Of course I want the ease of reading whereever I am at any moment. However the main reason I like the Kindle is the offer of Amazon to publish anything you want to publish. Anyone who writes knows what an impossible task it is to get published, and the many problems that this brings. Plus the really miniscule commission that eventually comes to you, if at all. But now with Kindle, I have six books in draft form ready to submit once I have my reader. I could submit them now, but I’m particular about appearances, and want to see my text on a real Kindle first. And the 35% commission seems huge to any author who has ever dealt with a hard copy publisher.

After an incredible amount of research time reading everything I can find on the Kindle, I am convinced that this is the best improvement since Gutenberg. What else can this statement be made about.

Charles Wilkes
San Jose, Calif.

I just don’t know if people need it like it is right now – e.g. it doesn’t look cool enough to qualify for the iPhone hype and then why do I really need to be able to download more than one ebook and read it?

For me it’s all about the screen. I’d still rather get a phone who enables me to do all this – on top of many other things.

Hey, maybe there’s some arcane tax reason to spend a bunch of money marketing it now knowing nothing will ship for Christmas, but I don’t have that luxury.

Otherwise, if it were in stock, I think I’d promote it, my entire income is from books and affiliates like Amazon.

Amazon has an awesome business model. The Long Tail is a great place to be when selling lower-priced, lower-demand items that are also low-cost for the distributor. This is especially true of digital products, so it’s no wonder Amazon found it so compelling to try to kick start the nascent eBook business.

Amazon provides the tools needed to discover recommended products, and to sample items such as music and books before purchase. These methods minimize consumer’s fears that they might be buying a lemon, and enabled Amazon to accelerate the revolution–and their profits–in those categories.

But there’s a problem with selling new, breakthrough products through that same online-only medium: how can the consumer sample a physical product? The problem is, they can’t. It’s actually one of the key reasons that led Apple to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a retail business. Beyond a certain percentage of the geek set (that is, the people reading this and other tech blogs), getting traction will be tough. And with a product purporting to change something as intimate as the relationship between a reader and their books, not being able to try before you buy is a serious problem.

I recommend that Amazon figure out how to arrange Kindle distribution through physical stores, so that people have an opportunity to get hands-on with the Kindle before they click “Buy.” If consumers can’t, then the only way they’ll be able to experience it is by finding someone who already has one, and that dramatically slows down the adoption curve.

It’s one of the reasons the Apple stores do so well, you can play with everything and get hooked.

Apparently there are Easter eggs inside. I really wish the review was done with knowing the answers, instead of having things listed like ” I wasn;t invited…….”

Not insightful and a waste of time to read…..