Comments on: State Department speaks out on Amazon Kindle deal

By: angeldn3

angeldn3 — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:44:12 +0000

Why is the government, ignoring a certain area of people, if they do this, then people who are blind and have reading issues, will not be able to use this. NOT Fair government.

By: Julie Trell

Julie Trell — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 18:19:27 +0000

I’m also curious where they are sending them? I’m trying to find the “Document A” where it lists the locations. Also @RalphF thank you for bringing up the excellent point of headcount and the need for PEOPLE to make sure this happens efficiently and effectively. (training, curriculum development, etc). And there is nothing wrong with Amazon (or whatever vendor was selected) for getting exposure for using their assets to address a need (access to information across the globe) .

By: Martin Iban

Martin Iban — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:23:36 +0000

Do you have any idea why some people around the world might hate America? Giving them an ereader will hardly make up for taking their natural resources, or worse, usurping their democracy – but at least they’ll have huck Finn.

By: R Pollock

R Pollock — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:24:00 +0000

I guess I’m not clear on who would have possession of these Kindles? Schools! How about giving Kindles to our Armed Forces personnel. Seems to me they deserve them more than some foreign nationals who hate Anericans anyway

By: Laura Hazard Owen

Laura Hazard Owen — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 19:31:02 +0000

I cannot imagine that Amazon would provide cases and adapters at retail prices (or at least I don’t see why they should). But you could be right.

By: starbird2005

starbird2005 — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:26:23 +0000

A kobo ereader comes with 100 public domain books for 100 bucks. Surely that would be a better bet?

By: starbird2005

starbird2005 — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:25:13 +0000

If they bought the Kobo reader (which is pretty popular outside the US) it already comes preloaded with 100 books in public domain for 100 bucks.

By: Andrew Martinez

Andrew Martinez — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:32:26 +0000

We’re talking about the amount that DOD spends on its coffee budget in one day. Seriously.

Im just glad to see this relatively small amount of money be used to increase the ebook ecosystem – and the fact we’re putting literature into the hands of kids around the world is a bonus.

By: Paula Campos

Paula Campos — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:28:50 +0000

If the primary purpose is providing reading capabilities & materials, then the $189 Kindle is overkill. My old Kindle originally sold for $179 & now costs something like $79. It offers tons of free books, some games and is 3g. I reading is the goal for third world countries, governmental funds could purchase far more Kindles for the same or lower price and accomplish the same goals. Who is setting the Kindle purchase agreement standard… Amazon (to increase sales) or the government (going more technology “might” arrive)?

Lets do it, but lets do it wisely and most economically and efficiently.

By: lenedgerly

lenedgerly — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 13:07:22 +0000

Your cost estimate for an adapter and case seems low to me. The adapter costs $9.99 and the cheapest case (with no light) is $39.99. So that’s more like $50 per device than $20. It doesn’t change your overall total much – $1.6 million left for content, shipping, and other costs in the first year instead of $1.8 million.