[Robo]

NYT said it was coming this week, Amazon scheduled a press conference for Wednesday, and now Engadget has the pix.

I've long said that the perfect e-book reader would have (like the Macintosh!) a 9-inch monochrome screen, which - in the 16:10 aspect ratio - is just the right size to fit on your typical 5x8 book (the size the Kindle 2 emulates). Apparently someone at Amazon heard, because the new Kindle DX will feature a 9.7" screen in a decidedly taller aspect ratio than the current 6" 4:3 unit.

Since they've kept the Kindle's large, button-containing bezel (and a redesigned, smaller keyboard), the unit itself does look to be significantly larger than the Kindle 2. Still, it'll be great for textbooks. They're also targeting this at newspaper readers, seeing as the announcement is taking place at the old NYT building (NYT is also expected to reduce their Kindle subscription price to $9.99, from $13.99). Oh, and apparently it can read PDFs natively now. Yay!

While not my ideal e-book reader (it's too embiggened, and needs moar touchscreen), it's a step in the right direction. (E Ink didn't even make widescreen displays until now.) The only big question left is price - I'd be very surprised if this was less then $499.

Discuss!

[psmith2.0]

It has arrived.

[torifile]

$489. Ouch.

[torifile]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 It has arrived.

Why does amazon continue to use an image for that text? And it's poorly rendered text, at that.

[ezkcdude]

I think I'm going to get it. I have hundreds of scientific articles in PDF form. If I can upload those to the Kindle it would be worth it to me. In fact, if it were a bit cheaper, it might be worth buying for each of my students.

Edit: I just placed a pre-order. I hope I got in early enough.

[709]

Count me among those that still doesn't "get" the Kindle.

[psmith2.0]

I don't know, but looking at that image (the original model, held next to the new, larger one), I can't help but imagine Apple's take on it (because you know they've got something coming out in this area...).





A display as big as the device itself, and in color (that would be the NYT on Safari)...

[zippy]

I think this latest iteration gets closer to what it really needs to be, though color will be the ultimate accomplishment. What this needs to do is substitute for 80 lbs worth of textbooks for kids from junior high, up through college. I would love the option of buying one of these and then downloading - for a reasonable fee - my kids textbooks. As long as they brought the Kindle home every night, there would be no risk of forgetting a specific text book needed for that evenings homework. And remembering to bring this one item home every night, should be a reasonable thing.

[ezkcdude]

I'm going to use it to read PDF's at the gym, in bed, on a train, plane, etc.

I'm also going to use it when I give lectures. All my lecture notes are in Pages. It's a snap to export to PDF and have all my notes ready to go. Goodbye binders!

[psmith2.0]

Definitely. I'd much rather lug this one sleek device around with all my textbooks and guides installed, vs. multiple heavy textbooks!

I've never been much of a reader (fiction, etc.), so that aspect of the Kindle has never appealed to me at all. But on a practical, day-to-day sort of level (and replacing 30lbs. with a few ounces), yeah...that's something I can easily appreciate and grasp the value/impact!

I'm sure we're just a few short years from that (10 at the most). Things like damage, theft and so forth will have to be considered, but if high school and college students could walk around with something like this vs. 8-10 gigantic, hardbound text books...

Plus, text books can be more easily updated/revised electronically. And the savings on paper (trees) would be enormous. And aren't we all supposed to be into that sort of thing at this point? That's pretty much all you hear about anymore, 24/7, from every manufacturer, network, retailer, etc.



The "green"/planet-saving angle of this alone would be enough to push any forward-thinking school district to jump on ASAP.

There is so much waste, weight and space represented by textbooks. The shipping and storage alone has to be insane. And when science and history overtake the content in a book published just a few years ago, you're faced with one of two sucky scenarios:

- Outdated, behind-the-times textbooks

or

- Constantly updating textbooks, which means more trees gone, paper used, fuel to ship, space to store, etc.

And I'm not even a granola-snorting, tree-fondling Earth child hippie; but I'm still aware of - and concerned about - such things, purely on a practical, "there's gotta be a better, smarter way" level. I don't have to be playing hackysack and smoking a doob in the quad to "care" about such things, do I? Surely not...



