Kindle 2 shipping now
By Nilay Patel 
posted February 22nd 2009 3:32PM
posted February 22nd 2009 3:32PM
[Thanks, Parker]
posted February 22nd 2009 3:32PM
powered by gdgt
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
I'm curious to know if you'd rather buy a Kindle at, say, $99. But then be faced with a monthly surcharge of $49 for the wireless access (EVDO, if I recall). PLUS having to pay for the books.
I wouldn't mind the lower up front costs at all. Alot more people would buy in at that rate. But after one year of "membership" you'd have paid out about $700 -- and the ongoing charges continue to climb.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the $360 a one-time charge? Buy books, yeah -- that balances out whichever plan you choose -- but in these terms, $360 becomes more of a bargain.
If they came out with a cheaper Kindle that doesn't have the wireless features and is $99 I would buy it, I'd probably just fill it up with a bunch of public domain book I got for free anyway.
@Meta: Obviously you wouldn't be their target market, so that's another reason for them to not make such as device.
If you love to read, and you read a LOT like I do... there is nothing like a Kindle. My old one goes to my sister as soon as the new one arrives. Those of you who do not get it... just shut up and don't buy it. I'm too busy reading to listen.
Pricing aside, I for one think Amazon's getting it right with the Kindle 2. I'm not planning on getting one, but I think my wife, who's an avid reader, should get one. From the reading that I've done on it, I love that there's no sync'ing needed to a computer, you wake up in the morning and all your newspaper and blog updates have already been wirelessly downloaded via the 3G network. And as I understand it, you don't need to sign a wireless contract, and you're not paying for any air time, provided it's related to browsing and/or the downloading of purchased material.
For those of you who say you would rather read an e-book on your PDA or laptop, you're missing the beauty of the Kindle, for many more reasons than just the ink. Consider form factor, battery life, weight, convenience of not having to sync to a computer, readability in direct sunlight, convenience of not requiring wi-fi connectivity for browsing/purchasing, convenience of sixty second book downloads, and I'm sure I'm overlooking others...
So if you're not an avid reader, and/or can't justify the cost, fair enough, the Kindle may not for you. But otherwise, I think Amazon's got something here...
Dork factor is off the chain on this one...
I look forward to the international release. I wonder what they'll do with the EVDO - Can they switch a module and make it HSDPA? Or preferably just pull the damn thing out and let us sync books to it through the PC or a card ;P
You can sync using a PC. I ordered the Kindle 2 even though I live in Europe (having a relative ship it to me). Even without the wireless connectivity, it's worth it to me because shipping English books to Switzerland takes a good two weeks and costs shittons. The Kindle 2 will not only save me money, but will allow me to receive books instantly. That justifies it's price tag for me.
I fail to see how so many people have an issue with the device. The majority who show disdain for the Kindle are those that aren't interested in reading to begin with.
I've had a Kindle 1 for about 6 months now, and have read about 70 books on it. Because of the reduced price on books, I have probably saved about $100 overall, and that is including the cost of the device. That is across just six months!
Beyond the savings (and anyone that does read a lot will see the savings on books exceeding the cost of the device) I have also found a bunch of great books and great authors that I would have never found had I been stuck with books of the dead tree variety. Having access to the store anywhere and the ability to read samples of every single book is priceless.
I am 25 years old, so I am another person who isn't at the middle-aged mark yet, and I have no idea what I would do without the Kindle. I would have to go back to going to the book store weekly, spending hours finding things that look interesting, and ending up with more books than I need simply because I'm not sure what I will want to read when I finish my current book.
Before the detractors continue to bash the device, try it out. If you are a reader and do not enjoy the device, then your comments are valid, but if you aren't a reader to begin with, stop attempting to validate your illiteracy.
Unless you're constantly reading new releases, I think you're kidding yourself that this thing saves you money.
1) Library is free
2) Half.com/Amazon.com have thousands of books used for way cheaper than the Kindle prices.
