Scratch one skeptic off the board. The latest version of Kindle is a thing of beauty. It’s sleek, and the navigation has been significantly improved. No need to reach behind to turn it off; that control is now on top. It is slimmer, smoother, sleeker, and I have yet to inadvertently either page forward or backward. Another plus—which also was a part of Kindle 1.0—is that you can increase type size (and how many times have I had my book, but not my readers?).
We’ve all read from paper all our lives, so how do we adjust to a paper-like electronic screen. Well, we’ve read paper books and magazines (which Kindle offers, too, along with blogs) most of our lives. But we all, or most of us, read extensively from computer screens, too; reading electronically is not new by a long shot, and reading from Kindle is far superior to reading from a computer monitor.
Most Kindle books are $9.99 and can be purchased wirelessly and quickly over what Amazon calls Whispernet, which is Sprint’s EVDO wireless connection imbedded in its many phones. When Amazon says you can get a book in seconds, it’s true. I downloaded my first book—a collection of short stories by Amy Hempel, which I highly recommend by the way—almost before I knew I had started the download.
Last, a controversial feature exists where a computer-sounding voice can read the book to you, which I think is ingenious. It may sound slightly funky, but it works. (Recently Amazon entered into an agreement with the Author’s Guild such that it will not make the books audible unless the author consents.)
It may or may not be the iPod of books, but I believe Kindle represents the way many of us will be reading over the next eight to ten years, if not sooner.
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Article comments
1 - Tinu
I. Am SO. Jealous. My next toy will be a Kindle, it solves my pack rat problem -- I buy and read three books a week, rich or poor. What am I supposed to do with all those precious books every few weeks when I need to move? Sell my darling babies? Uh, NO. LOL, now I can have them with me forever. My. Preeeeecious.