Amazon Kindle Endorsed By Oprah 197
Oprah Winfrey enthused about the Amazon Kindle on her show today — it's her "new favorite thing" — and had Jeff Bezos on to announce a $50-off offer good till Nov. 1. A plug on Oprah is ordinarily a sign that a product has crossed over into the mainstream. But her show's audience has been slipping lately, and it's unclear how many cash-strapped citizens will be willing to part with $309 (after the special offer) for a new techno-gadget, for which they then have to shell out more money for DRM-encrusted content.
"DRM-encrusted content" is optional (Score:5, Interesting)
You can use free tools to convert PDF ( and other formats ) into the e-book format that it eats. ( at least for the Gen1 Kindle.. )
Comment removed (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:"DRM-encrusted content" is optional (Score:4, Informative)
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I nearly got a Kindle - then I noticed it wasn't out in the UK, and you had to fuck about with emails or something to put books on it. Then I checked out the Sony one, but it's a complete pile or slow, flickery toss. Finally, I discovered that for £250 - just £50 more than the black and white Sony shite I could get a 1gig netbook with a 120 gig drive and stick Ubuntu on it (it came with some bollocks retro crippled fedora distro or other) and I've not looked back. The Acer Aspire One is not m
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And with a netbook you can't sit in the park with the sun at your back and still see the screen.
Re:"DRM-encrusted content" is optional (Score:5, Funny)
Informative? No, incorrect! (Score:4, Informative)
The question was about english text. I have read Spanish, Swedish, French, and Italian on my Kindle, all of them have characters that are not available in English. I have never used eastern, or cyrillic scripts.
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Yes, you can embed the font in the PDF. However, you need to license the font for distribution from the font designer. This may not be particularly cheap and/or easy to do.
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I read english, so never had a reason to try it.
Re:"DRM-encrusted content" is optional (Score:5, Informative)
Does it support non-English texts? If I want to read a PDF with heavy use of diacritics, or even completely different alphabets, will those display correctly on Kindle?
I know there are french and spanish books available for Kindle, so it will support at least basic stuff like c-cedilla, n-tilde, circumflexes, accents, umlauts, thorn, etc. I read somewhere the first version only supports latin-1, but that later versions allow some sort of font embedding...
I also couldn't say whether any current existing pdf-kindle software will be able to take advantage of that though... and I wouldn't put high hopes on doing an asian or arabic language on it.
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Does it support non-English texts?
It apparently has little or no support for non-latin scripts, which seems to be one reason it's not released more widely.
I'd be surprised if simple things like diacritics weren't supported though.
I suppose future versions will probably do better, but unfortunately the leaked designs for the kindle v2 suggests they've discarded the "funky-but-comfy" design philosophy for something completely generic.
Yes it does (Score:2, Redundant)
It displays diacritics without any problems, however I have never used eastern, or cyrillic scripts.
Well now I can buy one (Score:5, Funny)
"I have no stake in the Kindle," she said. (Score:5, Insightful)
Bit of a disingenuous statement to make when you have a book club.
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There was a time when Oprah really did bring to the forefront 'hot button' issues that may not have made it to the demographic that watch her, but she has become nothing more than Billy Mays [wikipedia.org] who makes more than $300 million a year.
Fuck Oprah.
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Isn't that Steadman's job?
(only know about his name via pop culture)
Oprah does not sell books directly. (Score:2)
The Oprah show has jumped the shark (Score:3, Interesting)
The Oprah show does a lot of good for people (so my mother defends), but this may be the defining moment when Oprah jumped the shark.
Kindle = Cool? (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm as much of a gadget freak as anyone, but I'm old school about books. I like the tactile pleasure of actually having pages in my hand. I spend enough damned time on electronic screens during the day. I want to relax when I read a book. I couldn't stand to read anything but short texts on an electronic device. Give me a musty old library or a book store any day.
