Amazon is mighty proud of its Kindle. So much so that the retailer outed a press release proclaiming that the Kindle is the best selling device on Amazon.com and even pre-Cyber Monday, November was its best selling month so far. Nook what?

It’s too bad that we have to take Amazon’s word though. The company still hasn’t released any hard sales numbers for the device and probably won’t anytime soon. But if this press release is true, and there really isn’t any reason to doubt it, the Kindle outsold the iPod touch, Sarah Palin and Dan Brown’s books, and everything else. That’s impressive.

Kindle Breaks Record for Sales in a Single Month During November

Kindle is the Hottest Gift This Holiday Season Across All Amazon Product Categories–Not Just Electronics SEATTLE, Nov 30, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN 133.00, +1.26, +0.96%) today announced that November is already the best sales month ever for Kindle, even before Cyber Monday. Kindle continues to be the most wished for, the most gifted, and the #1 bestselling product across all product categories on Amazon. The latest generation Kindle — just released in October — is $259 and available for immediate shipment today at www.amazon.com/kindle.

“Kindle is a great gift for anyone who loves to read and it’s flying off the shelves faster than any other product Amazon sells,” said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “We’re seeing lots of people buying from one to a handful of Kindles as gifts for friends or family, as well as many businesses and other organizations buying Kindles in large quantities for their employees or customers.”

Kindle is the revolutionary portable reader that wirelessly downloads books, magazines, newspapers and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution 6-inch electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle utilizes the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so users never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. The latest generation Kindle with Global Wireless enables readers to wirelessly download content in over 100 countries and territories.

The Kindle for PC app has full access to the Kindle Book store, but it’s through the computers Internet browsers and not a touchscreen-friendly app. Ebooks look great in the app but only Kindle ebooks; you can’t import anything including PDFs or any other ebook. The app itself looks great but isn’t especially meant for a a touchscreen.

Amazon is onto something here but it’s a good thing this app is still in a beta. If Amazon could make the app a little more touchscreen friendly with larger buttons and a dedicated book store, it very well could be a must-have app on all the touchscreen MID and UMPCs. The stradegy would be solid, get those proven gadget fans hooked with a free app and then possible sell them a Kindle. If they don’t buy a Kindle, at least they are still dropping $10 for each book. That’s money.

The beta is free so why not jump over to Amazon and download it yourself. Mac users will need to sit quietly in the corner until Amazon outs an OS X edition.

At 9:00 am EST and 3:00 pm EST Amazon will give you a a $100 promotional code when you purchase an Xbox 360 Arcade for $199. You better be sitting in front of your computer all signed in and ready to go before the two times though. The deal is good only for a limited quantity. [via Cheap Ass Gamer and Gizmodo]

Update: All done! All gone!

Books, books, books! The American Booksellers Association, a trade group that represents small bookstores (not Barnes and Noble and the other big guys), has asked the Department of Justice to investigate whether or not Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Target have “[devalued] the very concept of the book” with their ongoing price war. Well, they’re actually asking for an investigation into their selling practices. That is, because Amazon wants to outsell Wal-Mart, and Wal-Mart wants to outsell Amazon, they both sell the latest book (think Stephen King, Dan Brown, etc.) for some really low price, like $10. When you consider that the average hardcover “should” cost something like $20-$30, just based on the wildly outdated economics of book-selling, then you understand why the ABA is so upset.

Here’s what the ABA is thinking: it represents The Little Guy, the indie bookstore on Main Street, USA that doesn’t have the clout of Barnes and Noble or Borders. If these big guys keep trying to undercut each other, it lowers the price Main Street can set for a book. Why would someone pay $30 for a book when they can buy it for $10 from Wal-Mart? The problem becomes, after Main Street goes out of business, that limits the amount of information (books) out there. And what if some author releases a crazy book about some controversial topic, one that Wal-Mart refuses to carry because it doesn’t want to “offend” its customers or whatever? Now there’s no Main Street bookstore to turn to, and that information never gets out there. Then the marketplace of ideas suffers, and we’re all worse off. That’s the ABA’s thinking, at least, and it’s not entirely unreasonable, I don’t think.

