Amazon's E-Reader Sells Out Within Hours

Kindle gets mixed reviews, but it's gone in a flash
By Lucas Laursen,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 22, 2007 12:34 PM CST
Amazon's E-Reader Sells Out Within Hours
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, introduces the Kindle at a news conference on Monday, Nov. 19, 2007 in New York. The $399 electronic book device will allow downloads of more than 90,000 book titles, blogs, magazines and newspapers. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)   (Associated Press)

Amazon’s pre-Thanksgiving launch of the Kindle, an electronic book reader, sold out in just five and a half hours, reports Engadget. The $399 device is able to download books directly from Amazon’s wireless network, which piggybacks on Sprint’s, bypassing Wi-Fi hotspots and making it independent of computers. Instead of a monthly plan, users pay individually for books or newspapers.

The screen uses “electronic ink,” industry-speak for an electronically activated material that is not backlit. That avoids glare but requires the use of a reading lamp. [User] reviews on Amazon.com have been mixed, with many users calling the device visionary but suggesting there is a lot of room for improvement in the next version. (More Amazon.com stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X