Think of most anything invented in the 15th century and you will find it outdated and supplanted by something invented later. But one invention of that era has only been improved on slightly and perfected. That is the printed book. It is a technology just as germane to today's computer and internet generation as it was to those who were struggling through the Reformation period. There have been assaults on this marvelous technology but most have failed. Now comes, from a company that used the growth of the personal computer and internet to thrive, Amazon.com trying to supplant that which made its success, the book.

Kindle 2

Amazon.com introduced its eBook reader, the Kindle, a couple of years ago. It was wildly successful and they have now followed up with the Kindle 2. I have one and like it. Amazon touts it as the replacement for the book. I doubt it will do that, but it may well make some inroads just as the internet has done to newspapers and magazines.

What it is

The Kindle 2 is an eBook reader. It is more than that, but let's start there. As I look at it, now in its sleep mode, it is showing a picture of Jules Verne in 16 shades of grey. Yes, the screen is black and white, actually black and grey. The 6" diagonal screen holding the picture is surrounded by a white frame that is about 5 1/4" wide and 8" high. It is less than 1/4" thick and weighs just over 10 ounces. Below the picture is a full QWERTY keyboard. Beside the picture on each side are a couple of push paddles that take me to the home screen and let me turn the pages of the book. To the right of the keyboard are two push paddles surrounding a five-way miniature square-topped joystick. These work the menus, context sensitive, and move the cursor over the page.

Flipping the spring-loaded slide switch on the top left of the Kindle brings the reader to life. Whatever I was viewing last is back on the screen. The screen uses e-paper, a relatively new technology that uses very little electricity to write the picture and none to keep it visible. Think of an electronic Etch-a-Sketch. Since the medium is e-ink it is reflective like a printed piece of paper. No light is needed behind it like an LCD screen, it causes little eye strain, just like a book, and it is more visible as the ambient light increases. Instead of washing out in bright sunlight, it is just as easy to read as a newspaper.

Its Lithium-ion batteries will keep it going for 4 days with its wireless transceiver turned on or a couple of weeks with that off. Yes, it has wireless built in. But this is 3G wireless supplied through Sprint so you can use it wherever a cell phone works. No hot spots are needed and no computer. The service is free so there is no wireless charge either. And it is fast. Go to the Amazon Kindle site right from the Kindle and order a book. It will be on your Kindle in around 60 seconds, ready for you to read. There is about 1.4 gigabytes of storage so you can carry a lot of books around with you. Amazon says 1500. Any book you get through the Amazon Kindle store is also stored there under your own account so you can erase it from your Kindle and retrieve it again later. When the lithium-ion batteries begin to get weak you can plug it in to any electric outlet, worldwide, and have the batteries back to full charge in just over 3 hours. You can also use the same supplied cord to plug it into your powered USB port on your computer for recharge. The Kindle's port for the umbilical is at the bottom center - a micro-USB connector.

Let's read an eBook

I turn on the Kindle by sliding and releasing the power button at the top left. I press Home and the list of all my content is presented to me. The first book I purchased was The Kindle 2 Cookbook. I highly recommend this book if you want to get the most out of your Kindle 2 for the least cost. I use the five-way joystick to move down the list to that listing. I press the joystick and there is my eBook, right at the page where I left off reading last time. I could go on from there, pressing the Next Page button, one under each thumb as I hold the sides of the book, or maybe skip back a page using the Previous Page button on the left.

But I want to go to another section of the book so I press the menu button. A context sensitive menu pops up and I manipulate the cursor with the joystick until Table of Contents is highlighted. A push of the joystick, a brief screen flash and the table of Contents of this book is on the screen. I can page through it with the page buttons and use the joystick to highlight the specific section I want to jump to. A joystick press is all it takes to get me there. My eyes are tired and the light isn't the best so I press the Aa key on the keyboard. Another menu pops up and I select a larger set of the six available font sizes. If my eyes are really tired I can select Text-to-Speech on that same menu and have a computer voice, either male or female at three different speeds, read the book to me. It even turns the pages for me. The voice is robotic, of course, but quite clear through the stereo speakers on the back of my Kindle or via a miniature jack near the power switch using my headphones.

While I'm reading I might come across a word I am not familiar with. Using the joystick to move the cursor to the beginning of the word pops up its definition, from the included New Oxford American Dictionary, at the bottom of the page. Clicking the joystick takes me to the actual entry in the dictionary. If I want to know more I can go to Wikipedia over the included browser and read about it there. I can also go to Google or the Amazon store.

