Kindle: the unpublished review

So I’d intended to write a review (on top of the rest of the coverage) of the Kindle, and finished about 80% in the first week or so. But, as sometimes happens, I got crazy busy with a bunch of other projects and wasn’t ever able to totally polish it off. It’s still not complete (and what is done could use some work), but what do you think? Is there any reason to wrap it up and publish on Engadget? My inclination is that it’s definitely too late, but I guess if people are really into it I could just drop in the stuff that’s missing (Whispernet service, extra apps + easter eggs, wrap-up, add images, etc.) and get it out there.

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By all accounts, between all the (HD)TV, bittorrented movies, blogs (ahem), and other media we consume today, we’re all spending fewer hours reading books and print than ever before. So why, then, is Amazon’s Kindle causing such a stir? Is the Kindle actually poised, as Jeff Bezos hopes, to take the humble book into the digital age? We can’t quite put our finger on it, but if Kindle’s launch feels at all to you like the act of reading has just turned a major corner, we’re on the same page. But things are still far from perfect. We’ve spent the last couple of weeks reading on the Kindle; click on for the review. More…

Why Engadget isn’t on Kindle

I’ve been getting a flood of questions from colleagues, readers, fans, friends, bookworms, etc. asking why Engadget (and the rest of Weblogs, Inc.) isn’t among the blogs being aggregated on Kindle. It’s a fair question with a simple answer. The folks at Amazon did reach out to our team to try to set up a deal, but while I can’t speak to the specifics (the terms of the deal are under nondisclosure), the Kindle-blog business doesn’t necessarily jibe with Engadget’s. Here’s why.

Amazon charges Kindle users to read participating blogs because it has to pay for its EV-DO data network access (a Sprint MVNO they’re calling Whispernet). So long as Amazon is fronting money to move data to its device, it will presumably have to make that money back somehow (hence charging readers to subscribe to blogs). Now, on our end, we’d love to be on every device that aggregates feeds, but we also believe our content should be completely free of charge to those reading. So therein lies the catch-22 — Amazon needs to charge users for delivering content, and we only deliver content by means that doesn’t charge our users.

Of course, we’re still in touch with their team and I’d really like to see something happen. But until then you’ll just have to use the Kindle’s paradoxically free web browser to hit up Engadget. (Yeah, I know, I don’t get why they charge for blogs but make browsing free, either. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?)

Amazon has some real work to do

This arrived in my email earlier this morning, I’m actually thinking maybe it’s a clever prank. Especially since the last round of books I bought from Amazon included such neocon titles as Spook Country and The World Without Us.