Amazon To Launch Wireless Book Reader

Is it "Trick" or "Treat"?

The New York Times is reporting that this October, Amazon is set to unveil the Kindle, an electronic book reader that will wirelessly connect to an e-book store on Amazon's site.

Bad name. Great idea.

Until now, e-readers have worked along the i-Pod model, requiring devices to sync with a computer to download content. But not everybody's bullish on e-readers, wireless or otherwise.

"Books represent a pretty good value for consumers. They can display them and pass them to friends, and they understand the business odel," Michael Gartenberg, research director for Jupiter Research, tells the pub. "We have had dedicated e-book devices on the market for more than a decade, and the payoof always seems to be just a few years away."

Good points all. There was, after all, the much-ballyhooed intrdocution of Sony's $300 Sony Reader last year, which was the size of a trade paperback, features a six-inch screen, enough memory to hold 80 books, and E-Ink technology that creates the uncanny appearance of paper. And yet you don't hear Sony crowing over sales - in fact, they won't even say how many they've sold, according to the Times.

Word has it the Kindle's experience is worse than Sony's marvel - and will cost $400 to $500.

Still, "this is not your grandfather's e-book," one publishing exec tells the Times. "If these guys can't amke it work, I see no hope."

So the answer to my opening question may come over the next six months. And many in the industry might not like what they hear.

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