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May 07, 2009

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Fred Nauman

I didn't quite match you on the first day purchase of the original Kindle. My wife bought it for me as soon as I expressed an interest. I do download novels and I subscribe to the NY Times on it.
One disappointment!
On a trip to Australia and New Zeeland last year, I was surprised to discover that it could not connect to get the downloads. I had though that it would be available anywhere a cell phone could get service.
I still think it's a great device.

Mary Rhinelander McCarl

Helpful review. Does this version have the page numbers of the original book/magazine? I need those for footnoting & reference purposes. Otherwise it would not be worth the money.

Dick Eastman

---> Does this version have the page numbers of the original book/magazine?

No.

If it did preserve the original page numbers, the numbers would be useless. The Kindle reformats the pages as needed, including page size. If you select larger or smaller fonts, the pages get resized accordingly. The Kindle also omits most advertisements. What might have been page 55 in the original magazine might be page 32 in the Kindle.

If the original page numbers were shown, nobody would be able to use them.

Everything is menu driven and that works well.

- Dick Eastman

Rick Koelz

I think the most important feature of the new Kindle DX has been overlooked. The DX comes with a native PDF reader. This opens up the Kindle to many more documents. PDF conversion on previous models of the Kindle was almost worthless because it couldn't duplicate the original page layout. The DX's larger screen allows you to view the whole page as a complete (original format) page.

I think the PDR reader capability will become a major selling factor once people realize its possibilities on the Kindle DX.

Eileen Souza

Amazon came out with the Kindle 2 in February 2009. I just measured mine and my screen is 4 1/8" L and 2 7/8" W. I do read novels and for that reason I like the overall size of this Kindle (the size of a trade paperback). It makes it easy to handle it as you would any paperback. You can even "curl up with a good Kindle." My only complaint has been that the background is not white and the white case darkens it even more making it difficult to read without direct light for these old eyes, even with a larger font. Of ocurse, with this screen size, the larger font doesn't really cut it, unless you love turning pages.

Bunny Maurer

I received a Kindle II for Christmas in February due to the large number of orders for the original. I download novels and think it is a magnificent invention. I love that one can receive a sample free prior to "buying" the book so one doesn't get "stuck" with a lemon.

Betty Mayfield

In your article "e-books: an Invasion of Privacy," Jan. 14, 2008, you said you were changing your former favorable opinion of the Kindle. I quote, "However, I am now so concerned with the privacy and legal ramifications that I am tempted to permanently power off my Kindle e-book reader."

Further on, you said, "Amazon is spying on you by tracking what you read, where you set your bookmarks, and even (gasp) preserving any notes you make in the margins. In fact, Amazon.com even guarantees that it will store all of that data on its servers, where it remains available to you. Of course, that same data is also available to Amazon.com, to its employees, or to anyone with a court order. Do you really want the government or even your creditors to be able to discover what you are reading?"

That article insured that I would never buy a Kindle. What has happened to make you praise the Kindle once again? Has Amazon ceased to track your reading?

Betty Mayfield

I posted a comment to this articlean hour or so ago, and it has not appeared.You said it would not be posted unless I approved it, but did not provide me a place to say I approve.

Dick Eastman

---> I posted a comment to this article an hour or so ago, and it has not appeared.

I am afraid that I cannot check the comments here every hour, especially when I am traveling or sleeping. However, I do check multiple times most days so the typical delay is 8 hours or less.

- Dick Eastman

Dick Eastman

---> In your article "e-books: an Invasion of Privacy," Jan. 14, 2008, you said you were changing your former favorable opinion of the Kindle.

Two things:

1. Amazon has since moderated the requirements somewhat. See the Kindle Terms of Service for details.

2. I don't really have much to hide. I use the Kindle to read the Wall Street Journal and have purchased a couple of cookbooks for diabetics. If they wish to spy on that, more power to them.

HOWEVER, I am not pleased with spying on customers by any company, no matter what the format. Many web sites do that and I don't like it. I also don't like to see Amazon do it with their Kindle.

- Dick Eastman

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