Even although the Kindle 2 and the DX were released during a fairly gloomy economic downturn, they still sold well. There has been some criticism of the high ticket price for both the Kindle 2 and the DX, but it does look as if Amazon’s target market are quite happy to pay $359 and $489 for the Kindle 2 and the DX respectively.

One of the big plus points of the Kindle series is the fact that no monthly fee is required for the ability to download ebooks. Amazon utilises a 3G connection – dubbed “Whispernet” – which means Kindle owners can download books from the Amazon store in less than sixty seconds – without the need for a computer or a WiFi connection.

Another perceived benefit is the possibility to get cheaper books. As the usual printing, paper and distribution charges associated with traditional publishing methods don’t exist, the electronic book can be offered at a lower price than the equivalent hardback.

Not only that, it’s even possible to get free kindle books directly from the Amazon store. All you need to do is visit the Amazon site, open up their Kindle store and search for books for the Kindle. If you then select the option “order by price – lowest to highest” you’ll be presented with a list of books starting at $0.

There is a selection of classics available – Treasure Island, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Sherlock Holmes etc. – but there are also quite a few more modern books available for selection. A lot of these are from publishers wanting to showcase authors and the list is updated quite often, so it’s worth checking back every now and again.

As well as completely free books, there is a good selection of volumes which are available for very small fees, $0.01 for example.

If you enjoy classics – or any book which has now entered the public domain due to its published date – you could very quickly recoup the price of your Kindle.

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I don’t think that’s so really uncommon, otherwise traditional print books wouldn’t sell so well, but it does mean that I can spend quite a bit of money on books. Apart from the monetary aspects, my collection of books quickly becomes untidy and space consuming. Every so often, I go through the assorted volumes and, putting the reference books and any particular favourites to one side, have a clear out. More often than not the books get passed on to friends or charity shops – recycling I guess.

I recently got rid of over fifty volumes in advance of moving house. It wasn’t until I looked at them, bagged up and ready to go, that I realised I was looking books with a value of anything between $500 and $1000 – and this was less than twelve month’s worth of reading material.

Now, whilst the Amazon Kindle is a pretty costly item in itself, the downloadable e-books from the Kindle store are usually quite a bit cheaper than the printed equivalent. After all, the publisher will have no printing and distribution costs and there will be no postal charges for Amazon. Even with a saving of just a few dollars per book, quite achievable it seems, anyone who reads on a regular basis would pretty quickly recoup the cost of the device and then start saving money over time.

The potential benefits aren’t just financial. The Kindle 2 has memory capacity for around 1500 e-books whereas the Kindle DX, which will started shipping on June 10 2009, will store 3500. That’s a lot of books – and a fair amount of physical storage space which will no longer be needed in your home or office.

Some users have suggested that the Kindle is a green, eco-friendly, device – based upon the fact that it will save on the usage of paper. Whilst you can see the logic in this argument, clearly some consideration must be given to the materials used in production and the manner of disposal when it reaches the end of its useful life.

The actual benefits achieved will vary from user to user and will probably depend chiefly on how many books are bought per annum. All the same, for regular readers, it seems that the Kindle has a number of distinct advantages which should more than offset the initial cost.

Technorati Tags: amazon kindle, Kindle 2, Kindle DX, Kindle ebook reader

The Kindle 2, widely viewed as an improvement to an already excellent product, was released in February 2009 and was another big hit with the buying public. In May of 2009 Amazon announced that its new, larger Kindle DX would be released and started taking pre-orders for shipping on June 10 2009.

All in all, by the middle of 2009 the Kindle was the must have gadget and was often referred to as the “iPod of books”. Meanwhile, in parallel with the development and marketing of the hardware, Amazon continued to add to its library of Kindle titles. By the beginning of June in 2009 there were more than 300,000 Kindle titles available and the number of available titles was growing by, on average, 500 each day.

Great business for Amazon and a huge encouragement for repeat custom. Okay, you can buy books for your kindle elsewhere – but these may need conversion, and why bother when the Kindle store has so many great titles that you can download wirelessly in under a minute?

It’s also good news for all those third party manufacturers of Kindle accessories – a rapidly growing market. Amazon originally shipped a cover with the first Kindle, but discontinued this practice when the Kindle 2 was released (no great loss perhaps as many users didn’t like the cover and bought alternatives anyway). Customers who have just spent $359 for their Kindle 2 or $489 for their DX probably have a reasonable discretionary spend budget and won’t think anything about spending another $20 – $40 on a cover to protect and customise their new toy. Like any portable device, it’s bound to come in for a few bumps and scrapes in use – it makes sense to protect it doesn’t it?

Aside from the practical considerations, it seems that some Kindle owners are quite prepared to pay over $100 for a nice leather cover – which will not only provide some degree of protection but will also make their high tech Kindle look more like a traditional book. Bearing in mind that the Kindle is a pretty high ticket item ,most owners will have some disposable income so it probably isn’t a great shock that they’re happy to pay for a few extras to customise it.

Kindle owners can also choose from a wide variety of other accessories – clip on lights, metal reading stands and additional power chargers are currently popular. As the popularity of the Kindle continues to increase, and as further new models are made available, it seems probable that an increase number of third party suppliers will reap the benefits of Amazon’s innovation.

Technorati Tags: amazon kindle, Kindle 2, kindle accessories, Kindle DX, Kindle ebook reader

The Amazon Kindle is a user-friendly and portable ebook reader. This gadget is able to download blogs, books, newspapers, and magazines. It used to be that heavy-duty reading meant turning thick pages of paper but nowadays, electronic reading is very different. It is not only portable but can also carry your entire library of books and is connected constantly to your bookshop through wireless network.

The Kindle does not require a personal computer to download its media. Furthermore, syncing is smart and automatic. This electronic book reader is equipped with internet capability through 3G technology on which the Amazon Whispernet service is rendered. This feature comes with the purchase of the reader so users don’t have to concern themselves with the wireless service plan, contract, or bills thereafter.

The Amazon Whispernet wireless service is a one-of-a-kind delivery system which enables users to obtain any e-book on its library within a minute. This facility is currently not available outside the US but those who have had a taste of the electronic book reader would know that it’s a matter of time that it becomes so. Users from US can download and sample the beginning pages of books for free before deciding whether to purchase the book or not.

In terms of appearance, this portable reader is as impressive as its capabilities. The crisp black-and-white screen could easily be mistaken for some fine-grade printed paper. The high-tech virtual ink is designed to be just like real ink-on-paper in terms of appearance and readability so much so that there is no backlighting either. This makes it easy to read in bright sunlight and the screen never heats up so you don’t have to limit how long you should be reading on that account.

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