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The screen isn't like a standard LCD. If there's enough light to read a book then there's plenty of light to use the Kindle. It's nothing like reading off of a laptop screen in my extensive experience with the device. Battery life, with the modem OFF, rocks too and swapping the battery isn't a big deal.
Re:The Oprah show has jumped the shark (Score:4, Informative)
Umm except it happens to do that job VERY well indeed. I have read quite a few books on my kindle and find that it is VERY nice to be able to carry around several books at once on it so that as I finish one I can start another. I just finished a business trip in fact and while sitting in the airport to LEAVE for my trip I finished a book, browsed\purchased\downloaded another, and then on the return trip having finished the first book I bought two more while sitting in the airport waiting for my flight.
With the Kindle I'm now pretty much always reading at least one if not more books constantly! I read many books before but frankly ran out of shelf space, found it a hassle to carry more than one, and paid MORE than I do now if buying new plus I had to get off my ass to go get them! the Kindle may be a one trick pony but it's pretty good at what it does.
P.S. You know it can be used to browse the WEB right? Play MP3?
Re:The Oprah show has jumped the shark (Score:4, Interesting)
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Oprah jumped the shark when she started pushing the Kindle?
I don't know if Oprah ever helped anyone, but she's a master of scaring the hell out of innocent people with things like useless scare shows about the horrible bacteria that's EVERYWHERE!
How do they do it? (Score:5, Insightful)
One can only scratch their heads!
I will continue to use my N810 for ebook reading, and BAEN BOOKS and others for ebooks with no DRM at reasonable prices.
Re:How do they do it? (Score:4, Insightful)
Easy, actually.
Amazon has to sell books. Publishers won't give them books to sell on Kindle unless it's got DRM.
Let's translate this to the Amazon MP3 store... Amazon goes to labels asking for music, but mentioning it's DRM free. Labels thing it over, realizing the following:
1) #1 portable music player is an iPod
2) iTunes Store provides DRM'd music for an iPod
3) Windows Media DRM does not work on an iPod
4) Other music stores are limited to the population who doesn't have an iPod
5) Apple holds all the keys to the iTunes Store.
6) Apple holds the key to selling DRM'd music for the #1 portable player.
7) Apple is near the top in music sellers
8) Apple demands far too much - music at 99 cents, rather than "flexible pricing", other contract terms. (Apple insists on one contract for all labels)
9) Lack of competition for music sales on iPods means labels either go without selling music on the #1 player, or agree to Apple's draconian contract terms.
Thus, their only options is to sell Windows Media DRM on the remaining market, or see that Amazon potentially has the size and power to break the grasp that Apple has on music sales for iPods. No other company is large enough nor powerful enough to do this, except Amazon.
So labels acquiesce to Amazon's DRM free scheme, hoping people will flock from iTunes to Amazon to buy their music. Once this happens, the labels can dictate their terms to Amazon and Apple, not Apple dictating their terms to the labels. If one doesn't want to play ball, sell on the other store (e.g., if Jobs insists on not having flexible pricing, well, walk away, and sell to Amazon since it also works on iPods). Let the stores battle it out in attracting labels.
The iTunes store has too much power over the labels, and the labels hate when they don't have control. Amazon is the only company large enough to take on Apple, and the only way to do that is get music onto iPods via DRM-free MP3s. It's one of the reasons why the iTunes Store experiment started with "limited Mac market" as a feature!
There's no equivalent in the book market where the publishers are being squeezed by a book seller, so publishers get to dictate terms.
The only way the music market can continue to be as good as it is now is if both Apple and Amazon end up powerful enough to force the labels. Else we'll start to see DRM'd music in the Amazon store, and whatever else the labels want (demand-based pricing, etc) on both stores.
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Wow, that was pretty convoluted. Let me give me posit a simpler theory.
The fact that Amazon sells ebook readers. That is their main product, at least from a moneymaking perspective (following the model from Apple and others). They're selling DRM locked books to lock early adopters into always using a Kindle.
