Comments on: Could iPhone smoke the Kindle?

Do I need to pay $365 for the Kindle, a dedicated e-reader, when iPhone could give me books and so much more?

[wcoldman]

I don't know why anyone is worried about the iPhone --new or old--as a replacement for the Kindle. I would just like to be able to purchase and use an IPhone before the rest of the world does. AT&T and Apple don't even have service in at least 4 of the lower 48 states, and now we have a new iPhone and plans to make sure that it functions around the world

[RobertFHarwood]

When Acrobat comes out for the iPhone there will be a reader application that will put more then just eBook in hand. I publish eBooks though OverDrive.com. I put them out there in Acrobat and Microsoft Reader. Acrobat has a hugh base of source material and supporting applications. It makes sense for it to go to the iPhone.

[daright]

Why wait for the iPhone to open up? /www.booksinmyphone.com has a load of books all packed up ready to run on regular java enabled cell phones. I?ve been reading for a while on an old LG model with a tiny screen - it?s very comfortable. The portability is the killer advantage and it hardly seems to touch the battery. Best of all the books are free and can install over the air direct to the phone via mobile.booksinmyphone.com

[darylveal]

This is what happens when you people have too much time on your hands. You think of cretinous comparisons. Get a grip! If you had an unlocked old iphone you could have had the pleasure of using the numerous free ebook programs available and learned that as an ebook reader the iphone sucks! Hey guys its a cellphone-not the cure for your baldness or the fact that girls dont like you.

[Jimithing60089]

No comparison between an iphone and a kindle. The screens are completely different, if you want to go blind reading entire books on your iphone then go ahead. I have a kindle and an iphone and my eyes hurt after reading the new york times on the iphone after a half hour or so and I would never want to read an entire book and I just don't get how they would fit an entire page on the screen without the letter being tiny.

[thriftyT]

Comparing a Kindle to an iPhone isn't like comparing Oranges to Apples. It's like comparing a toothpick to a swiss army knife.

The toothpick is a great tool, and it is because it doesn't do much, but is dirt cheap.

The Kindle would be great...if the price was $50.

[Tony_Crawford]

I want to use an eBook to replace a paperbacks and massive technical manuals... I've never picked up a paperback and thought to myself, "Dude, I wish I had to pay a monthly fee to read my books so I could make phone calls with them!" On the other hand, I *have* wished that books would stay open on their own, have space for non-destructive notes, remember my page, not take up so much luggage/shelf space, be more easily searchable, have footnotes that were less cumbersome to use, and be self-contained (i.e. have everything that I need to understand them - like a glossary of words/terms I don't understand). eBooks have all this and more. The right-sized screen, wireless web access WITH NO MONTHLY CHARGE, the ease of delivery, and the large (and ever-growing) library were the clinchers for me. I can't wait to see what the future brings for eBooks - they'll definitely change the way we read.

[bigmc6000]

Well - considering Apple has said that you can get 5+ hrs actively surfing the Web via Wi-Fi I'd have to say, at the very least, you'd get 5 hours and considering you wouldn't be draining the battery for the Wi-Fi or for the processor my best guess would be more like 7-8 hrs. Of course maybe you think that's really low?

[tfreedman]

I've been reading books on my iPhone using Text On iPhone (site is: www.textonphone.com).

[purpleLightning]

A number of you are missing the point of the article by pointing out elements e-reader ability that are already in other devices or the iPhone via jailbreak or web apps. The point of the article is whether the iPhone presents an opportunity to challenge the entire e-reading experience that the Kindle offers, from software to usability to *content access and distribution* a big factor lacking in most other e-reading experiences to this point.

[Understarsidream]

I have to disagree with the number of books you have to buy before Kindle pays for itself. The blog mentions 61 books but that number is incredibly low. I often buy used books for just couple of dollars, which I can then turn in for credit at a used bookstore (which in turn gives me more books). For the price of a Kindle, I could probably get over four hundred books after all the trade ins.

And not one of those books would be locked to a propietary e-reader that might not work in 5 years.

[edfinn]

I recently got a Kindle after giving up on reading anything longer than an email on my Treo. I would have no interest in trying to read a book on a phone sized device. The Kindle is a whole lot easier to read, and to load books on. In addition, check your math. The estimate that it would take 61 books on the Kindle to break even cost-wise (leaving out all those trees spared when electrons give it up) seems very high. Kindles cost about $350, and the books generally cost 10 (for best sellers and popular titles). SIxty one books would be a total cost of just under $1,000 and imply a per book hard copy cost of $16. Maybe that works for some paperbacks, but my last trip to Borders averaged about $26 per title. In addition, I have already loaded a few FREE books from the Gutenberg Project on Kindle, with free conversion from Amazon. It doesnt take many of those to reach a cost savings, to save a tree, and to enjoy a reading experience much better than anything on the small screen. While I am a fan of convergence devices, any device small enough to be a good phone is too small to be a good e-book reader, IMHO.

[mavalos88]

Battery would be drained really quick, and I find the kindle easier on the eye and its way easier to read there.

[stuntman_mike]

As one of the previous posters already mentioned, there already exists an eBook Reader application for Jailbroken iPhones.

[smplymouth]

I have the iphone and amazon kindle. I bought the iphone first and have used it to read many newspapers and websites. The iphone is a good for reading short articles when your on the go but the small size of the screen(text) doesn't make it an ideal e-book reader. The kindle is much easier to read and has better battery life than the iphone.

[dougjake]

I considered the Kindle a little bit ago as I was looking for an alternative to paper books for various reasons. Once I saw the price, I was totally sticker shocked! $400 for a one trick pony? Amazon of all organizations should understand competitive pricing. Maybe that's the problem, no competition. I'd pay $50 for this kind of device, no more.

[enochrios]

I read that eReader was being developed for iPhones already.

[johnsin]

two words: Battery Life.

[jabberwolf]

Different products completely?
Have you ever held a kindle and read from it?

It's very simple, very black and white, easy on the eyes.
The iphone is nice for movies and pictures, but not for text reading... not at length anyway.

Whatever application they have, it will not be a KINDLE.

[Gadget_girl28]

I disagree with this article. Its like comparing apples to oranges.

I am planning on buying the 3g iphone as soon as it comes out and I own a kindle.

If you like to read as I do. Nothing beats the kindle experience. Nothing. I have seen other book readers and nothing compares. I am not going to get into all the great things about it just go to amazon and read the reviews.

Sometimes to make a good product you have to focus on doing one thing good. Thats what the kindle does. I am sure they might try and do something with the iphone, but I dont think that any kindle owner would be so upset as to put in on ebay. It's about the expierience if you dont care about that then you can hope the iphone will let you read books and don't get the Kindle.

You can watch a movie on a 19" TV, but wouldnt you rather have the expierence of watching it on a 60" 1080p Plasma.