I think that Bezos quote is actually very Apple-like, what with "people are going to love these" and so on.
He's clutching a tablet-shaped-MacGuffin which may as well be a bottle of water for all his body language says about it.
Maybe he's gotten a sneak preview of what Apple has in store for October and it's now too late to change course.
Sounds about like every time I've heard him speak. He probably let out some really loud laughs too.
Remember his welcome video to Zappos employees? It was a paper based presentation (giant sheets!) where among other things he explained mistakes he and Amazon made and then shared "everything I know". He's awkward at moments, but authentic throughout. I like his style.
It's a press conference, not a public event. You measure interest by camera shutter clicks, rather than applause :-)
He's already achieved his business objective, which is lots and lots of frothy press coverage and market position as a value provider. The longer the poor economic climate lasts, the more this pays off. I can see why you're skeptical, but I felt the same way when I first saw the kindle, and boy-was-I-wrong-about-that.
I wasn't trying to make an assessment of the product though - I was just trying to make about his presentation style. I think he was hoping for a rockstar presentation where everyone would get energetic and excited from the way he presented alone (regardless of the product).
I think the new kindles are cool :)
the iPad is like a backyard swimming pool - you don't need one, but it's fun and all your friends will be impressed. the kindle is like a washing machine - you don't need one, but if you don't have one you're going to be going to the laundramat/reading paper books like a barbarian.
You analogy is only slightly less awful than mine.