Law X.0

Coming to a Textbook Near You, the Big Screen Kindle

Once upon a time I wrote that the e-book development model in legal publishing will not follow along the lines of Kindle because the digital text-study aid functionality law schools students want is not gizmo-dependent and products are or can be expected to integrate their computer-based apps with online research services. That may change if the forthcoming big screen Kindle catches on because the sheer market presence of Amazon may prove once again that bad technology will trump consumer needs. Read more about it on Law Librarian Blog: Big Screen Kindle Aiming for $5.5 Billion Textbook Market. [JH]

Kindle Price Cut

Now, only $359. I think I'll wait until it is $3.59. [JH]

Crawford on Kindle and eBooks

Walt Crawford, Director and Managing Editor of the PALINET Leadership Network, takes a look at Kindle and eBooks in the April 2008 issue of Cites & Insights. See Old Media/New Media Perspective: Thinking About Kindle and Ebooks [HTML | PDF of entire issue]:

• Amazon's Kindle (page 9 in PDF)
• Nine Models, One Name: Untangling the Ebook Muddle (page 16) (manuscript version of article that was published in American Libraries (Sept. 2000)
• Other Thoughts on eBooks (page 20)

Check out customer reviews of Kindle on Amazon: 3.5/5.0 from 2,000+ reviews. [JH]

Has Kindle Changed the Way You Read?

Pete Riley is"totally hooked" on Amazon's new reading device Kindle because of its time-saving superpowers. Details on Life-Hacker. [JH]

Why Kindle Won't Be Adopted by Law School Students

Gene Koo, CALI Fellow and co-editor of Law School Innovation explains why Kindle won't "catch fire" in law schools. He writes " I don't think Kindle will replace paper casebooks in the near-term because it's less functional than a paper book for study purposes without adding obvious digital/network features for study purposes." He thinks the eBook features of Aspen's Studydesk offer far greater potential. I concur. See Beyond the Kindle Hype. Check out Gene's post. [JH]

Kindle DRM Hacked To Allow Protected Mobipocket ebooks

According to endgadge, Igor Skochinsky has discovered the algorithm the Kindle uses to turn regular Mobipocket books into Amazon's proprietary .azw format. File under "that didn't take very long." [JH]

Beyond the Kindle Hype

Some early thoughts are posted on Law Librarian Blog. [JH]