Creative Chit-Chat

Amazon’s Kindle 2, the follow-up to Kindle, is a $359 electronic device for reading books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs. I saw the ad for Kindle 2 on Amazon’s home page in February and was interested in learning more. I had heard about electronic paper and e-ink in my first Graphic Communication class at Cal Poly in Fall 2006, and I was excited to see this technology enter the mainstream market. After realizing that I really missed getting lost in a good book and wanting to quench my thirst for having fancy new gadgets, I ultimately decided that I would buy Kindle 2 a week or two after it was released to read the customer reviews. Now that I have had my Kindle 2 for almost three months, I have my own review of this device, the technology it presents, and my overall satisfaction with the product.

Kindle 2, Amazon's second-generation electronic reading device.

Look and Feel

• Very thin and light; feels comfortable in my hands
• Clean off-white front and brushed metal back is attractive and unobtrusive
• Navigation buttons flush with body of device and not too loud when pressed
• Screen is slightly lower than body of device, which could invite small pieces of dirt and debris, but mine looks fine because I have a cover
• QWERTY keyboard buttons are big enough for me to type accurately and efficiently
• Joystick is easy to use but too slow for long lists of items to scroll through
• Images of famous authors that display when device is turned off is a nice touch and flaunts Kindle 2’s e-ink screen
• Screen contrast does seem too low and I do not believe there is a way to adjust this

Content Availability

• Third-party content is available for free, as well as free books that are offered in the Amazon store
• Two week free trials are available for all major newspapers, which are delivered automatically to Kindle 2 every morning
• Wide selection of books available for a fraction of the cost of the print version (many of the bestsellers are around $9.99)
• Books can be sampled with a free downloaded chapter
• So far, not many magazines and blogs are available for Kindle 2

Features

• Whispernet, Amazon’s form of wireless delivery, is very quick and convenient and can be turned off to conserve battery power
• Ability to look up words in the included dictionary while reading is useful
• Content can be searched and annotated
• Kindle 2 saves the last page you have read for every item on your device and shows a progress bar for every item

Experimental Features

• Web browser seems to be archaic and could only be useful for browsing basic internet pages like Wikipedia (Email is out of the question)
• Ability to put music files onto Kindle 2; this is a feature I have not yet toyed with but I am not sure I will feel the need to
• Text-to-Speech feature is decent; the speed of the voice can be adjusted and I can choose between male and female, but I don’t find myself wanting to use this feature due to the robotic voice that requires concentration just to understand

Readability

• E-ink display is easy on the eyes due to the fact that there is no backlighting; it requires ambient light
• Display can show shades of gray to make text smoother and easier to read
• Contrast could definitely be higher or able to be adjusted
• Reading a book is very pleasant on this device; it is satisfying to press the “next page” button and fly through the chapters and I don’t get distracted by how many pages I have read or have yet to read

Accessories

• Many third-party covers, light clips, and skins are available, but at a very steep cost (especially the designer covers)
• The Amazon Kindle 2 leather cover that I purchased for $30 is beautiful and durable

Battery Life

• Battery life is very long (two weeks when used regularly) due to the e-ink display that does not require much battery power; the only time it needs power is when it is changing the display (turning a page and flipping through menus)
• Turning the wireless connectivity on does deplete the battery much faster, so I only turn it on when browsing the Amazon store

Overall, I am very happy with my Kindle 2. It is a very pleasant, relaxing device to use. I am, however, disappointed that Amazon announced that the third-generation Kindle, Kindle DX, will be released this summer. It seems like they are releasing a newer, better Kindle too soon after releasing the second-generation device. Even though Kindle 2 is definitely pricey, Kindle DX is about $100 more, which I would not pay that much extra money for if I had the choice.

Update

After not using my Kindle for a long period of time because I found myself too busy, I opened it recently to find it with a “critical battery” error. It said my battery was empty, and that I needed to recharge it, so I did. Nothing happened. I researched the issue online, and discovered that this is a common problem for Kindle users. I tried the “hard reset” method that people recommended. Still nothing happened. I let it charge overnight and decided to call Kindle support in the morning. The person on the phone told me the same things that I found online, and after nothing happened on my Kindle, she told me they would send a new Kindle in the mail free of charge if I returned the old one within 30 days. Needless to say, I am disappointed about this whole situation and this newfound defect in the Kindle 2, but I’ll still enjoy it and be more careful to keep it charged.

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