The cracked Kindle 2 that's at the center of the lawsuit.
Here's quick update to the story we posted the other day on a couple filing a class-action lawsuit over a potential design flaw in Amazon's Kindle 2 involving the company's cover and cracks developing around the clasps where the cover attaches to the device.
Amazon has decided that it will now replace Kindles that have been cracked by the cover free of charge, reversing its earlier stance that the Kindle 2's warranty didn't cover such cracks and required a $200 fee to repair. As expected, Amazon wouldn't comment on the lawsuit itself, which will apparently continue for the time being.
The couple's lawyer, Beth Terrell, told the Seattle Times that the lawsuit would proceed: "If they [Amazon] would like to resolve the matter, I think the way to do it is through a court-approved process."
We'll see how the settlement plays out, but I think the plaintiff is looking at free Kindles for life and lot of free e-books.
Comments?
(Via Engadget via Information Week)
The cracked Kindle 2 that's at the center of the lawsuit.
Amazon prides itself on customer service, but it now finds itself the target of a $5 million class action lawsuit because it failed to replace a Kindle 2 that a customer alleges was damaged by Amazon's own $30 protective case.
Matthew Geise, executive director of a Seattle property management firm, and his wife, Alisa Brodkowitz, are behind the suit (the $5 million sought represents damages for all Kindle owners who are affected by the problem, as well as legal costs).
The story goes like this. Brodkowitz's Kindle 2, which she received as a gift from her husband, developed cracks around around the points "where the cover attaches with metal clips," Geise told Seattle Times reporter Brier Dudley. On July 6, the screen froze and the device stopped working.
In user reviews of the e-reader, other Kindle owners have complained about cracks in the area around the clasps, so the issue is apparently not isolated.
Brodkowitz spoke with a customer rep, who said the screen freeze was covered under the Kindle 2's warranty, but not the cracks, which the rep allegedly said "were caused by improperly opening the cover backwards." A $200 repair fee was required to fix the maimed Kindle.
Instead of paying, Geise and his wife decided to file a class action lawsuit. According to the suit, what seems to have ticked the couple off was an Amazon customer service supervisor telling Brodkowitz that the cracks are a "common problem," but that the $200 repair fee still had to be paid. Brodkowitz says she never did any backward bending of the cover.
Here at CNET, we didn't have any issues with the cover causing damage to our initial review sample, but we only had it for three weeks. ... Read more
If you've been curious to know what it costs to make the Kindle 2, iSuppli has dismantled Amazon's digital reader, taken stock of all its components, and come up with an estimated price tag of $185.49--or roughly half the Kindle 2's retail price of $360.
That figure doesn't include the fee Amazon pays Sprint for the Kindle 2's built-in "free" wireless service or any marketing costs, which can be substantial. So the true "actual" cost is probably significantly higher, though Amazon obviously preserves some of its margin by selling direct to consumers.
If I had to guess, I'd say Amazon was making more like $100 on each unit, give or take $10. That's still quite decent, and when you factor in the high margins on Amazon's $30 optional Kindle 2 cover, things look even better.
So, yes, there's probably a little room for a discount. But if you're looking for a Kindle 2 price cut anytime soon, I wouldn't count on it. If anything, the first Kindle 2 deal you'll probably see is Amazon bundling in a cover as a freebie.
Comments?
Wired's Gadget Lab blog has a story about how a group of about 250 Kindle owners are staging an online protest over Kindle e-books that cost more than $9.99. The weapon they're using is Amazon's own tagging system, as price offenders are getting hit with a special "9 99 boycott" tag.
The roving--and most likely growing--band of annoyed Kindle owners includes such folks as Connecticut librarian Crystal O'Brien, who spends "a few minutes every day in the Kindle book store tagging the more expensive digital books with the '9 99 boycott' tag and removing it once the price drops below the threshold."
Frame job: the Kindle version of "The Likeness" costs $4 more than the paperback.
(Credit: Amazon)I wish I'd known about the tag when I was searching for a new Kindle e-book the other day. I came across Tana French's "The Likeness" and was considering a purchase until I saw that the Kindle edition was priced at a shocking $14.27. What was so ridiculous was the $10.20 paperback version costs $4 less. However, I didn't notice the "9 99 boycott" tag until I read the Wired blog and went back to look to see whether it was tagged (it was).
Now, if you're new to the whole e-book pricing game, you might think Amazon's the villain here. But the unfortunate fact is that it's really the publishers who are behind the pricing.
Amazon isn't gouging the consumer, and according to my sources, may barely be breaking even on some best sellers that cost $10. You only need to look at the price of books in the eBook Store from Sony to get a pretty good idea that Amazon's trimmed its margins pretty close to the bone. (Typically, best sellers sell for a buck or two more in the Sony eBook Store--and Sony isn't turning big profits either).
Look, I understand publishers don't want to price the Kindle Edition too low for fear that it will hurt sales of the hardcover edition. But I still maintain Kindle best-sellers should cost a few bucks less than what the paperback version of the book would cost. Case in point: I'm not going to buy the paperback edition of "The Likeness" at $10.20. But I would have paid $7.99 for the Kindle version. Now, of course, no sale has been made.
To make my point, I'm slapping a 7 99 boycott tag on "The Likeness." An over $10 boycott is a start. But we really need to get to $7.99. Who's with me?
Updated 5:25 a.m. PST Wednesday to note the official release of the Kindle application.
Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a free application that will allow the same electronic books available on the e-tailer's Kindle to be read on Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch.
