Live from the Kindle DX Launch

Jeff Bezos came to New York today to release his bigger e-reader -- the Kindle DX.

The DX makes it easy to read 8.5" by 11" docs with a larger screen and includes more memory -- enough for 3,500 books and a stash of documents. The DX also changes from portrait to landscape when you rotate it just like an iPhone.

Jeff was clad in his usual jeans and blue blazer and still has that bit-too-thin look of someone training for a 100-mile marathon. I hope he starts eating more now that the kindle is doing well.

The Kindle DX will retail for $489 and will be available this summer. In addition to the Amazon website, the DX will be distributed by various newspapers inlcuding the New York Times which will offer it at a steep discount in exchange for a long-term subscription to the e-paper.

The main drawback of both the kindle 2.0 and the DX is that E-ink which provides the technology has still not fixed the disturbing flash you get whenever you turn a page. It is odd that E-ink could not provide a memory buffer to smooth out this problem.

At one point in the demo the projector reversed everything on the screen. Jeff laughed and said, "I am going to choose to find this hilarious... imagine you are looking at this through a mirror."

At the launch of the Kindle 2.0 he brought Stephen King (click here for HP interview).

This time around his focus was on the larger format of the DX and partners such as the New York Times and a group of universities for textbook use of the DX. Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. of the Times spoke as did Barbara Snyder, the president of Case Western.

Sulzberger said that "we knew for more than a decade that one day an e-reader would be a significant platform of distribution for our content."

Six universities will pilot the DX as a textbook reader including Pace which hosted the event today. It is curious that Amazon did not get more universities to sign up to this program as a test. I assume more will come soon. Snyder noted that her students at Case Western may study better with this device and, without all the books to weigh them down, will "stand taller."

Bezos noted that he hopes the DX will lead to a reduction in printing of regular documents. "The paperless society never came," he said, "we are printing more than we ever did." He showed a web page from Amazon selling a printer toner cartridge -- "We sell a lot of these... for some reason I always run out of cyan first."

If future Kindles can get rid of the between-page flash then I believe this product will really take off and then we can get back to the paperless revolution that was supposed to come a decade ago.

Comments

[DaveC19]

"It is odd that E-ink could not provide a memory buffer to smooth out this problem. "

This is why non- tech savy people should not write about technology.

The "flash" he refers to has absolutely nothing to do with memory. It is because e-ink retains an image without power and only uses it to change the image. This requires the screen to "reset" the pixels (kind of like turning an etch a sketch upside down and shaking) when changing screens or you would get an after-image of the last page.

[Jack Hidary - Huffpost Blogger]

To get technical, the kindle uses a bistable electrophoretic display technology the advantage of bistable technologies is that they remain in state without power.

since the display has a matrix of charges applicators, it can control each microcapsule individually and thus display the pigmented or non-pigemented spheres in each pixel location. the particles can then display the necessary pattern with no backlighting and drawing no more power.

the fact that the display can control each individual pixel location leads to the possibility of removing the between-page flash.

I guess all that work I did developing various patented technologies and advanced imaging techniques comes in handy after all.

What E-ink can do is to use a small bit of power and morph the currently displayed image into the next one without a disturbing flash. using anticipatory algorithms, the device can preload likely next pages. While this would cut down on battery charge a bit, it is a worthwhile tradeoff.

thanks for your comment.

[KillTheMessenger]

If current E-Ink can do all of that, it is kind of a letdown that the display device driver doesn't make use of the capability and seems to be based on a stone age erase/rewrite algorithm. So either there is a technical problem beyond what you are telling us ... or ... the Kindle is a rather poorly designed device.

Take your pick... this engineer ain't impressed. Are you? Seriously?

[Anonani]

After taking a deep breath, I realize that I was foolish to believe that Jeff Bezos cares what his customers think about his business decisions. He is in competition with all other developers of ebooks and that competition is about to get very stiff for this new product. He has to try to stay ahead in the marketing game and his R&D folks are running looking over their shoulders because the competition is sprinting and getting closer. From this point forward, I will take my little disposable income and spend it on the company that gives me the impression that keeping me a satisfied and returning customer is their top priority. I have concluded that is not Amazon.

[KillTheMessenger]

This is an incredible case of great advertising that makes use of absolute ignorance of reality on the customer side.

Textbook publishers today are making money on selling perpetual licenses of their intellectual property linked to (for all practical purposes) eternal hard copies. The actual physical printing process is a mere inconvenience to the. But with the arrival of devices like the Kindle they finally hope to realize their dream of selling time-restricted licenses on perishable media without even incurring the cost of producing a hard copy! That's publisher heaven!

But to the public it's sold as the greatest invention since sliced bread. And the public seems to be buying it! You get less for paying more... and you are even happy about it...

I have rarely seen such a well executed con.

:-)

[NHBill]

Dead on! You can't buy or sell used books or textbooks with a Kindle.