I can see the benefit of a device like this in the education sector, no doubt. And probably science and anywhere else where toting around bulky books and journals (which frequently go out of date as new things are learned) is the norm.

It would involve a massive shift from "the usual way" of students going to the campus bookstore and spending ungodly amounts of money on physical, heavy textbooks (and killing themselves to save a few bucks by desperately seeking a "previously owned copy" that isn't highlighted/marked-up all to hell). But I'm guessing most students would love to pay a smaller price, download updated content as needed and not lug around the equivalent of a bear cub on their back five 4-5 days a week.

[ezkcdude]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 I can see the benefit of a device like this in the education sector, no doubt. And probably science and anywhere else where toting around bulky books and journals (which frequently go out of date as new things are learned) are the norm.

On this point, I'm thinking about all the conferences I go to where in the past you were expected to lug around a telephone-book sized proceedings. Now they've put those on CD-ROM, but you still have to lug around your notebook/netbook. Not really convenient for reading. So, I can definitely see in the future being able to carry around a Kindle with the conference proceedings. That would be so nice.

[curiousuburb]

Textbook issues (cost, annual planned obsolescence, etc) aren't being held back by technological problems, they're due to greedy textbook publishers.

Providing a convenient gizmo that's capable of addressing the problem won't solve anything until textbook publishers (like the RIAA and MPAA) give up their archaic monopolistic business models.

[Axl]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb Providing a convenient gizmo that's capable of addressing the problem won't solve anything until textbook publishers (like the RIAA and MPAA) give up their archaic monopolistic business models.

I'm thinking those textbook publishers will use whatever pull they have transfer their monopolistic business models into the digital realm. The RIAA and MPAA have done so and there's not much we can do about since they have more influence on the government than voters.

[zippy]

I don't doubt that curiousburb, but on the other hand, if the technology is made available, and demand starts to grow and gain a voice - then someone will step in to take that market share if the existing companies refuse. And it will be their loss in the long run.

It will be like the iPod + iTunes scenario all over again - except that someone else will possibly have to recreate the text to begin with. I'm sure someone will.

[Moogs]

Still no color mode? WTF. This makes it much less useful for any type of educational texts (at any level) that require color to depict various kinds of diagrams, screenshots, etc. Although for good old fashioned novels, or other serious works where color is not important, the Kindle is pretty cool.

[Motor]

Originally Posted by Moogs Still no color mode? WTF. This makes it much less useful for any type of educational texts (at any level) that require color to depict various kinds of diagrams, screenshots, etc. Although for good old fashioned novels, or other serious works where color is not important, the Kindle is pretty cool.

If only there was a company that could add an e-book reader to their ecosystem that is already filled with devices that have color displays. That way they could have text on the e-book reader wirelessly sync up with image-based content on the other devices.

For example, text about DNA on the e-book reader, and a picture of the double helix on a 13” – 24” display or even a 3.5” display. Or better yet, make it an interactive 3D model of the double helix.

Hmm, maybe Apple could do something like this…

[Moogs]

Wouldn't put it past them....

[Kraetos]

WANT. I'm sick of carrying textbooks around, and my textbooks are almost always on Amazon.

There was no way I was going to buy an eBook reader without PDF support. Also, that screen looks huge!

I'm glad the keyboard continues to shrink.

Either way I'm going to hold off and wait for Apple's tablety-netbook-iPhone thingee which we all know is coming.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Moogs Still no color mode? WTF. This makes it much less useful for any type of educational texts (at any level) that require color to depict various kinds of diagrams, screenshots, etc. Although for good old fashioned novels, or other serious works where color is not important, the Kindle is pretty cool.

Color e-ink has to be, y'know, invented first. The only color ebook reader is Fujitsu's upcoming FLEPia, which uses a different display technology, and is twice the price as this.

The Kindle DX is actually a little bit cheaper than I thought it would be, BTW. I was thinking $499, with Amazon barely making any money on it then. You have to remember, they're using the world's only widescreen e-ink display modules...not cheap.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by Kraetos There was no way I was going to buy an eBook reader without PDF support. Also, that screen looks huge!