The program will be available for download for Apple's App Store and give users access to the more than 240,000 e-books that Kindle users can buy on Amazon. The program's Whisper Sync service promises to keep track of a reader's place in their chosen book, allowing users to pick up where they left off on either device the Kindle or iPhone if users own both.
While other e-book reader such as Stanza from Lexcycle and the eReader from Fictionwise are already popular on iPhones, it is the first time that Kindle content has been made available on a non-Kindle device. Amazon Vice President Ian Freed hinted at the move in an interview with CNET News last month, and expressed optimism that some of those who try Kindle on a cell phone will ultimately buy Amazon's device.
The app release is Amazon's latest salvo for a greater piece of the e-book market. The e-tailer unveiled the second generation of its Kindle e-book reader on February 9. Amazon touted the $359 Kindle 2 as thinner than its predecessor and offering longer battery life.
But the company quickly came under criticism from the Authors Guild, which claimed the device's new text-to-speech feature would hurt sales of audio books. The trade group representing 9,000 authors argued that Amazon wasn't compensating authors for the feature, and thus violating authors' copyrights. Amazon ultimately acquiesced, announcing late last month that it would modify systems to allow authors and publishers to decide whether to enable Kindle's text-to-speech function on a per-title basis.
In launching the new app, Amazon is taking on Google, which last month launched a mobile version of its Google Book Search, giving iPhone and Android users instant access to more than 1.5 million public domain books.
Update at 5:30 p.m. PST: Quotes added from copyright advocate Ben Sheffner.
Was your mother a lawbreaker when she read you The Little Prince or Green Eggs and Ham?
That's the question raised Tuesday by the Authors Guild, an advocacy group for writers. Paul Aitken, the group's executive director objects to the text-to-speech feature on Amazon's Kindle 2 digital-book reader. Aitken told The Wall Street Journal: "They don't have the right to read a book out loud. That's an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law."
Wow. If a computer can't lawfully read a book out loud, do human beings have the right? Amazon and Aitken could not be reached for comment.
Well, mothers of America, never fear. You most certainly do have the right to privately perform copyright work, says Ben Sheffner, a copyright attorney. Sheffner, a well-known copyright advocate, says the issue of whether Amazon's Kindle infringes on intellectual property is not as cut and dry.
Amazon's technology enables a computer voice to read text aloud to owners of the Kindle 2, the next-gen version of reader.
Sheffner said it's unclear whether the text-to-speech feature could be considered a public performance. Under copyright law, if someone profits from, say, a public reading of a copyright work without authorization, they are breaking the law. Someone could argue, said Sheffner, that the Kindle's speech feature is a public performance because it enables scores of people to receive audio of a book. Sheffner added that the counter argument would be that the feature is only enabling lots of different private--and therefore legal--performances.
Jonathan Zittrain, a professor at Harvard Law School, said he doesn't see how the speech feature violates copyright law if no recorded copy of the book is created. Book publishers often license audio books separately than the text versions.
"The only right really that might be implicated is the so-called public performance," Zittrain said. "But what I want the thing to do is to read to me in the car. I don't see a copy being made so I don't see how this can be Amazon's problem."
The debate could be academic. If the book publishers don't like the feature, they can refuse to renew their licenses with Amazon in the future. And my colleague Ina Fried raised another point. Why would Kindle owners choose a computer voice when they can hear a recording of the author or a professional actor reading the book?
After rumors surfaced on the Web a few months back that a new Kindle might be on the way, Amazon.com did its best to shoot them down, saying a new Kindle was not coming this year. Well, Boy Genius Report has gotten a hold of some photos that appear to be the Kindle 2, so we're curious what Amazon has to say now.
From the looks of the new device, Amazon has tried to address some of the criticisms of the Kindle, most of which revolve around its somewhat homely design and a few poorly placed buttons. The shape has been modified to make the new Kindle more attractive, but it appears Amazon is sticking with the same off-white color scheme--for better or worse.
The Boy Genius Report's mole or "ninja," has some comments about the new Kindle. First, ninja says the device is basically the same size as the older model, but is thinner and has "a slightly heavier feel, and it feels much sturdier." The source indicates the new model uses the same cellular EV-DO network for downloads (it's Sprint's network in the current model) and a metal back is visible in some of the pictures. I particularly appreciated the look of the new leather carrying pouch for the device, since I don't like the existing Kindle's protective case. There are more photos here.
Boy Genius Report also notes:
As far as buttons go, on the right side, the bottoms from top to bottom are: Home, Next Page, Menu, a joystick, and Undo. On the left side, there's Previous, Page, and Next Page. We're told the buttons are significantly smaller, to avoid accidental page turning. The joystick takes the place of the scroll wheel and it "takes a little getting used to." As far as the redesigned keyboard...it "has a good layout, but lettering on the keys could be darker." Continuing our tour around the unit, next to the sliding sleep button, there's the headphone jack, and on the right-side edge you've got the volume up/down buttons. What's interesting (and you can see this in the photos) is that the backside of the unit is mostly metal, with the speakers at the bottom of the back. One more plus? They've finally ditched their own charger. The Kindle 2 can be charged with a miniUSB cable.
No word on when the next-generation Kindle will arrive, whether there will be a European model, or how much it will cost. However, I have a feeling we'll soon get an announcement from Amazon--if indeed this turns out to be a real product that will go up against the upcoming Sony Reader, the PRS-700, which features a touch-screen display and will hit stores next month in time for the holiday buying season.
As always, feel free to post your comments. What do you think of the design of the alleged Kindle 2? And how much do you think it will cost?
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