Kindle-d...!

Ah, Apple and Amazon are at it again... trying to regain past glories. One with a product and one with a service.
Predictably, the natives are grumbling, and a bit noisily at that. It's like this. Historically, there has been, and always will be a comparison. In this case, the comparison of the Kindle is with Sony's Reader.
Kindle, launched on Monday 19th, is a thin/slim hand held device, which is essentially an eBook reader. It can store approximately 200 novels' or so worth of words. Like the Sony Reader Launched atleast a year ago, uses electronic ink as its technology. Electronic ink technology works by physically arranging a dark chemical under the screen. This in turn displays text so clearly and crisply, that is becomes indistinguishable from..., say, ink on a page.

But the Kindle does what the Sony Reader, doesn't do. The Kindle uses connectivity to Amazon's servers with an EVDO cellular connection to download books, from a library stock of more than 90,000 titles. And this, it does wirelessly..., pulling an entire novel's text directly onto the device in less than a minute.

The Kindle weighs in at just 10 ounces, in America. For the rest of the world, the Kindle weighs in at just under 300 grams.

Now for the disclamer part: I have not (yet) got or used a Kindle. The reader, I did handle. This blog is based entirely on what I have read all over the web and magazines.

Some Stats:
Cost:$399
Battery Life: 30hours
Recharges in:2 hours
Screen Size: 6 inches diagonal

The Kindle is a little off-white in color, and definitely not as good looking as the Sony Reader. Agreed, that there is an added keypad, and the thing only increased the weight by about 1.4 ounces over the Sony reader, but then IMHO, it should definitely have had PDF compatibility. And a few more formats. Right now, it depends on external apps for this. Future, maybe...

If Amazon wants to sell the Kindle, it will urgently need to get rid of user reviews from it's own site! Chronologically, these are some flutters from around the time of the launch:

0649 Hours — Gadget Lab scribe Charlie Sorrel reports that the release of the Kindle is at hand. He initially posts about a 30 hour battery life (two hours to recharge), 10.3 ounce weight, and direct download (EVDO on Sprint) with no computer required.

Amazon's Kindle Gets Official
1106 Hours — Gadget Lab Guru Rob Beschizza compares the Kindle directly to its main competitor; the Sony Reader. His findings? The Sony sports a far sexier form factor but the Kindle (with its extra features) has an edge when it comes to function. But the lack of native PDF reader on the Kindle? That pretty much left everyone scratching their heads.

Amazon Kindle Vs. Sony Reader
1254 Hours — Rob B. expands on the fact that PDFs won't read on the Kindle. FAIL.

Amazon's Kindle: What Files Will and Won't Work
1818 Hours — The Giz's Wilson Rothman does a hands-on with the unit. His findings highlight everything from the Kindle's boot up time (4 seconds) to responsiveness of the keyboard (not very).

All Kindle All The Time
2001 Hours — Jose Fermoso crafts a delicious paella of reviews from a slurry of different sources. Pubs from Time to Newsweek to TechCrunch weigh in on the device.

In my opinion the built-in wireless capability of the Kindle will help shape how the device evolves over time. In all probability, prompting similar tie-ups for Sony too. Whether this is going to ever replace the way we use and read books is going to change, we will just have to wait and see.