Kindle available for HK customers

等咗咁耐，Amazon.com 的 Kindle 終於來到香港了（十月十九日）。上 Amazon.com 官網看，6吋顯示屏的 Kindle 要賣 USD279，折合 HKD2176.2。值嗎？先看看 coverage。

Hong Kong

We are excited to now ship Kindle to Hong Kong. Customers in Hong Kong will enjoy:

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Think of a book and you could be reading it in under a minute

Free Wireless: Free 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle. No monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots. For non-U.S. customers, there are also no additional charges for wireless delivery outside your home country.See Coverage Map. See Wireless Terms and Conditions

Learn more about Kindle features on the Kindle product page

即是說，買了之後，就算去到外國，要下載買了的書（由於內置 2GB 有限，可能會刪除已購買的書）、或買新書，都無須擔心額外的數據費用，香港、北京、上海、深圳、台灣都有覆蓋。

至於賣點有幾個：
Display: 6" diagonal E Ink® electronic paper display, 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 ppi, 16-level gray scale.
Size (in inches): 8" x 5.3" x 0.36" (203.2mm x 134.6mm x 9.1mm).
Weight: 10.2 ounces (289.2 grams). 兩部 iPhone 的重量 (135g)
Paper-Like Display: Reads like real paper without glare, even in bright sunlight
Carry Your Library: Holds up to 1,500 books
Long Battery Life: Read for days without recharging
Free Book Samples: Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy
Large Selection: Over 350,000 books, including 104 of 112 New York Times® Best Sellers, plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs
Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases are $9.99, unless marked otherwise. When traveling abroad, you can download books wirelessly from the Kindle Store or your Archived Items. U.S. customers will be charged a fee of $1.99 for international downloads. (是否 non-US customers 不用付 international downloads fee?)
Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.
可以用免費的 convertor 自行下載 convert 了的 PDF 文件。這個最為重要...

看看與 Symbian 相關的 Kindle 書價錢（美元計，暫時有11本書）：

Symbian OS Internals: Real-time Kernel Programming (Symbian Press) by Jane Sales
Print $110, PDF $90, Kindle $74 (saved 33%)

Rapid Mobile Enterprise Development for Symbian OS: An Introduction to OPL Application Design and Programming by Ewan Spence
Print $80, PDF $75, Kindle $47.21 (saved 43%)

Developing Software for Symbian OS: An Introduction to Creating Smartphone Applications in C++ by Steve Babin
Print $75, PDF $70, Kindle $53.52 (saved 29%)

The Accredited Symbian Developer Primer: Fundamentals of Symbian OS by Jo Stichbury and Mark Jacobs
Print $60, PDF $50, Kindle $42 (saved 33%)

Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones by Richard Harrison
Print $65, PDF $65, Kindle $37.79 (saved 45%)

Symbian OS C++ for Mobile Phones: Programming with Extended Functionality and Advanced Features (Symbian Press) by Richard Harrison
Print $60, PDF $50, Kindle $32.24 (saved 46%)

Programming Java 2 Micro Edition for Symbian OS: A developer's guide to MIDP 2.0 by Martin de Jode
Print $60, PDF $55, Kindle $39.44 (saved 34%)

Programming for the Series 60 Platform and Symbian OS by DIGIA Inc.
Print $115, PDF $95, Kindle $74.79 (saved 35%)

Symbian OS Platform Security: Software Development Using the Symbian OS Security Architecture by Craig Heath
Print $75, PDF $70, Kindle $53.14 (saved 29%)

Programming PC Connectivity Applications for Symbian OS: Smartphone Synchronization and Connectivity for Enterprise and Application Developers (Symbian Press) by Ian McDowall
Print $70, PDF $60, Kindle $37.28 (saved 47%)

Symbian for Software Leaders: Principles of Successful Smartphone Development Projects by David Wood
Print $80, PDF $75, Kindle $62.00 (saved 23%)

假如要買晒以上所有的書，印刷本是 $850 另外數以公斤計的運費；電子書就是 $755；Kindle 書是 $553.41，比電子書平宜 26.7%、比印刷書平宜 34.8% 並省了運費，但加上機價 $279，合共 $832。
(850=110+80+75+60+65+60+60+115+75+70+80)
(755=90+75+70+50+65+50+55+95+70+60+75)
(553.41=74+47.21+53.52+42+37.79+32.24+39.44+74.79+53.14+37.28+62)

無論哪一個版，合計價錢在 $750-850 之間，平均一本書都要 $68-77 (HKD$530-600)，做書蟲都很花錢呢。

若考慮到「實質」的分別，可能會讓人 Kindle 更感興趣。11本印刷書起碼佔了大半層書櫃（除非大書櫃），攜帶又極之不便，長遠還會甩頁、摺角、變黃等。電子書是方便傳送，但閱讀卻比較麻煩，閱讀時需要電腦、iPhone、Windows Mobile VGA 等，撘載 QVGA 240x320 的螢幕跟本不能看這些 PDF 文件，其實 iPhone 也很勉強。不比 Kindle 方便，除非有一台 tablet 吧。

Kindle 真是幾吸引。問題是，我是否一個「讀書」人呢？