You are right about why they sell DRM-free music. They're competing against Apple, so they need some sort of extra value, and the record labels would like to break away from Apple domination of the
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I disagree. I do not think they are making much money on the Kindle itself - however I am betting they are making a pretty good penny on the distribution of eBooks. The eBook distribution costs them VERY little even when you factor in the cell data costs - the data transfer for a purchase is minimal! Even if they only make a few bucks per book purchase and lose a little on the reader - possible - they are making a good bit of cash.
Most folks aren't going to goto the trouble of finding alternate sources of b
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I don't agree, but it's been years so forgive me if my details are wrong.
Music labels would like flexible pricing, but only so they can jack up the songs that are hits at the moment (think of the "flexible" prices of ringtones) and cash out on the popularity. OTOH, I believe albums can be any prices, so if a labels wanted the music to be cheaper, they could
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that would be a really stupid business model--trying to dominate two markets at once. interoperability is good for consumers and good for business. they should support as many devices as possible: use an open format (unfortunately, PDF seems like the best choice right now).
if i were them, i'd partner up with Sony. have their e-book server interoperable with the Sony Reader + the PSP. even though the PSP isn't designed as an e-book reader, it does work quite well for casual users. using homebrew apps i can a
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You're ASSuming that $ony would accept such a partnership. the Sony reader is pretty darned nice and looks great but the selection for it sucks ass. the Kindle on the other hand looks a little crappy but functions VERY well and has a MASSIVE selection of content and a terrific distribution system. The DRM also doesn't get in your way. You know the Kindle doesn't use WiFi right? And that Apple makes WAY more off of iPod hardware than music sales? As I recall they don't make all that much at all off of iTunes
Re:How do they do it? (Score:5, Interesting)
i'm not assuming anything. i'm suggesting that it would be a good move on the part of both companies. that doesn't mean that i think either of them will go for it. in fact, it's very unlikely that such a deal would occur. and you seem to immediately contradict yourself right after your first sentence. first you imply that Sony would not accept a partnership with Amazon's ebook distribution system without offering any kind reason for thinking so. then you go on to state that the Sony reader has a nice design, but lacks content, whereas the Kindle looks homely but has "a MASSIVE selection of content and a terrific distribution system." well isn't that exactly what Sony needs/is missing? if a lack of content and distribution system is what's preventing the Sony Reader from succeeding, then why would they not partner up with Amazon? it seems like that would be the only logical thing for them to do.
the fact that the current Kindle doesn't use WiFi doesn't play any part in this deal. Sony Reader/PSP/Zune/iPhone users can just access the Kindle Store website [amazon.com]. it's not like EVDO is required to purchase ebooks from the Kindle Store.
and while Apple is currently making most of its money from selling iPods, the iTunes store is quickly dominating the music retail industry. in 2007 they became the 3rd largest music retailer in the U.S. with 10% market share. in 2008 it accounted for 70% of worldwide digital music sales. and despite the RIAA's claims to the otherwise, iTunes has revitalized the music industry and driven net profits up. our indie record label now receives over 75% of our music sales from iTunes alone.
so while iPod sales generated $3.36 billion in revenue for Apple in 2007, the iTunes Store brought in $1.9 billion of Apple's $2.7 billion [billboard.biz] in total music-related revenue in 2007. and iPod sales appear to be tapering off [businessweek.com] while iTunes is experiencing continued growth [seekingalpha.com]. so it's not inconceivable that iTunes will become an even bigger revenue stream for Apple in the future.
but i agree with you that the PSP/iPhone are not the ideal ebook reader for everyone. my Dad, for instance, simply can't read text printed on the PSP. so he can't really use his PSP as a web browser or an e-book reader. but that doesn't stop millions of young people from using their PSPs and cellphones to read books (if they can read web pages, then why not e-books?). the Japanese have even created an entire literary genre of serial literature that's distributed and consumed entirely by cellphones.
for older users with poorer eyesight or who have to read long, dense technical materials, a dedicated ebook reader like the Kindle is definitely a must. but that's still a niche market. and for the majority of young people whom the PSP & iPhone are aimed at, being able to read e-books on their portable devices would be a huge value add--it's actually my favorite use for the PSP.
