CnetNews.com
Amazon.com on Saturday released its annual post-Christmas statement on holiday sales and made one thing clear: the Kindle was king, perhaps fueled by continued shifts in plans for shipments of Barnes & Noble’s competing Nook e-reader.
In another milestone for the e-reader, the company noted that on Christmas Day, for the first time ever, Amazon customers bought more Kindle books than physical books. The company didn’t offer specific numbers for either category.
They need to Drop the Price down..way down.
Agree… $299.99 is too much bank for something that does a single task. Does it even come with a sample book, or something?
Wow. That’s pretty impressive to sell more Kindle’s than real books. It looks like 2010 will be a watershed year for ebooks.
I think the Apple touch pad will really launch this formfactor
The price of the Kindle has been $259 for some time now.
I have had one since last March. I like it, but I alternate with a real book after reading one on Kindle. Also, for instance, I bought a used copy of Atlas Shrugged for 6.99 delivered, vs 9.99 on the Kindle. So I still love books. Kindles are good for huge books with no pictures, like History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which I am plowing through now.
I disagree with RMS on amost everything except this device… This device is the biggest threat to freedom of speech the world has ever encountered.
FUCK THE TSA!
“In another milestone for the e-reader, the company noted that on Christmas Day, for the first time ever, Amazon customers bought more Kindle books than physical books. The company didn’t offer specific numbers for either category.”
Of course, fools. Everybody who got one Christmas morning needed to load it with a book. Who in hell was going to be buying a real book on Christmas day?
amazon kindle, cause everyone likes their freedom and rights taken away!
yea!!!
Wake me when the cost of this device is $19.95.
Re: comments by #1 & #2.
They don’t need to do ANYTHING with the price. At $299, it became Amazon’s #1 gift EVER. And with Kindle being available for a short period of time–and sold at $299 right now–there is enough of a market for Amazon to sell more Kindle books than paper books.
I’d never pay it, but it seems plenty of people find $299 a wonderful price for technology that does this “single task.” Heck, if anything, they might want to bump it a bit! LOL!
[See comment #4. – ed.]
I love the comments on that article…
“The popularity of the Kindle is very sad. Extended reading on electronic screens is simply no pleasure.”
“All that will change when Apple releases a superior product to the kindle in about 30 days.”
“Yeah Amazon is going to be a little pist when they realize the kindle app they wrote for the iPhone now provides a means for Apple’s new tablet to compete directly against the Kindle. No Apple’s not evil…they’re just innovators.”
“I would be shorting AMZN right now because of the impending Apple iSlate coming out next month”
“no backlight…”
“As a mac user, I’m sure Apple’s entry into the eReader market will be formidable, but competition is good for everyone- especially consumers.”
“What at joke their sales figures are. And lastly how many of those ebooks were sold to iPhone users that have installed Kindle? Short Amazon, the competition is about to get enormous.”
Why don’t people understand that e-readers are supposed to closely mimic reading a book? Who in the hell would want a reader with an LCD screen?
How do you make notes in the margins, or mark your place in several places with a Kindle?
Paper books for the win…
Actually you don’t have to buy the Kindle device to download the Amazon e-books. There is a Kindle app you can download to your PC – maybe Mac too, I didn’t notice. Once you download the app for free, you can just buy the ebooks. It works for me as I have a netbook so it’s pretty small anyway. I would NEVER pay $300 bucks for a device like the Kindle, although $50 might be reasonable.
Not to knock Amazon, etc. but just who was buying anything on Christmas day? Failed crotch bombers with lots of reading time ahead of them? Just a thought…
My kids got me a Kindle 2 for my birthday last year. I can’t believe nobody mentioned the fact that there are MILLIONS of FREE books out there for the Kindle, including many at Amazon.com I’m reading great books I got for free that I would never have even thought to look for in a bookstore. I love the thing and I rarely go anywhere without it.
#13
while not at simple as with analog books, making notes, highlighting, and bookmarking a “page”
is pretty easy and straightforward
The kindle is too expensive and fragile for me to consider carrying it around with me. I’ve occasionally dropped books in puddles, lost them, etc. Then I’m out $20 and I buy another copy. I can toss it around, put it in a backpack and drop it on the ground. What do I get for an extra $239? The ability to read more than one book at once? Is that supposed to be a selling point?
IMHO the kindle is a solution in search of a problem. Cool technology, but impractical.
If you believe rumors, the Apple tablet will have to cost about $1K. It will probably have the power of a netbook, so it will do a lot more than a Kindle. Now that is a high price of entry. I have a Kindle Mk.1, and still have mixed feelings. I’ve read about 50 books on it. I hate to tell a friend about a good book, and not being able to loan it to her. I stopped keeping books after boxing them up several times to move, so maintaining access to a digital version appeals to me.