My Kindle 2 is Pre-Ordered

peterwknox:

marc:

The news with my comments.

Say Hello to The New Kindle

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines (Very nice.)

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback (Very nice.)

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots (Isn’t really news.)

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required (Isn’t really news.)

Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images (Nice.)

Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging (Very nice.)

More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books (Meh. Storage was fine on v1.)

Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns (Woohoo! The best reason to buy or upgrade in my opinion.)

Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you (Good idea. But, the voice hurts like nails on a chalkboard. That said, I will be interested to see how this improves over time.)

Large Selection: Over 230,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available (Isn’t really news.)

Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise (Isn’t really news.)

They left out one other new feature:

Integrated power and USB: You can now use a single cord to charge your Kindle from a power outlet or connect it to a USB port for charging and file transfer. (Nice.)

Overall, a solid evolutionary upgrade for the Kindle. But, I think price will still be the deciding factor for many people.

The Kindle is still $360, which is pricey. But, you now have to shell out another $30 for a case if you want one, where v1 came with a (crappy) case. (This is taking a page from Apple’s iPod playbook.) So, a Kindle with case is now $390. That’s steep and will hinder mass adoption. I think it will be v3 or v4 before the Kindle gets cheap enough to go truly mass.

And this is what’s happening with the Kindle. Well put.

I don’t care what features Amazon adds, I will never buy into the Kindle.

Does it smell awesome and musty? Can you try to underline passages on the subway and mess up everytime the train slows down? Can you check out cute, bookish girls while browsing through lists of eBooks?

For $350 you could go to Half Priced Books and easily leave with 400-500 used paperbacks. How much more would I rather have floor to ceiling bookcases filled to maximum capacity with awesome books than a sterile, white tablet on my night stand?

Posted on February 9, 2009 at 4:07pm with 13 notes and was reblogged from Peter W. Knox

Post Notes

  1. dek-says-so reblogged this from how-to-kiss-distinctly-american and added:
    I could never read on a book on a kindle. Same reason I can’t listen to audio books. I would no longer feel involved in...
  2. how-to-kiss-distinctly-american reblogged this from ericnelson and added:
    balltillifall:peterwknox:marc:...My reasons for not getting one (other than the $400...
  3. ericnelson reblogged this from balltillifall and added:
    My thoughts exactly.
  4. balltillifall reblogged this from peterwknox and added:
    I don’t care what features Amazon adds, I will never buy into the Kindle. Does it smell awesome and musty? Can you try...
  5. peterwknox reblogged this from marc and added:
    And this is what’s happening with the Kindle. Well put.
  6. marc posted this