amazonkindle2 - Gizmodo

posts about #amazonkindle2 more →
See Your Kindle Notes and Highlights From Your Browser
First Kindle 2 Firmware Update Available Now
Calibre Helps You Manage Your Extensive E-Book Collection
First Kindle 2 Destroyed, Showing Extended Warranty May Be Worth It
Why Kindle 2 Isn't a Big Step Forward For Voracious Readers
Sizemodo: The Kindle 2 vs Its Predecessor
Amazon Kindle 2 Event: Liveblog Archive
Amazon Preparing To Drop Kindle 2 On February 9?

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weatherman
05/26/09

In reply to See Your Kindle Notes and Highlights From Your Browser
Good move. I still want the ability to send clippings right from the Kindle, but this is an improvement.
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bosskev
03/19/09

In reply to First Kindle 2 Firmware Update Available Now

"...but it's the FIRRRRRRRRRSSST."

Ahem. Are you TRYING to bait the Facebookers, Adrian?
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weatherman
03/16/09

In reply to Calibre Helps You Manage Your Extensive E-Book Collection
Calibre is amazing software. The guy who created it is very active in the ebook community and he updates the software like crazy. Not only is it good at managing ebook collections and converting them from different formats into ones that you can use with your reader, it also takes news sites like the New York Times, Time Magazine and the Washington Post and wraps them all up and converts them into ebooks. And it works with Sony Readers, Kindles, and other lesser-known readers. Absolutely great software - I can't say enough good things about it.
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mdrbestok
03/16/09

In reply to Calibre Helps You Manage Your Extensive E-Book Collection
Use Calibre with a sony eReader and, maybe, some type of torrent site, and you may never need to buy a book again. Or so I've heard!
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bosskev
03/16/09

@mdrbestok: "...some type of torrent site, and you may never need to buy a book again."

Good one! Torrents sites! I mean, why should we ever pay authors for their creative efforts?

/bilious sarcasm
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Nick
03/16/09

In reply to Calibre Helps You Manage Your Extensive E-Book Collection
let's start calling it a bookshelf. or bookshelph.
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ilovexspin
03/16/09

In reply to Calibre Helps You Manage Your Extensive E-Book Collection
i prefer just no books
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MetallicaRat
03/16/09

@ilovexspin: American?
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Demonbird
03/16/09

@MetallicaRat:

Oh come on.

I'm an American and I can't read enough!
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-1-
02/25/09

In reply to First Kindle 2 Destroyed, Showing Extended Warranty May Be Worth It
Personally, I would have told Amazon that my Kindle showed up like this :/
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strider_mt2k
02/25/09

@-1-: Personal responsibility is so last century...
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loriensleafs
02/25/09

In reply to First Kindle 2 Destroyed, Showing Extended Warranty May Be Worth It
why are people always dropping their electronics? I don't think I've ever dropped one of my devices.
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resilient
02/25/09

@loriensleafs: out of excitement?
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
02/25/09

@resilient: Or resentment. I destroyed one of my cell phones after getting fed up with my calls constantly dropping...
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Pessimippopotamus
02/25/09

@loriensleafs: I've dropped a PS2 before. It's fine and dandy.
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lolgreg
02/11/09

In reply to Why Kindle 2 Isn't a Big Step Forward For Voracious Readers
Nicholas Cage is Nicholas Cage in Nicholas Cage
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Noobs-R-Us
02/09/09

In reply to Why Kindle 2 Isn't a Big Step Forward For Voracious Readers
You guys forgot to mention the most important thing they nicked, NO SD slot!!!!

So basically, you're stuck with 2GB.
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TheCrudMan
02/09/09

@Noobs-R-Us:

Oh no! Only 2GB!! That might be all well and good for my books but what about my videos and music....oh wait.
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Tiger-Fever
02/09/09

@TheCrudMan: The kindle can handle music, so yeah, it's probably not enough for the people who like to carry around 120gig iPods. Granted, they'll still be carrying around iPods, but once you take into account the space that's actually available to the user, you're looking at not at lot of space for those who like to listen to music and read at the same time.
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weatherman
02/09/09

In reply to Why Kindle 2 Isn't a Big Step Forward For Voracious Readers
You may some good points, but I think that you're giving too little credit to the improved screen. I could be wrong, but my understanding is that the screen used in the K1 is the same tech as the Sony Reader 500, which I own. That screen does not have as much contrast as the newer screens, and it suffers from more ghosting. I never owned a K1, but if this improvement is the same as the step-up between the Sony Reader 500 to 505, this is significant and many folks will find it worthwhile.

I'm not saying that most folks who already own a Kindle (or Sony Reader 505) are going to be rushing to jump on this device, but I do think the overall redesign and slightly improved features are going to get a lot of people off the fence who were intrigued but repulsed by the original Kindle.
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Wilson Rothman
02/09/09

@weatherman: I think you make some good points too, especially on the subject of contrast, but contrast was never really a big problem in the first Kindle, at least not for me. And from what I understand, the screen is the same as the one on the PRS-700, with which I am intimately familiar. Maybe it was all the other crap going on in that device, but I didn't find it to be enough of an improvement then, that's for sure.
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Wilson Rothman
02/09/09

@Noobs-R-Us: Great point. I will add that now.
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weatherman
02/09/09

@Wilson Rothman: yep - I think the PRS-700 has the same screen but they screwed it up by putting the touchscreen on top of it. Most folks who have a PRS-505 say that it has a better screen than the PRS-700, and that the PRS-700 is about the same as PRS-500 for contrast.

