[boswd]

I don't know, I just don't see what all the ooohhhing and awwwing is all about with the new kindle. While they did improve upon it's own product, in reality there is nothing new added to the world of e-reading and e-ink itself.

They cleaned up its look, making it sleaker, which is better than it was before. I mean the Kindle 1 and 2 are rather ugly devices.

They did get rid of that stupid stubby joystick and replaced it with a directional pad. It's better but still a very outdated way to navigate.

They say the contrast is improved. Well if it's like the new DX then it's still not all that much better than the Nook and really wasn't much of a problem before.

They improved battery life. Again the Kindle didn't have battery issues before. I'm not saying around a 3-4 weeks between charges isn't nice but what, was finding time to charge after 10 days an unbearable task? I have the nook and charging after every 5-8 days does not bother me in any capacity. Again I'm not knocking the added life, of course it's a nice improvement but not one to go "OH, MYYYY" over. like our lives were hell before.

They added extra space 4G. This actually irks me. Yes an estimated 3,000 books is plenty of storage for just about anyone but the one most common "con" about the Kindle was it's lack for expandable memory. So what did they do add 2 more gigs basically saying, "this ought to shut them up' Why are these Walled Garden models so adverse to adding in a micro sd slot? Why not let the consumer dictate the amount of storage. Apple does the same. What is it about the consumer have some control that they refuse to put in a micro sd slot. What if you like to listen to music while reading or download audio books. MP3 takes up alot of space, IDK it's just irks me. Just put in a micro sd slot.

They boast faster page turning. Did not know the Kindle had slow page turning in the first place.

I just hate phoney Spec Thumping.

Also I was hoping they would hide the keyboard. It's still an eyeshore. I do understand that the ones who do take alot of notes and annotations some people prefer a physical keyboard. But let's be honest, outside of this forum. the vast majority of people are general readers and the keyboard is basically useless. I think hiding it and flipping it out ala like some the newer phones have, would have been a nice design change. For the vast majority it's useless wasted space, and to many others it's rather ugly still.

Also still NO EPUB!!! So they are basically saying "You are in the wall garden model for the long haul" Yes I know you can download into a Calibre or similiar and convert but it's extra hoops we ( Nook, Kobo, Sony) owners don't have to jump through Besides there are a vast majority of people who wouldn't know how to do it . and of course no Public library.

Also doesn't alot of these improvement seem more reactionary instead of revolutionary?
The Kindle now put a page forward and backwards on both sides and cleaning out the extra buttons giving a cleaner, sleaker look. Hmmm wasn't that one of the "pros" on the Nook's side that was an advantage. So the Kindle now has a more Nookish look.

The Nook had wi fi and the Kindle did not. And critics praised the Nook for having wi fi along with 3G and now the Kindle has wi fi.

The Nook came out with a wi fi only at a very cheap price point of $149 the Kindle comes out with a wi fi only at $139.

many of these changes seem very much a reaction to the nooks growing popularity.

So while Yes the Kindle looks better and has some improvements to it's own hardware and software, I think there are still area's it falls short compared to the Nook.

I think the color touch screen navigation and the ability to view book cover art is still a more modern and "NOW" way to use your device. The Kindle's navigation is still stuck in the 1990's. It really is. Think about it, everything is color touchscreen, your phone, your ATM, Redbox, even checking out at the Grocery store with your debit card is all color touch screen. Having EVERYTHING in only black and white is a very very outdated approach especially for a very large and cutting edge company.

InStore experience, More In Store etc. is still an extra of the Nook I love.
LendMe books
E-Pub along with library checkouts

all these still IMHO keep the Nook ahead of the Kindle.

So while it did improve on it's own device it really did nothing overall. Untill the first company to come out with a Color touch screen E-Ink display without glare and low contrast.

so again I don't understand all this drooling over the new Kindles
This all just reinventing the wheel.

this kindle isn't really all that different from the Kindle 2 though I do like the new black color option.