Posted on 02/24/2009 4:33:55 AM PST by devane617
Amazon.com on Monday began shipping its Kindle 2 e-book reader a day earlier than originally planned. Amazon said Monday that Kindle 2, introduced two weeks ago for preordering, is already the number-one seller on its Electronics Web site. Amazon unveiled the second version of the Kindle on Feb. 6 at an event in New York that featured Amazon Chairman, CEO and founder Jeff Bezos and best-selling fiction writer Stephen King, who wrote a novella called "Ur" exclusively for the Kindle to mark the launch. The first version of the Kindle had been out of stock since November, its sales bolstered by an October endorsement from U.S. talk-show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey. Amazon originally unveiled the Kindle in November 2007. With the Kindle, Amazon hopes to change the publishing industry and the way people read books the same way Apple changed the music industry and the way people listen to music with the iPod. Kindle 2 costs US$359, the same price as the first version, but Amazon has made changes to it to make it more user-friendly. Kindle 2 is slimmer than its predecessor and features 3G wireless for faster e-book downloads. It also has 2GB of memory, which allows it to store more than 1,500 books, whereas the original Kindle could store only 200 books. The battery life also is 25 percent longer than the previous version. Other enhancements to Kindle 2 are a text-to-speech feature that allows the device to read aloud to users and a built-in 250,000-word dictionary so users can automatically look up words using a five-way navigational button with which the new device is equipped.
(Excerpt) Read more at pcworld.com ...
Received notice that mine is on the way....
Yahhhhhoooooo
I saw this on CNBC yesterday and I’m interested but have some questions. Where is 3G wireless available and do you need to subscribe to a service to use it? How easy is the text to read? Can you resize it? How much does it cost to download a book? Can you get older books or only new releases?
Anyone with experience with these things, your comments would be most welcome!
I love having a real book in my hand. I would miss the art on the covers of my Sci-Fi books, and I would miss going to the Half-Price books store to explore the old $0.10 Dell Sci-Fi books. The kindle may make sense, but not for me.
“Accdg to Fox&Friends report this morning, the e-book will cost around $9.95, whereas the hard copy typically costs around $27.00.:
Unless it’s somerthing I REALLY want to own, I get my books free (except the taxes I pay) from the library. And I don’t pay $359 for a “reader.” I already have those.
Yea, but I can buy it used for $3.50 two weeks after release, read it, give it to my friend, she will give it to her neighbor, etc., etc. They should sell it for MUCH cheaper than $9.95 (I doubt this number).
For those of us who'd rather starve the looter economy out of existence, there's the library, where the hard copy is free, and if they don't have it they know where to borrow it, also free, via inter-library loan system.
Interesting thought, what is the difference between a new and a used e-book? Wouldn't that be more like a "bootlegged" copy?
The price quoted seems a bit on the high side but that would inevitably come down with competition. To be using a "text to speech" feature seems to be at odds with "reading a book" and most speech software sounds like a drunken Swede! A word or phrase search feature would be a nice touch though.
Regards,
GtG
I’ve gotten into audiobooks because my eyes get so tired from reading and they are great for long trips. I check out the CD’s from the library (there’s a very good selection) for free and convert them to mp3’s to load to my Samsung Helix (Portable XM Radio). I bought the satellite headphones so when I’m out walking I can switch from books to XM, depending on my mood. I walk about an hour a day so it works great.
The point is, I get books for free. I have to wait for new ones to get to the library but there are plenty to listen to while I wait. I’m currently going through the James Patterson books.
“Bootlegged” copy? It is not “bootlegged” unless you reproduce it. It is not illegal to resell an original book, or music. It is illegal to rip a copy and reproduce it. The kindle opens the door for copyright infringement. It is only a matter of time before hackers start ripping copies of electronic books and reselling them.
It's like a cell phone, I can download anywhere
How easy is the text to read?
Very easy
Can you resize it?
Yup
How much does it cost to download a book?
Usually about $9.99
Can you get older books or only new releases?
You'll have to look on their web site for what you want.
LOL!
Yeah, my “readers” cost $9 at Walgreens.
Gee... I’m sure you will put Amazon right out of business...
As a college professor, I both love and hate this idea. No more having to run back to the office or home for the right book. But the prospecct of not having a cluttered office full of books is......unnerving.
Pretty much anywhere there's a 3G cell phone signal; no.
How easy is the text to read?
Supposedly very easy. It's not a standard LCD screen like a laptop, it's an "electronic ink" that is MUCH easier on the eyes.
Can you resize it?
Yes.
How much does it cost to download a book?
Depends on the book. Most are about $10, others are higher in the low $20s, still others are just $1 or $2 and there is no shortage or free books all over the internet.
Can you get older books or only new releases?
Pretty much anything that's been converted to a Kindle format, PDF format, or .mobi format can be viewed on the Kindle.
Poke around Google and Amazon's website. They answer the vast majority of the questions out there. Right now the info on Kindle 2 is more limited since no one really has them in-hand yet. It's a fascinating bit of technology, though.
One caveat to the original poster's complaint of sharing books, technically you can, though not in the traditional way. If you and your spouse, for instance, each have a Kindle, then you can attach each other to the same Kindle account at Amazon.com. This means, any books that either of you purchase for download will be stored as "purchased" to that account, so both of you can download and read it. I believe the limit is 6 Kindles on one account. Anything not purchased on Amazon (i.e. the PDF and .mobi files) that you can download all over the internet, can be stored on your computer's hard drive and transferred to as many Kindles as you like.
My wife's Kindle 2 will be here in a few days, so hopefully I'll be able to give a more first-hand report on what it's like!
I have the Kindle 1 and I love it. You can download anywhere - 3G wireless (which they call “Whispernet”) is available just about anywhere and incredibly fast.
You can get older books, either from Amazon or from a number of other sites that digitize books. Some of them are free, btw, and older books (such as classics) at Amazon generally range from $1.99-3.99.
Everything you buy from Amazon is stored on-line in your digital library, so after you delete it from your device, you can always go back and download it again if you want to reread it.
I've never been in a location where I couldn't get a signal but I've never strayed too far from a metro area with it. The connection has no monthly charge, it's included in the price. There has been some chatter that it may not stay that way but that's been going on since the first one came out. Parenthetically there is a (crude) web browser and it can be used to surf, albeit not easily. I do use it to check web mail.
Text can easily be resized. I'm in the minority but I think it could use more contrast but by no means is it hard to read.
New releases from Amazon are about the cost of buying a paperback and e-versions are spotty. Personally I prefer older stuff and almost all of it is in the public domain. I've just finished re-reading all the old E.R. Burroughs stuff which I probably wouldn't have paid for but I sure did enjoy. There are many sources for e-books, my personal favorite is Baen and FictionWise, that have content available for free or for very low cost.
The latter is funny; you buy some micropay credits and then they have a bunch of content that's free with micropay so I haven't depleted my original balance.
Bottom line is that it's a highly personal thing and you really need to get your hands to know if you'll like it but it's hard to get your hands on one so there's a leap of faith involved. I can't say that I'm a huge fan of the format; there's something about a book that I still like more, but with the content I like I must say that I'm reading more than I did before it.
Just my opinion, I could be wrong....
Your image evocation exceeds even your reputation, wizard!
3G is hit and miss — even in big cities. I live in one of the nations largest metro areas, and in spots have no 3G connection. If you drive 30 miles out of the metro there is NO 3G service. If you live in a rural area, it may not work.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.