New Kindle Rumor: Kindle 2.0 in October 2008?

[jerryleejr]

Originally Posted by desertgrandma

A duck and a Monkey walk into a bar.......

Different thread but Please continue I want to hear how this ends!!

[desertgrandma]

Originally Posted by jerryleejr

Different thread but Please continue I want to hear how this ends!!

can't. I'll get 'zapped!"

[chef]

Originally Posted by Razi

Very well said! Will the new version have a slot for the glucose test strips? (it will still look like an over-sized medical equipment from the 1970s) Must be the ugliest mainstream gadget of the decade! I did mention Kindle 2 when the prices for the old monstrosity were suddenly dropped recently. Flog off the old stock, bring in the new. An ugly, clunky, over-buttoned (!) device backed by an uglier marketing campaign (rumors) and business practices. I will NEVER buy one!

Wow, you act like you have seen a prototype. Did anybody ever tell you that was a Crunchgear artist's rendering? I hope that is not what you envision when you dream about the Kindle 2.0. Then what will you buy, Mr. Pompous A.?

[Nate the great]

Okay, that's enough. Would everyone please calm down? If you can't avoid being rude, please don't post..

[radleyp]

Agreed, Nate, we are after all discussing devices, not life and death matters. The debate, however, raises an interesting question: how important is the appearance of a device? I didn't care for the looks of the Kindle either, but I got one as a gift: it does what I want (as does my MotoQ) well and these days I hardly notice what it looks like. Consider the iphone, a gorgeous piece of hardware that I will not buy: it has pathetic battery life to go with a sealed battery, and the 3G is only twice as fast as Edge while the availability is spotty. Functionality of a device is far more important to me than looks. In any case when it comes to looks, De gustibus ......

[bwaldron]

Originally Posted by radleyp

The debate, however, raises an interesting question: how important is the appearance of a device?

To me, it matters little, so long as the functionality I want is there. Good looks (according to my own criteria, of course) are a bonus.

I don't find the Kindle a thing of beauty, but that would have little or no bearing upon my decision to purchase one.

There are, though, clearly others that have different ordering or weighting of priorities than I.

[Jack B Nimble]

Originally Posted by radleyp

The debate, however, raises an interesting question: how important is the appearance of a device?

In theory, I would say good looks are just a bonus. That said, it would also depend on how I intend to use it, and in what way the device was ugly. If my dream PDA was released cheap, but the case was covered with lit-up cute and fuzzy bunnies on a Barbie-pink background, I think I would patiently wait until a nice cover became available before I purchased one for the office.

That may sound like a silly example (and okay, perhaps the bunnies are over the top), but there is a grain of truth. My cousin is deaf and uses a Sidekick (known as the Hiptop outside the US), which according to him is pretty much standard issue for the deaf community (it's a good solid messenger phone with great visual and tactile notifications, and T-Mobile has some nice pricing plans for those that can't use the voice features). He notes, however, that the devices are also popular with the trendy set, and T-Mobile regularly releases overly-decorated models targeted at the trend followers. Many of my cousin's friends complain that it can be difficult to find the "non-bling" models appropriate for use in a professional setting.

So, there is ugly, and then there is... well, you get the idea.

Jack

[daffy4u]

I bumped this up because a person on the Amazon forums posted that he/she is a flight attendant and had some folks from PVI (?) on a flight.

I actually had the guys who work for the company that develops and manufactured the screens for the Kindle on my flight last week. They are apparently unaware of this issue, they didn't mention anything regarding feedback from customers or from Amazon about this problem.

They said that Version 2 of the Kindle is in production, it would suck to not address this issue before Version 2 comes out and Amazon is replacing Kindles over and over again because of this.

No mention of a date for availability so it could be October 2008 or 2009 or 2010...

One other thing, it seems multiple passes through xray machines (remember flight attendant) have caused the Kindle to be replaced 3 times due to black spots on the screen.

[smariner]

Is there any more definitive confirmation about when the v2 of Kindle is going to be release?

[HarryT]

There is no confirmation that there ever will be a Kindle v2. It is pure rumour and speculation with zero factual basis.

[rheostaticsfan]

Originally Posted by daffy4u

...
One other thing, it seems multiple passes through xray machines (remember flight attendant) have caused the Kindle to be replaced 3 times due to black spots on the screen.

I'm unsure how reliable this report is...but just in case. Does anyone know if there are any cases which would protect the e-ink screen from the x-rays? I know that would probably result in airport security wanting to take a closer look in person at the device. If the inspection was "hands on" instead of x-ray it might be easier on the device.

[nekokami]

You used to be able to ask for a hand check of a laptop or whatever. You'd put it in the bin with change from your pockets. I don't know if they let you do that anymore.

