For the Love of Lit

Archive for the ‘Ramblings’ Category

Okay, I’m a day or so late on this one, but did you guys hear about the two new Kindles that are being released?!?

The 3rd generation Kindle will be priced at $189 and available in while or gray, and the new Wi-Fi Kindle will be only $139 ($139!!!).  One of the main differences between the two is that the $139 one only runs on Wi-Fi and the regular $189 Kindle runs on either Wi-Fi or AT&T’s 3G broadband network.  The Wi-Fi Kindle’s battery life is longer too if you keep the wireless turned on all the time.  I personally never turn my wireless on anyway unless I want to browse the Kindle store because it does make a significant difference in the battery life.

Some of the other enhancements that Amazon has made are: better E-Ink contrast, double the storage (now you can store 3,500 book… wow), quieter page turning buttons (the ones on mine aren’t LOUD, but they do “click” a little bit), and an updated selection button that is easier to use.   They’re also rolling out an update to the Kindle software (they’re doing it in waves but it hasn’t come available to me yet) which will somehow let you post things to Twitter or Facebook from your Kindle.  Not sure exactly how that works, but I want to try it!

Everyone is comparing the e-readers to tablet computers like the iPad, and Amazon is adamant that they do not want to be compared to the iPad because they’re two totally different products and they want to keep the Kindle simple for people who just want to read.  They don’t even seem interested in touch screens or color screens right now like some of their competitors.

So what do you guys think?  Are you going to go online and order one when they come out at the end of August?  Once again, I’m a little ticked that I got mine when it was more than double the price… but oh well.  I still love it and have no regrets!

(I swear I’m not being compensated by Amazon for this – I just heart my Kindle and think that e-readers are an amazing invention.)

Amazon has announced what they think are the Best Books of the Year… So Far…

… But am I a total loser or something?  I have not read ANY of these and not even heard of most of them!  The only one that I’ve even heard of is the Steig Larsson book, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.”  I’ve been meaning to read that trilogy, but other things/books/authors have taken precedent and I haven’t gotten around to buying them yet.

Has anyone read any of the ones on their top 10 list?  Or the Fiction or Nonfiction list?  Maybe I just have particular taste in genres and authors, but I thought I would have at least heard something about some of these.  It’s just a random list that doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but still.  I like looking at these lists sometimes to get recommendations if I run out of books to download.

Still looking for some new books to get for your vacation?  Here’s Amazon’s list of summer reads.  Some of them sound really good!  Amazon Wish List, here I come!

I ran across an article that I wanted to share about how the Kindle is being used to promote literacy in children in third world countries.  There’s an organization called Worldreader.org that recently brought 20 Kindles to a Ghana classroom and they will be doing trials of the program in other areas as well.

It’s a really interesting concept, I think.  Just think about how many more books a child could have access to by using an e-reader that otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to physically get.  They could use the text-to-voice option to learn new words or pronunciation.  Obviously, there are some downsides like taking care of the Kindle itself to prevent damage.  Check out Worldreader.org’s blog for more information on their trials and current projects including some interesting stories about how the Kindle was used in Ghana and how the kids adapted to it.

On Facebook, there was some debate in response to this article asking why they aren’t doing this here in the US and instead, spending the money in a country overseas that doesn’t help the children here with literacy issues.   There does seem to be a lot of talk (and possibly some action) about adding e-readers to US classrooms for the same reasons.  I’m sure this is a subject that we will hear more and more about in the coming years with the advent of the Kindle and other e-readers plus other technology like the iPad.  What are your thoughts about e-readers in the classroom?

I saw a news release today on Amazon Kindle’s Facebook page that they once again lowered the price for the Kindle 2!  It has went down in price from $359 about a year ago, to $259 late last summer, and now to $189.

One hundred eighty-nine dollars.   FREE two day shipping.  600,000 books.  Most of them under $9.99 and a whole lot that are FREE or super duper cheap.  Seriously.  If you don’t have one of these but you’ve been pining away for one for the past two years, then you need to run, not walk, to your nearest computer or smartphone with an internet connection and buy it.  Now!

In other news, it kind of stinks that I got mine at last year’s price, but what can you do.  I’ve had mine for a year and have 108 books on it.  I’ve read most of them and a large number of them were free.  So I still see that as a win.

This weekend I FINALLY finished setting up a Twitter account for my blog.  I use Twitter for personal and work purposes, but I also wanted a way to use it to connect with authors and other book lovers or book bloggers.  So why don’t you follow me? http://twitter.com/FortheLoveofLit I also added a widget to the sidebar so you can see my latest updates even if you don’t use Twitter.