Re: [tlug] Amazon Kindle

[CL <az.4tlug@example.com>]

burlingk@example.com wrote:

> One of the reviews for the Kindle does state that it has a USB
> connection,
> however, for me that is still not quite enough to get me to spend the
> cash.
> :P  However, if they came out with one that was functional in Japan, it
> would probably be purchased post haste.

Unless the USB connection got you access to a pool of software that 
several different hardware readers could use, then the Kindle remains a 
tied product to the Amazon network.  Also, I note that no one has been 
able to point me in the direction of newspapers or books that can be 
read / shared among the other readers we've mentioned in this 
discussion, Google didn't do such a hot job, either.  So, you've 
basically got a bitchen database that can be read by one hardware reader 
or you've got 3~4 bitchen hardware readers without much content 
available ... and little-to-no crossover.

One of the things that struck me about the Kindle concept is that it is 
greedy at its base.  At my local station, we've got several bookshelves 
set up by the station staff where people leave the books they've 
finished for someone else to pick up and read.  There are always 25~30 
people there leaving books and taking another and everyone seems to know 
everyone else. The Kindle business model is going to assure that book 
sellers collect payment for every single read, but it is also going to 
destroy the local sense of community, which began to disintegrate when 
people could cut themselves off from others by stuffing earplugs in 
their ears, a little bit more.

--
CL