Amazon finally unveiled today its new wireless reading device - Amazon Kindle.We have followed the news on the upcoming device and also reported just two weeks ago on the expected delay in its introduction. Today we were happy to read on CNET that it finally happened - Jeff Bezos, Amazon's CEO unveiled Amazon's new electronic book reader at New York's W Hotel.
Kindle is very light and weights only 10.3 ounces. It has a black-and-white screen, a battery that will last several days to a week and a capacity for about 200 books (1,000 books with a slot for a standard SD memory card).
Kindle does not require a PC for synchronization or any software to be installed. The store is actually on the device and is stocking now more than 90,000 titles. Besides books, you can have access with it to magazines, newspapers, blogs and even Wikipedia.
It all sounds really great. The only downside is the price - $399, which makes it a relatively expensive gadget.
Still, it might be the beginning of the digital revolution of books. Bezos said today "Books have stubbornly resisted digitization. I think there's a very good reason for that, and that is, the book is so highly evolved and so suited to its task that it's very hard to displace." He is totally right and the question hanging in the air is whether the Kindle is suited to become a replacement.
My wish is that Kindle won't only become cheaper, but also be manufactured in an eco-friendly manner (right now I only know it's been manufactured by an undisclosed Chinese original equipment manufacturer), hopefully adopting cradle to cradle concepts.
Right now we know it will save a lot of trees and this is good news. If as a devise that is so advanced technologically, it will also become advanced environmentally, it would be great news.
Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris
Eco-Libris: a great green gift for the holidays!
