★ Three Ongoing Points Against Amazon Kindle

Published by

Pat L

January 17, 2009

Continuing with a topic I wrote about this past November, I still would like a Kindle, but here are three reasons it’s fine by me that the v2 isn’t yet available, forcing me into a decision:

Used book prices via Amazon often are way below Kindle’s prices

For the last three books I added to my wishlist (books for the next class I’m going to take),

Best used prices for them? $2.78, $0.01, and $5.00, respectively. (plus shipping).

Given that the last book is $30 new, I’d guess that a Kindle version of the book would be above $20, more than the used prices for all three books including shipping.

Used books have (nearly) become a commodity market.

Book availability for the things I buy is still poor

None of the three above books are available on Kindle.

In fact, I’d guess that only 15% of the books on my wishlist are available for Amazon. And that’s a generous estimate.

If I read popular books, stuff in the New York Times Top 100 list, or from the larger publishers, that number would be higher. But at this point in my life, I don’t.

I still love the smell of an old book

Last month I spent time reading this book:

“Evolution of the Monastic Ideal: From the Earliest Times Down to the Coming of the Friars (Resources for a New Monasticism, Volume #2)” (Herbert Workman).

It was a bit dry to read, but for something that was published in 1922, that’s understandable. Other than the intricately detailed scholarship in the book, the best thing about reading it was the smell. Old books just smell right.

In the end

I’m a child of a technological era, and I think there’s a lot of value in an electronic reader like the Kindle. But it’s not a slam-dunk victory for Kindle yet. And perhaps it never will be.

3 responses to “★ Three Ongoing Points Against Amazon Kindle”

Geektronica

January 17, 2009

Hi Pat,
When I saw your post title on Twitter, I thought of what my three points would be before reading your post. They are:

As you said, any books you already own in hardcopy should be virtually free (no more than a buck or two) for the Kindle. I would understand if Amazon had to limit this to books you'd purchased through Amazon (which would be brilliant, because then they know they're selling you two of the same title, at zero incremental cost).
PDF support – a lot of the reading I'll be doing for the next two years is course readings, not from books but from PDFs provided by my professors. While conversion is available by emailing the file to yourname@kindle.com, it's not clear whether this works with scans, which are just images.
DRM and lack of platform-transcendence – I can scan a book into my computer, and my books don't become useless if one $350 gadget breaks. While I understand the rationale for DRM, I can't stomach the idea that all my purchased media are tied to a single, patented platform and a pricey device that will soon be obsolete. I wouldn't buy songs from iTunes if I didn't know how to strip the DRM (and I typically only buy MP3s from Amazon now).

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Pat

January 17, 2009

Ah good points. The DRM item is definitely a concern also. Another, related, item is that I like ot be able to give away books – either that I didn't like, or that I just don't need in my crazy huge reference library, or whatever.

And like you, I only buy DRM-free MP3s these days, 90% of them from Amazon.

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Geektronica

January 17, 2009

Yeah, thanks for the tip on Amazon MP3. I probably wouldn't have started using it if not for your recommendation.

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I’m Pat

Passionate about the common good, human flourishing, lifelong learning, being a good ancestor.

Things I do: Engineering leadership; Grad Instructor in spirituality, creativity, digital personhood, pilgrimage.

Powerlifter, mountain biker, Gonzaga basketball fan, reader, urban sketcher, hiker.

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