Kindle Paperwhite 16 GB version?

[rcentros]

Just realized that there are now three Paperwhite models. The 8 GB version, the 16 GB version and the Signature 32 GB version. Am I the only who missed this? I wonder if the 8 GB version is going away since the 16 GB Kindle Basic is coming out?

Right now the 16 GB version is only $105, compared to the 8 GB version at $100. So, even if you didn't need the extra memory, it's probably worth the $5 to you.

[John F]

Originally Posted by rcentros

Just realized that there are now three Paperwhite models. The 8 GB version, the 16 GB version and the Signature 32 GB version. Am I the only who missed this? I wonder if the 8 GB version is going away since the 16 GB Kindle Basic is coming out?

Right now the 16 GB version is only $105, compared to the 8 GB version at $100. So, even if you didn't need the extra memory, it's probably worth the $5 to you.

Not to me. I don't need the extra memory, and I wouldn't resell it.

[shamanNS]

@rcentros The 16 GB version of Paperwhite (and Paperwhite Kids) was introduced recently, when Amazon announced the new Kindle "basic" that also offers 16 GB of storage.

[monophoto]

My Paperwhite has 8gb of memory. I usually have at least 6gb of space available; this morning I loaded it up with several books from the public library in preparation for going to the shore next week, and I'm now down to 5.9gb of space. So why would I need 16gb of memory.

I suspect that the driver behind increasing the amount of memory in a Kindle is based on two factors:
1. In the marketing sense, more is perceived as better.
2. The price of memory is dropping pretty rapidly, and the technology behind memory is allowing the size of memory chips to increase pretty dramatically. While the largest SD card you can buy today is 1TB, there was an announcement last week that 2TB cards will become available within the next few months. But as the cost per byte drops, market demand will shift toward larger blocks which means that the time is coming when it will no longer be economically viable to manufacture smaller memory increments. So I suspect that Amazon is simply anticipating that within the next year or so, they will be forced to drop the 8GB offering altogether, and are preemptively shifting their focus toward larger sizes.

So the bottom line is that while we may not need more memory, we are still going to get it.

[hleo12]

Originally Posted by monophoto

2. The price of memory is dropping pretty rapidly, and the technology behind memory is allowing the size of memory chips to increase pretty dramatically. While the largest SD card you can buy today is 1TB, there was an announcement last week that 2TB cards will become available within the next few months. But as the cost per byte drops, market demand will shift toward larger blocks which means that the time is coming when it will no longer be economically viable to manufacture smaller memory increments. So I suspect that Amazon is simply anticipating that within the next year or so, they will be forced to drop the 8GB offering altogether, and are preemptively shifting their focus toward larger sizes.

So the bottom line is that while we may not need more memory, we are still going to get it.

Same thing happened with the Basic before. The first version of the Basic 10th gen only had 4gb, until they released an 8gb model for the same price and just dropped the 4gb model.

As you've mentioned, storage is getting cheaper over time. Storage is the most "marketable" option they can upgrade to justify selling the devices at the same price point.

Personally, I'd love to have more storage because I have half a mind to put in 74 volumes of a manga on my Kindle just for the sake of having it.

[rcentros]

I guess I was asleep when the 16 GB Paperwhites were announced. At $5 more, if I was in the market for a Kindle, I would probably buy the 16 GB version. Not that I need 16 GBs of space (as John F mentions), it's just nice to know that it's there in case I ever change how I use my eReader.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by monophoto

My Paperwhite has 8gb of memory. I usually have at least 6gb of space available; this morning I loaded it up with several books from the public library in preparation for going to the shore next week, and I'm now down to 5.9gb of space. So why would I need 16gb of memory.

One friend of mine purchased the Kindle Paperwhite Signature edition for it's 32GB of memory for use with audio books. They ran into the issue that Audible Canada does not support eInk Kindles. They have not finished their testing on that platform according to an email received from Audible CA a while back. My friend has since switched platforms to an ereader that supports audio playback in Canada.

I've included two quotes from emails they received from Audible Canada customer support (the second email is in response to the response to the first email asking why if Audible in the USA supports eInk Kindles, Audible Canada is unable to):

Hello <redacted>,

Thank you for contacting Audible Canada. I hope you & your loved ones are safe & healthy!

I do understand your concern that you are not able to Audible content on a Paper white using Bluetooth ear buds. I will surely assist you with this.

Please accept my sincere apology for the inconvenience this has caused to you.

At this time, "Kindle Paperwhite" is not compatible with our Audible software but we do have several other options that might work for you!

Hi <redacted>,

Thanks for contacting Audible Canada! I hope all is well and you are staying safe!

Although, Audible is a subsidiary of Amazon, however they operate separately.

At this time, Kindle is not compatible with our Audible.ca software. We are always looking to expand our compatible devices catalog but since an extensive technical testing is required to perfect the final platform it may take a bit longer then expected to release a supported platform.

We are always looking to deliver best services to our customers based upon their feedback and would really appreciate Our developing team is looking into this. As soon as we bring this to Canada, we'll let you know on the website. So, stay tuned for any updates in this regard. We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.

[Quoth]

Nonsense canned replies.

Obviously for what ever reason they don't want Audible on Kindle in Canada, or don't care.

[NullNix]

Originally Posted by Quoth

Nonsense canned replies.

Obviously for what ever reason they don't want Audible on Kindle in Canada, or don't care.

Unfortunately, given what is widely known about Amazon's software -- that while the UI often looks good, the inside is a pile of not-really-even-engineered crap held together with baling wire and twine -- it is completely believable that Amazon US and CA use wildly different software internally. God knows the Kindle itself is bad enough that way (how many not-quite-identical-looking readers are there now? Four, for mobi, azw3, kfx and topaz? More? All with totally different implementations with their own unique featuresets, and several in totally different languages so code reuse is more or less impossible.)