Costs (Score:5, Funny)
Amazon Kindle from Oprah - $300
Overusing a Mastercard commericial as your template for every joke - Priceless....
Re:Costs (Score:4, Informative)
Actually, if the paperback cover price is $10 then expect to pay maybe $6.99 with Kindle - max. The most expensive book I've bought so far on my Kindle was $9.99 and cheapest was maybe $2. they discount off the cover price pretty good, especially if you look at hardcover prices for new books. It's only when you look at tech manuals or perhaps some sort of texbook thing that you begin to see much higher prices. $9.99 is pretty much the most you will see ofr normal books you'd find off a bookstand rack.
Tagged: So what? (Score:5, Insightful)
They become over night best sellers, most of the time. She has a cult like following that will buy up most anything she recommends. This is why it's interesting. We will now see if something that has failed to take off for quite a number of years will now do so, just because a pop icon gave it the thumbs up.
Re:Tagged: So what? (Score:5, Insightful)
To those who tagged this "so what?" I would like to pose a question in response. Have you seen what happens to products that get endorsed by Oprah?!?!
It's things like this that make me wonder how the tagging system works. I see some tags that would get an Overrated mod if they'd been submitted as a post.
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She has a cult like following that will buy up most anything she recommends.
She's the Steve Jobs of pulp novels!
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She has a cult like following that will buy up most anything she recommends.
She's the Steve Jobs of pulp novels!
That or Steve Jobs is the Opra of consumer technology. ;-)
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yeah but So what?
Oprah endorsed something that makes someone rich. Why do we care?
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You had me right up until you equated popularity of the kindle with DRM-free ebooks. Much more likely is that Amazon and publishers will draw the conclusion that Apple has: most consumers don't really care about DRM.
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perhaps, but as someone pointed out above, one of the biggest reasons the amazon music store exists DRM-free is because of the popularity, and thus the power of Apple and the iPod. I hope, although I can't say I expect, that if the kindle becomes more popular, and publishers want to get around Amazon, they'll have to go DRM free.
However since books are so small, piracy is easier, and the popularity will never be as high as something like the iPod, there's a good chance the circumstances won't repeat so wel
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Ah... I missed the point that the book publishers might want to get around Amazon. That will be something to watch for.
I know that I do buy books from Baen online--they're DRM-free and generally an OK value (though I think they could still do better, since the online price isn't that much lower than the IRL book price).
I guess we'll all have to stay tuned.
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> They become over night best sellers, most of the time.
Yes, but do they earn enough to remain profitable after the vendor has paid her off?
No drm requirement (Score:5, Informative)
for which they then have to shell out more money for DRM-encrusted content.
Nonsense. There are a ton of drm free books out there. I subscribe to Analog magazine for example, and get more drm-free books than I have time to read from fictionwise.com. If something is released only in crippled formats, then that's their loss, as it means I read one of the many other things on my list instead, or, if I *really* want to read it, as happened recently, I buy used paper. That's only happened once though, and I've been ebooking now for about 3 years (albeit my Treo and Sony Reader, but I know the Kindle supports drm free formats too).
Re:No drm requirement (Score:5, Informative)
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'It's just a decent device at a decent price.'
Sounds like a decent enough device (though the email thing sounds a bit annoying as a file transfer mech) but the price certainly doesn't sound decent.
You are saving about $4 a book. A generally good price for something like this would be more like $50 so to make up the difference you need to buy and read 63 books.
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If you bought it as early as that and have only read 30 books then you aren't nearly as voracious as you think you are. I've got 3 pages of books listings on my Kindle right now, probably not quite 30 (smallest font), but I've only had my Kindle for maybe 6months! At the end of a year I'll easily have read more than 30 books on mine although not nearly so many monthly type things - sadly their selection doesn't do it for me and I get mags that are picture heavy generally. No not THAT kind, car mags!
