Submitted by “Next Monday, Amazon will likely unveil the next version of its Kindle e-book reader at a press conference in New York. But how did the gadget do last year before it sold out in November? Pretty well! Via a research note, Citi analyst Mark Mahaney now thinks Amazon sold 500,000 Kindles last year, more than his previous estimate of 380,000 (and if Amazon hadn’t run out of Kindles in November, it could have potentially sold 750,000, Mahaney estimates). Mahaney now thinks Amazon’s all-in Kindle revenue could reach $1.4 billion in 2010, or an impressive 4% of Amazon’s revenue that year. This assumes that Amazon will sell 1 million Kindles in 2009 and 3.5 million in 2010; that Kindle owners buy one book per month, etc. It’s an admittedly rough estimate, but not necessarily an unbelievable one.”
I’ve missread the title as “Amazon Sold 500000 KIDNEYS in 2008”.
“WTF!?” I thought and almost dropped my cup of coffee
over the kindle regularly, but so far the price point has kept me away. Not that I think it’s overpriced for what it delivers, but I can’t justify the outlay of money for something to streamline my life when I can simply carry more books. Some day, I guess, but it’ll be quite a while, I imagine.
It isn’t that great of a device.
Why can’t they make a small, simple, no frills ebook reader? Is that too much to ask?
No keyboard. No speaker. No audio functionality to speed of.
Just a smallish screen (5″), thin, preferably a metal case. maybe a touchscreen so it can be gesture controlled. And a gigantic battery.
ok, I’ll stop crying now.
Edited 2009-02-05 01:25 UTC
Oprah seems to disagree
)
pff, Oprah and her cult following can kiss my ass
Perhaps it’s only great for reading diet books.
Edited 2009-02-05 18:17 UTC
The Kindle is the killer app for those who read. Wireless download is terrific: in the airport bookstore, see the book and wirelessly download, in seconds, saving maybe $20 in the process. Plus, it sure beats slepping several books in baggage while traveling.
Further, regardless of the initial cost, the Kindle is cheaper than buying hardback and some trade paper back books, but is more expensive than using one’s local library.
P