I pre-ordered it, then canceled the order and got a netbook instead.
There are plenty of e-book readers for WinXP, or OS X, or Linux (right now I use Adobe Digital Editions & E-reader)
Plus I get the functionality of a 10" netbook running XP (or OS X if I choose)
At $99, sure...
Okay, but what kinda battery life do you get on it? And is it usable outside in daylight?
Should be here tuesday :)
Only downside is couple of the newspapers that they have advertised are missing few things, specifically the Investors Business Daily and New York Times.
For all those eager shoppers in Europe who do not want to wait until Kindle 2 finally becomes available, check out US Unlocked. This forwarding service offers very cheap shipping to Europe. If you apply for their US Unlocked Card, you actually get a US billing address as well, so you can shop on any American website.
I ordered mine about a week back and my birthday is the 24th. So far my expected date is the 26th, and I'd be extremely excited to find out that I would be getting it a bit early, instead.
If you dont care about wifi, you can get the also amazing Sony PRS-505 for 100$ less than the kindle. It play PDF better and its more compatible with the free content you can find over the internet. Not everyone wanna pay 10$ per book.
The Kindle can read all that free content too. You just have to convert it to a compatible format. But there is a quick and easy trick to that: Just download the Mobipocket reader software and upload your books into that. They're automatically converted to Mobi, which is one of the formats the Kindle reads. Then all you have to do is upload them via USB, just as you would with the Sony.
It also might be worth mentioning that the Kindle 2 has a significant advantage over the PRS505 when it comes to rendering images.
Oh, and 10 Dollars is the average for New Best Sellers. The overall average book price is much lower.
I got my shipment confirmation too, looks like mine was shipped UPS with a GUARANTEED arrival date of Febraury 24th which is 2 days before I was supposed to receive it on the 26th.
My order is marked shipped also. Wasn't supposed to ship till march. Nice. I wonder how many they are shipping in this first batch? Seems quite impressive. Must have been some production schedule.
Poot. I'm still not marked shipped... and I am a K1 owner and they said I'd get it quickly cause of that... :-( When did you guys order? Novemeber??
I think Amazon played all the K1 owners with the bogus "first to ship" offer. The K2 will be my first Kindle. I ordered the day it was announced a few weeks ago and selected the free shipping. My order shipped out yesterday as well via USPS (really FedEx SmartPost).
I own a Kindle 1 and ordered the Kindle 2 as soon as the site went live to order. Mine still says "Items shipping soon."
What's up with that?
I'm always surprised when people compare the Kindle negatively to PCs or PDAs for reading. The difference in battery life is immense. I can't imagine being on a long flight, for instance, and depending on my Palm's or laptop's battery holding out so that I can finish my reading. When I went to London for two weeks for a class, I brought both my Kindle and my new ASUS. The ASUS' battery was always running down when I was in the middle of working on things. I barely had to charge the Kindle the whole time I was there. The Kindle is also much easier to carry around. The whole two weeks, I was able to carry around all of my research for my paper on the Kindle and read whenever I had a minute. I simply converted all of the articles I was using and put them on the Kindle. Then, when I was ready to write my paper, I downloaded all of the passages I'd marked. I was able to carry what would have been piles of articles around with me with no additional weight. And think of all of the trees that were saved...
Woo! I woke to a "your order has shipped" email from Amazon, and a welcome message from Kindle support. I'm excited!
if you don't mind me asking.. when did you place your order? my order status is still the same (ordered on feb 9)? thanks for any info to quell my kindle excitment
Ahhhh, mine shipped!
Just got my shipping confirmation. I ordered on the day it was announced and chose next day shipping.
Can't wait...
I ordered mine on Friday (Feb 20th around 4pm) and woke to an email stating that my Kindle has Shipped! WOOT! WOOT!
just got my shipping confirmation
I ordered mine yesterday and it shipped today!