Anyway,
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I subscribe to Analog magazine for example
You're just an analog person living in a digital world.
Your post, however, did rekindle my interest in reading science fiction...
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Umm, is Analog DRM free on the Kindle? I own a Kindle and a loooong time subscriber to Analog but didn't subscribe on Kindle due to the pittance of a discount. If it's DRM free that might be a supporting reason to subscribe but still I dunno' about it. I think I can get it even cheaper with multi-year subscriptions and coupons, the Kindle price just doesn't seem all that great for Analog - which is a real bummer. Plus I don't like to leave the cell modem on very much which I'd have to do more often to catch
Saw one for the first time (Score:5, Interesting)
Got to put hands on one a couple months ago and had to admit it's pretty cool. The display is quite good, very readable. My only fear was if the battery went dead or it got old. What happens to all the books you bought?
I could just see it in the bottom of some box five years from now, dead as a barn nail, battery shot. Then what? Can you replace the battery and recover the books? What happens when Amazon stops supporting them?
Re:Saw one for the first time (Score:5, Informative)
The books you buy from Amazon are associated with your account and can be re-downloaded at any time. Anything you generate or convert yourself can be stored on a removable Micro-SD device (not included). The battery is replaceable, but I have no idea how much it costs, or what the availability will be in the future. Basically you're covered unless / until Amazon goes away.
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The replacement batteries for the Kindle cost $20 U.S. from the Amazon Kindle store.
As for the usefulness of the Kindle, my wife and I bought one each for an early Christmas present this year. We have had them for a bit over a month now (yep, very early Christmas), and we both love them. Yes, the content you get from Amazon.com is DRM'd, which sucks, but like one of the parent posters stated, what you buy stays on your account, and can be re-downloaded. In fact, my wife and I share an account, and thus c
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I saw part of the Oprah show. According to the guy they had talking about them, once you have purchased a book from the Amazon Kindle store, you can delete it from your device (to free up space) and then re-download it again whenever you want. They did not talk about what will happen if/when Amazon goes out of business.
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If it goes dead you loose everything, this is the same reason you need to reload your OS every time you turn off your computer~
Did Oprah submit this? (Score:2)
Of the many, many years I've been reading Slashdot, the articles almost always say who submitted the article. It appears from this article that maybe Oprah submitted it. Maybe it was kdawson. What gives?
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I just checked the front page of Slashdot, and the only two articles that didn't say who submitted them were from kdawson. Coincidentally, both were pushing products or services for Amazon.com. Perhaps we need to add a slashvertisement tag to these articles...
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kdawson=Oprah?
Oprah a giant advert? (Score:2)
I was home sick one day and decided to destroy my soul with daytime tv. Along came Oprah, I caught about 20 minutes of it and it came across as a giant plug to get this fitness centre to sign up these "overweight" ladies waving a contract in the air that they were going to sign in order to lose some weight. How real the contracts were or how much it was going to cost them I don't know but Oprah must get some giant kickbacks.
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Yes, the kickbacks are called ratings.
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The new, reinvented Oprah (Score:4, Interesting)
To me, it's always been the same story: "Here, come watch my show so you can feel good about nice things *I'm* doing with my life, when what you really care about is 1) what gift people find under their chairs and 2) that you don't have to expend any energy to get that warm, fuzzy feeling." Sigh.
I have a Kindle (Score:2, Informative)
It's great. No need to rage about DRM, most of the files I have on it are not from Amazon. Though I'm sure they would like to fix that. You can basically email yourself any text file and it's there.
Another great feature is the wireless internet, which is now free (through the sprint network I believe), though I doubt it will stay that way forever. But while it lasts I enjoy looking at web pages while traveling on the train for free. It does fairly decent job of converting most pages.
