In principle, I think an electronic book device is a good idea.
In practice, it will clearly suck, as Mark Pilgrim has so ably demonstrated.
Just say no, damnit.
In principle, I think an electronic book device is a good idea.
In practice, it will clearly suck, as Mark Pilgrim has so ably demonstrated.
Just say no, damnit.
Comments:
actually, things are not that bad. First, Kindle is not the only option, Sony sells PRS-505. Then, inside is just linux. There are communities of PRS users and hackers who make new versions of OS images with different key mappings, updated fonts, new readers, localizations and all kinds of improvements. There is just linux inside, copy the image, mount and tweak it as much as you like.
And what makes it a really useful device is that -- somewhat in contrast to mp3 music -- there is a lot of DRM free content (wikibooks, gutenberg) that can be easily formatted for convenient reading on a 6-inch display. It's just a matter of a few weeks, maybe months for tools to appear.
Nonetheless, take a look at Alexander Falk's personal review of it:
http://www.xmlaficionado.com/2007/11/amazon-kindle-review.html
He may not be the most typical of users, but he focusses on what the device is like to use in practice, rather than on the philosophical questions (which have never been an impediment to iPod sales, it would seem).
Cheers, Tony.
There are plenty of other devices. Some of them under linux.