The Kindle and Kindle 2 do support PDFs, just not natively, because there's really no way a PDF would be readable on their screen size without being reformatted first. Amazon converts any PDF to Kindle-ese for free, and it usually turns out fine as long as the formatting was pretty simple (a PDF novel would fare better than a PDF textbook).

Now that the screen size is there, "native" PDF support was a must, and Amazon delivered, no pun intended.

Either way I'm going to hold off and wait for Apple's tablety-netbook-iPhone thingee which we all know is coming.

That's really a completely different device, like getting a netbook to replace an iPod or something.

[zippy]

Originally Posted by Motor If only there was a company that could add an e-book reader to their ecosystem that is already filled with devices that have color displays. That way they could have text on the e-book reader wirelessly sync up with image-based content on the other devices. For example, text about DNA on the e-book reader, and a picture of the double helix on a 13” – 24” display or even a 3.5” display. Or better yet, make it an interactive 3D model of the double helix. Hmm, maybe Apple could do something like this…

2 devices to replace 1 (book)... is not a good solution, IMO.

Until we have some kind of color e-ink device, or a traditional backlit device that consumes very,very, little energy, the textbook solution is still unresolved. This new unit is a step in the right direction due to the size, but we're not there yet.

[curiousuburb]

From what I've read, E-ink doesn't support gradations enough to handle illustrations or equations natively yet. Another obstacle for the textbook world.

[ezkcdude]

Originally Posted by curiousuburb From what I've read, E-ink doesn't support gradations enough to handle illustrations or equations natively yet. Another obstacle for the textbook world.

It can't handle equations?! If that's true, I better re-think my purchase.

[curiousuburb]

Originally Posted by ezkcdude It can't handle equations?! If that's true, I better re-think my purchase.

There seem to be plenty of attempted workarounds... but lots of bitching there too.

This detailed list of problems for nonfiction is illustrated with images... including...

5. Equations As unbelievable as this may be, equations in Kindle editions don’t get formatted correctly. The mathematical symbols are apparently not supported by the built-in fonts:

PDF as image is a kludge, but with monochrome-only pixels, even gradations are beyond it at the moment.

YMMV

[Frank777]

It's almost sad watching Amazon doing their best, knowing that Apple is going to completely beat them into the ground.

[ezkcdude]

If Apple plays in this space. That seems to be a big IF.

[Robo]

Jobs has actually specifically announced that they don't think the market is big enough for an Apple e-book reader, so, um, yeah, Frank777 - how is Apple going to "beat [Amazon] into the ground," exactly? With a multi-purpose, LED-backlit tablet? That's a different market entirely.

[artesc]

Even if this thing worked flawlessly, I still wouldn't want it. I mean, sure it'd be fine for general, generic reading but in school, when you scribble in the margins, when you need to flip back and forth all over the book, when you need to go over your notes at the end of the semester, this is completely useless. What, are you going to do, take notes on a separate piece of paper?

My take at least.

[Robo]

Originally Posted by artesc Even if this thing worked flawlessly, I still wouldn't want it. I mean, sure it'd be fine for general, generic reading but in school, when you scribble in the margins, when you need to flip back and forth all over the book, when you need to go over your notes at the end of the semester, this is completely useless. What, are you going to do, take notes on a separate piece of paper? My take at least.

You know you can annotate and highlight/underline the texts, right? And you can dog-ear/bookmark pages.

[JohnnyTheA]

Originally Posted by artesc this is completely useless. What, are you going to do, take notes on a separate piece of paper? My take at least.

I could see a lot of students wanting this. You can't buy used Kindle books though. So if you buy that big Calculus book for the Kindle, you (or whoever has YOUR Kindle to be specific) are the only one in the world that can read that copy. There is no mechanism to sell it whereby your is was transferred (deletion of your copy) to someone else. That is the only thing I don't like about the Kindle. Taken to an extreme if paper were to go away, I'm not sure an all Kindle world is that great. Are we going to have Kindle Libraries where you can borrow digital books? Probably not. Amazon is a cool company but I hope others sprout up to compete in this area.

But, these new Kindles (big guy and small guy) are pretty cool compared to the first one...

JTA