Amazon’s Kindle: a review on the new e-book reader w/confirmed details

cnet has a review of Amazon’s new e-book reader “Kindle“: Amazon Kindle: Hands-on first impressions. Some other reviews have not been as, let’s say, “balanced”, but cnet’s basically outlines some details and lets you decide if Kindle is worthy. They start with some condfirmed details and then outline the good/bad points with a not-quite positive summation:

The Good: Excellent high-contrast screen does a great job of simulating a printed page; large library of tens of thousands of e-books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs via Amazon’s familiar online store; built-in “Whispernet” data network–no PC needed; built-in keyboard for notes; SD card expansion slot; long battery life.

The Bad: Design is ergonomic, but not very elegant; pricing for nearly all the content seems too high, especially considering the periodicals and blogs are available for free online; black-and-white screen is fine for books, but less impressive for periodicals and Web content; lacks a true Web browser; included cover is clumsy and poorly designed; yet another dedicated device you’ll need to lug around with you.

The Bottom Line: With its built-in wireless capabilities and PC-free operation, Amazon’s Kindle is a promising evolution of the electronic book (and newspaper, and magazine)–but overpriced content could be its Achilles’ heel.

Read more here, including the confirmed details on the new Kindle: http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9820070-7.html?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=NewsBlog

Details in the review include Measurements, Connectivity, Books, Blogs, Newspapers and magazines available, Web browsing, Notation and bookmarks, Price and availability (hint: it’s available now via Amazon for $400 – ouch!).  Some reviews I’ve read say the Kindle is outdated, lacking features, overpriced, etc. It (apparently) does not support PDFs, there’s no wi-fi and it’s reported that you can’t add blogs that aren’t part of Amazon’s scheme, plus there is a cost to use the available, and browser support is seriously lacking. A quick look at the comments from the above article tells an interesting story:

• clueless device
• Overpriced, poor design and limited capabilities
• I thought Beezoos was smarter than thisAmazon’s big mistake
• Useless without PDF and advanced search
• Expensive Junk
• This would have been neat- in 1992.

And those are just the comments related to this specific review. Do a web search and you’ll probably get some more balanced info. Here are a few more links offering info and details on Amazon’s Kindle:

• Amazon.com : Entertainment : A Video Demonstration of Amazon Kindle
• Can Amazon Kindle Digital Book Fever?
• Is the Amazon Kindle going to be a monthly fee nightmare?
• Amazon Kindle gets official
• Steven Levy on Amazon’s Kindle
• Bloggers React to Amazon’s Kindle
• Amazon Kindle Aims To Be the ipod of ebooks

Tags: Kindle, Amazon Kindle, E-book, OS, Ebook reader, gadgets

Tech Stats: 90% of IT Professionals Don’t Want Vista

Slashdot has an interesting clip on Vista and the continuing lack of adoption in the business world: 90% of IT Professionals Don’t Want Vista.

A survey by King Research has found that Ninety percent of IT professionals have concerns using Vista, with compatibility, stability and cost being their key reasons. Interestingly, forty four percent of companies surveyed are considering switching to non-Windows operating systems, and nine percent of those have already started moving to their selected alternative. “The concerns about Vista specified by participants were overwhelmingly related to stability. Stability in general was frequently cited, as well as compatibility with the business software that would need to run on Vista,” said Diane Hagglund of King Research.

read more here: http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/19/1341253

Pretty interesting, especially after reading this clip from last week: Vista at Risk of Being Bypassed by Businesses.

“With Windows 7 due in late 2009 or 2010, many businesses may choose to wait it out rather than make the switch to Vista. According to some analysts, Vista uptake at this point really depends on how good Vista SP1 (due in Q1, 2008) is. If it doesn’t smooth over all the problems, companies are much more likely to stick with XP. And that holds especially true for those businesses that follow the every-other-release rule.”

Read more here: http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/17/1959214

Personally, I’m still partial to XP Pro. However I should note that I’ve not had any issues with my 6 month old laptop running Vista Home. Of course I made sure to buy a laptop that would run Vista without bogging down and I’m technical enough to remove bloatware, optimize, add utilities and apps to help. I’m betting a lot of businesses will bypass Vista and hold out for the next version of Windows. Of course most new systems will come preinstalled with Vista, but if you’re ordering bulk at a business level I’d imagine you can get XP preinstalled or skip the OS and have your own IT department do the install. Time will tell..

Tags: Vista, Windows, Operating Systems, OS, Windows Vista, Technology