Recently in Kindle Category

The power of free, open-source software is everywhere. Even in Amazon's new Kindle e-book reader:

Linux on Amazon's Kindle e-book reader

Kindle powered by Linux

In keeping with the GPL license that governs GNU/Linux, anybody modifying the code must, in turn release its source code, as Amazon has done here.

Other huge things that use Linux: Google's new Android cell-phone operating system, and our beloved TiVo.

And you might not know that Apple's OS X is powered by BSD, a descendant of Unix. The licenses that govern the various BSD distributions are different than those for Linux, and companies that modify BSD are not bound to release their source code. Hence, OS X is not open-source. Perhaps the ability to keep the system closes influenced Apple's decision to go with BSD instead of Linux when it was developing OS X. I say "perhaps" because I have no idea.

Turns out Amazon is tapped out when it comes to $399 Kindle e-book readers. But you are encouraged to order now "to reserve your place in line," as they are shipped on a first-come, first-served basis.

More Kindles are expected to be in stock Dec. 3.

And whether it's a hit or a dud, I'm pretty sure that the Kindle is going to be a huge gift item for the voracious reader in the family, even at $399. At that price, why not throw in 10 books for an extra $100?

Here are some Kindle stats from Amazon:

Product Overview

* Revolutionary electronic-paper display provides a sharp, high-resolution screen that looks and reads like real paper.
* Simple to use: no computer, no cables, no syncing.
* Wireless connectivity enables you to shop the Kindle Store directly from your Kindle—whether you’re in the back of a taxi, at the airport, or in bed.
* Buy a book and it is auto-delivered wirelessly in less than one minute.
* More than 88,000 books available, including 100 of 112 current New York Times® Best Sellers.
* New York Times® Best Sellers and all New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise.
* Free book samples. Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
* Top U.S. newspapers including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; top magazines including TIME, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
* Top international newspapers from France, Germany, and Ireland; Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine, and The Irish Times—all auto-delivered wirelessly.
* More than 250 top blogs from the worlds of business, technology, sports, entertainment, and politics, including BoingBoing, Slashdot, TechCrunch, ESPN's Bill Simmons, The Onion, Michelle Malkin, and The Huffington Post—all updated wirelessly throughout the day.
* Lighter and thinner than a typical paperback; weighs only 10.3 ounces.
* Holds over 200 titles.
* Long battery life. Leave wireless on and recharge approximately every other day. Turn wireless off and read for a week or more before recharging. Fully recharges in 2 hours.
* Unlike WiFi, Kindle utilizes the same high-speed data network (EVDO) as advanced cell phones—so you never have to locate a hotspot.
* No monthly wireless bills, service plans, or commitments—we take care of the wireless delivery so you can simply click, buy, and read.
* Includes free wireless access to the planet's most exhaustive and up-to-date encyclopedia—Wikipedia.org.
* Email your Word documents and pictures (.JPG, .GIF, .BMP, .PNG) to Kindle for easy on-the-go viewing.

And watch these Amazon videos (they really, really want you to buy this thing):

Kindle overview
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on the Kindle
Author Toni Morrison on the Kindle
Ex-Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki on the Kindle
Uber-best-seller James Patterson on the Kindle
Lemony Snicket author Daniel Handler on the Kindle

(Hey, those Amazon videos are way clearer than YouTube's.)

What's the common denominator? Everybody wants to make a buck with this thing.

For me, the things about it that are game-changing aren't it's ability to store 200 full books and have a "paper-like" screen. I've seen Sony's version of this very same product, and it didn't impress me. The screen ain't all that great. It'll get better ... in five years.

But what is unique is its wireless capability. You can bring down content -- books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, and who knows what else -- wirelessly, just about anywhere you are that has Sprint cell-phone service or Wi-Fi Internet, and you don't need a computer with which to do it. There's also a little keyboard -- not a great keyboard, but a keyboard nonetheless. Other things that make the Kindle attractive include its adjustable text size -- every book can become a large-print edition instantly. Does it have text-to-speech for the sight-impaired? I'd like to see that feature. The Kindle does play audiobooks and music, though.

The backing of the world's largest book retailer is nothing to sneeze at. Without Amazon, this wouldn't be happening with the hugeness that it currently enjoys. In that respect, it's got even more of a chance to succeed than Apple's iPod did when it first came out and nobody wanted to sell digital songs for 99 cents each. And we all know how that turned out.

And you can access Wikipedia with the Kindle. Web browsing is still classified as an "experimental" feature, but the Kindle does have it (and here's how to activate it). And the Web software can only get better.

So am I changing my mind about the Kindle? I'm not the best predictor about what will be huge, but just as Netflix is moving toward what its company name suggests -- flicks over the Net -- so too will Amazon be moving away from a physical-book model to the electronic equivalent. It may not happen this decade, but that sort of thing will be happening, and Amazon is smart to get out in front and innovate.

For the Kindle, it's all about pricing. I never thought the iPod would catch on until they cost $50 each, and even the cheapest Apple-branded music player costs more than that. I was wrong there. Of course the fact that they sound and work great is one thing, the 99-cent songs are another. Steve Jobs may be working the mock-turtleneck too hard, but he is a flippin' genius.

