I also agree with you that in the long term DRM isn’t going to work out. And hope that Amazon does catch the clue…

Good point on the networking. It’s not part of how I use my reader, but that would probably be different if there was a whopping great store tempting me at every moment.

I agree totally that Amazon are great folks to be in the ebook business. I guess I’m frustrated that to get the benefit of their expertise you need to buy not just their ebooks but their hardware.

(There’s an ideology adding to that frustration, for sure, but it’s not that I think Amazon is evil; I just don’t agree with that /particular/ decision to keep a closed shop. I also believe it’s basically unnecessary. It looks to me like they’re putting their faith in what’s essentially a DRM strategy [Kindle as dongle, catchy slogan]. I don’t believe it’ll work, and I believe in the long term Amazon will realise that [reluctantly, probably] and open things up. But short-term it’s infuriating.)

Yes, currently the Kindle store is just for the Kindle. I doubt that most of the publishers will allow Amazon to sell their books in electronic editions without this lockdown. Amazon does pretty weird things though. I’m not sure that the Kindle store will always remain “just” the Kindle store, but it’ll take a lot more clue on the publisher side before *that* happens.

My lists are still useful in that they cover many new books and newly reprinted books, and there’s a reason I added what’s essentially my own catalog copy to every entry. :) But yes, it’s a bit like pushing your face at a candy store window if you haven’t a Kindle.

I’m glad you’re enjoying Shadow Unit! I want to press forward with this for Season 2, and am still decided what to do about it. Shadow Unit season 1 will probably come out in epub soon, so that Sony Readers (or at least the most recent versions) can also enjoy it. Season 2 will be in both Mobipocket and Epub.

I’m glad you enjoy my Tor.com reviews too. :)

As for the Kindle, I know I won’t convince you, and I’m not looking to; I’m just sharing the three most important reasons I back it over the Reader, iLiad, and anything else:

1. I back it because Amazon opened the device to interesting things when they by default incorporated network capabilities into it. I commute for hours every weekday—something like 4 hours every day—so the ability to buy a book or, more usefully, a newspaper or blog on demand on a ferry in the middle of Puget Sound (without hooking into another separate wireless company!) is just insanely useful.

2. I also back the Kindle because Amazon drives it. Amazon has book-selling down to an art. People, I think, underestimate just how much Amazon’s experience in selling books online enables them to enhance any book-selling experience, ebook or real book or even possibly POD. The service and buying experience is extremely good.

3. And of course I also back the Kindle ’cause I can read Mobipockets from other sources on it. Other readers can also do this of course, and support more formats like epub, but I wouldn’t have bought the Kindle if I couldn’t do at least that; it means that if for some reason the Kindle store went *poof* I can still read pretty much everything.

Anyways, thanks for reading my little blog! Shadow Unit at least can be enjoyed universally. :)

In completely unrelated news, I read your Shadow Unit edition with great enjoyment — thanks for putting it together! And I’ve been enjoying your reviews on tor.com too.

You’re such a good advocate I can’t help wishing I agreed with your choice of which technology to back. (I also wish there was a system I could get wholeheartedly behind — the iLiad ain’t it, if only because of the price and the general awfulness of the software. For me deliberate device lockdown trumps that, but I’m willing to admit that’s pure politics talking.)