[KillTheMessenger]

The sad part is that the whole content industry is trying to use new media to restrict the use of their products rather than to develop new markets. The general public is pushing back with grand theft IP. And the legislators are turning two blind eyes to the new reality.

[MayerSK]

Hi Jack,
If this unit can accept highlighting and reader's notes, I hope that it can also function as a drawing tablet. Can it download scholars notes to a laptop as editable text along with the relevant author's text quoted?

Mayer Spivack

[KillTheMessenger]

I think it is absolutely tantamount that we invent devices that can communicate with each other. How else can we satisfy the age old dream of the teacher's thoughts reaching the student's notebook without ever having to pass through the student's mind?

:-)

[Jack Hidary - Huffpost Blogger]

hi Mayer !

right now the unit has no touch sensitive capabilities and thus no drawing options. this would be difficult with today's technology and have it retain its non-glare appearance to the eye for long readings. the kindle is really not made for interaction - more for one way reading.

i think that the tablet computers such as fujitsu's lifebook are the closest device to what you are referring to. they give up the long reading function, but gain a lot of other functions of full computer.

good to hear from you,

Jack

[KillTheMessenger]

"this would be difficult with today's technology and have it retain its non-glare appearance to the eye for long readings."

How would that be difficult? Expensive? Maybe. Outright difficult, no. Surface wave touch screen technology does not change the optical surface properties of the screen, at all.

But you are right... a Kindle is a "passive" consumption type device. For its power budget it can't be much else.

[ClevelandTom]

I think the price point of the Kindle is a major barrier to wide use. It needs to be much closer to $100 for broad adoption. Maybe, like Apple's iPhone, they will lower the price after the gadget addicts buy in at the intro price.

I hope the Kindle serves to reduce the outrageous price of college books but that remains to be seen.

[FDRbyGodDemocrat]

As a Kindle 2 owner, I think the device suffers in comparison with the older Nuvomedia and SoftBook ebooks. At least those devices had (1) color; (2) a stylus that could be used as a pen to record in-book notes; and (3) a more ergonomic feel. True, these were LCD devices, and the Kindle's presentation is nice, but it seems like a primitive device nonetheless.

[Jack Hidary - Huffpost Blogger]

we will look back on today's e-readers with retro fondness ten years from now. at that point, we will have flexible screens which we can roll out of a small tube or cell phone.

today's readers will seem thick and bukly - and slow.

we will not have e-readers then but all purpose devices with touchscreen, highlighting, video and other features.

one enabling technology that will help will be the advances in energy storage. by increasing power density, we will have batteries which can last far longer and be much smaller.

[FDRbyGodDemocrat]

We'll need to go forward, then, not backward. While the Kindle improves display quality (slightly) and battery life, we've lost highlighting, note taking, backlighting, color, removable memory cards, ergonomics, etc.

[SweetWilliam]

I've been around computers and the people who use them since the early 80s. I've got to tell the folks who would not have purchased their Kindle (if they had known something new was going to be released) that THERE WILL ALWAYS BE SOMETHING NEW in the near future. If you keep waiting for the next new thing, you will spend your entire life waiting... You just have to jump in at some point and make the most of it. I have a friend with a Kindle 2.0 and it impressed me - she loves it! Enjoy!

[KillTheMessenger]

One does not need to have the latest and the greatest. And in reality the Kindle is neither. It's nothing but a hyped novelty device. If somebody thinks they need a Kindle, they should have it. Everybody else can safely ignore it and will not suffer any perceivable drawback, whatsoever.

[marijam]

I love my Kindle 1. If this DX had been out when I went to college, I would have bought one in a minute. If the colleges that adopt this can pre-load the textbooks for the curriculum program the student plans on taking - wow! No more lost or stolen textbooks, only - guard your DX. Any book ever purchased is stored by Amazon so it's always available, in case something happens to the Kindle.

The publishers should offer an upgrade service for newer textbook editions, once you've purchased one edition, so that the reader can keep up with the latest.

[KillTheMessenger]

"No more lost or stolen textbooks.­.."

I went to school and university without ever hearing about a single stolen book. Looks like your real problem is theft... not the format of your books.

"Any book ever purchased is stored by Amazon so it's always available, in case something happens to the Kindle."

What guarantee do you have for that? I have textbooks that are well over 30 years old (one is over 50 years old) and they are just as useful as on the day they were published. Do you really think Amazon will be around in 30 years? Do you imagine they will even know that you bought something from them three decades ago?

Good luck with that.

[NHBill]

Kindle is a guaranteed way to screw college kids out of even more scarce money. You won't even be able to share a textbook with someone with kindle. This is a one way street for publishers.

[Anonani]

I luv my Kindle 2. It is distressing me that the DX is being released literally weeks after I purchased the 2. Had I known, I might have waited just a little bit longer. Have I just not been paying attention and EVERYONE except ME knew about the imminent release?