Is the $9.99 book the equivalent of the 99-cent song? I hope Jeff Bezos has done some extensive market research. This crazy, ahead-of-its-time idea just might work. Now that I'm 40-something and live in a normal house, I don't have room for new books -- my space is maxed out. Electronic books that are this convenient may be just the thing for me. There are already publishers selling PDF-format books as well as online-subscription-based books (my technology favorite O'Reilly being one, with its Safari service being a GREAT deal for tech books to be read online). But tech books go great on the computers that they help us use, and "real" books need more flexibility.

Enter Kindle, stage left, I suppose. One thing Bezos has going for him: it's the holiday season, and as many of these damn things he can make, he'll sell.

Here are some recent Click entries that don't have a lot to do with me installing Linux-based system software:

I have two items (here and here) I did last night on the new Kindle electronic reading device being pushed by Amazon. On the cover of Newsweek this week, the $399 Kindle is being touted as "the next iPod," or "the iPod for books, magazines and newspapers" (yes, the New York Times is available by subscription) It could be huge, but it might not be ready -- or priced -- for prime time. I try to cut through the hype.

And I have my choice as the BEST free photo-editing software for Windows (I've been using it for LA.com images, and it's better than even Photoshop for that purpose).

Look at this pointer to a YouTube video in which Google co-founder and gazillionaire Sergey Brin discusses Google's new Android cell-phone operating system (which should knock the iPhone on its ass by the middle of next year):

If you don't know what the latest thing in servers is, see my roundup of recent news on "cloud computing," in which the vast server farms of Amazon and soon IBM are/will be converted into virtual computing environments, with virtual servers being rented out "from the cloud" to businesses that want what looks and acts like a dedicated server -- running all the applications a server can run -- but is not in the company's back room and instead is built and maintained by these huge companies. Yes, they rent them by the hour:

And there's also my coverage of Wal-Mart's new $199 desktop computer that DOESN'T use Windows (here and here).

Jeff Bezos of Amazon wants to change the world with the Kindle, the e-book reader he's pushing hard with all that money he's got. He also wants to make more money.

Books for $9.99 each sound pretty enticing. You can also subscribe to magazines and newspapers on the Kindle. I don't know how good the graphics look, but I do know the thing's only black and white at this point.

As I said previously, what sets the Kindle apart is its wireless capability. You can download content from just about anywhere (it connects to both cell-phone and Wi-Fi networks).

If the iPod did this (and the iPhone and that other touchscreen iPod whose name escapes me do this with music, I believe), it would be another big deal. But just as having Apple being the dominant (and nearly sole) seller of music isn't all that good of an idea, having Amazon be the dominant (and nearly sole) seller of books, magazines and the like might not be all that good either. OK, so Amazon is already the dominant seller of books. They totally kill on price -- we all know that.

But back to blogs. Amazon will sell -- and yes, I do mean sell you blogs on the Kindle. Even BoingBoing, one of my favorites, is on board. The charge? $1.99 per month. And the content is pushed wirelessly to your Kindle.

Just wait a freakin' minute. $1.99 per blog per month? It'll either be the beginning of a whole new revenue stream for bloggers ... or one of the stupidest ideas ever know to electronically minded wo/man (see that use of "wo/man"? My UC Santa Cruzian roots are showing).

Bezos needs to take a tip from Apple and uber-black-mock-turtled genius Steve Jobs who smartly offers podcasts FOR FREE but charges for others stuff like songs.

You will. It's the "new" electronic e-book reader that Amazon is pushing -- and just in time for the holiday season. I've heard a little squack about it but didn't see it until the Newsweek with the Kindle and Amazon's Jeff Bezos arrived in the mail today.

Here's Amazon's Kindle page.

I was disappointed to find out that the thing looks like a slightly juiced up version of Sony's e-book reader, which I found to be very uninspiring. Yes, the screen technology is new, but in my opinion it's not quite "there" yet. Not bright enough, not enough contrast, not clear enough, not fast enough, not detailed enough. Maybe in a few generations, but it's not ready yet.

Quick interlude time ... This guy has one.

Back to it. I've seen the Sony reader at Fry's and the Sony store, and, as I say, I'm not wowed by it.

But Amazon ups the ante. And the price. The thing costs $399. The same as an iPod used to. Now I would've never predicted that people would go for iPods at those prices six or so short years ago, but they most certainly did, and Steve Jobs and Apple have changed the face of the music industry with the device. Jeff Bezos clearly thinks the Kindle will do the same thing for the printed word. He's got the money to make it happen; he's also got the attention of the major (and minor) publishers, and all new books are selling for $9.95 each. That's a good price in the era of the $25 and $30 best seller. But ... the screen of the Kindle is still black and white only (future models will be color) and, as I said, it doesn't look as nice as a real book.

But what the Kindle does have going for it is wireless. You can buy a book with your Kindle from just about everywhere. It works on the EVDO wireless-phone network AND traditional Wi-Fi. So you can indulge your book jones just about anywhere. It could be the thing that lifts publishing out of its many-years-in-the-making doldrums, or put the final nail in its coffin.

Other Kindle controversies: The whole digital-rights management thing (you can't get your e-books OUT of the Kindle ...), writers and publishers balking (unless their royalties stay the same) and potential hackability.