Amazon.com Fires Up Debate Over Kindle Sales

Didn't Saturday Night Live have a skit on this about ten years ago?

Continuing to sell books and CDs and other tangible media will be the salvation of Amazon.com. Like most people, I read where I can: on break, at the doctor's office, in the tub. Just can't do that with electronic devices. I buy a CD for music because I can burn MP3s and use them, lose them, not worry if my ipod breaks, whatever; I still have the original.

I love my kindle, fantastic device

Why doesn't somebody ask why Bezos refuses to give the sales figures for the Kindle? If it was really selling well I suspect that he would not be so secretive. Also 240000 is a negligible number for the US market after more than a year. Personally I won't buy one until the price drops and they eliminate the DRM on it.

The near-400 000 estimate is bogus. I work at a large software company and among my coworkers and friends I don't know anyone who bought the device. It looks dull and the ebooks still cost so much. I'd never buy it. Now that they've announced the release of the next kindle models, nobody will be buying this now.

Doing better than expected...for now. But this is the future of reading - especially non-magazine content.

I don't think kindle will really fly off the shelves until they scrap e-ink for oled that have no need for backlighting. The oled will offer low power options and the lighting we expect in any condition. I hope that the digitization of ebooks will support any technolgy oled or e-ink. It seems the Samsung production should be able to offer the right size oled for this type of device now.

I think Henry Blodget history needs to be looked upon. Is he trying to hype up Amazon.com? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Blodget

What REAL use does it have? 70% of the worlds population is illiterate and commicate by verbal means. Besides that that same 70% can't afford bread let alone a Kindle.

I've got a special edition Kindle on steroids. It has brilliant colors with 1080P resolution, can surf the Internet, play games, run all my office and productivity software, store all my photos and music, play movies in addition to reading books. It cost me the same as the standard Kindle sold on Amazon too. Some people say I don't really have a Kindle but a standard laptop but those people are just jealous.

"Kindle Fails to Set Light to Unsold e-Book Pile" http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/26/kindle_no_firestarter/

If Kindle was selling well, Jeff Bezos would be disclosing the numbers and he also wouldn't be cutting its price! Remember in the late 1990's when Jeff didn't disclose any numbers about his auction business because of these same "competitive reasons"? Well, the competitive reason was that his auction business sucked. It's the same with Kindle. Jeff has a history of only disclosing numbers that make his business look like it's doing well. So beware. Kindle may be cool but it has a very limited market. More so than Kindle, be worried about the decline in Jeff's core business. With nearly 50% of his business in music and DVD, Jeff faces the very real risk of cannibalization from places like iTunes, Netflix, etc.

ridiculous, just buy a laptop for the same price. so far none of these "book-like" gimmicks has gone anywhere, nor shall kindle.

I write and self publish technical books as a sideline and sell them on Amazon and other outlets. I purposely don't offer ebook versions because of the piracy issue. I don't see many authors supporting this based on the experience we've all seen with CDs and the music business. People will steal your material and you can do nothing about it. Therefore print is the only option for me as a publisher. For those that offer an ebook now you can get many of them for illegal free download now. The kindle is nothing without content and I won't support it because this will encourage this illegal action.

New York and Washington, DC, Apr. 28, 2003 -- The Securities and Exchange Commission, NASD and the New York Stock Exchange — following a coordinated investigation of allegations of undue influence of investment banking interests on research analysts at brokerage firms — today announced that Henry Blodget, a former managing director at Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Incorporated and the senior research analyst and group head for the Internet sector at the firm, will be censured and permanently barred from the securities industry, and will make a total payment of $4 million to settle the charges against him. The regulators charged that, among other things, Blodget, of New York City, issued fraudulent research under Merrill Lynch's name, as well as research in which he expressed views that were inconsistent with privately expressed negative views. Blodget's conduct constituted violations of the federal securities laws and NASD and NYSE rules, which require that, among other things, published research reports have a reasonable basis, present a fair picture of the investment risks and benefits, and not make exaggerated or unwarranted claims. In particular, the SEC alleges, and the NASD and NYSE found that, during 1999-2001, Blodget: * aided and abetted violations of antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws and violated SRO rules by issuing research reports on one internet company (GoTo.com) that were materially misleading because they were contrary to privately expressed negative views; and * issued research reports on six other Internet companies (InfoSpace, Inc., 24/7 Media, Inc., Lifeminders, Inc., Homestore.com, Inc., Excite@Home, and Internet Capital Group, Inc.) that were not based on principles of fair dealing and good faith and did not provide a sound basis for evaluating facts regarding those companies, contained exaggerated or unwarranted claims about those companies, and/or contained opinions for which there was no reasonable basis. Blodget neither admits nor denies these allegations, facts, conclusions, and findings. Of Blodget's $4 million total payment, $2 million constitutes a penalty and $2 million constitutes disgorgement. Blodget's $4 million payment is specified in a Final Judgment that, if approved by the Court, will be entered in an action filed by the SEC in Federal District Court in New York City. The entire $4 million will be put into a distribution fund for the benefit of Merrill Lynch customers. Blodget has agreed that he will not seek reimbursement or indemnification for the penalties he pays. In addition, he has agreed that he will not seek a tax deduction or tax credit with regard to any federal, state or local tax for any penalty amounts he pays under the settlement. Under the terms of the settlement, the Final Judgment in the SEC's Federal Court action will enjoin Blodget from violating the statutes and rules he is alleged to have violated. http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2003-56.htm

onewyoman - huh??? I didn't realize that the Kindle was targeting that audience? Let's see 6.5 Billion people in the world. 70% illiterate. 30% a literate. Let's say 10% of the remainder of those people may want to buy a Kindle. That's 195 Million people. I think that's probably a large enough market for this type of product. What do you think?

I have a Kindle - and I love it. I also have a laptop. The laptop is bulky and it's battery lasts about 40 minutes. The Kindle is as light as a book (easier to hold than a hardback) and the battery lasts several days before needing a quick recharge. I can download a new book within moments and the price of a new bestseller is about $10 - cheap. With the Kindle I can carry hundreds of books around in my hand. I can easily notate and search them. As it is right now, it's AWESOME! and I look forward to the technology developing furthur.

First of all, I concer with everything that theedgibson said and more I too have a laptop but find the kindle an amazing tool. It only weighs 10 oz . and you can download a sample of a book for free to "try before you buy". If you are sitting in an airport and see a book you might want to read, you can wirelessly download it and carry it with all your other reading material (newspapers,magazines, business books etc.) you can also annotate and clip to share meaningful quotes or sections. In addition you can download you documents and mark and return them for review by someone else. I have bought two , one for my daughters boyfriend who travels extensively for business and one for myself.. All the naysayers are either not readers or have not really tried this incredible tool

I love my Kindle!! I don't understand the "piracy issue" at all. We all share books. I think your argument should be copyright infringement. The books that have been offered to me for little or no money from Amazon are the books that are not making a profit on the open market anyway. Maybe the free advertising on Amazon is the only exposure they get. I'd like to see that day when all my text books are on Kindle and I don't have to carry a cord of wood on my back. Save the forest.

I saw a relative's Kindle, and see it as somewhat useful, but the resolution was low, no color, the screen was small and slow, and the navigation awkward. I believe the Kindle doesn't use much power, allowing for long battery life. I want to get rid of my bulky books, journals, DVDs, and CDs, but don't have a nice non-proprietary compact way of keeping the content of that media indefinitely.