Kindle

The Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle is a portable e-book reader, which uses wireless technology to shop, download, and read books, magazines, and newspapers. The device uses electronic paper and ink to form words on the Kindle’s viewing area. Since 2007, there have been four versions of the Kindle, each providing improvements to the e-reader.

The history of the Kindle:

 The First Generation Kindle debuted on November 19, 2007. Amazon released this device exclusively in the United States for $399. The e-reader had a 6 inch diagonal display along with 250 MB of memory, which could hold 200 books.

The Kindle 2 was released February 23, 2009. This version contained a text-to-speech option and a larger amount of internal memory, 2 GB. The battery life was extended and it had the ability to hold over 1500 books. Later along in 2009, sales went global as Amazon released an international version of the Kindle, which worked in over 100 countries.

 ﻿The Kindle DX was released on May 6, 2009, offering a larger screen, PDF accessibility, and different orientations of the digital ink. The DX international version was available beginning January 19, 2010. The Kindle DX Graphite was released July 1, 2010 with a $110 reduced price. It has an e-ink screen that offered better color contrast. 

 The Kindle 3, which was released on July 28, 2010, is the newest version of the Kindle to date. It has two variations, the Kindle Wi-Fi and the Kindle 3. The Wi-Fi is priced at $139 and it connects using public or private Wi-Fi networks. The 3G version, which also contains Wi-Fi, is priced at $189 and it uses the same wireless signals that cell phones use.

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**E-reading versus Paper Reading (Information in terms of E-reading) ** Source: []
 * **Advantages** || **Disadvantages** ||
 * 1. Convenience of buying books online and downloading them right to the Kindle, without leaving home. || 1. Reading is on a viewing area, which some people prefer to read words in a book instead of on the device. ||
 * 2. The device is small, flat, and changes pages easier than turning pages on a book. || 2. <span style="color: #403152; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB Demi','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Hard-driver failure can be troublesome by the loss of an e-book. ||
 * 3. <span style="color: #403152; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB Demi','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">E-books contain websites and links to pages that pertain to the reading. || 3. <span style="color: #403152; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB Demi','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">E-books have the potential to be hacked, just as any device being connected to the internet. ||
 * 4. <span style="color: #403152; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB Demi','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">E-books are portable in the fact that you can have hundreds of books on the device, instead of carrying a whole bag of books with you. || 4. <span style="color: #403152; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB Demi','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Kindles are not transferrable to all computers, such as certain Macs. ||
 * 5. <span style="color: #403152; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB Demi','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">E-books can hold video and audio. || 5. <span style="color: #403152; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB Demi','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Some worry that e-books on a certain Kindle will not necessarily transfer to future Kindles. ||

<span style="color: #403152; display: block; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB Demi','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">How much does the Kindle cost?

<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The average cost for the newest version of the Kindle containing Wi-Fi is $139. A Kindle with Wi-Fi and 3G technology is $189. When some people see this price, they get overwhelmed thinking that they can go buy a book for about ten dollars. What you need to realize is that an e-reader can have hundreds of books downloaded to it for free. It also has the internet which can be used to look up words used in the text or to in cooperate another idea while reading the text.

<span style="color: #403152; display: block; font-family: 'Berlin Sans FB Demi','sans-serif'; font-size: 14pt; text-align: center;">How is the Kindle a useful source in the classroom?

<span style="color: #4f6228; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">The Kindle is increasingly being used in schools. Some schools have sets of Kindles for students to use to help making reading a more enjoyable experience. When students do not comprehend what words mean, they often continue reading. But with the Kindle, it is quick and easy to look up the word online! Increasing technology in the classroom makes reading more fun!