If you want, this topic could easily balloon into a much deeper, philosophical discussion on the entire book industry—remember, Barnes and Noble said the other day that the book industry is still bigger than Hollywood, video games, etc.—but other, better people have already begun to tackle that debate.

And why is this on CrunchGear? Yup, e-books. You can make the argument, and the ABA has done just that, that it was the initial release of the Kindle that got this whole dangerous price war started. Amazon needed to jumpstart the public’s acceptance of e-books, so they did the inverse of what game companies do when they release a new system: game companies make money on the software and lose money on the hardware (at least initially), while Amazon was selling these e-books for something like one-third their “actual” value. Gotta get those Kindles out there!

So that’s basically it. The ABA is concerned that a price war, started by the introduction of the Kindle, will eventually limit the number and quality of ideas available to y’all. You’re free to disagree, and I get the feeling that many of you will.

Flickr

According to the press release, “Thousands of items are now available for Local Express Delivery. Amazon Prime members pay just $5.99 per item for the service.” Amazon Prime costs $79 per year and extends free two-day shipping or overnight shipping for $4 per item to subscribers. I have it and it’s totally worth it if you order a lot of stuff from Amazon.

Non-Prime members will pay quite a bit more for same day shipping, with items carrying a shipping fee based on the type of item ordered and, in some cases, the weight of the item. Certain items, like CDs and DVDs for instance, cost $10.99 per same-day shipment plus $2.99 per item. So order three CDs and it’ll cost you whatever the CDs are priced at plus $10.99 + $2.99 + $2.99 + $2.99. Not cheap but, hey, the heart wants what it wants.

Each of the seven eligible cities has a cutoff time by which products need to be ordered. In Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered, the cutoff time is 1:00 PM. In New York City and Philadelphia, it’s 10:00 AM; in Boston, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore it’s 10:30 AM; and in Las Vegas it’s 11:00 AM. Future cities include Chicago, Indianapolis, and Phoenix.

Amazon Launches Same Day Delivery in Seven Major Cities and Expands Saturday Delivery Options [Amazon.com]

“Kindle has revolutionized the way we purchase and read books, by making it mobile, easy and intuitive,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T. “We are excited to work with Amazon to help readers access books even faster and from significantly more places than ever before, including more than 100 countries and territories around the world through AT&T’s global wireless coverage.”

The new international model will be available for sale in 100 countries. No word on international content but presumably that’s a matter of rights management in each country.

Amazon Lowers Price on #1 Bestseller Kindle to $259 and Introduces New Addition to the Kindle Family of Wireless Reading Devices–Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless
#1 bestseller Kindle now $259,Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless now available for pre-order at $279 and ships Oct. 19

SEATTLE, Oct 07, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN 90.80, -0.11, -0.12%) today announced that it is lowering the price of its #1 bestseller Kindle to $259, down from $299. Also today, Amazon.com introduced a new addition to its family of portable reading devices–Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless. Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless now enables readers to wirelessly download content in over 100 countries and territories. Readers can pre-order Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless starting today for $279 at www.amazon.com/kindle and it ships October 19.

“Kindle is the most wished for, the most gifted, and the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items we sell on Amazon, and we’re excited to be able to lower the price,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. “We’re also excited to announce a new addition to the Kindle family–Kindle with global wireless. At home or abroad in over 100 countries, you can think of a book and download it wirelessly in less than 60 seconds.”

Kindle wirelessly downloads books, newspapers, magazines, blogs, and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution 6-inch electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle utilizes the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so you never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot or sync with a PC. Readers can wirelessly shop the Kindle Store, download books in less than 60 seconds, automatically receive newspaper and magazine subscriptions, receive personal documents, and read from their library–now in over 100 countries and territories.

