Yeah... I don't get it

[innocent_lex]

Amazon have just launched an ebook reader that has apparently been 3 years in the making (see BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7101392.stm). And I... don't get it. They apparently think it's the bee's knees, but it's just a proprietary, excessively large, functionally-limited, black and white reader that can only do one thing - let you (and only you) read books. Oh, and it's fugly and 400 dollars (yes, that's US) before you even start buying books. There really must be something I'm missing here. I read books, fic, PDFs, whatever format on my Palm, and also use that device to listen to music, watch video, store all my contacts, have my shopping lists, run spreadsheets, carry around photos, write, etc, etc, etc.

Someone must know what Amazon's intention was. Any ideas?

Comments

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

Precisely - why pay the same when you can't then pass the book onto your mum or your brother or your friends when you're done, or even onto the local charity shop. That's one of the key things about books that ebook sellers don't seem to have taken into account. Or maybe they have, and they're just hitting a smaller market because of it.