The e-reader war is still going strong, apparently. This new Kindle 3 made its debut this week and it has gotten postive reviews from the geek elite who write about such things. They’ve been spurred along no doubt by the recent popularity of the oft-delayed Nook that Barnes & Noble is marketing now. There are a couple of other successful e-readers competing for customers, but those are the top dogs in the marketplace for right now.
Now this e-reader thing is really on a different plane from me because I just haven’t had any need or desire to try one of the things out. For one thing, they are awfully expensive to buy just for a trial to see if you like it. Also, my personal lifestyle doesn’t sense any genuine benefit from the things. It has a lot to do with the fact that I’m retired and thereby don’t spend any time commuting or taking lunch breaks from work where I could whip out the e-reader and read some e’s. For a price that’s no more than the download cost, I can purchase a paperback version of any book that I want and just carry it from one room to another if I want to read from it for a while.
But I can appreciate that a lot of people can benefit from owning one of these, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them eventually become the primary mode of publication delivery for a high percentage of printed material. Already there are some efforts to put textbooks on them and may well soon be standard in some colleges. That makes much more sense to me. Anyway, back to this Kindle 3 that has just been released.
Not only does the new version of Amazon’s exclusive e-book reader correct some of the deficiencies of the earlier versions, but they are doing their best (finally!) to bring the price down to where you might be more inclined to buy one. And with the Christmas shopping season approaching, you just might see some incentives tossed in. What’s so great about this new version? I’ll excerpt a summary from CNet’s review:
The good: Slimmer, more compact design than previous Kindle; improved screen with higher contrast and faster page turns; native PDF support; large library of hundreds of thousands of e-books, newspapers, magazines, and blogs via Amazon’s familiar online store; built-in free 3G wireless “Whispernet” data network, plus Wi-Fi; built-in keyboard for notes; with 4GB (3.3 usable) of internal memory, it’s capable of storing 3,500 electronic books; eight fonts available, including two new extra-large sizes; excellent battery life; displays image files, and plays MP3 and AAC audio.
The bad: No expansion slot for adding more memory; no support for EPUB book files; no Nook-like lending feature; no protective carrying case included; battery is sealed into the device and isn’t removable.
The bottom line: The third-generation Kindle’s winning combination of noteworthy upgrades–an improved screen, better battery life, lighter weight, and lower price–vaults it to the top of the e-book reader category.
If you’re interested in further opinion on it, check out PCWorld’s review HERE. As far as price goes, they’ve upgraded the service by including the i-Fi feature without adding any cost and it appears that they are undercutting B & N’s Nook by $10. check out the PRICES HERE.
Ok, next we’ll check out the equipment and do it the old-fashioned way with clipboard and paper. I’m going to start the old-fashioned coffee machine and get another pot going. See you back in the day room.
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