“Kindle has revolutionized the way we purchase and read books, by making it mobile, easy and intuitive,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T. “We are excited to work with Amazon to help readers access books even faster and from significantly more places than ever before, including more than 100 countries and territories around the world through AT&T’s global wireless coverage.”

The U.S. Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore) now has more than 350,000 books, including New Releases and 104 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers, which are typically $9.99 or less. More than 75,000 books have been added to the U.S. Kindle Store in just the last five months. Starting today, Lonely Planet guides are now available in the Kindle Store, joining existing travel guide selection from publishers Rick Steves, Frommers and Michelin.

“Lonely Planet is excited to make a vast selection of travel guides from Australia to Zanzibar available to Kindle customers around the world,” said Lonely Planet CEO Matt Goldberg. “Travelers can now pack as many Lonely Planet guides as they want into Kindle’s 10.2 ounces and download new guides wirelessly while travelling around the world.”

Over 50 top U.S. and international newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Washington Post, Financial Times, The Times (UK), Le Monde, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and the Shanghai Daily are available in the Kindle Store for single purchase or subscription, and can now be delivered wirelessly in over 100 countries and territories. Over 35 top magazines, such as The Economist, Newsweek, Time, The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, Forbes, Fortune, PC Magazine, and The New England Journal of Medicine are also available for single purchase or subscription, and can also be delivered wirelessly in the U.S. and abroad. U.S. Kindle customers can also continue to take advantage of the Kindle Store’s selection of over 7,000 blogs and receive new posts while traveling overseas.

Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless offers customers the same features that have helped make Kindle with U.S. Wireless the #1 bestselling product on Amazon.com, including:

– Slim and Trim: At just over a third of an inch thin (0.36 inches) and weighing just over 10 ounces, Kindle is pencil thin and lighter than a typical paperback.

– Reads Like Real Paper: Kindle’s 6-inch electronic ink display reads like printed words on paper because the screen works using real ink and doesn’t use a backlight, eliminating the eyestrain and glare associated with other electronic displays.

– Stores Up To 1,500 Books: Kindle’s 2 GB of memory holds up to 1,500 books and Kindle books are automatically backed up by Amazon so customers can re-download titles from their library.

– Read For Weeks On A Single Charge: Kindle’s electronic ink display sips battery power so users can read for over two weeks with wireless turned off and up to four days on a single charge with wireless on.

– Read-To-Me: With the experimental Text-To-Speech feature, Kindle can read most newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud.

– Automatically Syncs With Kindle and Kindle Compatible Devices: Amazon’s “Whispersync” technology automatically syncs customers’ last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across Kindle with U.S. & International Wireless, Kindle with U.S. Wireless, Kindle DX, and Kindle compatible devices like Kindle for iPhone.

– Wirelessly Receive and Read Personal Documents: Wirelessly send, receive, and read personal documents in a variety of formats such as Microsoft Word and PDF.

– Instant Dictionary Lookup: Kindle comes with the New Oxford American Dictionary and over 250,000 definitions that appear instantly at the bottom of the page.

– Choose Text Size: Kindle lets readers customize their reading preference by providing six different text sizes.

– Bookmarks, Notes, and Highlights: By using the QWERTY keyboard Kindle users can add annotations to text, as well as highlight and clip key passages and bookmark pages for future use.

Nobody likes the idea of having a corporation forcefully take back something they legitimately purchased (whether it was legitimately offered is not their concern), but the truth is that e-books and other “virtual property” will have to be subject to some of the same laws and restrictions as real property. I can’t think of many situations where the police would be justified in entering my house and removing an item I had purchased, without my consent, but that’s what judges and warrants are for. Amazon is, for the most part, its own judge (and extraction team), but they haven’t left too many doors open for more Orwellian tomfoolery.

