Is the Kindle 2 Ready for the Bigtime?

Scooping the News is field testing a Kindle 2. It was ready to go out of the box with three purchased book selections already downloaded during transit from Amazon’s Kentucky distribution center.

The initial test involved our futurist, Donald G. Hartman, reading a couple novels and a self-improvement book. Everything worked as advertised: a screen that is comfortably readable with the necessary ambient light, touch controls that are conveniently located, and that amazing real time download capability.

The Kindle 2 disappears when reading a fast paced novel. You do not have to struggle with a curved type line that would be near the spine of a paperback. And page turning becomes automatic. However, Kindle lacks convenience when working through a self-help book that wants you to take a test and then refer to the references in the back.

If you want to keep up with Kindle’s development try kindlenation@gmail.com. With our basic out of the box test completed, we begin a cross-country test using the Kindle 2 for getting our daily dose of the news. Our editor-in-chief, Chas J. Hartman, will be reporting on that cross-country adventure in several days.