Amazon.com Announces New Kindle

It is my personal belief that reading has always been portable. Simple pick up a lightweight paperback at your favorite bookstore carry it around in your hand or purse and read it at your leisure, anywhere.

 

For some reason, it has been embedded into our minds that in order to get the most out of a product, it needs to be sleek, slim and most importantly, portable. For this thought process I blame Apple and their iThings. Not that there is anything wrong with sleek and slim portability but, at what cost?

 

Amazon.com has recently announced its releasing a slimmer version of its Kindle electronic reading device, but it will still costs $359.

 

"This device is a significant improvement versus the first generation," said Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos.

 

Bezos said there was no way to lower the price given the upgraded components in the Kindle 2, which is a bit more than one-third of an inch thick -- about half the thickness of the first Kindle. Its 6-inch screen can display 16 shades of gray, compared with the previous Kindle's four shades. It will be able to read text aloud from two small speakers on the back, and it can store 1,500 books, instead of 200.

 

Ross Rubin, an analyst with The NPD Group, called the Kindle 2 "an improvement across the board" saying that there was enough room for improvement over the first Kindle and that the second probably will still appeal to people who already have one.

 

But for e-book readers to reach broader audiences, the price needs to come down, Rubin said. He expects this won't happen until must-haves like textbooks become available for the devices.

 

A novella from Stephen King that will be available exclusively for the new device and is expected to begin shipping Feb. 24, with owners of the first Kindle at the front of the line if they want to upgrade.

 

The new Kindle is slightly taller, but like the old version, it weighs about ten ounces. It downloads books -- the catalog has 230,000 titles -- and newspaper stories and blog posts over Sprint Nextel Corp.'s wireless network.

 

Last fall Oprah Winfrey gushed about the Kindle on her show with Amazon's Bezos saying, "I know it's expensive in these times, but it's not frivolous because it will pay for itself. The books are much cheaper, and you're saving paper."

 

Amazon.com even claimed over the holidays last year that the device went out of stock.

 

Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, said Amazon could cut the Kindle's price before the next holiday season if sales are healthy enough that Amazon can save on some component costs. He noted that driving down the price could lead to more sales of books for the Kindle -- and books are more profitable than the device itself, he said.

 

Amazon recently said it would make Kindle e-books available on other kinds of devices, including cell phones, as rival Google Inc. also is doing.

 

Amazon also hopes to make the Kindle enticing through exclusive content, beginning with King's novella, called "Ur," which incorporates the device into the story.

 

Nevertheless, those who already have the Kindle have been discussing on Amazon's Website going back and forth about whether or not they should upgrade.

M. Gerrish said, "I've had mine for nearly a year, use it daily (novels only, no blogs, newspapers or magazines), just acquired a new cover to replace the original cover, and personally have no pangs to upgrade. If they offered a trade-in or substantial price reduction for v1 owners (not complaining, just dreaming), then maybe I would dream of owning an Upstairs Kindle and a Downstairs Kindle. But for now. No. No upgrade for me."

 

S. Allison said, "I've had my Kindle for less than a year. I love it. I can't justify the price to replace it so soon. Some sort of trade in or reduced price would be an incentive, but in this economy I can't upgrade without a really good reason."

 

Bezos said Monday that Kindle orders were strong around the holidays and that he expects that to continue. Even in the recession, he said, "people are buying Kindles.

 

I'm not sure what kind of reality Bezos lives in but hewing to the fact that he would like his product to sell, of course he expects the best. And although portability and the Read-to-me feature on the Kindle is something that makes me go, "Wow," I still cannot find a justifiable reason to purchase this product, during these times.