As part of a settlement (pdf) with the high school student who sued Amazon following the event, they issued the following guidelines:

Amazon will not remotely delete or modify such Works from Devices purchased and being used in the United States unless
(a) the user consents to such deletion or modification;
(b) the user requests a refund for the Work or otherwise fails to pay for the Work (e.g., if a credit or debit card issuer declines to remit payment);
(c) a judicial or regulatory order requires such deletion or modification; or
(d) deletion or modification is reasonably necessary to protect the consumer or the operation of a Device or network through which the Device communicates (e.g., to remove harmful code embedded within a copy of a Work downloaded to a Device).

(via TechFlash and All Things D; carriage returns mine)

The guidelines seem perfectly straightforward, although they do leave open to interpretation what “reasonably necessary” and “protect” mean. Bookmark this page in case one of your books gets sucked out of your Kindle, and see if you fall under any of these circumstances. Note that they don’t “stack,” i.e. you don’t need to consent for them to take the book off if your card is rejected. However, if you keep it disconnected, they’ll never know — you outlaw you.

It’s good to have these regulations in place, but they’re merely internal Amazon rules and only apply to e-books; expect further skirmishes of this type as real and virtual property (and property lines) overlap further.

The Kindle is, in its current form, “a poor excuse of an academic tool,” according to Aaron Horvath, Princeton class of 2010. (I think our Ivy League correspondent meant a poor excuse for an academic tool)

When I think of the shortcomings of the Kindle DX, my mind suddenly shifts to the Courier. My god, what a difference! If Microsoft can make the Courier anything like their demo video, that will actually be a replacement for many tools currently required by a student. Annotations? Check. Full color? Check. Schedule? Check. Facebook and Twitter? Check and check.

I’m sure there will be a market for the Kindle-like e-book for a good time to come, but until they offer the kind of functionality we’re going to be seeing in tablets come 2010, they’re always going to be limited to the latest Dan Brownloads.

Amazon has been known to offer cell phones at cut-rate prices. Just the other day, all AT&T phones except for ones that start with the letter “i” were a penny on Amazon. But today, you can save $50 off the retail price and snag a Palm Pre for only one bill.

This deal is of course for new subscribers that sign a two-year agreement, but $50 bucks is $50 bucks in my book. Or if you were planning on buying one for the misses, both can be had for only $200, which in turns saves you $100. I say go for it, unless, of course, you’re waiting for the Palm Pixi…

What’s the one area of technology that I’m still relatively keen on? That’s right: e-books, but that’s because I like the idea of having several books on my person at all times in a device that fits inside my trousers. (The latest: The Wages of Destruction by Adam Tooze. Not an e-book, by the way, since I’m not made of money.) Devin, on the other hand, who also reads his share of books, is not as big a fan of the tech. We’re like The Odd Couple! Anyway, I bring this up because it looks like Dan Brown’s latest novel, The Lost Symbol, is the first book on record that is selling better on the Amazon Kindle than its hardcover counterpart. (Blah, blah, the death of books…)

So what’s going on here? Well, yes, the Kindle version has been outselling the hardcover version on Amazon, but as Fast Company wrote, Amazon isn’t the only book store out there. And since this is a Dan Brown book we’re talking about, you know it’s going to sell like crazy for some reason. (Ron, from Ron and Fez, recently described The Da Vinci Code as a chick flick of a book, but one that men can read without being embarrassed. I never read the book nor saw the movie, so I can’t speak to that.) I wouldn’t be surprised to see it on sale at the corner bodega once it hits paperback.

Never mind that the number of people who can read is greater than the number of people who can read and who can afford a Kindle.

The future, it will be written in an e-book.

Purchasers will receive a copy of the book for the Kindle or $30 in credit for Amazon products or a check. So either you can get one book or cash for two or more books.

