Comments on: What impact did Oprah have on Kindle?

Still no hard sales numbers but judging from my own family, the talk show host's endorsement could be an important turning point for Kindle.

[matthewb02]

yeah, my mom had me order one for my dad today because of the oprah thing...so, chalk one up for Harpo's influence on the hearts and minds of womankind.

[coughlin_jason]

I want a Kindle so badly that I obsessively load Amazon's Kindle page.

However, why buy the Kindle now when Kindle 2.0 is coming?

I'm really pissed at Amazon for pushing Kindle 1.0... Won't people be ticked when 1-6 months down the road, the new and improved version is on the market... FOR THE SAME OUTRAGEOUS $360 price? Rather than pushing an outdated model, they should have released 2.0 before Oprah's show.

[Jim Hubbard]

What the hell kind of story is this? You are asking US what kind of impact Oprah had on Kindle sales? Aren't you supposed to be the reporter/journalist here?

You have got to be kidding. CNET is the weakest "news" site that I have ever seen. It's turning into Lifehacker/Gizmodo - where they ask readers questions and regurgitate the answers as a "story" on their site.

I don't know if the economy is so damned bad that CNET (and Lifehacker and Gizmodo) are taking anybody with access to a keyboard to write their stories or if journalistic integrity has simply gone to hell in a handbasket (as indicated by the skewed Obama/McCain coverage).

Either way, it's damned sad.

[slatrat]

I've owned a Kindle for two months and I monitor the Kindle user forums on Amazon. The activity this weekend on the Forums was through the roof - I actually had to turn off the subscribe option because my inbox was flooded with Forum posts. The daily forum posting volume easily tripled. My guess is that the Oprah recommendation was what trigged all of the activity from new users or potential new users with questions.

[mishmash0101]

Here is one: There is a fool born every minute.

Anyone have an old unused Palm Pilot laying around? I am guessing about 15 million of you. Same deal. Enough said.

The Kindle is in so much better than the Palm Pilot for reading books it isn't even an argument.

And everyone forgets that the reason the Kindle is so reasonably priced is because it has wireless network access available 24/7 at no additional cost. In other words, no monthly fee. Take your Palm Pilot to the park and use it to purchase a new book while you are there.

As to the argument against buying a new Kindle today with 2.0 due in the next couple of years? That's what early adapters do. If nobody every bought new technology because they wanted to wait for the next version the technology industry would dry up and blow away. If you don't want to be an early adapter, nobody is forcing you to.

Personally I find the Kindle to be one of the greatest pieces of technology since the Laptop computer. And it saves money. Without her new Kindle my wife's library would have forced us to buy a bigger house by now :)

[coughlin_jason]

The argument isn't whether to buy within the next couple of YEARS. The argument is that 2.0 is coming in a few MONTHS. And, $360 is NOT reasonable when the device itself is unusable unless you BUY CONTENT. Presumably that content has the cost of Whispernet built into it.

But I completely agree with you about the "cost" of books: space. We live in a condo, and my bookshelves are full. Plus, on some level, I can't help but wonder about the vanity of killing trees just so I could have a book that I've read once/twice but otherwise spends 99% of its time sitting on a shelf.

[TessaGreen]

Anything that gets more people excited about reading has to be a fabulous thing. In a world that is getting more choppy and bite size, I am excited that a piece of modern technology like the kindle supports a more traditional, calmer, more fulfilling pursuit like reading a book. As well as information delivered today-style. The thing with Oprah is we all know she has a passion for reading. If the kindle gets her excited and she shares her excitement with her viewers, then a) you can be sure it's genuine, and b) Hurrah for more people hearing about the kindle device and wanting to experience it. Not so?