- Monday, 9 November 2009
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Speed comes at a price - Bob Colwell, former chief architect at Intel
Kindle 2 launched
AMAZON'S KINDLE 2 has now been made available for pre-order on Amazon.com. The updated mobile library will apparently ship on February 24th and current Kindle owners will have priority over newcomers. Anyone who has been waiting patiently for an original device will automagically be upgraded to the new version.
Features of the new device, which is just over 1/3 of an inch thick and weighs 10.2 ounces, include what the company reckons to be an improved display with no less than 16 shades of grey, 25 per cent longer battery life, more storage (up to 1,500 books) and 20 per cent faster page turns.
Over 230,000 books are currently available and Amazon says it has cut the price of a number of titles, with new releases and New York Yimes Best Sellers going for just $9.99.
The much-rumoured 'exclusive' Stephen King-penned tome turns out to be a novella entitled UR, which is all about a novellist who buys... erm, a Kindle. Shame on you Mr King.
There's still no news on when the $359 reader might hit UK shores [or even stores - Ed] but oddly, you can buy Kindle accessories on amazon.co.uk... or a Sony Reader, of course. µ
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I honestly don't understand why people are so ga-ga over this technology. I've seen and handled the Kindle and it is a poor substitute for a light-weight netbook or tablet with color capability, and at a similar cost. It's like watching a black and white plasma tv - who would want to do that when there's color alternatives? We don't live in a black and white world.
On the other hand, people like the size and feel of books, and although I'm not an avid reader, I'm sure books will not go away any time soon. Movies and television, in color I might add, haven't replaced the stage, because they each are different mediums.
I enjoy occasionally reading ebooks and other downloadable documents on a portable, light-weight computer. This includes newspapers like the NY Times, even the Times has color.
I don't understand why anyone would want to buy a B&W tablet to read a book. Even books and magazines are in color today. When Kindle 3 or 4 or 5 arrives with color, I might reconsider.
That doesn't technically count as reading. If you really like to read, than the Kindle is made for you.
If you like to turn the pages and look at advertisements, then you're probably not a reader and should stick to magazines for non-readers.
(I was going to be witty and suggest a non-reader magazine, but since I'm not familiar with that crap, I'm not able to)
I would personally snap one of these up in a heartbeat, I buy around 5-10 books a month (real books, you know, with printed words in them) so it would pay for itself reasonably quickly.
However until they are willing to support countries other than the USA I am left turning pages by hand and risking serious paper cuts.
i guess you don't read much to notice that books are in BW mostly. there is no need for color in his device.