raytayzmd

E-Readers: The Fun Is Just Starting

...for most serious reading, color is not a requirement...and currently, color is expensive -- Fujitsu's device costs around a grand and they're probably losing money even at that price...right now Amazon is king of the hill and everyone else are just "wannabe"'s...ultimately, I think the "green factor" will be most important...just consider the energy and other natural resources that must be used to make and deliver a hard copy as well as the pollution and other waste disposal required...

Amazon: Kindle Is Not Profitable Yet

...isn't that the truth!!...geez, this guy is an editor at Barron's???...oh, wait, I forget -- being an editor at Barron's doesn't require you know anything about running a business...


On May 31 06:25 PM Roger Knights wrote:

> "But so far, no profits."
>
> Said br'er rabbit.
> (To discourage potential competitors.)

Kindle - Good Device, Impractical Pricing

...geez, what a total waste of time!...I mean, maybe criticism would be warranted IF the Kindle were FAILING to find a market!...but given the damn things seem to be selling like proverbial hotcakes, how stupid would it be to lower the price?!!..."more e-readers are entering the market"????????...uh, excuse me, but I do believe a variety of e-readers have been available for about a DECADE now!...gee, that didn't seem to have much effect on Amazon's basically taking over the market and expanding it few thousand fold...are you familiar with a game called "king of the hill"?...with such business acumen, no doubt Mr. Frankola will selling "Whack's Wax" out of his room for many, many years to come!

Is eBay's Real Threat Amazon or Classifieds, or Both?

...absolutely agree...Ebay shot itself in the foot with the most atrocious customer service I've ever experienced.


On May 24 08:15 PM bricki wrote:

> I think this misses the point. With Ebay the assessment should be
> "I have met the enemy and he is us".
>
> Ebay's issue is how do they improve on their customer's experience.
> Every year people move off Ebay because fees have gotten too high
> or the terms of the transaction have gotten unacceptable to big sellers.
>
>
> So long as their model continues to require increasing fees to increase
> revenue they have a real problem.

Why I'm Bearish on Amazon

...what kind of bull are you trying to sell?...here's your covestor trades:

www.covestor.com/mbr/e...

...funny, I can't find any of the trades you seem to be recommending here...no shorting AMZN...no selling CSCO, I presume, since it's not even in your portfolio...and whatever happened to that AAPL short back in April?...oh, look, by the way, AMZN is UP $3 this morning!...GREAT CALL, DUDE!!...looks to me like you're just another one of those "talk the talk" but don't "walk the walk" parasites...

Why I'm Bearish on Amazon

...wait a minute -- are you the same Sean Hannon:

"12/10/2008
In an interview with RTT News, Sean Hannon, president of Epic Advisors says the market is setting the base for a "pretty powerful bear market rally" as negative news "ceases to push us lower." Hannon has an interim price target of 9,500 on the Dow over the next six weeks, but says a rally would be a "technical bounce off an oversold position," not a shift in the fundamentals."

...that day the Dow closed at 8761...two weeks later the Dow was at 8400...six weeks later it was at 8474...although at one point around he start of the year it did manage to reach 9175 intraday...but, still, if that's the best your charts have to offer -- forget it!

Why I'm Bearish on Amazon

...once again, the problem is that EVERYONE can see that chart and everyone's interpretation is ALREADY factored into the price...and no crystal ball will tell you what the market might do TOMOPRROW...and the comment that "Many investors have profits on positions accumulated over the prior months and should be taking gains as the market falters."...well, that's simply laughable...as though AMZN's investors should drop what they're doing and take your advice because that's what they "should" do...

How Kindle Will Kill the Book Star

...one of the dumber articles I've read...I am simply amazed how narrow minded people become when they start discussing Kindle!...think of the POSSIBLITIES...first, contracts CAN BE RE-NEGOTIATED!...and since no authors means NO PUBLISHERS, I kinda suspect something along that line will occur...second, as pointed out by "curious cat" -- WHO EVEN NEEDS PUBLISHERS?...a good author could simply hire themselves a good press agent and tell the publishers to KMA!...and for the joker who complained Kindle being a "limited platform" because it doesn't include "Thai fonts" -- cut it some slack, already!...Kindle is only marketed in America right now, okay?...the Thai population wanting Thai books probably isn't terribly large right now in America...HOWEVER, since Kindle is still growing and evolving, MAYBE SOME DAY, Amazon will get around to including Thai fonts and might even start publishing Thai books!...just think of all the POSSIBILITIES!

Amazon Opens Kindle to Bloggers, But Will Readers Want to Pay?

