New Kindle Release

Amazon released the Kindle 2 yesterday. A slimmer, faster, more compact model that holds, instead of the already 200 books, a mere 1500 titles.

I don’t have a Kindle, yet, but I want one. Don’t get me wrong though, I love reading a real book. I love flipping through the pages, sneaking a peek at the ending when I’m half-way through, and trying to figure out how to lay in bed and read without having my arms fall asleep or breaking my glasses. But books use paper, lots of paper, and paper uses trees, lots of trees, and wouldn’t it just be better for the planet, and cheaper in the long run, to read books electronically?

It’s something that will definitely take getting used to, I think.

The specs on this thing are pretty cool – like a slimmer profile, longer battery life, more gray tones for crisper text and photos – although because we aren’t as technologically advanced as we’d like to be, there are a few things left to be desired, from what I’ve read. I’m not sure why not having an SD card in this new version is an issue, or why people would want to upload their photos to it. Those seem to be the two biggest complaints about it.

In any case, these things for the most part aren’t perfect from the get go. It takes a lot of experimentation to get technology right. But it’s people who invest in the technology by being early adopters, giving feedback, and continuing to use the product that gives the product life.

Do you have a Kindle? I’d love to hear your views on it.