The Numismatic Bibliomania Society

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V12 2009 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 12, Number 20, May 17, 2009, Article 15

MORE ON THE AMAZON KINDLE BOOK READER

Donald Scarinci writes:
I wonder if the new Kindle will allow pictures to be viewed? If Krause and Whitman offered Kindle versions of their books, that might be the most revolutionary thing for collectors since the photographic plate. Imagine having all of your key reference books on a lightweight tablet 1/3 inch thick to take out at a dealer's table at a coin show?

I use Primasoft as my database software to record my collection, pictures of everything I own and, most importantly, my notes on every coin I own. If I could access that database on a lightweight, easy to turn on Kindle, how wonderful would life be? I take my laptop to shows with me and even though it is a laptop, it still adds 5 pounds to what I have to carry around. Since I collect medals, can you imagine how heavy my briefcase gets after a morning at a good coin show?


Ron Guth writes:
I purchased one for my wife in early April and we have fought over it ever since. It is one of the coolest gadgets I've ever seen. We have the second generation, which is a slim, trim, elegant reader packed with power. Battery life is LONG, the screen is very easy on the eyes, downloading books is a breeze, and the wireless network is free.

I commented to my wife that it would be great if one could use the Internet over this device and she promptly advised me that there is an experimental Web application already on the Kindle. I envision a Kindle-like machine that combines a color screen, electronic reader, computer, wireless Internet, email, and phone into one hand-held device.

I know, I know...Apple's iPhone already does that, but it's too small. I've heard that Apple is working on a "tablet" that will satisfy most or all of the demands of the dream machine but, in the meantime, we'll thank the Kindle for making recreational reading fun again.


I wondered privately to Ron if one day E-Sylum readers would be able to access their weekly biblio-fix on a Kindle. Well, an article that appeared later in the week tells us that's a possibility. Readers would have to be willing to pay for the service, but it sounds like it would be straightforward for us to connect our RSS feed to the Kindle. -Editor
One of the benefits of Amazon’s Kindle reader is portable access to content. There’s a deep library of books and an increasing pool of subscription content. One of the detriments singled out by some camps is the Kindle’s closed environment. Readers looking for blog content, for example, could only select from a predetermined list of high profile publications. You might find Tech Crunch or the Huffington Post but you wouldn’t necessarily find a smaller site like Metue and probably would have no chance tuning in to the soapbox of your favorite personal pundit. Amazon chose the stations, not you. Now, that’s changing.

Wednesday, Amazon began allowing any blogger to publish to the Kindle platform. Through a separate account set up as a Kindle Publishing for Blogs beta, authors can load their blog, identify and describe it and leave it to Amazon to convert from its RSS feed to a Kindle-friendly form factor.

Ad supported sites will lose the revenue stream generated by readers who trade the old web format for the new but the site owner will make back 30% of any subscription fee Amazon sets for the content. That assumes readers want to pay a subscription fee for content they can usually access freely through the web - which is a big assumption. (Blogs have typically been priced at $1.99 a month on Kindle).

Amazon Opens Kindle to Bloggers, But Will Readers Want to Pay? (http://seekingalpha.com/article/137628-amazon-opens-kindle-to-bloggers-but-will-readers-want-to-pay)



Wayne Homren, Editor

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The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

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