Amazon Kindle: Comments
Slashdot linked to a blog post regarding the Kindle and numerous comments posted. One comment stuck out from many others.
I think what we're seeing here is the classic human behavior related to in-group vs. out-group. Like someone posted on the wikipedia thread a couple days ago.
Basically, these people have bought the kindle and like it, or at least don't hate it enough to throw it away. What they really DO like is the fact that buying it puts them in a group of people who have a cool device and therefore they get a feeling of belonging. They identify part of their own self-worth with the "coolness" and value of the device.
Therefore, if the device is perceived as "cooler" or more desireable by the general population, they emotionally can transfer that to themselves. They'll promote kindle without reason and defend it to the death because they're really defending themselves. The sad part is that many of them don't know it... they truly believe they're objectively promoting this product, and they truly believe that the people who haven't gotten it yet eventually will.
The same thing happens with many technology items, like many in the cult of Mac or those who are rabid about Linux... the technologies' true worth and faults are irrelevant to them, sometimes without them realizing it, because they identify themselves as "Mac Owner" or "Linux User", and all that matters is if someone attacks their technology, it's an attack on them and their in-group.
Interesting thoughts. Did you buy the Kindle and are now trying to justify the purchase? Do you feel like you are part of the in-crowd?
I haven't even bought a Kindle yet. I'm not even sure if I'm going to buy a Kindle. (I can't even afford one for a few months--and if it turns out that the Kindle doesn't perform as advertised, or like something else significantly better is available or will be soon, I may zig instead of zag.) So I don't think I'm inclined to defend the Kindle because I'm subconsciously defending the core of my identity.
I feel like defending the Kindle because I think many of the attacks on it are things that just aren't true, and that the commenters would *know* aren't true if they'd even bothered to read the product description page all the way to the end.
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Thank you for your comments. There are many incorrect blog posts (including some on this blog because of misinterpretations). Reading of ebooks from Amazon is wonderful on the Kindle. Web surfing and PDF support is not so wonderful. Yet, the product works as expected. Hopefully you will have one in your arms and you can see defending the Kindle is worthwhile.
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I received the Kindle as a Christmas present (so I don't have to justify spending any money), and I love it. I've bought twenty books, and read 8 novels on it so far. It does have a few bugs (most with the experimental web browser), but nothing too extreme and I expect they'll be fixed in future software updates.
Common criticisms seem to fall into several categories. Those who expect the device to work miracles (i.e. include features which are either impossible or cost-prohibitive) and be very cheap at the same time, those who can't justify buying it for themselves and therefore predict it will fail, and those who want it to fail because of the DRM issue.
To me, the first two categories are silly. The third one is quite valid, but I see it from the perspective that DRM schemes are ultimately self-defeating, but that the Kindle device and it's main selling points for consumers don't rely on DRM so I'm not worried.
As for feeling like a part of some "in-group", I heartily wish more people had Kindles because a larger reader base equals more demand which means more incentive for publishers to provide more e-books which means more books available for me to read.
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