The Kindle 2 Arrives (Part 1)
With the arrival of the Kindle 2 Amazon has introduced an improved version of their e-reader that continues to provide a great reading experience for users looking to enter the e-book reader market. For those new to the Kindle, just placing your Kindle order creates your account that makes the set-up very simple when it arrives. The first edition of Kindle came with a leather case but you’ll need to spend an additional $29.95 to get a standard case this time. With that said the new case provides a nice fit and folds nicely behind the Kindle for easy reading. Following Apple’s passion for product packaging, the Kindle arrives in a custom box and the opening is an experience itself. Compared to the original Kindle that looked more like the a boxy stealth aircraft the Kindle 2 looks smooth and considerably more uniform with rounded corners and updated navigation button placements. The interface is straightforward and easy to learn for even the novice.
Setup for the Kindle requires little effort. It immediately syncs with your Amazon account when powered on. While new Kindle users may find themselves initially pressing the screen if they have an iPhone it doesn’t take long to break that habit. And after reading the token letter from Jeff Bezos you’re ready to start purchasing to your heart’s content. The process of finding and purchasing a book is very simple and some probably consider it too simple. If you’re interested in loading your own documents into your Kindle you’ll need to convert them.
Amazon provides two simple ways to convert files (HTML, MS Word Docs, Text, or Adobe PDF) for your Kindle. With every Kindle you get an email address (yourname [at] kindle [dot] com). If you have a document you want to put on your Kindle, just email it to yourself and for a small fee ($.10) they will send it to your device. For the free conversion, you can email it to yourname [at] free [dot] kindle [dot] com but you will be required to download the file and add it via a computer.
In the next installment we'll visit the user interface in more detail as well as real world usage. Here's a view of the Kindle text-to-speech system:
Discussion Topics
- Review of Hyperion 968
- Magico Ultimate II Horn Loudspeaker- Following A Dream- Tom Martin
- What is it about B&W speakers (and Rotel electronics) that they are sold in so many stores ?
Speakers
- Repurposing The Beatles; "Love" & Cirque du So
- The Beatles Remasters on Vinyl
Music - Rock/Pop Reissues
- Integrated Amplifiers...which one & how to choose
- Need Recommendations for new Audio/HT setup
Comments
Is the screen much better?
It could have been a fantastic instrument for a writer, journalist or any one in need of combined use of personal writing and documents and reading, but unfortunately Kindle only want to make use of already written material and hopefully will pay royalty for any downloaded copyrighted material.
I am sorry Kindle misses an obvious opportunity to make a perfectly usable tool for 'writing and documenting' people.
I hope Kindle 3 will open up the possibilities.
Books are still best when they are read as books, but as a convenient notebook for travellers far away books and libraries it could sometimes it could have proven a major step ahead- now its still a few steps behind- and the color screen is still missing
Kind regards Arthur Krasilnikoff
Post new comment