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Google News today notes more than 1,000 reports of the arrival of the new Kindle, with many journalists seemingly caught up in the hoopla of the press conference, which featured an ebullient Amazon c.e.o. Jeff Bezos along with author Stephen King. During the presentation Bezos asserted that Kindle’s "vision" was to have "every book ever printed in any language available in less than sixty seconds."
According to The Bookseller's US correspondent Gayle Feldman the event was attended by publishing's elite, many of whom left with some real concerns: "Members of the fourth estate as well as the likes of Gail Rebuck, Brian Murray, Carolyn Reidy and other heads of houses had to queue in a long snaking line to get in. Press who were not on a pre-approved list were turned away. The hall was too small. Even then, some had to stand."
Feldman added: "Many questions remain unanswered, and publishers could be heard asking them in quiet conversations after the event. Amazon went directly to [Stephen] King’s agent. What does that indicate about how the Seattle giant views the role of the publisher?"
The Seattle Times said the gadget wasn't "http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008727067_kind... target="_blank" title="going">http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008727067_kind... to make the entire book world go digital. It's likely to be purchased mostly by well-off technology and book enthusiasts, the crowd who embraced the first version introduced in 2007." Business Week said it wasn't the iPod moment for books: http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2009/tc20090210_262587... target="_blank" title=""As">http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2009/tc20090210_262587... much as some might try to draw parallels between Amazon's approach to books and Apple's take on music, analysts are clear that the latest generation of Amazon's sleek, white little electronic book reader is no iPod for the book world."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/09/kikndle2-amazon-stephen... target="_blank" title="The">http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/feb/09/kikndle2-amazon-stephen... Guardian reports that the widely-leaked announcements also left industry observers unimpressed. Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst with Bernstein Research, said that was still too expensive for mainstream consumers. "Really we don't see them as having taken the device to the next level," he told Reuters. "We think it's an incremental step of improvements. They're advancing very conservatively."