[HarryT]

X-rays will NOT affect eInk screens, especially not the low-intensity X-rays used by airport scanners.

[daffy4u]

Originally Posted by HarryT

There is no confirmation that there ever will be a Kindle v2. It is pure rumour and speculation with zero factual basis.

Bezo has said there will at some point be a Kindle 10.0, so I would think there will be a 2.0. Right now the argument is when.

http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderd...ns-jeff-bezos/

4th bullet point down

Lowered the Kindle price to $359 for $399; Kindle is selling well, we’re extremely happy about it. There will a second version, a third version, a tenth version. He says the second version is not that near.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Razi

Very well said! Will the new version have a slot for the glucose test strips? (it will still look like an over-sized medical equipment from the 1970s) Must be the ugliest mainstream gadget of the decade! I did mention Kindle 2 when the prices for the old monstrosity were suddenly dropped recently. Flog off the old stock, bring in the new. An ugly, clunky, over-buttoned (!) device backed by an uglier marketing campaign (rumors) and business practices. I will NEVER buy one!

Razi, no one particularly wants you to buy a Kindle. So, the fact that you will never buy one matters not one tiny bit in the grand scheme of things. Likewise your personal opinion of the aesthetics of the device. Pretty much of no importance whatsoever, and certainly of no importance to me.

Originally Posted by Razi

And did I mention the value of your 'old' Kindie (that you bought after reading some 'rumors' somewhere) once the Kindle 2 comes out? All that plastic would look, oh-so-dated-and-old! I suggest you have it converted to a 'blood-pressure monitor' with that 'big' display, you'll be able to read the numbers easily (and pressing all those buttons would make you feel like Dr. Luka Kovač, the ER fame!)

Oh all these newbie fanatics! Well, I guess this will happen when ereaders become mainstream. The shape of things to come.

Do you think my old Kindle will not work when a supposed "new" Kindle comes out?? And, who buys an ebook reader for it's looks?? I bought it to read on. Not because of how it looks (although I happen to like the way it looks). I remember reading that some poster thought it wasn't "sexy." Since I didn't purchase the device to have sex with it, why would I care if it looked sexy??

If the reason for the purchase is just to stand around with the device hoping to interest literate females ... well, then get a device that is sexier, by all means. In fact, think of all the money you won't have to spend on content ... all you would need is the "sexy" reader.

I still get a lot of use out of my old Rocket E-Book. So, since I've been reading ebooks for several years now, I would hazard that that qualifies me as something other than a "newbie." I suppose you would have to consider me an experienced fanatic. I hope that I am the shape of things to come. I looked at the alternatives to the Kindle, decided that they would not work as well for me, and I purchased the Kindle. It's not a decision I regret.

Originally Posted by Razi

Aesthetics, my friend, aesthetics matter. It is a step backwards in that respect. Ever heard of frontlist.com? It used to be my favorite site for buying books. Amazon bought it and it does not exist any more. They specialized in a certain type of scholarly books. Those books have disappeared in the huge pile of Amazon junk now. Ever heard of bookpages.co.uk? Same happened to them as well. We are losing diversity in the book market. Ebook market will go the same way with the arrival of the greedy giant. Then there are issues surrounding the DRM etc, things too complicated for innocent sheeple. I'll leave it at that!

Aesthetics are a matter of personal taste. They matter to you, they do not particularly matter to me. Whether or not the Kindle is a "step backwards" in that respect is also a matter of your personal opinion. And, unless there was a world-wide election for "personal taste maven" and you won .... then again, I don't see that your personal taste matters to anyone but you.

I'm sorry the sites you used to like for purchasing books have disappeared. I do fail to see what that has to do with the aesthetics of the Kindle, so we'll assume it's a whole different rant.

Are you saying that the books from bookpages.co.uk are no longer available at all?? Or, is it simply that you are upset by the fact that they are available through Amazon? Because your statement that they have "disappeared in the huge pile of Amazon junk" does not make that clear. And, which of the books that are available from Amazon do you consider "junk"? Was there also something I missed that made you the ultimate book critic?? I really much try to keep on top of all these important elections I seem to have missed.

Originally Posted by Razi

Sorry, didn't know I was talking to a senile person. My apologies. As I said, the shape of things to come! Bring on the clowns

A senile person?? DG?? Not by half. No, you were just being incredibly rude, for no particular reason, to a very nice lady. Now, if that's the "shape of things to come" that doesn't say much for your generation (unless you are a member of my generation, in which case it doesn't say much for my generation). As to the clowns, as the song goes, "don't bother, they're here" ... you are proof of that (in my opinion, which I doubt very much matters at all to you).