The Complete 2012 User's Guide to the Amazing Amazon Kindle: Covers All Current Kindles Including the Kindle Fire, Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, and Kindle (6 page)

Tablet computers, such as the Kindle Fire and Apple iPad, have taken the mobile computing world by storm, selling millions of units. Yet at the same time, there has been absolutely no indication that tablet computer sales have had any slowing effect on sales of dedicated electronic book readers (e-readers) such as the E Ink Kindles, which have grown dramatically every year since the Kindle was first launched in November 2007.

Huh? The pundits said the iPad in particular would be a "Kindle-killer." The problem with these failed prophecies is not in the devices themselves, which are both revolutionary and have large niches to fill, but in the failure of journalists and tech pundits to see tablets and e-readers from the point of view of the user.

Tablet computers such as the Kindle Fire and Apple iPad are a breakthrough in portable computers and multimedia entertainment devices. They are light, thin, have sharp color screens, and long battery life for a computer-- often as much as 7.5 to 10 hours. They offer access to the Internet from nearly anywhere. A multi-touch screen makes it possible to surf the web, check e-mail, watch and take movies and view photos, listen to music, and read digital newspapers, books, and magazines. You can do all this without messing with a physical keyboard. Tablets have brought personal computing not only to the coffee shop, but to the sofa -- and alas, even to the bedroom.

Although the E Ink Kindle is also a computer, most of the computer power is hidden behind, or in support of, the Kindle's primary function, which is to allow the user to read books. The Kindle's breakthrough feature is the E Ink Pearl screen, which looks and works more like ink on paper than conventional LCD computer displays. The screen is front-lit by ambient light, and displays sharp black characters on a white background the same as printed books. Reading on a Kindle screen is much like reading a paperback book, and far easier on your eyes than a computer screen. And because the screen uses no power except when turning pages, battery life is measured in weeks.

The Kindle Fire has a color display so you can enjoy books and magazines with color illustrations. It also functions as a video, music and audiobook player. It's functionality can be vastly extended through the use of web-based services and by installing apps, which are application programs written for the Kindle Fire or more generally for the Android platform on which it runs. Apps let you play games, edit photos, work on word processing documents, and much more. In short, the Kindle Fire is a portable entertainment device, but it is a device that can also be used for work and creativity.

Should you buy a tablet like the Fire, or an E Ink reader?

If you are (A) a reader and you only want to read, get an e-reader. If you are (B) and want to watch movies, surf the web, listen to music, and play games, get a tablet.

But of course, few of us are either A or B. Most of us are both. So we want to be clear that many of our readers will want all or most of these features, so the quandary of whether to purchase a tablet or an e-reader doesn't have to be a question of either/or. You can get both. In fact, we have reached the point where you can buy both a E Ink Kindle and a Kindle Fire tablet for less than $300 -- a remarkable development considering that the original Kindle cost nearly $400 back in 2007 and early 2008.

Given these prices for all the current Kindle models, we’d also like to help you evaluate how the Kindle Fire tablet might stack up against other tablets, and particularly Apple’s iPad, so we’ll devote some energy to that comparison and its implicit value propositions as well.

The difference in the screens is important. Most readers who swear they'll never read a book on an electronic device have never seen an E Ink e-reader. As soon as they do, their reaction is, almost invariably, "I had no idea the screen was so nice." Amazon's concept when developing the Kindle was to create the first e-reader that disappeared in the reader's hands, just like a print book does. We aren’t alone among millions of readers who believe that Amazon succeeded brilliantly in doing that.

E Ink screens create text or images by arranging tiny drops of electronic black ink that turn on and off. Because the background is very pale gray and the screen is front-lit by ambient light, it looks very much like a printed book. The brighter the light, the easier it is to read. Kindle E Ink screens are easy to read, even in bright sunlight.

LCD computer screens create an image by turning on tiny square pixels on the screen. Red, green, and blue pixels are combined to create thousands of colors. An LED or fluorescent backlight shines through the pixels and colored filters to create the image. Since the screen is back-lit it displays vivid colors when used in a lighted room, but loses its contrast and washes out when used in bright light outdoors. Tablets such as the Kindle Fire are great for surfing the web, viewing photos and movies, and reading magazines and newspapers in full color.

The combination of features offered by the
 
Kindles is unmatched by any of its competitors -- especially features such as access to well over a million paid titles in the Kindle Store, over a million free book titles, and for some of the e Ink Kindles the option of international 3G connectivity that works in over 100 countries worldwide. The Kindle is the only ebook reader that can read your books to you with text-to-speech. And you have many choices - the basic, low cost Kindle operated by a few buttons and an on-screen keyboard, the Kindle Keyboard with physical buttons and a keyboard, the Kindle DX with a keyboard and the largest screen of any E Ink reader, the Kindle Touch with on-screen, multi-touch controls, and the Kindle Fire with its full color, multi-touch LCD screen.

You now have more choice of Kindles than ever, and selecting the one that fits your needs can be confusing.
 

In terms of the hardware offered, there are currently five Kindles, the Kindle basic, Kindle Touch, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle DX, and Kindle Fire.

All Kindles except the DX offer Wi-Fi connectivity to the Amazon Kindle Store, Amazon Cloud storage for your books, personal documents, and other content, as well as free access to the web.

The Kindle Touch and Kindle Keyboard are also available with 3G wireless in addition to Wi-Fi.

In addition, you can buy a lower cost, advertising-supported “Special Offers” version of the Kindle basic, the Kindle Touch, and the Kindle Keyboard.

Here are the main advantages of each model:

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6 inch E Ink screen reads like a printed book

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Low cost - $79 with Special Offers

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Small size and light weight - just 6 ounces

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Up to 1 month battery life

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Wi-Fi

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6 inch E Ink screen reads like a printed book

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Multi-touch screen interface

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Small size and light weight - less than 8 oz.

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Up to 2 months battery life

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Virtual keyboard for shopping in the Kindle Store, annotating, searching, and web browsing

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Holds 3,000 books

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Wi-Fi

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All the features of the Kindle Touch

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3G Internet connection to Kindle Store and Wikipedia that works in over 100 countries

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Wi-Fi

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Kindle Keyboard

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6 inch E Ink screen reads like a printed book

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Virtual keyboard for shopping in the Kindle Store, annotating, searching, and web browsing

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Small size and light weight - less than 9 oz

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Holds 3,500 books

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Up to 2 months battery life

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Wi-Fi

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All the features of the Kindle Keyboard

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Free lifetime 3G Internet connection works in over 100 countries

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Browse the web and check e-mail over 3G

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Wi-Fi

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9.7 inch E Ink screen - largest of any reader and great for academic and professional texts

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Physical keyboard for shopping in the Kindle Store, annotating, searching, and web browsing

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Light weight for its size - 18.9 oz

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Screen auto-rotation

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Holds 3,500 books

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Up to 3 weeks battery life

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Free lifetime 3G Internet connection works in over 100 countries

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Browse the web and check e-mail over 3G

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7-inch color LCD screen

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Watch movies and TV shows, listen to music and audiobooks, and read magazines and books in brilliant color

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Compact and light for a tablet- 14.6 oz