Amazon kindle 2 Review…
By: M. JEFFREY MCMAHON “herculodge”
A romantic part of me that has a sentimental attachment to books, their worn-out tactile sensation, their curdling smells, their capacity to be a repository of memories, including margin scribbles and food stains, made me loath to turn my reading into a “digital experience.”
But sentimentality had to be thrown out the window when it was clear to me that my nearsightedness had made reading, even with prescription glasses, a more tiresome experience than ever. Secondly, my office is crammed with books and I fear that one more book will sink my house through its foundation and several hundred feet under landfill.
These considerations compelled me to get the Amazon kindle 2, an electronic book reader that is mostly successful in its objective to be a pleasurable, convenient electronic alternative to people who, for various reasons, are getting away from paper-and-glue manuscripts.
Grade for Amazon kindle 2′s Success at Achieving My Objectives: A
I find it far easer to read the Amazon kindle 2 than read books. I can with one touch increase the size of the script to make reading less straining on my eyes.
Also, the Amazon kindle 2 can store thousands of books so my goal to keep books out of my house should be doable.
Grade for Amazon kindle 2′s Ease of Use: A
It took me five minutes to learn four buttons: Home, Menu, Page Turning, and the 5-Way Controller for basic functions: accessing content, buying content, book-marking content, increasing font size, turning pages.
The Amazon kindle 2 beats printed paper manuscripts for both reading ease and page-turning. Even holding the Kindle is easier on the hands.
Note taking, highlighting select passages, audio settings have a longer learning curve, about a half hour of reading the Kindle’s User Guide.
The battery life is great so you can confidently read the Amazon kindle 2 all day during travel without worrying about plugging it into the included recharger.
I can download a book in five seconds from the Whisper Net anywhere in the United States. This is amazing. Proprietary publishing licensing, which differs from country to country, prevents Amazon from making the Kindle international.
One weakness is spacing. Sometimes there will be large hunks of space between two words, so there appears to be the occasional formatting glitch.
On the bottom left of the screen, the Amazon kindle 2 tells you what percentage of the manuscript you’ve read, so if you’re OCD you may find yourself peeking at “how far you’ve gone” more often than you want to.
Grade for Device Look and Layout: A
The device looked smaller than I expected, especially its thinness. It’s a handsome device, not too cluttered. Its aesthetic is spare, intelligent, and clean.
Grade as a Newspaper Substitute: C Plus or B Minus
I subscribed on a trial basis to the Los Angeles Times and cancelled soon. The Amazon kindle 2 cannot match the Internet version of the newspaper. Navigating through the different sections is easy enough, but without images, the experience is too austere. I think I might by a single newspaper if I was traveling but for a daily basis the newspaper experience is not compelling enough.
Price: B Minus
I’d like to see the Amazon kindle 2 half of its current cost, but I have to remind myself: Amazon does not charge you monthly fees for using its Whisper Net, so you’re paying more upfront.
Conclusion
It’s apparent that Amazon wants the Kindle 2 to be for books what the iPod is for music. The Kindle is a significant technological breakthrough that will indeed revolutionize the way we read.
On a personal note, the Amazon kindle 2 has helped me because I’m reading more now than I was when I was struggling with paper manuscripts. Amazon and I are both winners.
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