Hi all, This week's poll question is about the Amazon Kindle and its recent price drop. Discuss here what you think about this device, and, if you like, the poll results themselves. Thanks! Justin

I read a lot of e-books but 300-500 bucks is a little (a lot) steep for the convenience of not opening a laptop. Still, dandy little machines for those who have money to burn. Skip

If I wanted to read an ebook, I'd do it on my computer. Nothing in the world would induce me to use a Kindle because I am a reader. Because I'm spoiled. I am used to being able to buy a book and have that book forever. Or sell it to someone else if I don't like it. I am used to being able to lend my book to a friend. I guess you could lend your friend the Kindle but then they'd have your whole library. With a Kindle all your eggs are in one basket. Really, I prefer books made of paper. Preferably hardcover, although paperbacks are more portable for public transit or doctor's offices. If I forget a paperback on the bus it's not the end of the world. If it rains on my book when I'm reading it in the park, it can be dried out. I am used to having the books I put in my bookshelves stay there. So if I want to re-read it again in ten years I can. What happens when the Kindle is replaced? New and improved hardware version. Or when the hardware breaks down. Although there is a small pool of DRM free material for the Kindle, most Kindle books don't allow you to make back ups. So if anything happens to the machine.... Poof. Bye bye library. Books exist for the benefit of the reader. The kindle exists for the benefit of the publisher. If I had a kindle, I would be angry if I picked it up to finish the book I was reading -- only to discover that the book had been erased from the Kindle by HQ because there were copyright problems. Very Angry. Furious even. Think I'll stick to books.

Hi, the Kindle is a nice gadget and doesn't try to be all things to all people--something that is key in developing successful tech gadgets. Dropping the price of the Kindle 2 within 5 months of launch is not the best product launch strategy. Why? You punish the early adopters who paid full price and who help generate the most buzz for the product. Furthermore, potential customers learn to delay their future purchases of Amazon's products by 5 months in anticipation of a price drop. It's almost as if suddenly Amazon woke-up and decided that market share and penetration was more important than maximizing profit margin. That pricing strategy is something the product management team should have decided from the start, rather than less than half a year later. In my humble opinion, Oprah's endorsement did more for Kindle sales than any other marketing attempts. Nonetheless, there's precedent for such bad corporate behavior...namely the iPhone pricing debacle. See Job's mea culpa open letter to customers (http://www.apple.com/hotnews/openiphoneletter/). I would advise Amazon to do some sort of 'make-good' for the pricing difference to the initial install base. For example, issue Amazon credits for the price difference to the entire install base. That would make for satisfied customers and perhaps make Amazon management think twice on pricing strategy before product launch.