Matthew Wayne Selznick

The Kindle, Amazon.com’s e-book reading device, will be available in a new, updated second edition, Kindle 2, on February 24, 2009.

Kindle 2 Pricing

Kindle 2 is priced the same as the old: $359.00. Improvements include longer battery life, better e-ink resolution (four times better than the original Kindle), capacity to hold up to 1,500 books (over seven times more than the original Kindle) and 25% better battery life (up to two weeks with wireless turned off.) The device is just over a third of an inch thick and weighs about the same as a magazine, but at eight inches high and over five inches wide it seems like it might be a little bulky to handle.

Multiple E-book Formats

Kindle 2 isn’t restricted to its proprietary, digital-rights-management-laden e-book format. You can also read .txt, unprotected Mobipocket (.mobi, .prc), Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) and .html / .htm files. Utilizing any of the many file conversion utilities available, this means you can use Kindle 2 as an e-book reader and never actually use Amazon.com’s proprietary e-books if you don’t want to.

Read To Me

Kindle 2 has a new text-to-speech feature that Amazon calls “experimental.” This allows users to essentially transform an e-book into an audiobook, and according to Amazon.com allows the user begin listening right where they left off reading in a book, which sounds neat. The “experimental” tag makes me wonder about the quality of the text-to-speech voices. I’d love to hear a sample.

Built-In Dictionary; Copy / Paste

“The New Oxford American Dictionary” is included in Kindle 2, which integrates definition searches with any other Kindle e-book on the device. The dictionary is from 2005, near as I can tell, but that’s still decent — I know all the dictionaries in my house are much older than that..!

Kindle 2 has clipping, bookmarking and note-taking enabled, but I’m not sure if this applies only to Kindle-format e-books or to anything on the device. Notes and clips can be transferred to a computer, which is close to the copy / paste feature iPhone / iPod Touch users have been begging for.

Music and Podcasts

Kindle 2 has another “experimental” feature — the ability to transfer MP3 files from your computer. This makes it more than an e-book reader… it’s also a music, podcast and podiobook player. This will eat up the 1.4 gigabytes of storage pretty quickly, of course. Another limitation that will hopefully be fixed in a a software update: MP3 files are only playable in the order that they are transferred. Still, this is a handy feature that brings Kindle 2 closer to being an all-media device.

Web Access

Kindle 2 has a limited, basic web browser that supports javascript but does not support flash and other multimedia. I’m intrigued by this feature. I read the Kindle 2 user manual, but I couldn’t find anything to indicate that web access is covered by the free WhisperNet wireless network or not. If it is free, then this potentially adds free access (anywhere there’s a signal) to your web-based e-mail, instant messaging and services like Twitter. If services like Google Docs work with the Kindle, add access to a word processor! That’s very compelling, and if anyone with an original Kindle or Kindle 2 can confirm this, please do so in the comments.

Is Kindle 2 Worth It?

Kindle 2 is more expensive than the iPod Touch 8 GB and not much less expensive than the Sony Reader. The Sony Reader, is, of course, a dedicated e-book reader, but the iPod Touch is widely used as an e-book reader thanks to e-book applications. Is Kindle 2 worth it?

We’re talking about reading devices, so screen size and readability is important. Kindle 2’s screen size measures six inches diagonally with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels and 16 shades of gray. The Sony Reader’s screen is the same size, but with only 8 shades of gray. Both use e-ink technology for an “almost like words on paper” appearance. The iPod Touch has a full color screen, but it’s only 3.5 inches with a resolution of 480 x 320 pixels.

Portability is probably Kindle 2’s biggest asset — the Sony Reader requires physical connection to a computer and the iPod Touch requires a wifi network connection to transfer content. Kindle 2’s WhisperNet is a Sprint 3G wireless network and near as I can tell, the cost for using it is built into the books, magazines and blog subscriptions you purchase for Kindle 2… and you can still transfer content directly from your computer via USB connection.

The Sony Reader has expandable storage with flash memory cards, and the iPod Touch has them both beat with 8 gigabytes of storage built in. On the other hand, Kindle 2 backs up your content to your personal account at Amazon.com. There are pros and cons there, too, of course: Amazon.com has a reputation for stability, but ultimately they have your data and that’s something that won’t sit well with everyone.

As with everything, it comes down to each user balancing what they want from the device with concessions they’re willing to make.

Need Something To Read On Your Kindle?

Several of my titles are available on the Amazon Kindle, and will work perfectly on your original Kindle or your brand new Kindle 2. Check out my books and short stories for the Amazon Kindle, with my thanks!

Your Thoughts On The Kindle

I’d love to hear from Kindle owners, both folks who own the original and those of you who have purchased (or plan on purchasing) Kindle 2. I am convinced that e-books will play a larger and larger role in publishing, so feedback from actual e-book device users is very important to me. Please post in the comments.

On the October 24 2008 episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show, the star-maker of mid-list authors herself announced a special discount on the Amazon Kindle.

If you order a Kindle before November 1st and use the coupon code Winfrey provides (see below), it will cost you $309.00 — fifty dollars off the regular price. I’ll grant you, it’s still a chunk of change, but if you’ve been wanting a Kindle, this is a pretty good deal — almost 15% off.

I have a dog in this fight, of course. If you purchase your Kindle through this link, I will receive a very small commission. To get your $50.00 off, when asked “Have any gift cards, gift certificates or promotional claim codes,” key in OPRAHWINFREY.

When you do buy your Kindle, may I gently suggest you make your first Kindle e-book purchase the delightful eighties teen superpowers coming of age book “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era.” It’s currently 20% off in the Amazon Kindle store — just $4.00! You’ll make this author very happy.

Folks, I’m looking specifically for feedback, here.

I am a staunch opponent of all forms of digital rights management (DRM) — the set of hardware and software restrictions that limit a user’s ability to truly own the electronic media they purchase and do whatever they want with it. Examples of DRM include the iTunes AAC format, the Windows WMA format, software licenses that “lease” software to you that you bought, and so on.

On the other hand, I’m committed to making my creativity available to my audience in as many formats as possible. I believe that you, the user, shouldn’t be limited in how you consume content. So I want to provide my content — specifically, in this case, “Brave Men Run — A Novel of the Sovereign Era” and its follow-up “Pilgrimage” — in a wide variety of ways.

So. Two platforms have come around in recent months: the Amazon Kindle, and the iPod Touch / iPhone. Both have proprietary solutions to providing content… this means that if you buy an e-book for your Kindle, you won’t be able to read it on your iPod, and so on. There are restrictions of use inherent in the delivery methods.

My gut (knee jerk?) reaction is to reject both platforms out of hand because of these restrictions. Today, though, a conversation with Mark Jeffrey led me to a little epiphany: perhaps it’s wrong for me to subject my audience to the peculiarities of my own position on these matters. It got me thinking: by keeping my content out of particular formats, aren’t I limiting the ways my audience can consume it? I may be defeating my own purpose and acting contrary to my own beliefs.

I’m kinda stuck. So I’m asking you: should I distribute my content in formats specifically for non-open platforms like the Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, and whatever else comes along? I want to hear your thoughts on this. Please comment here, on the blog — I appreciate feedback in the social media spaces like Twitter, but I really want to keep feedback here on the site, where I can brood over it all in one place.

One thing I should mention: no matter what you help me decide, I’ll always have “Brave Men Run” available in the no-DRM pay-what-it’s-worth format here on the site. Just so you know.

I look forward to hearing your opinions… and thanks in advance!