I'm gonna cry! ;_; (Score:3, Funny)
Why bother? (Score:2)
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It's lighter, easier to use, can easily be viewed while laying back.
I don't own one, but I ahve looked at them and talked to people that own them and it seems like a nice device.
Apparently I'll be seeing more of these thing in the next 3-10 days.
where Kindle is failing to deliver on its promise (Score:3, Informative)
I liked what Amazon had to say about the Kindle when it came out; that they recognized that DRM limited what you could do with your content, so the tradeoff they were trying to make was that if you were willing to live with DRM, you could get your ebooks at a discount price. I can live with that idea. You want to make it worth my while to put up with the inconveniences of DRM? Okay.
However, when I started looking at prices to see if the deal had held true, I found that the ebooks I was interested in (at least to start with) all seemed to have either an insignificant discount or no discount. If you want to offer me the DRM encrusted ebook version of a $5.99 paperback as a $2 ebook, great... but don't offer it to me for $5.50, or even for $6.00 . In that case I have no incentive to use the ebook instead of the paper version except convenience, and frankly, convenience isn't worth *that* much to me.
It's rather a pity, too; the hardware is nice. (I've had one on loan for a couple days.)
I want to know if Oprah warned the audience... (Score:5, Insightful)
Did Oprah warn her faithful viewers that if Amazon ever abandons the kindle or the content, that there's a good chance all their "book collection" will be gone forever?
I still have books I bought 20 years ago. Who could possibly be confident your kindle and all those books would be working 20 years from now when DRM schemes are dropping like flies. Can you imagine what's going to happen when studios stop wanting to produce the "old" DVDs?
Re:I want to know if Oprah warned the audience... (Score:5, Insightful)
Since it can be used to read non DRM'es stuff, what's the point?
At least you can back it up offsite. What happens to your books if your house burns down?
Gee, it's like everything has a disadvantage of some kind~
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Do I really want to buy a kindle just so I can read DRM-free stuff? And does that help me get my books back when Amazon stops supporting them?
Hardware breaks.
And I can insure my books.
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Oprah is an industry now, not an individual.
Oh wait, sorry, I got off topic there. Personally, I prefer text printed on paper - at least that way I know I have access to the material "forever".
My Good and Bad Review (Score:2)
I've had my Kindle since last December, and I like it overall, I have sometimes thought about putting it up on eBay -- the hype sometimes gets to be a bit much.
Pro: Non DRM files from Gutenberg, ManyBooks, and others. I've been able to read "The Wizard of Oz" and lots of other books I've always wanted to read. You can email them to the device or hook it up via USB, and it's much better to read this way than on my computer/laptop.
Con: Batteries must be charged. I've had the Kindle in my bag for a while,
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Until you toss a regular book in your bag and the binding comes loose.
Been there, stupid cheap glue.
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A couple more points to my review above:
Pro: It plays nicely with Linux. It shows up as a hard drive, and I can make sure I've backed up all of the files onto my desktop. The DRM files are keyed to the device, so copying them for backup is not a problem.
Con: Can look geeky. Sometimes I just want to read a book and not stand out.
Pro: Anonymousness. However, I can read a book without anybody questioning my choices. Also, it's easy to read while having lunch -- put it on the table and tap the button to
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Nope, I don't work for Amazon or anybody else related. I just think they have something cool.
I don't understand why Amazon doesn't push the fact that this works well with any text or html file is beyond me. Once I realized that fact, I was sold.
That, and it's the built in data cell phone (Whispernet), which makes it that much better than its competitors. The built in web browser is almost unusable, but the store works and is fun for finding a beach read, and each kindle is assigned its own email address.
