The Early Consensus On Kindle 2? Good, But Maybe It Should Be Kindle 1.5
This story was written by Tameka Kee.
It's been less than a month since *Amazon* unveiled the Kindle 2, but there's been no shortage of speculation about whether it will live up to the hype. Most recently, Forbes' Tim O'Reilly cautioned that the device would be "gone within two or three years" if Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) didn't adopt open standards that let readers access their e-books from multiple (including non-Kindle) e-Readers. So with the the first shipments of the second-gen Kindle out on the street todayexpect a constant stream of reviews and reactions. Here are some preliminary thoughts from around the web:
Amazon.com: So far, the Kindle 2 has a 3.5 star rating among 44 reviewers. Most of the praise focuses on the increased storage capacity, better battery life and better button placement; the biggest con was the high price.
The NYT: "Amazon calls it the Kindle 2, but Kindle 1.1 would be more like it; the changes are fairly minor," per the Times' David Pogue. "Fortunately, they're exactly what was needed to turn a very good reader into an even better one."
Forbes: The next-gen Kindle is all about stylenot substance, per Forbes' Andy Greenberg: "While the pencil-thin upgrade looks sleek, Kindle 2's functional upgrades are marginal ... the second generation of Kindle has a different focus: attracting new users with a sexier design rather than new features."
CNET: It's an "evolution, not a revolution," according to Crave's David Carnoy. The memory upgrade (sans expansion slot), smaller page-turn buttons, and various interface tweaks scored high marks, but overall, "it's far from a total revamp, so you're still left with moments when you're not sure whether you should go forward or back or which button you should hit to get to where you want to go."
By Tameka Kee