Which Kindle Do You Really Want Now?

Posted by Greg Laden on August 2, 2010
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Which Kindle should you buy (or beg the relatives to give you for your birthday)??? The Regular 6 inch Kindle or the fancier Kindle DX?

It is said that the two extant technologies …. Kindle-like low power ePaper displays vs “real tablet computers” will merge.

I’m sure this is true. It is just as sure as the fact that almost every computer monitor sold to the average customer is the shiny hard to read kind instead of the more functional non-shiny kind. And when the technologies merge, the marketing departments will grin and the users will squint.

Does any of this matter to you now? Yes. Because there are predictions that there will be a major change in technology in less than two years which might make the choices you make now seem silly.

Like this:

So, the answer? If you need a Kindle now, get the cheap one. Then, save your pennies and upgrade later.

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Comments

  1. #1 Equisetum
    August 2, 2010

    “Mirasol uses tiny mirrors . . .”

    No way am I buying one of these. You drop the thing and have bad luck for the rest of you life.

  2. #2 Shawn Smith
    August 2, 2010

    Sorry, ever since Amazon decided that offensive software patent litigation was important to their business model, I decided to never buy anything from them. You can keep your Kindle; I don’t need one, I don’t want one, and I will never give Amazon any of my money for one.

    Yes, that makes me an intolerant asshole. And probably a far outlier as far as consumers go. Oh well. I get to live with my decisions.

  3. #3 Nemo
    August 2, 2010

    Sweet.

    Have standalone monitors started following the shiny trend, or is it mostly only notebook computers? I thought the latter.

    I kinda want a WiFi DX, but they don’t have that yet. And a partial refund on the $259 Kindle 2 I got in May would be nice.

  4. #4 Greg Laden
    August 2, 2010

    Nemo, it is all monitors. Go to Best Buy (wear sunglasses) and look at all the monitors. Then, go to a business or institution with a tech department that specifies equipment and look at their monitors.

  5. #5 Jason
    August 2, 2010

    My wife is getting me an ereader for my birthday but I haven’t decided between a kindle or a nook. Haven’t thoroughly researched yet but was leaning toward the nook.

  6. #6 hibob
    August 2, 2010

    Might not even have to wait two years for Mirasol,
    tablets with pixel-qi displays should be available (Notion Ink Adam, fingers crossed) this winter:

    http://besttabletreview.com/a-comparison-of-second-generation-displays-why-pixel-qi-mirasol-qr-lpd-and-liquavista-are-the-future-of-tablet-screens/

    No kidding about wearing sunglasses at Best Buy – they turn the brightness of the screens all the way up too. People do tend to buy the shiniest stuff on display though.

  7. #7 speedwell
    August 2, 2010

    I was on the verge of buying a Kindle until I saw your post, and I massively appreciate it. I have a fine e-book reader but it does not have Wifi or 3G… on the other hand I have enough books downloaded on it to keep me in reading material for ten years if I read one book every other day. So I can wait. Very much appreciated. :)

  8. #8 Benton Jackson
    August 2, 2010

    I was going to say there’s always something nicer right around the corner, and if you were going to wait for that you would never buy anything.

    But then I watched the video- Wow. That’s worth waiting for, assuming it’s really as good as it looks. It is, after all, just done with mirrors. (Someone had to say it)

  9. #9 Greg Laden
    August 2, 2010

    Benton, exactly. But, I also think that waiting a little while after buying the current tech, which has a reduced price, is better. What I’m really doing here is riffing off my friend Jaf (http://tinyurl.com/24rpwxg) who is trying to answer this question for herself right now.

  10. #10 AnonymousCoward
    August 2, 2010

    It might not be for everyone, but I like to use the Kindle app on my phone.

  11. #11 Jon H
    August 2, 2010

    Given that the Mirasol screen isn’t quite here yet, it’s probably safe to add two years (at least) before it shows up in real products, let alone affordable ones.

    I mean, Plastic Logic hasn’t managed to ship their black and white reader based on their flexible screen tech (which I don’t really see the point of since the screen is attached to non-flexible components, and you wouldn’t want to treat it like you would a newspaper or magazine anyway because it’d get scrunched and creased.)

  12. #12 DuWayne
    August 2, 2010

    I would just like to find an old tablet for Youngest, to turn into a full color e-reader. That is not to say that I wouldn’t love a full color e-reader, that is easy on the eyes – I most certainly would. But it would totally rock to get something cheaper for Youngest.

  13. #13 Paladin
    August 3, 2010

    Hmm, seems like everybody kinda forgot about the DRM that goes on every book from Amazon, and things like the 1984 being deleted from users that lawfully bought the book.

    Well, if you’re comfortable with guys from the store breaking into your house at night to reposes random stuff, hell, why not buy a Kindle? I wouldn’t, and the display doesn’t matter here.

    On the other hand, cool stuff in that video.