Amazon.com: $ 17.13 Hardcover
Posted on 06/11/2012 1:49:59 PM PDT by Perdogg
The State Department is buying Amazon Kindle e-readers for nearly 3500% of their list price in a no-bid contract with the Internet retailer, according to government procurement records.
The total contract value is $16.5 million, and aims to fill libraries and other educational facilities around the world with the popular e-reader. The devices will have special translation features and will be able to receive information online directly from State.
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.heritage.org ...
Smart power.
Can they double as toilet seats?
No, but in My opinion the people that ordered them at that price can!
CC
Became a requirement, then off the shelf items are no longer valid. We don't know how much R&D went into the testing to enable the “special translation” or what, if any, encryption was required for the “information online directly from State”
Why are they doing this ? and how to stop them ?
Educational facilities around the world?
My head is spinning.
I am sitting here waiting for my Social Security check. Yes, I have paid into the system for years. Would take me over six months to pay for one of these "must have devices.
My Kindle (the original that was a hand-me-down from my wife) already does all that and is under $200. Smells like a sweetheart deal, as Amazon is run by lefties.
The price is so high because special features were built in to allow the State Department to send messages to the readers directly. Not necessarily a bad idea if you ask me.
Became a requirement, then off the shelf items are no longer valid. We don't know how much R&D went into the testing to enable the “special translation” or what, if any, encryption was required for the “information online directly from State”
Exactly. Also, the 24-7 support. According to this article (from the Atlantic - lib magazine, but the only site I've seen to report an actual State Dept response):
"We reached out to the State Department's Philippe Reines, who emailed to say that the department was getting the actual Kindle devices for 10 percent off retail price. The rest of the cost goes to cover the service and content-providing agreements in the department's four-year contract with Amazon."
So, looks like the bulk of the contract value is for the custom work & custom support. $16.5m still seems steep, but less so than if it was just for off-the-shelf devices.
” devices will have special translation features “ - The only book you can get on it is “Dreams of My Father”. ;)
Every amazon ereader has it's own email address. Just send the message to the existing email address.
Amazon.com: $ 17.13 Hardcover
Plus, developing the subliminal messaging that will be embedded in the display software was VERY expensive...
It won’t be long before the first one is “lost”. Left in a taxi cab or left on a table at Starbucks for the Russians to reverse engineer.
I’m having trouble finding details on the 2,500 unit purchase amount. The award refers to a maximum of $ 16,500,000 over 5 years and is for an unlimited quantity. The contract date is June 19, 2012 so I’m not sure any have been purchased yet. I went to the blog referenced and couldn’t find the source of the 2,500 units. I believe these are specially designed units that have additional capabilities so comparing to a street value is not apples and oranges. Any help on the source of the quantity (to be) purchased would be appreciated!
They're going to libraries, for crissake. What special features do they need for that?
For that kind of money, they ought to be preloaded with “Dreams From My Father”.
It’s all in the paperwork and the people doing it. You don’t expect just one government employee to handle all of that, now do you? Of course there’s shipping involved too. /sarc (had to put that in ‘cuz some people ..)
Was the company selling the e-readers owned by a large donor to the Obama campaign? Heads should roll at Foggy Bottom for this.
Well, my first thought was a microphone hooked to a decibal meter, that will automatically play a “shhhh” sound when it hits a certain noise threshhold.
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