I haven't put my PRS-500 next to a Kindle to compare the screens, so I can't really say for sure. But I do know that the first Kindle was had 4 grayscale just like the 500 did, and that the Kindle 2 has 16 just like the 505.
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Pazu
02/09/09

In reply to Why Kindle 2 Isn't a Big Step Forward For Voracious Readers
Kindle will make a huge step forward when they finally sell this thing outside USA, even without 3G (but with USB sync).
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styrofoam
02/09/09

In reply to Why Kindle 2 Isn't a Big Step Forward For Voracious Readers
Does this Kindle have an SD slot like the K1?

I love my kindle. I don't know if the new one is worth the upgrade, but if I were waffling I'd totally be all over the new one.

People that dis the ereader because they can read on their Palm are really missing the point of eInk. If the Palm doesn't bother you, that's cool. But once you realize how nice it is to read on the eInk... it's a gamechanger.
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weatherman
02/09/09

@styrofoam: Nope, it seems to be missing the SD slot. Which is kinda stupid in my opinion, even if it does have 2GB of storage. I don't come anywhere near filling up the 80MB of my Sony Reader, but I like the idea that if I really got in to audio books on it, I'd be able to load it up.
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armendni
02/09/09

In reply to Why Kindle 2 Isn't a Big Step Forward For Voracious Readers
do you know how many books you can buy for $350!? and how many can you read at the exact same time?

was the first kindle a huge success??? Nope

will this be in every household in the US? Nope
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shorty63136
02/09/09

@armendni: I agree. I'm as big a gadget junkie as the next person, but I really have a thing for holding a book in my hand, turning the pages, etc. I have a couple of apps on m'iPhone for reading texts but nothing that I would use extensively.

I'd seriously just rather pick up a book.
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weatherman
02/09/09

@armendni: when the first iPod was introduced did you say to yourself "do you know how many cassette tapes I could buy for $400!?"

I didn't think so.

And just so's you know, the latest figures about the first Kindle suggest that it outsold Apple's original iPod. Between the two major ebook makers, Amazon and Sony, there are almost 1,000,000 people who own one so far. So was the first Kindle a success? I'd say it was. Will this be in every household in the US? I'd say it will, just give it a few years.
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sos10
02/09/09

@weatherman: you miss out the point that the books you can buy for $350 can also be sold again. Kindle "books" cannot.

One in every household? Never. The Kindle is nice for the few, but is only a gap filler, just wait until we get laptops with next gen displays.
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Gilbert Tang Jr.
02/09/09

In reply to Why Kindle 2 Isn't a Big Step Forward For Voracious Readers
I was upset about the charge for the file conversion process, but I found out they offer it for free as well, just not OTA. Basically, you email the file to Amazon (as usual), but to a "free" account that shoots the file back to your computer instead of direct to the Kindle. You then sync the file.

See:

Personal Documents

Kindle makes it easy to take your personal documents with you, eliminating the need to print. Each Kindle has a unique and customizable e-mail address. You can set your unique email address on your Manage Your Kindle page. This allows you and your approved contacts to e-mail Word, PDF documents, and pictures wirelessly to your Kindle for a small per document fee--currently only 10¢ per document. Kindle supports wireless delivery of unprotected Microsoft Word, PDF, HTML, TXT, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, PRC and MOBI files.

You can email your PDFs wirelessly to your Kindle. Due to PDF's fixed layout format, some complex PDF files may not format correctly on your Kindle.

If you are not in a wireless area or would like to avoid the fee, you can send attachments to "name"@free.kindle.com to be converted and e-mailed to your computer at the e-mail address associated with your Amazon.com account login. You can then transfer the document to your Kindle using your USB connection. For example, if your Kindle email address is Jay@Kindle.com, send your attachments to Jay@free.kindle.com.
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Marcelo
02/09/09

@Gilbert: The point is that you shouldn't have to rely on Amazon to convert stuff that every other damn machine can read without problem. The Kindle isn't an e-book reader, it's a delivery device for Amazon-sold e-books, and it makes users jump through all sorts of arbitrary hoops to discourage them from getting their books anywhere but at Amazon.

Why do I have to jump through so many hoops to view a PDF or a DOC file on my hardware for free? Send it to a special email address that then sends it to you computer that you then sync with the Kindle? Why not just read the damn format to begin with? That's insanity.
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Gilbert Tang Jr.
02/09/09

@Marcelo: In understand the point, kind sir. My point, however, which you may have missed, is that the article said the process bore a cost, which is only a half truth.

By the way, I own a PRS-505, which reads PDFs and DOCs natively and with reflow on the PDF side. For my needs it makes a lot of sense, as I read tons of PDFs on this thing. For readers who prefer a larger book catalog, having the capability to read the occasional PDF is more than enough.
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