Back before Christmas, every time I spoke with any of my online friends about what they really wanted for Christmas one of two technology gifts topped their lists, sometimes both. One was the iPhone-need I say more, I want one too-hopefully when my cell contract is up this December that is where I will be heading. The second was a Kindle. I didn’t want to sound stupid by asking, “What is a Kindle?” I had never heard of this item that all my friends wanted, I felt rather out of the loop.
Thank goodness for Google! I searched Kindle and was whisked away to Amazon.com to read about what was becoming their signature product. I was amazed at the technology, and as an avid reader, I thought “I have to have that.” I didn’t put the Kindle on my Christmas list though. I already had an iPod Touch on my list, and I’ll admit that owning that piece of technology has helped assuage my iPhone envy for the time being. Today I got an e-mail from Amazon.com telling me the Kindle 2 has been released. I checked it out and decided that I needed to share this piece of amazing technology with you-just in case you, like me, have totally missed hearing about this tool.
The Kindle 2 is a wireless reading device. It uses 3G wireless technology to deliver books, blogs, newspapers and magazines to you in less than 60 seconds! You don’t even have to pay for the network connectivity-Amazon does. It only weighs 10.3 oz, which is less than a typical paperback book and it is only 1/3 of an inch thick which makes it much easier to hold than some big, bulky books or huge newspapers. The Kindle 2 has 6 font sizes so you can customize it to your reading preferences and the extended battery life will allow you to read for days between recharging. The Kindle 2 will hold over 1500 books at a time so you can carry your entire library with you where ever you go. The Kindle 2 to is available for $359 from Amazon.com.
The Kindle library has over 230,000 books, international newspapers, blogs and magazines for you to purchase and download. Your Kindle 2 even remembers where you left off reading so you won’t have to worry about losing your bookmark. With Kindle 2 you can make notes about a book passage, look up unknown words in the built in dictionary or learn more about the subject by accessing Wikipedia. Most books cost $9.99 to purchase through the Kindle library, that is a lot less than the bookstore price for a book, not to mention the trees you are saving. I don’t read a lot of mainstream books so I searched the Kindle library for my favorite authors: Karen Kingsbury, Beverly Lewis, Tracie Petersen and John Bevere were all available for Kindle. Magazines, newspapers and blogs are available by subscription and the prices vary but are all considerably less than the news stand or regular subscription price.
If you are an avid reader-or the loved one of an avid reader I suggest you check out the Kindle 2. They will be officially released on February 24, 2009 but you can order now and get in the virtual line to receive this amazing piece of technology. For more information on the Kindle 2 you can click on the Kindle banner on my left side bar or clicking here.
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