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NEWS ABOUT: Kindle

Kindle Users Sue Over Amazon's Orwellian Deletes

(Newser) - Customers who had their paid-for copies of 1984 and Animal Farm yanked from their Kindles over a copyright issue are taking Amazon to court, InformationWeek reports. The company has apologized for its action and vowed not to repeat it, but the plaintiffs, who include a high school student whose homework... More »

Why the Kindle Stinks

(Newser) - Nicholson Baker wanted to like the Kindle, honest. But when he unwrapped it and began to see what all the fuss was about, he "tussled with a sense of anti-climax," the prolific author writes in the New Yorker. Things never improved. He slams the e-reader for having a... More »

Amazon Goes Orwellian on Kindle

Company deletes customers' downloads of 1984, Animal Farm

(Newser) - Amazon turned into Big Brother this week after mistakenly selling pirated copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm to Kindle users, Ars Technica reports. The company, without warning, remotely deleted the books from customers' devices after discovering the publisher didn't have the rights to sell them. Customers who lost... More »

How the Kindle Could Kill Book Publishing

...if an Apple e-reader doesn't kill the Kindle first

(Newser) - With the Kindle, Amazon's Jeff Bezos may be poised “ to do to book publishers what Steve Jobs did to the music industry,” writes Adam Penenberg in Fast Company: rapidly create a market from nothing and use it to rule over publishers with an iron fist, perhaps even “... More »

Competition Spurs Amazon to Slash Kindle 2 Price

(Newser) - Amazon has lopped $60 off the price of its Kindle 2 ebook reader in a move that looks like an effort to gain iPod-like dominance in an increasingly crowded market, Melissa Perenson writes in PC World. The Kindle is way ahead of the competition, but Sony's ereaders are gaining traction,... More »

Kindles, iPods Spell Tragic End to Snobbery

How can we show off taste when it's onscreen?

(Newser) - On the subway or in a cafe, taking a peek at what others are reading has long provided a convenient way to judge them on the spot: a mindless crime-novel fan? A Joyce-toting member of the intellectual elite? But with the Kindle, we’re left guessing, observes James Wolcott in ... More »

Schwarzenegger Seeks Switch to E-Textbooks

Paper is expensive, says governor; so are computers, say critics

(Newser) - Arnold Schwarzenegger wants kids—and California’s budget—to stop lugging around paper textbooks, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The governator is advocating a switch to digital textbooks, in an effort to cut the $350 million the state spends on old-fashioned hardbound tomes each year. But critics worry that... More »

Simon & Schuster to Sell Ebooks on Scribd.com

(Newser) - Simon & Schuster is going to put about 4,500 book titles for sale on a relatively new website that caters to e-readers, reports BusinessWeek. The publisher, which handles authors such as Stephen King, Mary Higgins Clark, and Dan Brown, said the ebooks will be available starting tomorrow on... More »

Kindle Rival E-Cooler Not Ready for Prime Time

1.0 version shows plenty of promise, but check the fine print

(Newser) - British company Interead's lighter, cheaper Kindle rival is intriguing but not ready for the big time yet, David Pogue writes in the New York Times. One huge plus is that books bought on Cool-er can be resold or shared, Pogue writes, but the device went from idea to finished product... More »

New Kindle Upgrades Price, Not Reading Experience

(Newser) - The Kindle DX offers crisper resolution than its smaller cousin, but it’s still not big enough to display a full newspaper page, and the price may hold some buyers back, Damon Darlin writes in the New York Times. “You never see the big picture—a full page—that... More »

Amazon to Roll Out Kindle for Textbooks

(Newser) - Amazon will unveil a bigger new version of the Kindle tomorrow, designed to handle textbooks and periodicals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Amazon already has deals in place with several textbook publishers for content, and with various universities, including Princeton, Reed College, and Arizona State, to get the device into... More »

Bigger E-Readers Ride In to Save Newspapers

(Newser) - Amazon is set to introduce a tabloid-sized version of the Kindle tailored to display newspapers—just one of many e-readers in the pipe that just might toss a life-preserver to print journalism, the New York Times reports. In fact, Engadget expects the new Kindle to debut Wednesday at a press... More »

Why E-Books Are as Big as Gutenberg

(Newser) - The e-book revolution won’t “be a simple matter of trading ink for pixels,” writes futurist Steven Johnson in the Wall Street Journal. Books have become “the dark matter of the information universe,” walled off from our new hyperlinked, Google-indexed frame of reference, but that’s... More »

Kindle Devotees Rip Rising E-Book Prices

Digital books should cost $10 or less, they say

(Newser) - A small but vocal group of Kindle owners has banded together to protest upward-creeping e-book prices, Wired reports. Around 250 disgruntled Kindle devotees have tagged more than 7,200 titles on Amazon priced higher than $10—the most they argue an e-book should cost. "On material items, prices can... More »

Sony Reader Gets 500K Free Books From Google

Device's library now bigger than Kindle's

(Newser) - Google is making half a million books available for free on the Sony Reader, propelling it past Amazon’s Kindle as the e-book device with the most tomes, at 600,000, the AP reports. The availability of the public-domain books, all published before 1923, marks the first time Google has... More »

Discovery Sues Kindle, Claims Patent Infringement

Firm alleges it owns e-book reader's encryption technology

(Newser) - Kindle is catching more legal flak. Discovery Communications—best known for the similarly named cable channel—says Amazon infringed on its patent for electronic book technology, Reuters reports. It's seeking unspecified damages. The Kindle also has taken heat from publishers because of its text-to-speech technology, which could cut into sales... More »

iPhones Turn Into Kindles, With Free App

Amazon hopes to corner iPhone's eBook market

(Newser) - Amazon’s widely praised digital book reader is getting a second home on the iPhone, reports the Washington Post. Amazon is launching a free Kindle app today that has most of the Kindle functions. Though it won't have the Kindle’s ink-and-paper-like screen, the iPhone version will allow users to... More »

Authors Can Silence Talking Kindle: Amazon

(Newser) - Amazon has bowed to pressure from the Authors Guild and will allow authors and publishers to disable the controversial text-to-speech feature on its Kindle e-reader, the Los Angeles Times reports. Authors contend that the function essentially turns the e-book into an audio book, a contract violation. “They created a... More »

Hearst to Roll Out E-Reader for Newspapers, Magazines

Publishing giant aims to save periodicals with new device

(Newser) - Hearst Corporation aims to do for periodicals what the Kindle's doing for books with a new electronic reader, CNN reports. The company—which publishes an array of magazines and newspapers, including Cosmopolitan, Esquire and the San Francisco Chronicle—hopes the device will help cushion revenues in light of sinking ad... More »

Kindle 2 Worth It for 'Serious Book Readers'

(Newser) - Amazon’s new Kindle e-reader offers vast improvement over the previous model, writes Walter Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal, and “is finally a pleasure to use.” Faster page-flipping, sleeker design, tons more memory, and a digital audio feature are just some of the advances. But hardware is... More »

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