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Amazon launches large-screen Kindle DX

by Scott Bicheno on 6 May 2009, 15:52

Tags: Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qar4n

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From the new listing on Amazon.com:

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Carry Your Library: Holds up to 3,500 books, periodicals, and documents

Beautiful Large Display: 9.7" diagonal e-ink screen reads like real paper; boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and sharp images

Auto-Rotating Screen: Display auto-rotates from portrait to landscape as you turn the device so you can view full-width maps, graphs, tables, and Web pages

Built-In PDF Reader: Native PDF support allows you to carry and read all of your personal and professional documents on the go

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle DX, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, no annual contracts, and no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books In Under 60 Seconds: You get free wireless delivery of books in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Long Battery Life: Read for days without recharging

Read-to-Me: With the text-to-speech feature, Kindle DX can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book's rights holder made the feature unavailable

Big Selection, Low Prices: Over 275,000 books; New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are only $9.99, unless marked otherwise

More Than Books: U.S. and international newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, magazines including The New Yorker and Time, plus popular blogs, all auto-delivered wirelessly

 


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HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Posted by Saracen - Wed 06 May 2009 16:03
Newspapers are haemorrhaging readers because they get get content free, and often faster, online. I rather doubt any reader device is going to change that oin large numbers, especially where it'll require readers to fork out a sizeable sum to buy the reader, and then pay a subscription for the content. Some people might, especially for business users looking for focussed content, if it comes instantaneously via a 3g (or 4g) data feed ….. but I doubt it'll appeal to the mass market.

E-readers for books. Maybe. They certainly have their place. But larger devices aimed at newspapers? I may be proven wrong by time and events, but I just don't see it having a mass market appeal, except perhaps in the rather long term, IF the readers come WAY down in price, and the subscription is nominal. In 20 years time, maybe. Right now? Nah.
Posted by Funkstar - Wed 06 May 2009 20:37
Not sure about newspapers, but I can see me playing a (small) subscription fee for certain specialist magazines, New Scientist is a good example. Engineering & Technology magazine is another.

Would also be good if you could buy them issue by issue as opposed to a subscription. I would bay close to the newsagent price for that, without actually having to go to the newsagent :)
Posted by Saracen - Wed 06 May 2009 20:55
Well, the price quoted was around $500 for the DX. Gonna pay £350 for a machine to read your New Scientist?

Thought not. :D

My main problem, I think, is that if they're big enough to reflect the mag/newspaper format, they're big enough to be awkward and cumbersome to carry around all the time. Whereas I can pick up a mag/newspaper art will, read it and then stick it in the trash. Do I want to carry one of these with me, with the inherent risk of loss or damage to an expensive device, on the off-chance that I want a newspaper?

And if I don't carry it, then it's little more use than a PC and a net link.

There's a certain lack of convenience implied, IMHO, either way.
Posted by Funkstar - Wed 06 May 2009 21:21
Saracen
Well, the price quoted was around $500 for the DX. Gonna pay £350 for a machine to read your New Scientist?

Thought not. :D
No of course not! :)

That was based on the fact that all these things get cheeper with time :)

Eventually, I might be tempted with them, but not at all tempted just now.

I can see the point of the tie in with the American Universities though. I would rather kary a large Kindle than a bunch of medical or scientific text books.