The Kindle 2.0 ebook reader has been unveiled. I admit begrudgingly, it has a more attractive and sleeker design that stops short of sexy. Business Week offers up their opinion on the device pointing out that the key element with the Kindle is “innovation.”
Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster who teaches at Stanford University, agrees. “The important thing about the Kindle is that it really is the first electronic book that works,” he says. “The hardware is adequate, but most importantly, this is not hardware—this is a service congealed into a piece of hardware.”
He continues: “It’s even more advanced than the iPod and the Apple (AAPL) store.” “The iPod was the total package; similarly the Kindle was the first e-book that really created the entire experience: the reader, the content, and the built-in link. Those are hugely important things.”
I guess it is but I’m glad I got a Sony Reader because the Kindle is not witout it’s limitations. But if this is the company to drive ebooks into the future, then I’m all for their success. Ebooks are the future.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I prefer a proper book I think.I see kindle 2 review is nice on http://www.2dayplaza.com/amazon-kindle-2-review/ Hope you will benefit.
Nope. Amazon has given us NO way to organize content on the K2. No tags, no folders, no SD card, no nothing. Can you imagine having a library of 1500 books (what the K2 allegedly will hold) and no way to organize them… and you can only see titles a dozen at a time? Oh, yeah — you can sort by author name… but Ray Bradbury is sometimes listed as Ray Bradbury, sometimes as Ray, Bradbury, sometimes Bradbury Ray and sometimes Bradbury, Ray. And you can’t even correct them to make it consistent. I’m sticking with my K1, where I can at least use SD cards to organize my stuff.
I have a Kindle 1 and may planning to get Kindle 2 but read the review from others. I will wait and see how it fan out. No SD slot
. I will keep my Kindle 1 for a while. I found a site that track kindle books (price drop). I use it and it works for me. Try it out http://www.zoolert.com/kindlemart/
Works for me. I don’t think the new Kindle has a tag system or does it? Anyway, I’m stuck with my Sony Reader and Calibre uses tags and that works great for me as well.
An hiearchal folder system is *not* the best way to organize books. A file can only be in one folder at a time. Does that describe book subjects?
What you want is a tag system. Then you can tag a book as New, Computers, and 4-Star, instead of being forced to put it in just one folder named for the subject.
Given a tag system, having all the files in one place is actually a benefit. (Where do new downloads go? Same place everything goes!)
The lack of an SD expansion slot seems like it might turn many folks off. However, with the USB 2.0 port, could this be overcome by simply plugging in an external SD card reader? Would this be a possibility? If so, it might make that downside fairly moot.
I had a Sony CLIE and I remember those Memory Sticks like it was yesterday. You’re right, they weren’t compatible with anything and I was force to upgrade to a Loox 720. All valid arguments against Sony as they have a graveyard of past gadgets with no support but aesthetically, Sony works for me and functionally, it does what I require, but wireless compatibility is among other things, something that Kindle has going against their competitor’s. Thanks for your feedback. Greatly appreciated.
Oh, yes — forgot one very important thing. I used to be a big Sony fan, but I got “stung” several times in the past by Sony’s strange and stubborn obsession with “uniqueness” (Beta, anyone? More recently, how about Sony’s “Stick” cards, that aren’t compatible with anyones cameras but theirs?) This aspect weighed heavily in my decision to “go Kindle.“
I, too, anguished for a long time over which one to get — the Kindle or the Sony. I “used” the Sony for a while (my friend has one) and found it OK. I don’t do much — if anything — with PDF files, so that aspect of a “reader” was not a consideration for me. I did find it irritating that with the Sony there were several “steps” involved in downloading reading material. Couldn’t do it on the “fly,” on a train, or a plane, or in a coffee house.
Other people I know have a Kindle (the original) and the downloading experience with that device was simply amazing. Fast, efficient, books and mags available from wherever you happen to be. What I hated about the first version Kindle were the long page turning buttons on each side of the device. Never once picked it up that I didn’t flip to a page I hadn’t intended navigating to. I see, however, that this flaw has been eliminated in the Kindle 2 — as has the stupid “wheel” used for navigation (replaced, I understand, by a “joy stick” that allows navigation in 4 directions — kind of like on my digital slr camera).
All things considered, I have ordered my Kindle 2. Whatever its limitations (I’m sure it will have some), Kindle is clearly at the forefront of this technology and it’s all too convenient and practical not to take advantage of.
That’s such a basic requirement that I was shocked to learn that it still doesn’t exist with the newer version. Amazing. No SD slot either, how does this make sense? Also, what I find amazing is that people are upgrading as if this is a device that is a replacable item every so many years.
Anyone looking for an e-reader should definitely get a Kindle, IMO. I have had my Kindle since June of 2008 and I never go anywhere without it. I love being able to download a book instantly, and even more, I love being able to read a free sample and then decide if I want it, and download it instantly. You don’t need to be in a Wi-Fi hotspot, or have a cable connected to your computer to download content. If you can get a cell phone signal, you can download books. Outstanding!
The only downside about the Kindle is that it does not have a folder system, so you can’t organize your content. This problem has been exascerbated with the Kindle 2. It has 7 times the onboard memory, but no SD card slot. So imagine if you had a library with 1500 books… but no way to organize it. And you could only see a dozen at a time. Yeah, kinda sucks. The K1 had an SD card slot, so big readers could put their content on the cards, and switch out cards. Not as good as a folder system, but better than nothing, which is what the K2 has.
I am so torn between getting the Kindle or the Sony — I want to get one this year but I just can’t figure out which one I want!!! LOL