[hopefull2008]

I suspect you might get a sympathetic ear from them in term of an exchange.

[Anonani]

Pollyanna called and was told that there will be no upgrades, no refunds, no token compensation for this. This was so hush-hush that nobody knew, so I was told, that this release was going to happen. I haven't owned the Kindle 2 even 45 days! I am steamed! I hope that there is a mass negative customer response to this scurrilous business decision. I would have put off making my purchase had there been even a hint of a newer release! The customer service person had the audacity to tell be that they are marketing this to students and corporate account holders not individuals like me and that it is "no different" than the 2...to which I recited to him the differences!

[Jack Hidary - Huffpost Blogger]

Anonani-

a LOT of people have been writing to me on this topic. People who bought kindle 2.0 are UPSET that amazon came out with the DX so soon and without prior notice. many would have waited.

now there is no upgrade path.

I recommend writing an email to Ian Freed who is VP of the Kindle program. try amazon.comon.com

Jack

[Anonani]

Thanks Jack...I will. I've already written two to Amazon customer service. This is just like the IPhone debacle that I was not caught up in...but at least AT&T responded to its customers after significant customer uproar.

[marijam]

Personally, I don't want a notebook size reader for what I read, which is paperbacks. I like the size that goes anywhere. For me, the use of the DX is completely different. To each his own. Good luck in getting a response out of Amazon. I suggest you put your Kindle 2 up for sale and buy the new DX, if you want one.

[NajkaLion]

I agree! My family bought me the Kindle as a gift, only to learn two weeks later about the Kindle 2. They were really upset. Had they known, they would have waited. I am generally satisfied with Amazon. I use them for purchases in many different categories, not just books. Not notifying active purchasers that a new version is around the corner seems crass at best.

[songbookz]

WAY too expensive - I'm sticking with my Sony.

[Hailmaryyy]

Kindle now offers the buyer of books to download with a wireless service. Instantaneous access just like going to a brick and mortar store. The books on Kindle usually cost less than $10 bucks. I know this because my book How America Can Escape the New Great Depression just became available on Kindle.

http://www.escapethenewgreatdepression.com

[apoliticalvoice]

honestly, i can see this device being the future for MUCH more than just reading. it will probably replace laptops some day.

[KillTheMessenger]

By the time it can replace a laptop, it will be a laptop.

[ramblingjohnny]

At the price they are selling this thing you might be better off getting a Netbook if only amazon had a ebook reader app for the pc!

[nancyhammond]

I disagree about the between-page flash. I couldn't care less about it. The Kindle's major problem is that its price is comparable to a netbook, while its graphics capability and web interface are prehistoric. It won't work for textbooks until the graphics interface is vastly improved. You mentioned that the new screen is bigger--can you read a map, graph or chart on it now?

I predict that netbooks and e-readers will converge. In the meantime, I do love my Kindle.

BTW it's not true that it doesn't work in Europe. It's just the wireless interface that doesn't work. You can get content to your Kindle from your computer anywhere with an internet connection, just as you can with an MP3 player.

[DryIce]

The credit card needs to be registered to a US address according to the Amazon website. There are also tax issues involved.

[Jack Hidary - Huffpost Blogger]

hi Nancy,

yes, the screen is good now for maps, charts and graphs. Jeff Bezos showed us an air chart for pilots on the DX. I imagine pilots will be VERY happy to not have to lug around all their charts in those suitcases.

You are correct that it works anywhere - you just have to use the USB port and not the 3G whispernet when outside the US to upload content.

Jack

[KillTheMessenger]

I imagine the FAA will simply not approve this device for aviation use. They don't want to have a pilot with 400 passengers in a $400 million airframe in the air without maps in case a device worth $400 breaks. Problem solved.

:-)

[hopefull2008]

I think you are correct about the convergence of netbooks and e-readers. A unique device just to act as a reader only makes sense in terms of Amazons quest to have a proprietary platform for its content.

[Anonani]

What flash?

[dtrobert]

I wonder if the NYT has considered that betting its future on a proprietary, U.S. only platform (Amazon refuses to sell e-books outside the U.S. even though it'll gladly sell you a glorified door-stop).

Until the Kindle is released world-wide, I wouldn't waste any money on it.

[res-nyc]

The main drawback isn't the between page flash. We have high res graphics and video on everything else. To come closer to a rich reading and learning experience, these devices must have these capabilities. Think of all of those monochrome CRT's piled in landfills.

[Jack Hidary - Huffpost Blogger]

hi - I asked Charles Tritschler when color and video are coming. He is the technical manager of the Kindle. Charles told me that E-ink which provide the technology has color working in the lab but that it is "not saturated.­.. it is washed out" -- I would guess 6 months from now we will see a higher-res color version.

[KillTheMessenger]

Six months? Sounds more like six years, if it's physically possible with a reflective device at all (which I doubt). But good luck, anyway.

[NHBill]

Color kills batteries