Giz has the full text of emails being sent to folks who bought the book:

Hello,

On July 23, 2009, Jeff Bezos, our Founder and CEO, made the following apology to our customers:

“This is an apology for the way we previously handled illegally sold copies of 1984 and other novels on Kindle. Our “solution” to the problem was stupid, thoughtless, and painfully out of line with our principles. It is wholly self-inflicted, and we deserve the criticism we’ve received. We will use the scar tissue from this painful mistake to help make better decisions going forward, ones that match our mission.

With deep apology to our customers,

Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO
Amazon.com”

As you were one of the customers impacted by the removal of “Nineteen Eighty-Four” from your Kindle device in July of this year, we would like to offer you the option to have us re-deliver this book to your Kindle along with any annotations you made. You will not be charged for the book. If you do not wish to have us re-deliver the book to your Kindle, you can instead choose to receive an Amazon.com electronic gift certificate or check for $30.

Please email Kindle customer support at kindle-response@amazon.com to indicate your preference. If you prefer to receive a check, please also provide your mailing address.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

The Kindle Team

Well that’s nice! Amazon made two mistakes here – they didn’t pay attention to copyright ownership and they didn’t pay attention to the implications of destroying copies of 1984. If this were My Life in France or a Clive Cussler novel, I doubt it would have created such a buzz. However, the irony and newsworthiness of the destruction essentially made this explode. Amazon will probably send flowers next time they have to delete a book like this – and I know they will – in order to head all the outrage off at the pass.

The Amazon Web Services blog brings word of the availability of two-factor authentication for AWS accounts. At thirteen bucks this is a pretty low-cost way to add substantial security to your AWS account. Hopefully we’ll see a broader adoption of two-factor authentication in the near future, as costs continue to come down.

Canon rolled out a bunch of new cams yesterday and just like clockwork, Amazon has them up for preorder. Don’t believe they are on sale though. The “Our Price” is set right at the MSRP even though Amazon says they are on sale.

For instance: Amazon has the “List Price” for the G11 as $599 with a $100 discount, which brings the price down 17% to $499. Well, folks, the MSRP of the G11 is $499 according to the press release. The same shinanagins is happening to the rest of the recently announced PowerShot cameras. Kind of shady, Amazon. Kind of shady.

Now that Amazon is showing the same exact pricing structure for the Zune HD as Best Buy, it’s a pretty safe bet that these are the correct prices. Let’s just go ahead and call the prices unofficial official, m’kay?

[Amazon via PC World]

You gotta love automatic updates the bring new features to Blu-ray players. Panasonic is pushing out new firmware for its ‘09 Blu-ray lineup that adds Amazon on Demand to the already impressive extras of YouTube, Picasa, Bloomberg, and weather info. Oh, and that little portable Blu-ray player (BD15) also gains this ability along with the DMP-BD60, BD70V, and BD80. So once these players are graced with the update sometime today, users will have access to 45,000 SD titles and 1,000 HD titles. What’s there not to love?

Owners of 2009 Panasonic Blu-ray Disc Players Now Have Access To Amazon Video On Demand’s Extensive Selection of Movies & TV Shows, Including Over 1000 High Definition Titles

