Though it has been rumored for months, Amazon just “officially” announced their successor to the first Kindle. I own one of the first generation models, and I think I will pass on upgrading to the new one. There simply isn’t enough of an upgrade to justify the cost, and furthermore, a few positive features of the first model have been dropped entirely.

First, here’s what they did right:

- More detailed, faster screen. It still isn’t the high-contrast, color screen that would be ideal, but it is moving in the right direction.
- USB charging. Finally!
- Text-to-speech. The ability to read books aloud is obviously a huge boon for the visually impaired, but is even an advantage for people who would just like to have a book or an article read to them (such as while they are driving).

And what is worse:

- No “mirror cursor”. The little instant-feedback cursor on the right of the original Kindle’s screen was great. I worry that the Kindle 2′s direct joystick screen selection will be sluggish.
- No SD Card slot. Yes, it does include more out-of-the-box memory (2GB), but you can’t add any more like you could with the first Kindle.
- No user replaceable battery (?– unconfirmed). Another mixed blessing – the battery in the Kindle 2 is bigger and longer-lasting, but if it dies, you can’t easily replace it.
- No rubber backing. This has definitely kept my Kindle securely planted, and I am sad to see this clever feature go.
- No lower price. Perhaps the most important negative, the still-$360 price tag will hinder mass adoption of the device.

Overall, Amazon is doing a great job considering they are still very new to product design, I just wish they weren’t removing great features the first edition had!

Posted on February 9, 2009 at 6:33 pm

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Written by Eric