Kindle 2 and E-Books: Looking Ahead

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Details about the Kindle 2 are finally out, with the unveiling this morning in New York City.  The Publishers Weekly website carries a brief article with the essential details.  The new model offers a number of improvements, but nothing truly revolutionary.  I was myself expecting a tradebook size Kindle, but research over the weekend suggests that Amazon is running into such huge resistance from textbook publishers that this project has been shelved.

Meanwhile my friend David Lyons tells me that once you’ve tried the Kindle you won’t turn back.  He carries his everywhere — and it’s packed with all the latest books he wants to read.  The Kindle 2 makes it even easier to carry — thinner and a smidgen lighter — yet its storage capacity has been increased significantly and battery life extended to two weeks without a charge.

While the world may today be atwitter about the new Kindle just unveiled by Amazon, even greater things are in the near-term future.

ZDnet posted an enticing video report on its site in late January.   When you visit the site, you might also wish to see the imminent future of Sticky Notes, to be called Quickies.

The Used Book Blog last Saturday wrote a provocative piece about the likely turf war between the Amazon Kindle and Google Books.  Google, in a shot across Amazon’s bow, released last week at new ebook application for the iPhone which brings 1.5 million public domain books within reach of a huge user base — no additional hardware needed.  The blog also postulates that Google will eventually find a way to attract newly published books into its fold.

For a demo of the iPhone ebook reader, just check in our VIDEO FOR WRITERS box in the sidebar for Chris Parillo’s videocast.  It’s truly amazing.

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    Comment by
    Scott Cheatham
    9 Feb 2009

    This is good for ebooks in general. Since I've purchased my Sony Reader, I've not purchased but a handful of print books (ones that were not readily available for download). I've also been selling off my print books to downsize and then repurchase the ones I truly want to keep in ebook format (i.e. Getting Things Done by David Allen).

    I elected to go with the Sony Reader for a number of reasons and haven't regretted my purchase.

    Comment by
    tomcolvin
    9 Feb 2009

    Scott, I'm intrigued that you went with Sony Reader, since all the hype is
    going to Kindle. Could you share the reasons for your choice?

    I fully agree with your downsizing objective. But doesn't that mean Kindle
    might be better, since new books seem to be so much more easily accessible
    from Amazon?

Sorry, comments are closed.