I Love My Amazon Kindle

I am a bit of a gadget geek anyway. So when the Amazon Kindle came out I was wanting one. After having my appetite whet from seeing a review of the Sony electronic reader.

Once Oprah did her show about the Kindle I was hooked. Unfortunately they were sold out and remained that way until the introduction of the Kindle 2. For some reason the lack of instant gratification made me not jump on the Kindle waiting list band wagon.

So Once the Kindle 2 announcement came out, I immediately ordered one. This is where the love begins. I have always been a seeker of knowledge and truth. So having a huge collection of instant information at my finger tips was a no brain-er.

The Kindle 2 Can hold up to 2000 books. It charges quickly in 2 or 3 hours and with limited use the charge can hold up to 12 days.

The Kindle 2 uses a Sprint EVDO service called Whispernet. It connects instantly with no configuration and downloads full length books in 60 seconds. If you keep up with the Kindle website. There are many opportunities for free books and downloads. Plus you can get most bestsellers for 9.99$

One of the coolest features is that you can download the beginning of any book available for free. That gives us an opportunity to decide if it's worth purchasing or not.

Since you have the ability to carry 2000 titles with you in a lightweight portable device. You will never get bored. When you switch from one title to the other your place is automatically saved.

Did I mention there is a robot inside the Kindle. At least it's a robot voice. You can choose male or female. Let's say you are reading Peter Schiff's latest book. And you can't put it down because you realize "Oh My Gosh", he was right all along.

But you have to pick up little Sabrina from her Ballet lesson. No problem, just turn on voice to text, and the Kindle robot (male or female, your choice), will read to you from wherever you left off. Then when you turn robot eunuch off. You will be on the page that he/she left off on.

Another awesome advantage is no one will know what you are reading. That's right, I was reading "Dreams From My Father", at the RNC. That was also me discreetly browsing Ann Coulter's latest book, while hanging out at the black lesbian BBQ in San Francisco, which my cousin took me to.

No one need know what goes on in your head or your Kindle. Another handy feature is the built in dictionary. If you come across a word that you would like a little clarification on, just scroll to the word, for an instant definition, if you hit enter you will get a thorough definition.

I could go on like this all day. But I think you get the point, that the Kindle 2 really is a lovable device.

Amazon's Kindle 2 is slimmer, sleeker, has a longer battery life and now has an improved keyboard, making it easier to flip pages with a touch of a button. This makes the new Kindle a better device than its predecessor, the Kindle 1.

Despite these new features that enables the Kindle 2 to convert some traditional book buyers, K2's biggest competition comes from the Sony e-book reader. There are also other competitors yet to come, like the Plastic Logic. It, too, is also planning to release its own version of an e-book reading device.

Sony introduced in 2006 a device - its own e-book reader. This device utilizes the same E-ink electronic paper display that Kindle uses. Sony's device has more versions including a touch screen version and a non-touch screen one, a better design that has so far been appreciated.

Now that Kindle 2 has gone through technological improvements, it is to review about stacking up against the latest Sony Reader PRS-700BC. The most significant difference between the two e-book readers is the availability of wireless connectivity, or the lack of it.

The Amazon Kindle 2 does not have WiFi but it utilizes Sprint's EVDO wireless data network in searching and downloading books. In the case of Sony Reader users, they have to resort via USB cable to their computer.

After a one-time download of electronic book software, they can read through the online store using their Internet-connected PC and download to the Reader. It is such a burdensome procedure and it is one area where the Amazon Kindle has an advantage over the Sony Reader.

If we compare the Kindle 2 with the latest Sony Reader PRS-700BC, based on a feature comparison, the victor is the Kindle 2. The wireless connectivity and the web browsing feature made the Kindle 2 more powerful and the winner over its competition.

You will find in it a bigger e-book store available and the better screen makes it more convenient and easier for readers. The size of the Kindle 2 is 8" x "5.4" x "0.36 while that of the Sony Reader PRS-700BC is 5.1" x 6.7" x 0.40". As for the thickness, the K2 is 0.36" and that of the Sony Reader is 0.40". K2 weighs in at 10.2 oz and Sony weighs 10 oz (minus the soft cover).

The Kindle 2 has 6" display with no touch screen, 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 pixels per inch and a 16-level gray scale that offers better contrast. Sony has 6" touch screen display, 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 170 pixel per inch and 8-level gray scale. Kindle 2 2GB memory that supports about 1,500 e-books.

Sony Reader has 512 MB standard with expansion using Sony Memory Stick Duo Pro and SDHC card. Its standard storage stores about 350 books. Formats supported by Kindle 2 are the Kindle text, Audible, MP3, PDF, HTML and Images. As for Sony Reader, they are DRM, text, MP4, PDF, DOC and Images. The K2's price is $360, while Sony Reader is $400. K2's color is white, while the Sony Reader comes in silver, black and red.

The Kindle 2 turns out to be the winner based on these comparisons.

What is interesting about the Amazon's Kindle is that it is a "niche" product, a rare find in the electronic world. There are several other e-book readers, but not one can do what the Amazon Kindle does.

With reference to e-book readers that hook up with an online content delivery platform, the Kindle stands out. The retail price of $359 may be expensive for many, more so with a down economy. But since Amazon is smart enough to plan a low supply, this will create artificial demand for the product.

When it comes to content, Kindle is far from being ready for prime time. 230,000 e-books may sound a big amount, but this is far from enough. Amazon needs millions of titles to be ready for the spotlight. Amazon has sold 500,000 Kindles, an estimate based on Sprint Nextel data.

The DRM is a device that is locked up as the Kindle. A person had a few hundred bucks of content locked up in the Kindle. He thought he should buy a replacement Kindle. But to his dismay, there was no stock. With no option to view Kindle content on another device, owner has to choose between abandoning his device and buying a new Kindle.

Certainly, the Kindle is an interesting device, but having no competition, big changes can now be slow and there is no guarantee for it to become a mass market device.

The specs of Amazon's Kindle are compared to those of the first Kindle, pointing out that Kindle 2 is 25 percent thinner, 20 percent faster, can store up to 1,500 books and has 25 percent longer battery life.

Among other improvements is the new whispersync technology. This allows Kindle e-readers to pause in their reading on one device and pick up where they left off on another device, and eventually on future wireless devices.

How does Kindle 2 compare with Kindle 1 (and the iPhone)? Kindle 2 is thinner, 25 percent thinner than an iPhone. Kindle 2 also is quicker because it turns the pages 20 percent faster. Kindle 2 is also longer lasting due to its 25 percent increase in battery life. The Kindle 2 has better display.

It has 16 shades of gray. The Kindle 2 has a bigger memory, being able to store up to 1,500 books. It also has a bigger vocabulary, with built-in 250,000 dictionaries. The Kindle 2 has better navigation with a 5-way joystick. As compared to Kindle 1, is more vocal, being able to read text aloud in a semi-robotic voice. K2 is also less accident prone. The page turn buttons are smaller and therefore harder to hit by mistake. Kindle 2 is more wired.

This is a new added whispersync technology. However, the available memory of Kindle 2 is limited to 1.4 Gigabytes. Unlike Kindle 1, Kindle 2 does not have a slot for SD memory cards. In order to promote the device, an author, Mr. Stephen King, wrote a novella called UR. This novella is available exclusively as a Kindle 2 download.