Lost amid the excitement about the Kindle Fire Tablet and the Kindle Touch is the fact that there is a new Basic Kindle that is only $79. This is a significant drop in price for ereaders. No major ereader has had a regular price of less than $99.
The Kindle Basic is slightly smaller than the Kindle Touch (6.5 by 4.5 inches vs 6.8 by 4.7 inches) and less than 6 ounces. For comparison an iPhone 4 is 4.8 ounces.
The new Kindle Touch is what I would purchase right now if I were buying my first kindle. I strongly prefer reading on an eink screen (instead of an LCD screen, like what is on the Kindle Fire, the iPad or many computer screens). The touch uses the same 6 inch Pearl screen that the current Kindle uses. So there is not an upgrade to the actual screen, but there is an upgrade to the processor and software, so the page turns are supposed to be faster. At this point, I do not think that faster page turns matter, until the brief flash is eliminated. Page turns are basically instant now.
Many have probably already heard about the new line of kindles. I am not going to give a full description, but just comments on them.
The Fire has received most of the attention. It is a 7 inch tablet. It has an LCD screen and is running a customized version of Android. It should be great for video, music and magazines. Amazon has its own streaming video service (similar to Netflix) that will be available on the Kindle.
I have not used many 7 inch tablets. It is a bit on the small side for web browsing, but is large enough for personal video and probably better for reading than the 8.9 inch screen of the iPad. The screen resolution is as good as the iPad (widescreen instead of 4:3).
Everyone that reads, especially if you blog about your reading, hits a reading slump. I seems to hit a slump of one variety or another about once every three or four months. Sometimes the slump expresses itself as a lack of desire to read. But more often the slump is expressed by extreme ADD reading. Nothing seems to satisfy, nothing seems interesting.
I have tried a variety of methods. First, and I think most important, it to remove obligation from your reading if at all possible. This is the main point of Alan Jacobs’ recent book The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. If you are a student, obligation is a part of reading. But throwing in the occasional book for pleasure is important to keep yourself balanced. As a book blogger, I have cut back the number of books I review for publishers and primarily blog about books that I choose. That means that I have to buy them myself and they are often, not the newest books on the market, but reading on ‘Whim’ (to use Jacobs’ word) creates a happier reader.
Several days ago Amazon announced that Seattle Library would be testing their new kindle library lending. Evidently it went very well and Amazon announced the roll out today. I have not had a chance to try it out. My local library is part of the Overdrive Library system, which is what Amazon is supporting, but my library (Cobb County GA) says “coming soon.”. I will add a new post once I am have been able to try it out.
Here is the press release:
Amazon today announced Kindle Library Lending, a new feature launching later this year that will allow Kindle customers to borrow Kindle books from over 11,000 libraries in the United States. Kindle Library Lending will be available for all generations of Kindle devices and free Kindle reading apps.
“We’re excited that millions of Kindle customers will be able to borrow Kindle books from their local libraries,” said Jay Marine, Director, Amazon Kindle. “Customers tell us they love Kindle for its Pearl e-ink display that is easy to read even in bright sunlight, up to a month of battery life, and Whispersync technology that synchronizes notes, highlights and last page read between their Kindle and free Kindle apps.”
According to a Wall Street Journal article (behind a pay wall), Amazon is in talks with publishers to release a Netflix style subscription program for books. This would be in addition to Amazon’s video streaming service (about 5000 of those movies are free for Prime Members). TheNextWeb has a free report about the rumor. If the … Read more
I fairly frequently get asked how I find all of the sale and free books that I post on Bookwi.se. One of the best tools I use is ereaderiq. There are three main ways I use ereaderiq, price watch a specific book, search for free or sale books, and to notify me when a book … Read more
It has been a while since I have had a reading tools post. But after a couple months of using my new kindle, I thought it might be time to give my impressions. The current generation of kindle comes in two basic options (Wifi only or 3G/Wifi), each with a Special Offers or a regular version. I decided to get the Wifi only version with Special Offers. Mostly because it was the cheapest kindle at the time. Since I purchased my kindle (for $114), the Wifi only Kindle now regularly has a refurbished Wifi only Kindle in stock (with a same as new warranty) for $109. And more importantly, a couple weeks ago, a 3G/Wifi Special Offers Kindle was introduced for $139. I believe this is the best deal right now.
According to Amazon (I first saw the announcement on Kindle Review), Amazon will support the ability for Kindle to ‘check out book’ from the Overdrive Library system. I am a fan of Overdrive and have written a review of its Android and iPhone/iPad apps. Overdrive is something that your library has to subscribe to, but … Read more
I am a big fan of coffee. I drink a lot of it, every day. It is not about the caffeine, I really like the taste. And I like it fairly strong. For the last few years I have used an AeroPress. It is like a modified french press but designed to make espresso instead of brewed coffee (I used it to make americanos).
For Christmas we gave my sister in law a Keurig coffee maker. She is the only coffee drinker in her house and we thought that a single serving coffee maker was a good idea. From there my Mother in Law bought one. And a couple weeks ago I broke down and bought this one (at Costco).
What people love is that the coffee is very to make. You use little cups that you put in the coffee maker and the coffee is brewed in that little cup and drips into your cup. Start to finish the water is heated and make in less than a minute. The clean up is simply taking out the little plastic cup and putting in the next one. It is also great for people that love a variety of coffee or households that have both regular and decaf drinkers (like ours).