Comment by reduxredacted | Hacker News Reader

Comment by reduxredacted | Hacker News Reader

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Good point. It's not really Whispernet, specifically, it's it combined with control.

Taking the iPhone Kindle app out of the picture (though it's probably relevant, I just don't know much about it, so I'll leave it alone for the moment)... Whispernet and software that is in the complete control of Amazon gives them a capability it can't have on my Netbook.

The thing that always concerned me about the Kindle/Whispernet is that they could use it to control all of the content on the Kindle. Lets say Amazon decides that only Kindle purchased e-books are allowed on the device ... one software update later and your imported PDF files are gone (legally or otherwise). I don't think they'd really be that nasty, but it's not as though the software installed is available for inspection. If the publishers push hard enough and the circumstances are right, who knows?

I'm not begging for a GNU/Linux e-book reader. I paid about the price of a Kindle for a low-end Eee PC with a big battery. It lasts about 7 hours (not 9.5 as advertised, but enough). To me, the Kindle is something undefinable. What do I get for $300?. Text to speech on all of my books? Sometimes. The ability to import PDF files? So far. Getting to read the books you purchased... unless...

I "get" that Amazon lives at the whims of their publishers. Unfortunately, the book publishers live at the whims of the consumer and the conditions of the marketplace. They should take notes from what's going on with music today. Scanners are cheap, and OCR software is very good with print. Compressed, text-only renditions of a book are tiny and bandwidth to the home is plentiful. Top that off with an inexpensive device that gets acceptable battery life and offers convenience and an acceptable screen for reading text... It certainly sounds a lot like Napster and mp3's to me.

Okay, just a few points here:

1. The Kindle is a GNU/Linux e-book reader -- it runs a Linux kernel + userland atop an ARM chipset. The only thing "proprietary" about the system is the actual GUI tools for browsing/buying/reading books, and the radio firmware (pretty much mandated by the FCC).

2. The Kindle "experience" is very much different from what you get from reading on a laptop, even when suing a very compact model like the Eee. I've been reading book-length text on LCDs for years, but the Kindle is the first device that has allowed me to totally forget that I'm not reading a printed volume. If you haven't used one for at least 15 minutes, you really haven't had a chance to evaluate it fairly.

3. Finally, Amazon has never asserted any right to so much as examine what non-Kindle-store content you have on the device, much less delete it without your permission. Conversion of content from non-Amazon sources has been a feature of the Kindle from day 1, and any documents you acquire from other sources can simply be copied by using the Kindle as a USB mass storage device.

Like any hardware/software bundle manufacturer, Amazon has the option to render a large portion of the installed base of devices less useful via over-the-air provisioning. However, like other companies possessing such power (Microsoft, for the XBox 360; Apple, for the iPhone; not to mention basically every smartphone on every carrier) they have to weigh any potential change against the risk that their customers will go elsewhere.

Good points, and in fairness, I don't know how to shut up, so I have to respond :o).

Point 1: You clearly have a better understanding of the software than I do and I appreciate the clarification. I still stand by the outcome, though. My own ignorance: has anyone managed to install firmware that eliminates the radio and makes it a simple GNU/Linux device (either generation)? That would make it more appealing to me assuming it has acceptable storage.

Point 2: Agreed that the experience is much different than an Eee. I rarely read text on paper. Most of my reading is on inexpensive, large LCDs with uneven back-lighting. The Eee display is an improvement to my eyes, though I've read on the eSlick (foxit's product) for well over 15 minutes and it is pleasant (minus the black and white which is unnecessary for books usually).

Point 3: Here's where I have to disagree: Amazon announced that the latest iteration of the Kindle would have Text to Speech, and had to back down. What I know is that if I purchase this device, I am purchasing something that I cannot control without an exceptional effort (hacking it myself, time I don't have). They own the front end and the back channel.

As to your final point: Yes. I'm a PC gamer, not an Xbox 360 guy for precisely this reason. I don't like mandatory game updates or a "sanctioned" selection of DLC. I'll concede on the iPhone comment since all mobile phones in the US suffer from the same disease to a greater or lesser degree.

The difference is that I believe Amazon has already rendered a large portion of the installed base of devices less useful via over-the-air provisioning. GNU/Linux on the Kindle aside, the GUI is the functionality and whispernet is the control when the two are married in a device. Assertions (or lack thereof) and promises are as good as the screen they're read on.

[edit] So I'll make one more point, which is that it looks like Amazon may well have removed and refunded due to fraud perpetrated upon them because they expected that the copyright belonged to the person signing the rights over.

It's nice to know that Amazon didn't respond to the whims of a publisher but tried to make a wrong right again. But the outcome was still a serious wrong for the customer.

If they had been printing copies of the book based on the claims of permission from someone who didn't own the copyright, they would have sued that individual after being sued themselves. I'd get to keep my book that was purchased in good faith.

Nobody wins here.

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