...a reasonable assessment...I can't imagine paying for a subscription to a "blog"...perhaps if they offered blogs as a bundle -- say, any 50 blogs for 2 bucks a month -- that could be motivating...and as you point out it does offer a "new channel of audience distribution"...so maybe someone will find creative, profitable ways to utilize it...nevertheless, I'm willing to bet there's going to appear fifty articles dissing Amazon for offering blog subscriptions and, simultaneously, explaining why Apple will do it better.

Ten Reasons Why the Kindle Is Toast

...an addendum -- I just saw this:

"Even great books can be overlooked. Amazon customers raved over “Legacy,” a self-published novel by 16-year-old Cayla Kluver, with customer review titles such as “loved it, loved it,” “rich lyrical tapestry and story” and “breathtaking in scope and execution!” Despite winning several prizes from literary groups and accolades like this from readers, Kluver’s debut novel achieved only modest sales. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN - News) today announced a new program, “AmazonEncore,” to help readers discover exceptional books from emerging authors, such as the program’s first book, “Legacy.”"

...this likely would not have happened were it not the low overhead associated with offering it via a Kindle!...and guess what!...it means MORE CUSTOMERS!...how about that!...isn't that great, Robin?!...the quote came from:

finance.yahoo.com/news...

Ten Reasons Why the Kindle Is Toast

....I'm tempted to write "10 Reasons Why Robin Bloor is a Moron" but I'll pass since I'm sure nobody reslly cares...I've responded to the same Kindle arguments over and over -- here are the links to just a few:

seekingalpha.com/user/...

seekingalpha.com/user/...

seekingalpha.com/user/...

seekingalpha.com/user/...

...and as I recall all the same arguments were used PREVIOUSLY with the introduction of the original Kindle...yet that has device has FAR EXCEEDED expectations -- and Amazon hasn't even begun marketing it outside the U.S.!...and I fail to understand WHY the author persists in bashing Kindle?...it almost sounds like he suffers from "Kindle envy"...does it hurt his feelings that Amazon has taken something that he has a low opinion of and made it extremely successful?...I would suggest the author give Amazon a year or two and let's see how the larger Kindle progresses...I'm quite confident Amazon will confirm the opinion I expressed in my first sentence.

Piracy May Be the Kindle DX's Savior

...I also came across this post on the Wired website:

"The new kindle is awesome. What’s even more green is a) the amount of books it saves us from and b) nobody really talks about the publishing side - authors can publish directly to kindle. If you take a look at something like Ian McGrady’s book, it’s totally hypermodern: a guy read a blogpost about The Gospel According to John, then got the text from WikiSource, then posted the new book to Kindle. Kindle readers may actually be a more elite audience because authors with very specific messages may be able to reach their hyperintelligent audiences with hyperlinked, whisper-net books."

...think about the possibilities...students might be able to make money publishing their own study guides geared to specific courses at specific colleges or by specific professors...and professors may be able to write their own textbooks to suit their own needs and then be able to modify them according to classroom experience...the possibilities are simply mind boggling...and I'm not even bothing to mention the thousands of acres of forests that will be spared in consequence...or the vast quantities of air and water pollution spewed from paper and ink manufacturers...etc, etc, etc...

Piracy May Be the Kindle DX's Savior

...they just get dumber and dumber!...the "Newspaper Strategy" argument presented is valid-- for anyone with tunnelvision!...on the other hand, anyone with an IQ greater than a gnat might realize that there are OPPORTUNITIES:

"On the internet, media companies have developed an unfortunate habit of destroying – or allowing others to destroy – value in their products. So when a device comes along that promises to create value for media businesses, it is worth celebrating. It leads to a different, and altogether happier, set of problems: how best to capture the value created, and how to share out the goodies among the various players in the digital media value chain.
"
...from:

www.ft.com/cms/s/0/46b...

..."pirates to the rescue"????...they just made the announcement and ALREADY you think they need someone to rescue the Kindle?...everybody dissed the original Kindle...yet its sales are far exceeding even Amazon's expectations...and they haven't even begun to market the thing worldwide!...gosh, I guess SOMEBODY must like them for SOME reason!...oh, and then there's a hundred dollar price difference for the bigger Kindle...why, someone might have to go without a couple of tanks of gas or maybe pass on a few frappachinos to make up that difference...I suggest going to the Kindle website and study ALL of the features and then TRY to apply just a LITTLE creativity to come up with the WEALTH of possibilities a Kindle would offer a student...just IMAGINE having ALL of your textbooks plus ALL of your reference books at your finger tips...IMAGINE being able to search through ALL of them as well as through the entire Kindle store AND the web for information....IMAGINE being able not only to add annotations to text but able also to edit, delete, and export your notes at your lesiure...IMAGINE being able to highlight and clip key passages and bookmark pages for future use...IMAGINE future development -- perhaps a day when you will be able to search for and check out books out from the library without leaving your home...and maybe not having to worry about returning them because they simply expired on your device...wouldn't THAT be nice?...when I think back to my college days, I literally could spend all day writing about what I COULD have accomplished if the thing had been available then!