SECAUCUS, N.J., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Panasonic, a leader in High Definition technology and built-in TV web entertainment, announced today that Amazon Video On Demand is now available on its full line of 2009 VIERA CAST(TM)-enabled Blu-ray Disc players. Current owners of Panasonic’s 2009 Blu-ray Disc players automatically received a free software update today and can begin enjoying the service immediately when they register their VIERA CAST Blu-ray Disc Player with Amazon Video On Demand. Panasonic introduced Amazon Video On Demand on VIERA CAST-enabled Plasma HDTVs in April 2009. Bringing unique internet-enabled services to Panasonic VIERA Blu-ray owners, Amazon Video On Demand on VIERA CAST, enables customers to: Browse and shop for their favorite movies and TV shows from Amazon Video On Demand’s selection of more than 45,000 commercial-free titles, including the latest new releases and over 1000 titles in HD. Enjoy instant playback streamed to your player, no downloading, no waiting and no subscription fees. Access and add to their virtual library of purchases, via Amazon Video On Demand’s Your Video Library, and re-watch them on any of Panasonic’s critically acclaimed line of VIERA CAST-enabled Blu-ray Disc players or online with a PC, MAC or other compatible device. For 2009, Panasonic’s VIERA CAST feature has been extended to all of its Blu-ray Disc player models, including the DMP-BD60, BD70V, BD80 and the B15* — the world’s first and only portable Blu-ray Disc player. An internet connection is required to access VIERA CAST. “Having our VIERA CAST feature on our line of 2009 Panasonic Blu-ray players means you can now access the best of the web, directly from your living room,” said Richard Simone, Panasonic’s Entertainment Group Director. “The introduction of Amazon Video On Demand to our VIERA CAST offerings gives every owner of a 2009 Panasonic Blu-ray player access to a vast collection of movies and TV shows, including HD quality new releases, on virtually any digital television. And you can take it on the road with you too with Panasonic’s VIERA CAST-enabled, B15 portable Blu-ray Disc player.” In addition to Amazon Video On Demand, VIERA CAST will continue to provide access to YouTube(TM), Picasa Web Albums(TM), Bloomberg News and weather information. With VIERA CAST, consumers will have automatic access to additional sites as they are added to the service. VIERA CAST was widely acknowledged last year for its distinctive internet application, allowing the consumer to view targeted sites on a large HDTV, rather than a small computer screen. VIERA CAST has a built-in Ethernet interface — no external box or PC is required. VIERA CAST is accessed via a single button on the Blu-ray Disc player remote control and there is no fee to use the VIERA CAST functionality. “The addition in April 2009 of Amazon Video On Demand’s premium service to Panasonic VIERA CAST-enabled HDTVs really took the entertainment experience to a whole new level for consumers,” said Merwan Mereby, Panasonic’s Vice President of New Business Development. “As promised in April, Panasonic is now pleased to deliver Amazon Video On Demand service to owners of our award-winning 2009 line of VIERA CAST-enabled Blu-ray Disc players as well. Combined with the extensive, consumer-generated content VIERA CAST already offers via YouTube and Google Picasa, this is yet another step in the ever-growing value of VIERA CAST for owners of Panasonic HDTVs and Blu-ray players.” “Panasonic and Amazon Video On Demand have built a great customer experience that easily allows customers to shop, purchase or rent from our library of over 45,000 movies & TV shows with no subscription fees,” said Bill Carr, Amazon Vice President Music and Video. “Using Panasonic’s line of VIERA CAST-enabled Blu-ray players, even more customers can now instantly experience Amazon’s compelling HD-quality, new release movies and TV shows from their living room.”

Looks like Amazon just dropped the price of the Uncharted 160GB PS3 bundle, from $499 to $449. Of course, as per the rules and regulations of the Internet, we’re now required to speculate that this could maybe mean that Sony is looking to cut the price of the PS3 across the board.

And keep in mind this unofficial price cut comes on the same day that Sony discontinued the 80GB PS3 in Japan. It’s also the same day that the possibility of a PS3 Slim was, for the thousandth time, brought up. And it’s double-also a few days after we learned that the cost to produce the PS3 has dropped precipitously.

As it turns out, Uncharted is a mighty fine game, as I understand it, so it’s not a bad bundle in and of itself.

via GamesIndustry

There is probably a good chance that if you wanted the Palm Pre, you already snagged it at a Sprint store or Best Buy. Amazon now has the smartphone in case though. The on-contract price is the same at $199, but the off-contract price is surprisingly low at only $499. That’s a heck of deal considering the boys in blue have it listed at $749 sans contract. The only kicker is that it will take 4-6 weeks to ship. Sorry.

Sharp eyes have spotted a certain “PlayStation 3 Konsole slim” on Amazon’s German Web site. The listing, which has no price attached, is still up as I type this (around 11:30 A.M. EDT).

