I’m a huge bookworm and I’m a little divided on the issue of eBook readers. On the one hand, I love holding the actual book itself; the smell of the pages, the weight of the book in my hands. But then an eBook makes it easy to carry digital texts around, and I have a lot of pirated copies of academic texts and journals. In response to the slight clamor for eBooks with bigger screens, Amazon just launched the new Kindle DX, an eBook reader with a 9.7-inch large screen to make reading newspaper and magazine articles easy on the eyes. I was wrong when I said that the new Kindle costs $200; apparently, the Kindle DX will sell for a whopping $489!
So for that exhorbitant amount, you get 3.3GB hard disk memory – allowing for approximately 3,300 eBooks, 16 shades of gray on the 9.7-inch screen which makes page transitions easier on the eyes, 20% faster page turns, a USB 2.0 connection, .PDF file compatibility, a 3.5mm headphone jack and built-in speakers so readers can make use of the Kindle DX’s Read to Me feature, where a robotic voice reads text out loud. It also has wireless 3G, which means you can download new books without having to hunt for a hot spot!
I wonder who has $489 to burn on an eBook reader during a recession?