So, the $189 Kindle already seemed like a pretty good deal.
Now, Amazon has announced a $140 Kindle, all it is missing is the 3G connection.
Which is actually rather a big deal, because probably the killer feature of the Kindle is the free and wherever-you-go access to content, forever. So $40 less now... but most likely not worth it in the long run.
However, it does bring the Kindle closer to the impulse buy and family christmas present price point, and that is a big deal. Because if Amazon can get the price of the Kindle down enough, it does start to make sense as a just buy one already kind of thing.
You see, my original issue with the Kindle was the cost - you paid a lot up front, and for your trouble, you paid a lot for books. Amazon and independent authors have long since dealt with the cost of the books issue, but there just remained that buy-in initial hurdle. The lower that is, the better for the kindle.
Still, I don't think I will be buying one soon. The Kindle is great for people who don't like clutter, and specifically are not particularly enamored of stacks, shelves, cartloats, and room-dividers of books. Though sometime I am sure I will look back on this and say that holding on to my dear bargain-rack paperbacks is no better than clamoring for whale-oil lamps and damning Jeff Bezos Thomas Edison, for now I am sticking with the dead trees.
Update from someone who actually owns a Kindle:
My 2 cents on the new Wi-Fi only kindle – I think it’s pretty cool.
On my kindle, I always turn off the 3G, since it’s the biggest source of drain on the battery. With it turned off, the battery lasts several weeks.
I haven’t yet bought a book on the kindle – I’ve downloaded a shitload of classics from Project Gutenberg… I guess once I get bored reading these, I’ll probably buy a few new ones. The only downside of this is that I copy the books to my kindle via USB, so having Wi-Fi would be a nice feature, and make it easier to sync.
The biggest thing about the kindle is that it’s really handy to use when traveling, etc. I can just load up 5 of 6 books when I go on a plane ride somewhere.
Having said that, I do think a nice bookcase full of old books is sweet…
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