A quick test of the Kindle store

I'm trying this as I write this, with no idea of how it will come out. I'm playing by my own rules, which are: I'm going to think of books I've either already purchased or have or are seriously considered purchasing, FIRST. Then I'll see whether they're available and if the price is the promised $9.99. In other words, finding out what percentage of the stuff I want is available... as opposed to asking whether a collection of (supposedly) eighty thousand titles might have something that I want.

#1. Moshe Milevsky, "The Calculus of Retirement Income." It's there, but it costs $36, same as the hard-cover edition. Strike one.

#2. Barbara Kingsolver, "Prodigal Summer." Available for $8.76. Good!

#3. Nicholas Taleb, "The Black Swan." Available, for $9.99. Good!

#4. Roger G. Ibbotson et. al, "Lifetime Financial Advice: Human Capital, Asset Allocation, and Insurance." "Your search " ibbotson" did not match any products in: Kindle Store," "Your search "lifetime financial advice" did not match any products in: Kindle Store." Strike two.

#5. Arnaldur Indridason, "SIlence of the Grave." "Your search "Arnaldur Indridason" did not match any products in: Kindle Store." Strike three, but let's keep on going for a while, particularly since they did have Kingsolver.

#6. Bill Geist, "Way Off the Road: Discovering the Peculiar Charms of Small Town America." $9.99. Good!

Let's try a few Oprah's Book Club selections:

#7. Alan Paton, "Cry, the Beloved Country." $5.95. Good!

#8. Jeffrey Eugenides, "Middlesex." $9.00. Good!

Last time I tried that a few years ago, only 6 of Oprah's 44 were available in any format, and no more than three in any single format, IIRC. When I have time I should see how many of Oprah's titles are available for the Kindle.

#9. Atul Gawande's new book, don't know the title... "Better" by Atul Gawande, $9.99. Good! (But they don't seem to have "Complications," his earlier book).

Let's try a public domain classic...

#10. Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner, "The Gilded Age," $2.39. Good! 

I'm impressed. Yeah, I know what I've said about DRM, and heaven only knows what the native format is, but at least it meets what I think is necessary for success: good title availability, and pricing which, while I wouldn't quite consider it to be "good" or "fair," is at least not exorbitant. 

(To be fair, I haven't given Sony's eBookstore the same test).

This thing could succeed. At least it's not predestined for failure. I'm not going to ask my wife to buy one for me, at least not for a year or so, but she's currently flying every couple of weeks or so and if she asks _me_ to get her one I'll probably cave on the DRM issue.

No Harry Potter, but that was to be expected. (Nine books _about_ Harry Potter, including a parody, and a book entitled If Harry Potter Ran General Electric by Tom Morris...)


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