sales for those titles…".

So, it is 12% of those 130K titles, not 12% of all book sales on AMZN. I am not sure how many titles Amazon sells overall but it's probably much greater than 130K which means that the Kindle's share is lower.

Just wanted to point out that the post's title might not be entirely accurate.

(Update: it looks like Amazon stocks several million book titles)

Exactly. I saw the title and said, "I don't believe that for a second." It just didn't pass the smell test.

Agreed, the title is misleading. But you're also misleading by saying that these are merely some 130K out of millions of titles.

Those are 130K of the highest-selling books by volume on Amazon - I wouldn't be surprised if they accounted for 30-50% of sales, even though they're a much smaller fraction of the millions of titles

So it's not 12% of Amazon sales, but still a significant fraction of that.

Are they definitely the highest-selling books or just the ones that Amazon could get licensed to in electronic form?

...but you're also misleading... - no, I am not.

In fact I took care to say that Amazon stocks several million titles - they might not sell a copy of every one of those every month.

If I could buy the black and white screen used on the OLPC XO in bulk I could make a better ebook reader (for geeks, wi-fi and USB will have to do for connectivity, CDMA is way too much money and hassle though it is what gives the kindle such broad appeal) and sell it for $199.

When is that screen technology going to move beyond the XO?

Go for it!? I am desperately waiting for a good e-book reader.

I don't think it's for sale, but I emailed and asked.

http://www.pixelqi.com/products

"The screen with the backlight off can appear as bright and crisp as paper, but also supports full video speed playback and color."

That sounds cool indeed. I wish I would be able to create electronics devices myself :-/

No response. I get the impression that they are still in research mode and don't want any clients other than OLPC. Disappointing, but not surprising.

Hm, too bad. I think the first one to create such a display will become very, very rich.

I got a response today. The OLPC XO screens are for sale and they are working on the new touchscreens.

The screen on Kindle is nothing like a computer screen, XO or otherwise. To make images, it arranges colored particles using an applied electric field. To illustrate just one implication, it does not have any backlighting whatsoever, which means (1) there is no eye strain and you can read in direct sunlight, (2) it never becomes hot so you can read for hours, and (3) it holds images indefinitely without drawing electricity so battery life is very long.

The black and white XO screen doesn't have a backlight. When you turn the backlight on the screen becomes lower resolution and color. Not to get into a spitting match about which screen is more unique, but the XO screen is pretty damn unique.

Am I the only person who thinks that the subjective "WOW" is unnecessary from the post title?

I was just talking about the kindle with one of my housemates. I don't have one, but my boss does, and apparently loves it. E-Ink is definitely a cool technology. I've heard some people say there are some things that should be changed in "Kindle 2.0". Any word on if/when the next version's coming out?

It costs 359 dollars, which is insane for something which has capabilities somewhat short of the 386 laptop I bought many years ago for 40 dollars. Yet...print is dead. I've come to this conclusion as a long-time book-reader and semi-ludite. There's just no reason to haul around wood pulp at a storage efficiency 1/1,000,000,000th of the state of the art.

So, I guess things are bound to change. But 359 dollars? Cripe.

It sounds expensive until you try to estimate the cost of my book collection. Double cripe.

The number of O'Reilly books that can be bought for $359 is depressingly small. If and when O'Reilly fully supports Kindle (and vice versa) Kindles will really start flying off the shelves:

http://toc.oreilly.com/2008/06/select-oreilly-books-soon-on-...

UPDATE: Of course, some of the book pricing is going to need a reality adjustment. $10 more than a used paper copy is too much. And the catalog could use some proofreading too: did you know that Don Roberts wrote "Refactoring"?

http://www.amazon.com/Refactoring-Improving-Design-Existing-...

Also, the ebooks are just as expensive as the paper books, which just doesn't seem fair. Especially since I can sell my paper books, but not the ebooks (I presume).

You could probably just sell the Kindle itself, with the books embedded, as long as you close your credit account afterwards. ;)

Let's not underestimate the cost of always being online + ready to download/buy. Amazon made a huge step in selling a consumer electronics device that is always 'on'-line.

There really isn't anything comparable.

And what is so impressive is that they realized that the 'reader' needs content on demand to be a viable product beyond us geeks. (ok, Us non-wealthy geeks, of which I am a member, would like to join you in the campfire song: I like to read digit-a-lly, but the kindle sells so expensiv-e-ly)

(it has a country twang to it)

Lies, damned lies, and statistics. It's 12% of "sales" not 12% of revenue (or even profit). Does Bezos have so much invested in making people believe Kindle is a success that he's willing to basically lie?

I assumed when I read it that "sales" meant units. Seems like a perfectly reasonable way to track this, and not a "lie" at all.

Bezos isn't lying. Though it's true that the article's author is exaggerating things a bit, the reality is that Kindle's doing fairly well. I personally believe that the primary roadblocks it's facing are the lack of color (which I believe is due to cost issues with the technology, since the e-paper stuff is pretty new), and the price tag.

However, it also hasn't been on the market for very long, so I'd say that although it hasn't so far been a "killer" product, it HAS been generating enough revenue that it will probably justify a v2. (That's what I'm hoping for, because I'll probably be in line for a v2 model... though if the price tag came down to $200, I might get one now.)

Amazons is still hiding the number of Kindles sold. Why do you think that is? Kindles are probably not selling well at all.

DRM makes it a no-go for me. I'd love to use an eBook reader but the current lock-in strategy from the major vendors is a huge turn-off.

They may be holding that information until the next earnings report. I'm pretty sure they'll be pressed to disclose it then.

How is the competition? iRex? There must have been some new devices coming out since the kindle launched?

Is the Amazon ebooks shop compatible with other ebook readers, or do they do the iTunes thing?

The Sony prs-505 is very similar but without the full keyboard and ability to get books without a pc. I got one earlier this year and I like it.

Does it have a touch screen? I think the first Sony Readers didn't have one.

None of them do. It's eInk.

I thought the kindle has one, and I am pretty sure the iRex has a touchscreen.

pretty sure kindle doesn't have a touch screen

Yeah I couldn't find any references for a touchscreen via Google.

The iRex iLiad has a touch screen as well as being eInk.

I've been wondering if enterprises are going to start using kindles for positions that deal with a lot of traveling paperwork.

right to read.

http://diveintomark.org/archives/2007/11/19/the-future-of-re...

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html

I love the thing. I've played with it hands on and it's a remarkable gadget... BUT I have two complaints:

1) I'd love a backlight that can be switched on to conserve battery

2) I would pay for ability to surf the net / access blogs without the Kindle-subscription service

Re #1, I presume you mean "switched off" to conserve battery. The thing is, a backlight wouldn't really work with the eInk screen. eInk is an ink technology designed to mimic ink on paper. Like paper, you read the screen by light bouncing off it, not through it. Think of reading a backlit sheet of paper, like a transparency on a projector -- more pleasant to read the reflection than have it lit from behind.

I have a Motorola MOTOFONE F3, which also uses an eInk display. It has a light source -- an LED between the display and outer plastic. Works ok, but direct reflected light (like a flashlight) works better in low light conditions.

I think you can just use a normal booklight with the Kindle.

Booklights are so awkward. Some sort of integrated lighting solution so I can read while curled up under the covers would be great.

I rather have the convenience of an iPhone and download books at 99cts from the App Store.

Some will say "the eyes blah blah the ink blah blah" but I tell you, I surf ten hours a day in my old monitor and have had no eye problems for the past 20 years.

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