Suppose I find a page I want to be able to return to often. I can use the Menu button and click on Bookmark. The bookmark will be saved with the book and the page will have a dog-eared corner to designate it. Maybe I find a passage I want to refer to from time to time. I can use the joystick to highlight it and save it, I can use the keyboard to add my own annotations and notes, just like writing in the margins of a real book.

I also have an audio book I downloaded, using my computer, from Audible.com. It is "A Painted House" by John Grisham. I had to use the supplied USB cable for this operation. I downloaded the Audible software and then bought the audio book. It was put seamlessly into my Kindle and appeared on the Menu with the annotation Audio next to it. When I select this book with the joystick, a command bar appears at the bottom of the screen along with a brief description of the book on the page. Pressing the joystick over the play button starts the audio rendition. If I stop it and put the Kindle in sleep mode by sliding the power switch it will begin later right where it left off. There are also choices to skip backward or forward 30 seconds or to go to the beginning or end of the section and, of course, to pause the reading. Although I bought these titles, if you also buy the Kindle 2 Cookbook you will be pointed to thousands of free eBooks and hundreds of audio books. Some you will have to use your computer to get, but many are available for direct download to your Kindle through its internet connection.

Technical Details

These are from the Kindle website for those who like their specifications grouped

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Display: 6" diagonal E-Ink® electronic paper display, 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 ppi, 16-level gray scale.
Size (in inches): 8" x 5.3" x 0.36".
Weight: 10.2 ounces.
System requirements: None, because it doesn't require a computer.
Storage: 2GB internal (approximately 1.4GB available for user content).
Battery Life: Read on a single charge for up to 4 days with wireless on. Turn wireless off and read for up to two weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store and downloading content. In low coverage areas or in 1xRTT only coverage, wireless usage will consume battery power more quickly.
Charge Time: Fully charges in approximately 4 hours and supports charging from your computer via the included USB 2.0 cable.
Connectivity: EVDO modem with fallback to 1xRTT; utilizes Amazon Whispernet to provide U.S wireless coverage via Sprint's 3G high-speed data network. Check our wireless coverage map for availability. This expanded coverage is only available for Kindle 2. See Wireless Terms and Conditions.
USB Port: USB 2.0 (micro-B connector) for connection to the Kindle power adapter or optionally to connect to a PC or Macintosh computer.
Audio: 3.5mm stereo audio jack, rear-mounted stereo speakers.
Content Formats Supported: Kindle (AZW), TXT, Audible (formats 4, Audible Enhanced (AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; PDF, HTML, DOC, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion.
Included Accessories: Power adapter, USB 2.0 cable, rechargeable battery. Book cover sold separately.
Documentation: Quick Start Guide (included in box) [PDF]; Kindle 2 User's Guide (pre-installed on device) [PDF].
Warranty and Service: 1 year limited warranty and service included. Optional 2 year Extended Warranty sold separately.
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So what else will this little marvel do?

Although the Kindle is intended mainly as an eBook reader, it has a few other nifty features hiding under the Experimental line on the home menu. One is a browser for internet browsing using the built-in, and free, wireless 3G service. You can enter any URL with the keyboard and it will take you there. The readability may be less than optimum for the screen, but you will be there. A few links that are optimized for the Kindle are included in the Bookmarks on the browser context sensitive menu. One I use regularly is the National Weather Service site to get weather for my zip code.

Then there is the MP3 music player. It is pretty bare bones, but may get more flexibility later as it is still considered experimental. You can use your computer to download your MP3 music files to the Kindle via the USB cable. It will play the tunes, in sequence of how you loaded them, as background music while you read. I like this feature and hope it becomes more capable over time.

Recommendations and final Thoughts

Although I don't believe this invention is the one that will supplant the book, it may well make some inroads. The ability to seamlessly download the latest best sellers, to subscribe to magazines and newspapers with them sent directly to your Kindle as they become available, may be a pretty strong draw for those using their computers and cell phones heavily already. It is not that this is new - the Sony has been around for several years - but that it has been thoughtfully designed and carefully implemented to make it almost disappear as you read. That is the key thing a book does for us.

Some obvious shortcomings are the inability to share the book or trade it after you read. The proprietary nature of the Kindle and most eBooks will limit its appeal to many. But to just read your favorite author's latest novel while you are almost anywhere there is enough light to read a regular book, at the table, in bed, or even - with the speech capability - while you are driving, will appeal to many, including me.