Shownotes:
There is a reason Kindle 1 is a success. It did what it was supposed to do without frustrating users. Kindle software and services are so good that the industrial design flaws in version 1 were easy to overlook … at least for early adopters. Kindle 2 is ready for everyone. It combines great software, great service and a very nice little piece of hardware.
Kindle 2 feels better to hold. It’s softer and there are plenty of possible ways to hold it without accidentally turning pages. With Kindle 1, when you wanted to awaken it from sleep, you had to press two buttons with two fingers or two thumbs. That’s been replaced by a simple slide of the power switch. Slide it again and Kindle will go back to rest.
Kindle 1 was extremely readable and I had no complaints about the contrast, but Kindle 2 is just better. Letters and images are crisper and they pop a little more.
It took me about 20 seconds to adjust to the 5-way joy stick. The shiny, silver bar on Kindle 1 was extremely cool, but like I said early on, it seems like that bar was just something they did because they could. It wasn’t necessary and loosing it makes Kindle 2 a little more elegant.
I’ve had about 2 hours with Kindle, since I unboxed it on video. To me, it feels like the UI is sleeker. It feels like I can accomplish tasks in one or two clicks when it used to take several. A good example is if you want to delete a book. With Kindle 1, I would go into menu and then choose content manager, click a box beside a title and then click an option to delete it. With Kindle 2, all I have to do is slide the joystick to the left and I immediate get the option to “remove from device.”
Text to speech is good enough that I’ll use it, but not good enough to keep me from thinking it could be better. I know the guy who is the voice of Kindle. You can find Tom Glynn at myspace.com/tomglynn.
Kindle has a section called Experimental. At first we had Basic Web browsing, Play MP3 and Ask Kindle Now Now. Ask Kindle Now Now is what was replaced by Text-to-Speech. I gave Basic Web a try to see if there was anything different. It looks basically the same, but somewhere along in the life of Kindle Amazon enabled something that wasn’t originally possible when Kindle 1 dropped. You can Tweet and send and receive Gmail from the Kindle now. Dave Peterson from GadgetyTech.com confirmed that he was able to tweet from his Kindle 1 a little while back so it may not be new, but it was news to me.
Initial looks at any device rarely hold up over time. Using Kindle 2 over time, I’ll find things about it that I love more than I thought I would and things about it that I don’t like so much. With Kindle 2, Amazon.com sanded off the rough spots and released just what I wanted the first time.
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February 25th, 2009 at 12:36 am
I would love to have a TV dinner with you Cali. ;) That Kindle 2 is so beautiful!
February 25th, 2009 at 3:54 am
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Likewise an e-book reader you have with you when you have the time to read is worth two sitting at home when you need them. I’ve used many e-book readers over the years (starting with the original Palm Pilot) and I’m now using the eReader on the iPhone. I need something I carry with me all the time and I can use when I’ve got some time to kill.
The Kindle is just too big to carry everywhere. Women who carry purses would find the Kindle more useful than I do.
I read on airplanes and trains as well and there I need an eReader with its own lighting system. I haven’t seen anyone say that the kindle 2 has backlighting. That’s too bad as well.
So my conclusion is that the Kindle 2 is good for those who read at home and not a spontaneous read-when-you-can type of device. It’s also better suited to women as they can more easily keep it with them all the time.
February 25th, 2009 at 7:25 am
It looks good, I’m eager for mine to arrive today. It will be interesting to see if the smaller, yet harder to press, page-turn buttons are a net gain or loss. The design change I’m least thrilled about at first look is the loss of the physical switch to turn the wireless on and off. I usually keep mine off to extend battery life, and it’s tough to beat a small, unobtrusive, physical switch for ease of use. Still, I’m likely to have the screen on when I’m going wireless on or off, so maybe the change will be minimal. Great first look and thanks so much for your tenacity in getting this Brief posted in the face of upload issues!
February 25th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
I would love the Kindle to launch here the UK… I would snap one up right away. The Apple style packaging just makes it all the more desirable.
February 25th, 2009 at 2:16 pm
Didn’t get Kindle1, but got Kindle2 yesterday and am already hooked. Got Stephen King’s Kindle novella and read three-quarters of it on the train home. Great experience.
February 25th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
The connection seems to be slow/stopped. I’m getting nothing from the last two Geekbrief episodes.
February 25th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Calif, do you know this answer.
If I get a Kindle for my wife, can I transfer books from mine to hers?
February 25th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
If you use the same account, all books are on the account, and any Kindle linked to the account can download those books.
February 25th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
It definitely looks great, a big step from the first one. I don’t read enough to justify it though, but the e-paper tech stil has a way to go. I guess I’m just more traditional in my book reading… the blackout would drive me insane, heh.
This however looks like a perfect size for a tablet pc/giant ipod touch =)
February 26th, 2009 at 6:26 am
I cannot view the last two ro three episodes either. Any ideas what’s happening, anyone..? Please?
February 26th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
HaHa – You should be a hand model :-)
February 26th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
Miss Lewis,
After you and da’ boys use and abuse the K2 (sorry, Kindle 2 so there’s no confusion) for a little while maybe you could do another brief on it. I think it may be revolutionary enough to warrant it IF it holds up.
Here’s what I think could take it to iPod level:
1. Large storage – I’m an Enterprise Sys Admin and I’d like it to replace at least one shelf of my reference books.
2. Easy download storage. If I want to put a book back on my vitual shelf, I don’t want to loose it. Like a physical book, it should be mine forever.
3. Is there any liscense crap like iPod? If I buy a book I want it to be mine f-o-r-e-v-e-r !(see item 2).
4. Can I upload my own notes or documents to it, easily (like uploading music to an iTunes library)? Maybe adding a small software app could accomplish this cheaply and easily.
Closing, if this could replace my 5 bookshelves of tech books, allowing me to have a single virtual storage area, I’m THERE and I think a lot of other people will be too!
Respectfully, John Hartjen
February 26th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Ok, its a device in a box with a brief manual. Doesn’t make for good TV!
It doesn’t particularly interest me for pleasure reading, but, like John H., if I could get the technical references I use on it, that would make it useful!
February 27th, 2009 at 1:38 am
@lyndale23 Here is what to expect when you receive your Kindle 2 http://tinyurl.com/akd9kk
February 28th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
@John, are we both thinking of our O’Reilly reference materials on CD?
^..^~
March 3rd, 2009 at 1:06 am
@CaliLewis love your video on Kindle 2 (i’m dying for one). LOL http://tinyurl.com/akd9kk
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:58 am
Oh yeah, for those interested in the Kindle2 unboxing: http://is.gd/lh4N
March 7th, 2009 at 11:20 am
Tas varētu patikt jebkuram Mac gīkam – GeekBrief.TV #519: http://tinyurl.com/akd9kk
March 7th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
@elijahtrotsky Cali Lewis review of Kindle 2: http://tinyurl.com/akd9kk
December 25th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Thanks for the awesome post This was exactly what I needed to read :D
February 16th, 2010 at 1:50 am
I also wanted to say that Kindle 1 was extremely readable and I had no complaints about the contrast, but Kindle 2 is just better. Letters and images are crisper and they pop a little more.