Does this mean that, yes!, Sony is working on a PS3 Slim? Of course not. I mean, we did see photos of a so-called PS3 Slim a few weeks ago, taken at a Chinese factory, but that, too, didn’t mean anything.

The rumors come from the fact that Sony eventually released revised, slimmer models of the PS1 and PS2. So why wouldn’t Sony want to do the same with the PS3, maybe even drop the price while it’s at it?

Of course, Amazon listing could be nothing more than the clever work of a rogue Amazon employee, so that he could turn around and show his friends, “See, look what I did now!”

via Kotaku

Years from now, people will look back on the year 2009 as the year A) Apple lost the goodwill of a sizable chunk of the Internet audience; and B) when a high school kid sued Amazon because it remotely deleted an illegal copy of 1984. The kid is suing because he annotated the copy of the book, and now is without said notes. So of course, sue right?

First, the backstory. Amazon recently remotely deleted an authorized-to-be-sold copy of George Orwell’s 1984 from the Kindle. People freaked out because, whoa, who knew Amazon could remotely delete books from my Kindle? (Not “my” Kindle, mind you—I don’t have that kind of money!) Amazon’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, admitted that the company’s handling of the situation wasn’t very elegant, even though it refunded everyone who bought the book. He also said it’d never delete another book again.

Enter Justin Gawronski, a 17-year-old high school student from Michigan. He’s suing Amazon (rather, the law firm representing him is suing) in order to “help set a precedent so that Amazon doesn’t do this again.”
The lawsuit is also seeking monetary relief for people who lost work. The notes Gawronski took are now also useless.

Am I callous in thinking this kid should just get on with it? He’s not exactly Nelson Mandela.

Usually when I read a long article, I’ll say something like, “Free up 20 minutes so you can read the whole thing.” I’m not sure I’m going to say that today, having just finished an article in the New Yorker, which is usually good for a profile or two, about the Kindle. And it’s not because the article is down on the Kindle—I don’t own any Amazon stock, so I don’t care if Kindle sinks or swims—but because it doesn’t really say anything that you probably didn’t already know.

What does the article do? Well, there’s a written unboxing of the Kindle, which contrives to be less exciting than it sounds. (Disclosure: I’ve always maintained that “unboxing” is silly.) There’s a quick little E Ink backstory. There’s all sorts of asides that snicker in the Kindle’s direction. [“I’d entered some nesting Italo Calvino folktale world of packaging. (Calvino’s Italian folktales aren’t yet available at the Kindle Store, by the way.)”] There’s the part where people say the generation one Kindle is “fugly,” which, I’ll have you know, automatically invalidates your opinion. (Friends don’t let friends make up words!)

It’s largely a collection of complaints à la Andy Rooney.

This is what it’s like to read the New York Times on the Kindle DX:

It’s enjoyable if you like reading Nexis printouts. The Kindle Times ($13.99 per month) lacks most of the print edition’s superb photography—and its subheads and call-outs and teasers, its spinnakered typographical elegance and variety, its browsableness, its Web-site links, its listed names of contributing reporters, and almost all captioned pie charts, diagrams, weather maps, crossword puzzles, summary sports scores, financial data, and, of course, ads, for jewels, for swimsuits, for vacationlands, and for recently bailed-out investment firms. A century and a half of evolved beauty and informational expressiveness is all but entirely rinsed away in this digital reductio.

And here’s the kicker:

The Kindle DX ($489) doesn’t save newspapers; it diminishes and undercuts them—it kills their joy. It turns them into earnest but dispensable blogs.

Never would I recommend the Kindle, in any of its incarnations, to someone who reads, I don’t know, photography books. That’s daft. Who wants to look at photos on a rubbish monochrome screen? Not I. Reading biographies, reading histories—words, no photos required—you don’t run into those problems. And that’s all I read, so there.

Oh, and you can buy a Kindle edition of the New Yorker. There goes that account!

Flickr