今日発表になった Kindle のアップデートですが、私のもいつの間にかアップデートされていました。 （アップデートの話を聞いて、日本語パッチは解除して純正に戻してありました）
画面表示のメニュー項目が増えて、画面を横向きにすることができるようになっています。 電池寿命が長くなったほかに、PDFファイルを表示できるようになるというふれこみなのでさっそく試してみました。手元にあった英語と日本語のPDFファイルを転送してみたら、あっさり日本語のものも表示されました。A4 版のPDFを表示するとさすがにちょっと小さいですけれど、横向きにすれば読めないわけではないようです。驚いたことに、昨日買ったオライリーのPDF版 eBook 「初めてのアンドロイド」も読むことができました。やっぱり、電子書籍はPDF形式が一番ですね。電子ブックリーダーは Kindle で十分だと思います。
これでKindleの使い道もますます広がりそうです。日本語版が出たら Kindle DX を買いますよ！
con't at link ...
Kindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)
Pros:
Cons:
Gather Rich Content from RSS Feeds, Turn it into a PDF Newsletter and Have it Delivered via Scheduled E-mail, for Free
In yesterday's post I highlighted how to use Zinepal's ( http://www.zinepal.com) free level of service to easily create PDF, Kindle/Mobipocket and ePub formatted E-Newsletters to help keep your donors, online volunteers, employees and/or board members engaged. Tabbloid.com ( http://www.tabbloid.com/me) provides an even quicker way of creating a PDF-based newsletter from an RSS Feed. Simply add your desired RSS Feed's URL and choose your e-mail delivery schedule. Although Tabbloid's extremely easy method of creating their PDF newsletter comes at the expense of options, such as the lack of ability to select specific content (for your targeted audience), formatting and formats, their user-friendly, free service requires little time and effort to produce. For further information about how a non profit organization can develop a productive virtual volunteering program through the use of technology, please visit this Online Volunteering Resource.Peter's short video really helps those of us who have not used a Kindle to get a feel for at least how it can help us "read" a newspaper.
I had lunch with Jevon MacDonald last week and he speculated about how the Kindle could save a few quality papers. It's the Cell Phone Model.
Why could the New York Times send to all subscribers a Kindle - biased to the NYT making it very easy to get and search all things Times - instead of the "Paper".
Like a Cell Phone - they tie in the reader to a 3 year deal - the reader gets all the other benefits of the Kindle - all the costs of the "paper" go away - who knows what else the Times could do with w new Reader Platform?
When the Apple Tablet comes - its the same another platform - do the deal with Apple too and offer the Times reader the choice.
This model has worked well for cell phones - why not?
The Tipping Point for digital readership is here now. Saves the book industry a bundle too - all that printing, paper and returns.
Now, Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) has come up short on the inventory of units for its device–the Nook. The book retailer chain said “Preorders have exceeded our expectations.”
Barnes & Noble and Sony came into the e-reader market to challenge the extremely successful Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) Kindle which has established a large enough market to prove the devices are popular. Several research firms say that they expect e-reader sales to hit three million this holiday season. Amazon is the only competitor in the field which has effectively managed its inventory. That leaves Barnes & Noble and Sony with little more than the embarrasement of botched launches.
reading stories like these just make me wonder who is paying people like douglas mcintyre ... but it certainly explains why they don't allow comments on their site.
so more or less what doug says is that b&n sucks because it's nook is selling like hot cakes ... and he praises amazon because the kindle is sitting idle on store (at least virtual ones) shelfs. yes the nook won't be shipping before christmas, but that is only for those people that haven't ordered one yet. those that have will get theirs before christmas ... and there seem to be so many of them that is by far outstripped the plans of b&n which very likely are based on sales forecasts for ebooks like the one cited by doug.
in the past the business press has been fairly pessimistic for ebook readers and their sales potential. so now that one company is having success in selling one it gets dinged for underestimating the market potential.
i am sorry, but what doug is missing here is a bigger story and that is that ebook readers are becoming much more popular than most people following the space have thought so far. at least that is what this tells me.
Questia just launched their iPhone/iPod Touch app. The app gives you permanent access to 5,000 books for $0.99 and the option to subscribe to get access to over 76,000 books and 2.7 million articles, according to their website.
For one, students don't like to buy things. Especially digital things. Many strapped-for-cash college kids aren't buying songs at a dollar a pop. Why would they buy books they can find free in their university library or on Google Books?
But you get the convenience of reading and browsing on your iPod, right?
C'mon, have you ever tried reading anything substantial on that tiny screen? The Kindle app is great, but we can't get through a chapter without our eyes bursting into flames.
How to Easily Create PDF, Kindle, Mobipocket and ePub Formatted E-Newletters and E-Books for Your Online Volunteers, Onsite Volunteers, Employees, Board Members or Donors from an RSS Feed
Keeping your donors, employees, board and/or online volunteers informed via an e-newsletter can be time consuming. In fact, the time involved may be preventing you from developing such a communication tool. However, if you currently have a blog and/or subscribe to other interesting web-based content (as long as such content has an RSS Feed, such as your Twitter RSS Feed or a Google Search), such posts (content) can be easily and quickly re-purposed into a PDF-based newsletter or eBook format and e-mailed to your donors, board members, employees, onsite volunteers and/or online volunteers. Providing your RSS Feed content in Kindle/Mobipocket, ePub and PDF formats enables you to reach a wider audience, whether offline or online (wired or wireless), in a method most convenient and accessible to your targeted audience. To easily create your PDF-based E-Newsletter (as well as Kindle/Mobipocket and ePub formats) using Zinepal's ( http://www.zinepal.com) free level of service , all you need to do is: 1. Create a free Zinepal account
