Recently in Books Category
Today's Wilmington News Journal features an editorial about Amazon's new Kindle book reader. The piece takes a wait and see approach to the device, suggesting that it will have to improve on the inherent simplicity and elegance of traditional ink and paper books to be successful.
It's certainly an attractive enough gadget, with features like fee-less wireless and a built-in keyboard for annotating and bookmarking:
I think economy is likely going to be a larger driver to success or failure, though. And it doesn't look like Kindle is ready for prime time yet.
The Kindle itself sells for $399.00, you'd have to be a voracious reader to make that up through the discounts Amazon offers on the Kindle versions of books. Even Amazon knows this and resorts to a little subterfuge with the numbers to make it seem more attractive. For example, on the main Kindle page, Amazon suggests that you would save $17.96 by reading "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court" by reading it electronically vs. the hardback edition. However, they use(disingenuously, I feel) list price as a comparison.
Amazon regularly sells the paper and ink version for $16.77 - so the real savings is only $6.78. In order to save money by using Amazon's device, you'd have to read 59 such books. How many hardback books do you buy in year?
But the real competition for Kindle isn't the hardback, but its cheaper cousin the paperback. Waiting the extra few months for the economy version of a book is the norm for most folks, and has the added bonus of feeling more, well, disposable. If I buy a hardback, I feel obligated to preserve and take up shelf space with it, I routinely give away paperbacks with no remorse. I don't care if they get dog-eared, worn, torn, kicked under the bed, or stained with coffee spills.
So what kind of savings will the Kindle provide against paperbacks? My lovely wife TB has a thing for J.D. Robb's work, so I checked out her titles to see. "Judgment In Death" normally sells for $7.99 in paperback, and the Kindle version sells for $6.39. Assuming similar savings for other titles, TB would have to read a staggering 249 books to make up the cost of the device alone. It would likely become worn out or obsolete first.
So do I think the Kindle is a total loser? No. Amazon will sell enough of them to keep the product alive for the near future at least. But I don't see any significant degree of market penetration. This is a product that's going to be popular with the hard-core gotta-have-the-latest-and-hippest-gadget-no-matter-what-the-price crowd. You know, the same crowd that stood in line for the iPhone, then whined because Apple dropped the price enough to diminish its exclusivity and ultimately, their bragging rights.
Perhaps that's all Amazon hopes to achieve.
The evolving question is, "What do they make in China that's safe?"
Curious George is the latest to fall victim to the seemingly consciousless Chinese toy industry:
WASHINGTON - About 175,000 Curious George Plush Dolls were recalled Thursday, becoming the latest popular toy made in China found to be contaminated with dangerous levels of lead.
Manufactured by Marvel Toys, of New York, N.Y., the Curious George dolls contain excessive levels of lead in their surface paint, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Also mentioned in the article are some children's sunglasses sold at Dollar General afflicted with a similar lead problem.
On the bright side, lots of kids will be getting books for Christmas. Much better for them in so many ways...
Ann Coulter's new book, Godless: The Church of Liberalism. Because I want to see what the fuss is all about.
On TB's nightstand: The Husband by Dean Koontz. Because... well, because she likes Dean Koontz.
Maybe we'll swap books next week.
