I was just looking to see which Ian Rankin novels were available on the Kindle. Lots of them, it turns out. Weird pricing though. You can buy his novel “Strip Jack” for $5.59, $7.99, or $9.99. I can’t imagine there’s any difference between these three versions. Looking at them, I guess each is based on a different print edition, but, on the Kindle, it’s all going to look the same.
Category: Kindle
Kindle iPhone App
I downloaded the Kindle reader for my iPod Touch earlier this week. I don’t anticipate that I’ll use it much, since I do have an actual Kindle, but I wanted to play around with it. Given the limitations of the iPhone form factor, the app works reasonably well. I suppose I could manage to read a book on it, but I’m not sure I’d want to.
I think that releasing this app right now was a good move on Amazon’s part. There do seem to be a lot of people who are comfortable reading on the iPhone. A good number of e-books have been released as iPhone apps, so apparently there’s a market. Amazon might as well pick up some sales this way, and maybe the app will eventually drive some Kindle 2 hardware sales, as people get used to buying and reading e-books, and decide to step up to a dedicated device.
I’m a little surprised that they don’t support reading newspapers and magazines via the iPhone app. Maybe it’s a rights issue. If I was going to read anything on the iPhone, it’d more likely be newspaper and magazine articles, rather than full-length books though.
Kindle magazines
A couple of related stories came up this week, and have got me thinking about magazines. I currently read Newsweek on my Kindle, and I noticed an article at the New York Times about how Newsweek is planning a makeover to concentrate more on opinion and less on hard news, and is hoping to attract a smaller, but more affluent, audience. I’m wondering how any of the changes described in the article will affect the Kindle version. They mention that they’re looking to raise the subscription price, but I don’t know if they’d do that on the Kindle version or just the paper version. I’m currently paying $1.50 per month, which is pretty cheap, but has got to be largely profit for them (no printing or mailing costs). They mention an increasing emphasis on photography, which won’t really translate to the Kindle, nor will any changes in layout. Hopefully, the articles will continue to be worth reading. I’m a little worried about the idea that they might go too far into the realm of opinion; I’m usually not that interested in reading other people’s political opinions. Right now, for instance, I skip anything in Newsweek with George Will’s name on it, or Anna Quindlen’s. It’s not a matter of agreeing or disagreeing with either of them; I’m just not that interested.
There’s a passing mention in the NYT article that Newsweek will be getting a little closer in tone to magazines like The New Yorker. By a bit of coincidence, The New Yorker has just become available on the Kindle. It’s $3 a month, twice the cost of Newsweek. The description mentions that it will “usually” include all articles, fiction, and poetry from the magazine, but will only include a “selection” of cartoons, not all of them. I really think the cartoons could translate week to the Kindle, so I’m not sure why they wouldn’t include them all. They’re all just single-panel black and white illustrations, generally without any fancy grey tones or anything like that. I’m tempted to subscribe, regardless, except that I know I’ll fall behind in reading it pretty quickly. Maybe if Newsweek drops off in value for me, I’ll switch to The New Yorker.
Meanwhile, The Economist is still not available for the Kindle.
Kindle 2
The Kindle 2 looks to be pretty nice, but I don’t think I’ll be getting one. There isn’t enough nifty new stuff to offset the high price. And there are actually a few things I don’t like about it: the non-removable battery, the lack of an SD slot, and the fact that the cover is no longer included, and has to be bought separately. I can understand why they made these changes, but I’d just as soon stick with my Kindle 1.
WSJ.com – Amazon Raises an E-Book Specter
Here’s a story from the WSJ with some more details on the next version of the Kindle: “Amazon is unveiling a new version of its Kindle e-book reader, and possibly an exclusive agreement for a Stephen King work.” Interesting.
I’m not too enthusiastic about the idea of exclusive content on the Kindle, or any other e-book reader. I don’t mind the idea of a new book being released for the Kindle before it’s published in physical form, though. That even kind of makes sense, since you can publish for the Kindle much faster than you can print actual books and ship them out to stores and all that. And maybe a publisher could use Kindle book sales as an indicator of how popular a book is going to be, and hence make judgements about the size of a print run.
This story doesn’t have much info, or any photos, about the actual hardware. I’ve seen new photos elsewhere on the web though. I’m still not seeing anything in the new Kindle that’ll make me want to toss my old one. Hopefully, we’ll get full details later today.
new Kindle?
According to a variety of sources (including the NYT), there will likely be a new Kindle model released on Feb. 9. I’m pretty happy with the current Kindle, but I’m curious to see what the new model looks like (assuming that’s actually what Amazon is announcing on 2/9).
It doesn’t look like they’ve got any really revolutionary advances in E-Ink technology ready, and that’s the area where they could really make a difference in the hardware.
Making It All Work
I posted a couple of weeks back that I would likely pick up David Allen’s new book, Making It All Work, whenever the Kindle version dropped to $9.99. Well, it just did, so I bought it today. I just just thinking that our new president could probably use a bit of organizational help from David Allen. He’s got such an ambitious agenda, and in such a challenging environment, that I really think he should put a personal productivity guru of some sort on his staff. (Who knows, maybe he already has one.)
I’m not sure when I’ll actually get around to reading this book, though. I’m in the middle of a Doctor Who novel right now, plus I just started reading 1776, and I have John Adams on the Kindle too. Plus a boatload of SF and fantasy novels, both dead-tree and Kindle format, waiting to be read.
mystery books
I finished reading Spirit House today, on my Kindle. I’m a little annoyed that there’s only one other book in the Calvino series available in the US. The remaining books are available mail-order from Thailand, but that’s kind of expensive. One of the good things about the Kindle is that it should make it relatively easy and risk-free to get a bunch of already-written books into “print” in the US. You don’t have to worry about upfront printing costs, the risk of returns from brick and mortar retailers, or any of that noise. Just put them out there on Amazon, and see what happens.
productivity books
David Allen’s new book just came out. I’ll probably pick up the Kindle version at some point, though I think I’ll wait and see if they drop the price on it. It’s $14.27 right now; the hardcover is $17.13. I’m assuming the Kindle version will drop to the usual $9.99 eventually.
I still haven’t finished reading Ready for Anything , actually, so I’m in no hurry to start the new book. Along similar lines, I’m almost done with the audio version of Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits.
I don’t know if all this book-reading is doing me any good, really, but I like to think it’s helping.
More Readers Picking Up Electronic Books
Here’s an article from the NY Times on the Kindle, and other e-book readers, and the e-book market in general. The gist of it is basically that the market is picking up, and people, both readers and authors, are becoming more accepting of it. I’m still waiting for J K Rowling to decide that she’s OK with e-books. I wouldn’t mind re-reading the first few Harry Potter books at some point, but I had borrowed them from a friend when I first read them, and have since returned them. I could probably be talked into buying Kindle versions, though! I guess JKR just doesn’t want my money.