Thursday, September 10, 2009

Birthday Present



For my Birthday this year, I received a Kindle from Joni and Lauren. I thought everyone had heard of them by now, but as I have been showing it off (the last day and a half) it has surprised me how many have never heard of it.

Kindle is a hardware and software platform for reading e-books and digital media. Amazon created and sells the Kindle that competes with other digital readers like the Sony Reader or the iRex iLiad. It is pretty amazing.

The display uses e-ink electronic paper that is easy to read, even in sunlight. It has a 3G wireless feature that allows you to have basic web access as well as downloading books, magazines and newspapers. The wireless access fee is included in the price so there is no monthly charge. It took about 20 seconds to download an entire book. If you would like, it will read the book to you with its text-to-speech feature.

It is a great gift, because I would have never bought it for myself.

Just ask, and I will take you on a tour.

posted by Dale Oquist at 8:25 AM

5 Comments:

  • trade you my old palm pilot for it

    By Anonymous chris, At September 10, 2009 12:51 PM  

  • Cool, but beware: Amazon can delete any or all of your content without notice.

    By Blogger 8rent, At September 10, 2009 10:55 PM  

  • Brent, I understand how they could - why would they?

    By Blogger Dale Oquist, At September 11, 2009 10:50 AM  

  • The same reason the record industry tries to use DRM. $$$. Or, in case of a Bradbury-type future, they would only need digital firemen.

    At what temperature would ebooks burn, anyway? ;)

    By Blogger 8rent, At September 12, 2009 12:04 AM  

  • I've gotten the Kindle app for the iPhone, too. Though not as savvy, it makes for a good read. The problem, however, is that during take off and landing in an aircraft you have to turn ALL electronics off, and the Kindle falls into this category. So you almost have to bring something non-electronic to read during those periods of any flight (unless you are on an executive jet like a Gulfstream where they pretty much let you do whatever you want).

    By Blogger Jurgen, At September 16, 2009 10:03 AM  

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