BooksForKidsBlog

Monday, November 19, 2007

New Way to Read! The Amazon Kindle Debuts

I'm not exactly an early adopter, but the Amazon Kindle sounds like an idea whose time has come to me. Amazon's version of the e-book has one non-hardware feature that is appealing: there's no monthly fee or service contract. Books downloaded through Amazon's service are competitively priced--bestsellers at $9.99 (with older books presumably cheaper, one would hope). Many periodicals such as Newsweek or the Wall Street Journal and popular blogs would also be available.

Downloads are said to be very swift, approximately one minute per. As a nod to us old librarians, the Kindle comes with the complete Oxford English Dictionary (hur-ray for the OED!) and access to Wikipedia. This little marvel will sell for $399, which is pricey, but if you figure you'll save $10 to $15 per book purchase, it'll pay for itself after you download 25-40 volumes. The device is said to hold about 200 titles. No information is out on the price of individual periodicals, but, hey, when you're done with them, you don't have to take them to the recycling center. Wah-hoo! Trees are rejoicing all over!

A full review and links to more photos and more technical information can be found here.

3 Comments:

  • I felt on the fence about this item in some respects, especially the price, but I like the idea of having 200 books available at any one time. I wonder if, as time goes on, they'll make downloading of picture books viable.

    Right now I don't suspect they will, but having 200 picture books on hand for long car rides would be more appealing to me than packing a few jumbo sized Richard Scarry omnibus type items and the portable DVD player.

    If only I could figure out how to find an early adopter who was dissatisfied enough to sell his/her Kindle at a great loss....

    By Blogger The Critic, at 1:38 PM  

  • Find two and send one to me.

    By Blogger GTC, at 10:43 PM  

  • Thanks for the amazing article..!!

    Amazon Books Kindle Coupons

    By Blogger Sarah Johnson, at 10:43 AM  

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