Why on earth do you need a keyboard to read a book?

Surely the display should occupy the whole front of the machine, and the keyboard slide out for the odd occasions when you need it?

I am quite keen on the idea of ebook readers, but I don't like the lack of an agreed, open source, format for texts (I don't object to copyright control, that could be done with a published standard in a number of ways). I really don't like proprietary standards. I don't need different specs to read books by different publishers.

Excuse my ignorance but why doesn't the screen take up more of the available space?

Looks better than the space 1999 prop reject that the original was. However I would of preferred a larger screen, with a slide out keyboard. The big question is will it support native PDF files without conversion?

The last time I saw those keys must have been on a calculator back in the late 80s... is there a price for "most unergonomic key layout in a consumer device"? Amazon must be after it. I also wonder why the wasted space around the display is getting bigger and bigger. All in all, they are moving. I can't say improving as the first Kindle looked like a 70s prop from STAR WARS and this one like novelty crap from the 80s but not necessarily any better.

I'm after the following functionality:

o Lend/give a book to a friend, no charge

o Leave it on the beach on a towel while I go in the sea without sand breaking it or it being nicked

o Infinite battery

o Can pick up books dirt-cheap at a second-hand bookshop

Can I do that stuff yet?

These look very similar to the "concept" images of the Kindle from a few years ago??!!

And it's still for the US only and there's no ePub support - possibly the most tied device since the original iPod.

pre-order now:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00154JDAI/ref=amb_link_83626371_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=0KYPWVYXK1J7V3B67EV8&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=469548931&pf_rd_i=507846

Because some folks actually have to leave the house every once and so often and like/need to take their books with them, as in not just one or two but many big, heavy volumes. Ever reflected on that? It is true that an e-book reader can never truly replace a real book, especially not that of nicely made one, yet it is also true that an e-book reader removes a lot of the pain and hassle from the experience when it comes to having your book with you. Again, the Kindle is not that device. It is incredibly tied and underfeatured. Any device with easy, free PDF support surpasses it, not even to speak of those with a touchscreen allowing—behold!—to actually do some real work on them, beyond painfully tapping in some notes.

The reason Why ebook readers are a cool idea is that books are inefficient -- you have to go to a bookstore to buy them or have them shipped. You have to carry them around and they're relatively heavy and take up a lot of space.

Here are a couple of the use cases where the Kindle would be very cool:

* You live in a country where they speak language X, but your native tongue is Y, so you can't buy books in Y easilly.

* You want to read the newspaper everyday, but delivery of the paper is not available.

* You travel but don't want to bring everything you MIGHT want to read.

Particularly for "mass market" titles, the eBook version is often only available from the publisher. They typically offer a 10% discount for the electronic version, while you can pick up a physical copy at your book store for 20% or 30% off the publishers price.

The first book I checked on Amazon (Liberty: A Lake Wobegon Novel), costs $11.44 on the Kindle, and $10.20 in the dead-tree edition. Other titles are slightly cheaper, but not enough to justify the huge premium for the device itself, unless you spend a lot of money at Amazon already.

I am still convinced that every dead-tree edition should come with the e-book included *for free*.