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Actually for tech books it rocks - you can put TONS of books on there and then search across all of them quickly! Just be sure to check prices on the tech books first as they tend to be higher than the $9.99 max that normal books seem to cap out at or so I'm told by guys who buy tech books for their Kindle. I cannot bring mine into the office so mine has nothing but pleasure reading on it. Being able to lay it flat and tap buttons while eating etc. is pretty nice, no flopping around of pages and no broken s
"Enthusiastically endorsed by Oprah" (Score:2)
DRM Content: its biggest long-term problem (Score:3, Informative)
Although the price for the Kindle will presumably fall over time, the bigger problem is still the DRM'ed content -- and Oprah is unlikely to change that. I write a book/lit blog and discussed the implications of the Kindle here [wordpress.com] and here [wordpress.com]. It's an impressive technical achievement that lacks--and might lack for a long time--the unrestricted books needed to make it a success.
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Amazon may not have unrestricted books but the zillion or so other sources of books have them just fine. If you can get it in PDF you can convert it yourself or let Amazon do it for free. For 10cents they will even deliver it to you wirelessly. Sure, it would be nice if Amazon sold them DRM free but they have explained why they cannot yet do this - the publishers won't go for it. So for now the DRM is there and those of us who own a Kindle aren't finding it to be too bad. I mean really this isn't like music
Don't throw stones from glass houses (Score:2)
So, she's suffering the same problem as /.?
In other news (Score:5, Funny)
Controversy erupts as it is found that Amazon's memoir "A Million Little Kindles" contains false material.
Instead of dropping your phone in the crapper (Score:2)
don't forget skype (Score:2)
she's always pimpin' skype on her show (I know this cause my gf watches it on the mythbox, honest ;) )
This bugs me more, skype is becoming huge and it's a proprietary network instead of people using SIP for voip.
What would Gutenberg say? (Score:2, Insightful)
As an editor and writer who saw his first published story set in hot metal, I marvel at Amazon's Kindle reader and its role in the future of the "printed" word.
I'm thrilled to see Oprah endorse Kindle!
No traditional book can offer the interactive platform I've created for the Kindle edition of my novel Brazil or open the door to actively sharing the magic that goes into the making of a monumental novel.
I've linked the e-text to an online guide with 200 images and illustrations, providing an indispensa
Re:Wow (Score:5, Funny)
I did want one... but now, if Oprah likes it, well... I'll pass.
Re:Wow (Score:4, Funny)
How the FUCK did I get rated +4 insightful? This is *not* an insightful comment! Come on, mods! Do your fucking... volunteering!
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If you have the first post, and you don't say "FIRST!!!", then you automatically get modded up.
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Jobs? Really?
You may want to consider that you might be taking postings on a website WAY too seriously...
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I call bullshit. If you ever go to Digg, then you see Groupthink moderation. Reasoned or valid responses getting dug done to minus infinity for not fitting the mold.
At slashdot, it may be a problem here and there, but a reasoned out response is well recieved at a much higher rate.
(BTW, I like both sites for much different reasons. But I don't begin to take most of the threads there seriously.)
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Spoiler: just enter code "OPRAHWINFREY" on Amazon.
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Think that's stupid? YOU come up with a reason for no cut and paste.
Re:For those of you with eternally half full glass (Score:2)
If you buy rent books from Amazon they are DRM encoded.
Fixed that for you.
And BTW, no thanks. If I want to BUY a book, I'll buy it. I'm not interested in RENTING applications, music, or books.
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Nah, that effect was lost when McCain had the audacity to choose an ATTRACTIVE female for the white house.
Women will unite to see someone with the same sex organs do well unless they believe the someone is more attractive than they are. Women will vote for a man who says they all belong in the kitchen before another woman they fear to be more attractive.
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Why buy another doodad? Because it DOES work well, has longer battery life, is easier on the eyes, has a larger screen, and well doesn't have this weird scrolling issue that concerns you? Really, you ought to try one out, the ugly things are actually pretty nice and while I wish they looked more like the Sony reader which is pretty, stylish, and light the Kindle kicks it's ass for access to stuff you can read without jumping through hoops. Guys I know who own the Sony reader (and have iPhone BTW) have bough