Amazon's New Kindle-DX: $489 for an E-Reader?

...I am soooo tired of reading dimwitted, shortsighted, narrowminded criticisms of Kindle...but it's made worse by the fact the authors always resort to the same inane arguments...regardless, this is simply a copy of one of my responses to some other similar post:

"gag!...it is SO annoying to read criticism from people when they clearly know NOTHING about the device!...READ the description and THEN lodge your criticisms:

www.amazon.com/Kindle-...

...note what it says:

"By using the QWERTY keyboard, you can add annotations to text, just like you might write in the margins of a book. And because it is digital, you can edit, delete, and export your notes. Using the new 5-way controller, you can highlight and clip key passages and bookmark pages for future use. You'll never need to bookmark your last place in the book, because Kindle remembers for you and always opens to the last page you read."

...and if you want to find something all you need to do is SEARCH for it:

"Kindle makes it easy to search within a book, across your library, in the Kindle Store, or even the Web. To use the Search feature, simply type in a word or phrase you're looking for, and Kindle finds every instance in your book or across your Kindle library. Looking for the first reference of a character in your book? Simply type in the name and search. You can extend your search to the Kindle Store to find related titles you may be interested in. Explore even further by searching Wikipedia and the Web."

...can a hard copy book do that?...geez, what is it about Kindle that renders people so they can't look past their own narrow minds?"

...and did I mention that Kindle books are about hald the cost of hard copies?...did I mention the extraordinarily environmental impact of electronic books versus hard copies?...MOST IMPORTANT -- go to the website and study ALL of the features and then TRY to apply just a LITTLE creativity to come up with the WEALTH of possibilities a Kindle would offer a student...when I think back to my college days, I literally could spend all day writing about what I COULD have accomplished if the thing had been available then!...

Kindle DX: Has Amazon Misread the Student Market?

...gag!...it is SO annoying to read criticism from people when they clearly know NOTHING about the device!...READ the description and THEN lodge your criticisms:

www.amazon.com/Kindle-...

...note what it says:

"By using the QWERTY keyboard, you can add annotations to text, just like you might write in the margins of a book. And because it is digital, you can edit, delete, and export your notes. Using the new 5-way controller, you can highlight and clip key passages and bookmark pages for future use. You'll never need to bookmark your last place in the book, because Kindle remembers for you and always opens to the last page you read."

...and if you want to find something all you need to do is SEARCH for it:

"Kindle makes it easy to search within a book, across your library, in the Kindle Store, or even the Web. To use the Search feature, simply type in a word or phrase you're looking for, and Kindle finds every instance in your book or across your Kindle library. Looking for the first reference of a character in your book? Simply type in the name and search. You can extend your search to the Kindle Store to find related titles you may be interested in. Explore even further by searching Wikipedia and the Web."

...can a hard copy book do that?...geez, what is it about Kindle that renders people so they can't look past their own narrow minds?






On May 08 09:58 AM mastiff0 wrote:

> I agree with this article and really don't understand the market
> for the Kindle except for technophiles who have to have the latest
> gadget, regardless of whether they need it. The only people carrying
> around multiple books are students, so I get the potential market
> there. But have the desginers of the Kindle ever seen how students
> use books? First of all, even if the average cost of books is $489
> annually, most students resell their books and get a chunk of that
> money back. Can't resell ebooks.
>
> And if a student doesn't resell a book, its probably because that
> book is valuable and they intend to keep it on their shelf for reference.
> Over a course of a semester they have made notes, dog-eared pages,
> and highlighted sections, and they don't want to lose this extra
> knowledge. I believe the Kindle has notetaking features, but this
> is one of those cases where old school paper beats technology. <br/>You
> can't easily "flip through" a Kindle, looking for that highlighted
> section or that important table like you can a book. I'm sure the
> notetaking isn't as seemless as using a pin to write notes in the
> margin. You can't put two ebooks side by side to compare sections,
> which happens a lot when you study. Maybe it will get there, but
> the Kindle in its current form can not replace textbooks.
>
> This is not to say, however, that it won't be a big hit. Hey, students
> aren't necessarily rationale, and I'm sure many will be able to justify
> paying the $$ for a cool gadget.