Jeff Bezos Promotes The Kindle 2 On The "Daily Show" (VIDEO)

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos appeared on the "Daily Show" last night to showcase the new Kindle 2, which started shipping yesterday. While Bezos was, naturally, enthusiastic about the gadget's appeal, Stewart didn't seem overly impressed: "books are comfortably low-tech," he said somewhat nostalgically. The Kindle, he quipped, "doesn't seem like the kind of thing you want to fall asleep with on your chest."

But by far the best line of the night was when Bezos boasted that with the Kindle "you can read with one hand, which is very handy." Interpret that how you will!

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Comments

[SimplyBkuz]

I love reading books, but I can see how Kindle would be a good thing to have. It would be nice to be able to get a new book at 4am without having to leave the house. I just can't see spending the amount of money they want for this thing. I would get one, if it weren't so expensive.

[Maxiesid]

Sorry, I love my books - but I love my Kindle even more. Now that I am a little older, I find that my eyes are shot after about an hour of reading... which is a killer since reading is a real joy for me. SInce I got my Kindle, I can sit down in an evening and read an entire book.. being able to increase the font size is GREAT. I don't have to try to find large print books and pay twice as much for them. When I get ready to go on a trip, I just buy some books, and throw the Kindle into my coat pocket, and when I sit down on the plane, the books are there ready to read. I no longer have a stack of 'when I get a minute I am going to read this' books in my night stand. When a book comes out that I want to read, I don't have to wait for it to be delivered, I just order it and it is there. (I live quite a distance from the nearest bookstore, so this is great) Other than the price (which I am getting back in what I save on the books) what's not to like?

[Prakosh]

I would never use this devise. I love books. I love the smell, the texture of the paper, the sense of working your way through, even seeing how far I am by noting the placement of the bookmark. I guess I am a book junkie. They took away my 45s and my LPs and now they are trying to take away my CDs--fine. But they are never going to get my books. NEVER!

[marijam]

I don't like the new one, I like the old one. Oh, and yes, you can fall asleep with it on your chest. I have, many's the time. It isn't the BOOK that I love its the STORY.

[Tom95134]

You can read with one hand but you still can't keep it in the back pocket of your pants.

[Specialed]

The storage is the only value the kindle brings which isn't worth $350.00

[beanchihuahua]

Library books are still free..Just sayin..

[senseandnonsense]

And can you read a Kindle with a serving spoon laying crosswise over the book while eating Chinese food? Or can you read it with your toes while brushing your teeth and taking a dump? Is it safe to read held above you while you read on your back in a field? And what if you want to read all day??? Will if fit into my back pocket? How about my suitcoat pocket? The Kindle just isn't as versatile as regular books are.

[senseandnonsense]

The only advantage I see to the Kindle is the function allowing you to increase the size of the "print." That's great for older people who have to read large print books or for anyone with a vision problem. But I'm not sold on it for any other reason. How will you pick up all of John Steinbeck, Larry McMurtry, John Mortimer and P.G. Wodehouse at a yard sale for less than ten dollars? You won't even know whether it works well... You can't leave the damn thing in your car if you're a bibliophile just because you'd be concerned about its theft. But you can have an entire library of books floating around in boxes in the back of your van always ready for that slow baseball or soccer game, or the fifteen minutes before going into work, or at lunch (Dang! I've knocked my drink over on the Kindle! Now it's destroyed!) Even given the opportunity to buy new books for ten dollars, would you take a chance on "The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell" when you can get it at a book flea market for ten cents on the last day of the sale? Or how about "Six Nuns and a Shotgun"? Would you want to spend ten dollars, even five, for that? But for a quarter? Sure, just because I like the title and the art on the cover.

[BluebirdofUnhappiness]

A good magnifying glass is about 10 bucks. And it doesn't need batteries.

[LazyMazie]

"Kindle 2: Amazon introduces the next chapter in wireless reading"

Wireless reading?! Finally I can clear my bookshelves of all those pesky cables. You know, I nearly short-circuited my whole house with all those extension leads I needed when I bought the complete works of Shakespeare. And don't get me started on War and Peace, could have burned the house down what with its overheating problem.

You've saved me Amazon.

(shameless plug: http://nobodyreadsthisblog.wordpress.com/)

[KataVideo]

Jeff Bezos's totally fake belly laugh was incredibly creepy.

[robiform]

I wish that Jeff Bezos would spend more time and effort on the customer service at Amazon, rather than coming up with new bells and whistles to entertain the masses! Up until a couple of years ago, I was a faithful customer of Amazon, ordering books, CDs, DVDs with very few problems. Then, I ordered a couple of DVDs which were not available (I thought) at any other store, whether online or bricks-and-mortar. The DVDs failed to arrive on the promised "ship" date, and thus began a not-so-merry series of phone calls, e-mails, and other communications with various people who allegedly were in customer service. At one time, someone called me at 6:30 in the morning from their London office--obviously, the person couldn't figure out that the east coast of the U.S. is 5 hours BEHIND London! I finally cancelled the order, eventually got the DVDs from Powell's Book Store in Portland OR, and never ordered anything from Amazon again! Sorry, Jeff--the Kindle doesn't impress me!

[booker52]

As far as I know you cannot download free media from your local library with this unit. No thanks, I can do that on my laptop, free of charge. Audio books?? Free as well downloaded again from the local library to my mp3 player.

[CosmicSpaceTurtle]

This is one technology I will never buy into, and I really hope it doesn't catch on. I am never going to replace books with a digital screen.

[protagonia]

I like a good old fashioned book.

[camipco]

You can read a book with one hand too.

[raven119]

Bezo wants to turn print media into kindling? How many independent books stores will have to die this year, I wonder?