why the obsession with the kindle numbers? it makes me laugh.

-bowerbird

@bowerbird: "Obsession" is dead-on, and I fully admit it. But what I want to gauge -- via sales figures -- is the size of the market. It just seems odd that so much time and energy goes into a discussion topic that's not founded on any hard data.

That said -- and I know I've harped on this before -- I think it's far more important for publishers to focus on a broad digital effort rather than a project built around a specific device or format. Digital is already here and it needs to be dealt with ... all of it.

mac said:
> "Obsession" is dead-on, and I fully admit it.

just because you admit you have a problem
doesn't mean that you don't have a problem. :+)

> It just seems odd that so much time and energy goes
> into a discussion topic that's not founded on any hard data.

so why are you putting so much time and energy into it? :+)

according to people i've heard with books for sale to the kindle,
they _are_ selling books there, enough to make it worthwhile...

it's just a drop in the bucket compared to what it'll be eventually,
everyone agrees, but some people like to get in the game early...

other than that, you ain't gonna get "hard data". not for a while.

if the numbers were iphone-impressive, amazon would yell 'em,
just like apple is now yelling about its immense iphone figures...

they sold as many iphones in their last quarter as they had in the
5 quarters before then, _combined_. those are awesome results.
so -- if you want to spend your time and energy efficiently --
i'd suggest you turn your attention to that oh-so-shiny device...
it might be "a project built around a specific device or format",
as you put it, but it's the dog out in front of the pack right now.

but -- leader of the pack or not -- you can't ignore the kindle.

book-readers -- and oprah is well-known for being one --
love the thing. did you hear her raving about it on her show?
i thought she was gonna have an orgasm the way she squealed.

and you can bet jeff bezos got _his_ rocks off, up on her stage.
so even if he wasn't determined before (he was), he sure is now.
so the kindle ain't gonna go away, honey. nope, it's here to stay.

-bowerbird

Just yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine who is an avid reader. We talked about the Kindle, I said it was too expensive, she said yes! Too bad. And we moved on. The device costs too much. Fix that first.