News - Amazon unveils next-generation Kindle

[TheAnimus]

Oh yeh, I wouldn't recommend it for ANYTHING confidential, its a networked device. Anyone who is dealing with confidential information shouldn't be using a network, or connectivity device unless they have a really good reason too!

But if its just a case of say Ritcher's CLR book, which has a life of at most 5 years before a new version comes out, and as someone like me, its just not worth the effort of having to think and remember "oh that's changed" even thou 80% of the content is the same..... Anyway, I think we all agree for these things its excellent, I do feel quite a lot for some of these technical authors because they don't make much, and I think they need DRM to stop the freetards ease, but I prefer the carrot of having all the books I need, on tap within 60 seconds for a reasonable price!

[Saracen]

Yup, it's a balance between convenience and utility on the one hand, and risk and confidentiality on the other.

It's the same logic as with, as you point out, any level of network access, and for that matter, with PC component choice. How do you design a backup strategy? Answer - it depends on what's at risk. If it's just your game saves in whatever the current flavour of RPG is, the risk is different to when your livelihood depends on it.

In one of the applications I have in mind for this, a major benefit would be always having up-to-date reference materials, like manuals and procedures, to hand, and it would help with ISO9000 quality control in terms of keeping document distribution both currently, and controlled. On the other hand, the uncertainly of remote access by a third party, without my knowledge of permission, is a major problem. None of this would be much of a concern if it was just about some PC tech books and my holiday reading.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not carrying around 'secrets' that the CIA and KGB are fighting over. Merely stuff with some commercial sensitivity and value. But it's sensitive enough that that remote access is a concern.

[neonplanet40]

Anychance they will bring one out without all of this?

[TheAnimus]

No, but as all a kindle really is is a e-ink panel, sony amazon and barnes + noble all use the same firm to manafacture them, its not impossible for someone to make one of these which would address Saracens concerns, obviously it would be priced a lot higher, as these amazon ones are probably sold at very low profit.

Sell the razor cheaply, and charge a fortune for the blades.

[Funkstar]

In one of the applications I have in mind for this, a major benefit would be always having up-to-date reference materials, like manuals and procedures, to hand, and it would help with ISO9000 quality control in terms of keeping document distribution both currently, and controlled.

Would also help with any ISO14001 programs as you wouldn't need to be constantly printing updated manuals

No, but as all a kindle really is is a e-ink panel, sony amazon and barnes + noble all use the same firm to manafacture them, its not impossible for someone to make one of these which would address Saracens concerns, obviously it would be priced a lot higher, as these amazon ones are probably sold at very low profit.

I was thinking about this last night. I can see this happening eventually and it wouldn't be difficult at all. Just a relatively minor software change to the Kindle and you could get it to connect to your companies private document server which will push down updates of internal documentation etc. A company that could justify something like that probably already has a fairly comprehensive document server for version management.

[Saracen]

.... A company that could justify something like that probably already has a fairly comprehensive document server for version management.

Not necessarily. Some quite small companies have to find ways of solving this type of requirement, especially depending on who their customers are and what the "business" sector is.

A "push" technology from a private server would be ideal, but it's overkill for what I was talking about. Providing the procedures are in place to ensure documents and controlled and kept up to date, and people that need them know how to get them, and will always get the current version, then the documents can even be paper. In fact, in the environment I had in mind, they currently are. Pushing updates via 3G or even wifi is a great idea, in theory at least, but it would solve the need even if the user had to manually download updates.

What makes me nervous, though, is that Amazon clearly have some degree of remote control over the content of the Kindle, and the notion of some US corporate being able to (and clearly willing to) mess about with that content, makes me very nervous in the context of that document system, but personally, it makes me very nervous purely in terms of my personal privacy. We know corporations like to build up very detailed pictures of people, and one way of doing it is to know what you read. It's all grist for the mill in data warehousing operations and feeds into data mining.

Suppose you buy a couple of books on your Kindle on gardening. Are you going to start getting emails, or postal mails, on gardening supplies and equipment. Suppose you buy a "Coping with new baby" book, are you going to start getting nappy adverts?

This type of thing is already big business, and growing. Companies build up ever larger data pictures of all of us, and while I have no idea of whether Amazon do this or not, I can certainly see how it could happen, and personally, I both resent it and object to it.

I'm sure there's going to be someone that'll say "it's already happened, get over it". There usually is. But the simple fact is that while others may not care, I do, and while I can't control information that's already out there, and some things are impossible to stay anonymous with, I do do all I reasonably can to avoid letting companies build a data picture. So, on that note, I don't have any store "reward" cards. I know I could save a bit of money, but I'm not prepared to sell my personal profile for the trivial sums involved. In fact, I'm not prepared to sell it at any sum that these companies would be willing to pay. And going further yet, most of my day-to-day purchases, in supermarkets etc, are for cash. I won't even use a credit or debit card.

So I'm certainly not about to let Amazon have a good rummage through my book collection, or my tastes in magazines or periodicals, and while I don't know if they do or, not, I don't trust them not to. I, personally, will not consider a device with the level of remote access Amazon clearly, and to my mind, rather surreptitiously, have. If I can load my choice of content onto a Kindle, entirely isolated from Amazon's nosy prying eyes, then fine. But with the 3G version, I just don;t trust, after recent incidents, that we even know what they're doing with their connection to our devices. Even with the wifi version, where preventing this level of prying may well be more practical, I still can't see any easy and obvious way to be sure to keep them out.

If I could be sure to keep them out, then the price is now (for the non-3G version) getting to the point where I'd consider it. I always said to myself "sub £100", and we're close enough to that that I'd look at it. But not unless the privacy issues are resolved to my absolute satisfaction, which is that they have NO access to my device. In that way, buying a book physically and getting an ebook with it that I can load onto my Kindle would be acceptable to me, but buying online and building that data profile with them would not. That suggests that the personal uses of it for me wouldn't be practical, for DRM reasons, but the business use where I load my own PDFs from my own PC might, providing I can be absolutely sure Amazon are locked out of nosing among my device;s contents.

Oh, and even if the privacy issues and DRM were addressed, I still have a problem with ebooks - price, If I can buy a printed version where they had all the costs of materials, printing, distribution and warehousing, not to mention profit margins for several layers of the chain, I'm not paying more than that price for an ebook with minimal associated costs, and especially where I can't even sell on or give away the book one done with it. That strikes me as tantamount to paying a very sizeable premium on the ebook for the dubious benefits and accepting all the DRM and licence restrictions on top. Somehow, that pricing policy just sticks in my craw, and I don't see me ever finding it acceptable. So until or unless I can get round both the pricing policy and the privacy concerns, I can't see me using a Kindle other than perhaps for loading PDFs (etc) under my direct control.

[mikerr]

I can't see me using a Kindle other than perhaps for loading PDFs (etc) under my direct control.

AIUI the kindle's strength is its connectivity and ease of book purchasing & delivery,
if you are happy to just load PDFs via a PC, then any of the other ereaders would be more suited.