The Kindle 2

[cathyr19355]

The updated version of Amazon's e-book reader device, the Kindle 2 is out.

So far as I can tell from a quick look at the website, the major differences between it and the original Kindle are: 1) it's thinner (only 1/3 of an inch!!!); it can talk to you (text to speech feature!); 3) longer battery life (by about 25%); and 4) a faster refresh rate (by about 20%).

And only $359.00!

Somehow, I think I'll continue to pass on e-books for awhile--for at least as long as new books on Kindle continue not to be price-competitive with paperback prices.

Comments

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you understood that I wasn't dissing the Kindle per se.

I was certainly expressing my belief that the Kindle isn't right for me (or, at least, not yet). However, I am trying to get my thoughts together about a blog entry in which I propose to try to examine who the Kindle is right for, and whether Amazon's apparent success with the Kindle (http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/08/despite-flaws-kindle-a-growing-success-for-amazon.ars) so far is sustainable.

I can see the benefits of having textbooks and other books a student must read for class on a Kindle, and it may well be that the student market will be a permanent market for such devices. On the other hand, your description of annotating books on your Kindle suggests, to me, that an even better idea might be a notebook computer with Kindle capabilities (or that is Kindle-compatible, at least), so that the student can have the annotated books, *and* his or her related notes/term papers/other works, etc. all on the same machine.

One might also ask why the Sony reader hasn't had comparable success, but I think I can guess the answer to that; Amazon cleverly has arranged to market not just the Kindle, but a large supply of downloadable books for it, adding a convenience factor that the Sony lacks. We'll see if that "tying" strategy continues to work over time.

[brandyeileen.livejournal.com]

A Kindle owner can pay a small fee and email almost any standard format document (.doc, .pdf, etc) to their Kindle email address and have it converted into Kindle format and sent to their Kindle. My problem with reading off computer screens would carry over to a notebook, frankly, and E-ink technology is why I would chose a Kindle over a notebook. It is possible to "dog-ear" and annotate pages in a Kindle e-book, in case you didn't know. Sadly, the textbook market has not caught up to the technology, yet, but I suspect it will shortly start moving that way. I suspect that part of the holdup is publishing company's greed not wanting to make Kindle format texts price competitive. However, like I said, as an upper division undergrad, most of what I read is non-fiction books and journal articles, anyway, and very few actual textbooks. I would think this will be similar in grad school, but I'm not there yet. ;)

Anyway, my point is that unless the document is in some weird format or a .xls or something not based on words, it is possible to have all of one's class related papers, annotated texts, and other notes on a Kindle.

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

Anyway, my point is that unless the document is in some weird format or a .xls or something not based on words, it is possible to have all of one's class related papers, annotated texts, and other notes on a Kindle.

That's an interesting point and one I was not aware of, thanks. Though I've seen the "keyboard" on a Kindle 1 and wouldn't want to have to use it for long bouts of typing. If I wanted a device to hold my books and notes for academic purposes, I'd want something I could easily write on as well.

That may just be me, however.

[brandyeileen.livejournal.com]

Eh, I prefer bigger keyboards but I do okay with long emails on my phone and it's keys are about the same size, from what I've seen of the Kindle 2 online. I know, for a fact however, that "those darn kids" can type a frakkin' thesis on tiny damn keys and not even think twice! ;)

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

Yes, they certainly can--though I wonder how many would fancy doing grad school work on one. :-)