Breaking News – Kindle 2 Price drops!

Yes, you heard right, the Amazon Kindle 2 is now $299.  From $399 to $359, to  $299…first  $40 lower now  $60 with a span of 18 months.

Seems like the price is on its way down fast.  Once again, Amazon has taken the lead in the ebook reader “world,” this time with the price.

You can expect other ebook readers to follow suit. That’s  if they plan to stay in the game.  Too bad I can’t turn mine back in and get a discount.

Anyway, I still love my Kindle 2.

I wonder if the textbook component has anything to do with it. Who knows.

What do you think?

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Kindle Textbook Deployment Faces Stiff Challenges

The Kindle textbook deployment faces an uphill battle as the
National Federation of the Blind and American Council of the Blind filed a discrimination Law Suit against Arizona State University Amazon Kindle DX Pilot Program claiming that it discriminates against the blind.

What is the problem?

Transforming digital text to  audio and braile is relatively simple, but at present, the Amazon Kindle DX is not completely configued to do so in such a way  to accomodate blind readers.

Yes, the device currently translate digital book into Audio, but one can only activate the feature via an on-screen menu that’s not accessible to the blind.

“It is unfair to the blind to deploy such a huge project and the blind do not have access to it.” said one blind student.

“Software exists that can use audio or keyboard shortcuts to make menus available,” says Danielson of the federation for the blind, but Amazon has chosen not to incorporate that technology into the Kindle at this point.

By adopting the device as-is, Arizona State and the other universities are violating the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

“Given the highly-advanced technology involved, there is no good reason that Amazon’s Kindle DX device should be inaccessible to blind students,” Marc Maurer, the federation’s president, said in a prepared statement.

“Amazon could have used the same text-to-speech technology that reads e-books on the device aloud to make its menus accessible to the blind, but it chose not to do so.

Thus far Amazon is silent on the issue. Let us know your thoughts.

tWeet! tWeet! who goes there? Follow us for updates and more on twitter by clicking right here: 

If you enjoy this article, you may also like:

• What Kindle Textbooks Could Mean For Both The Amazon Kindle And The Student.
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Amazon Planning To Put Advertisement In Kindle Content

The word is out! Amazon has officially applied for a patent to  Incorporate Advertising in On-Demand Generated Kindle Content.

But what does this mean?
Are they planning to put ADs in books, magazines, blogs, or newspapers? Pick your choice! Which do you think is most appropriate or make more sense?

I would say, blogs, newspaper, and magazines. Now I may be wrong, but that’s my gut feeling.

I cannot see them putting Advertising in books…digital or not? That’s just too different from the norm.

I mean it would take a long time for Kindle digital books buyers to relate to this and it might even piss some people off! I don’t think Amazon would want to run that risk. At least not in the beginning.

But it does make a lot of sense for magazines, blogs, and newspaper. Readers are already used to seeing Ads in newspaper, blogs, and magazines. I have to admit it did look kind of weird not seeing those in the Kindle generated ones.

I mean, if you are going to deliver those kind of content, you might as well get it as close to reality as possible.

I knew that something was up when they rolled out the Kindle DX.  You see, Amazon is not stupid! They’ve been listening to the rumbling and  grumbling  of the publishers and realized that to really make Kindle the standard ebook reader, they are going to have to pull out all stops.

That mean fighting off would-be competitors and satisfying both customers and the publishers as well. Make it a win-win for all!

I did mention in one previous article that publishers were conspiring to find alternative ebook readers that would allow them to put Advertising in their content and let them in on a bigger slice of the pie.

I always knew, though that Amazon was not going to sit back and allow  competitors to come in and steal their market shares. They are going to fight to the death.

There is simply too much at steak here to just sit back and do nothing.

So, what does it mean for the customer?
Honestly, I don’t think customers will mind. As always this is just an added service…as long as it does not interfere with the content itself.

I am an early Kindle adopter and I don’t really care one way or another, and I believe others share the same sentiment.

Anyway, for me this was expected. I was wondering how long it would take to get there. But as we can see, things are already set in motion.

Now I have to keep my ears open to see how other ebook readers will respond.

Can things get more interesting? I don’t think so.

If you like this article, we would love to hear from you…and don’t forget to follow us on twitter for regular updates.

You may also be interested in:

• Kindle DX… does Size really matter?
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Getting Started With Your iPhone: Wi-Fi – Part 3

Your iPhone may connect to the internet via either local Wi-Fi networks or your cellular data network.

If Wi-Fi is turn off or unavailable, then the cellular data network will take over when available…and will allow you to use Mail, Safari, YouTube, Stocks, Maps, Weather, the iTunes Store and the App Store.

To Turn Wi-F on or off, simply choose Wi-Fi then select on or off.

To Join a Wi-Fi network, choose Wi-Fi, wait a moment as iPhone detects networks in range, then select a network.

Enter password, if necessary, and tap Join. (Networks that require a password appear with a lock icon.). If you don’t have a password you will need to get one from the network administrator.

Join a Wi-Fi network once and your iPhone automatically connects to to it whenever you are in range.

If you’ve joined multiple networks and is in range of all, your iPhone will connect to the last one used.

You know you’re connected to Wi-Fi network when the Wi-Fi icon in the status bar at the top of the screen shows signal strength. The more bars you see, the stronger the signal.

To set your iPhone to “ask if you want to join a new network,” choose Wi-Fi and turn “Ask to Join Networks” on or off.

When necessary, you iPhone will displays a list of available Wi-Fi networks that you can choose from.

To ‘un-join’ a network, choose Wi-Fi and tap Blue dot with right arrow next to a network you’ve joined before. Then tap “Forget this Network.”

To join a closed Wi-Fi network that’s not listed, choose Wi-Fi, then Other, then enter the network name. If the network requires a password, tap Security, tap the type of security the network uses, and enter the password.

You must already know the network name, password, and security type to connect.

If additional settings are required, ask the network administrator.

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For regular updates, follow us on twitter .

What Kindle Textbooks Could Mean For Both The Amazon Kindle And The Student.

Cheaper Textbooks
You can expect Kindle textbooks to be cheaper than their printed counterparts, since it will eliminate the need for  printing, binding, and shipping.

Kindle-related  Sales could skyrocket
If a $80 textbook could be bought for $40, then buying 12 textbooks would cover the Kindle cost.  That’s about two semesters worth of textbooks.  The next six semesters (for a 4-year degree), would result in a 50% discount in textbooks cost  for students and perhaps a significant increase sales for Amazon…and that’s on the higher side.  Discounted prices could be much less.

Cheaper kindle?
A cheaper Kindle price must also be taken into serious consideration, if Amazon expect students to buy into the idea.

Consider the  “starving” student, some of whom work two or more jobs, to survive and attend school  full time. For these students, the current Kindle / Kindle DX prices could be the first high hurdle to overcome to get to the  ‘cheaper’ textbook.

Less load for Students
I remember dragging around those heavy backpacks back in college. It was so much work. With Kindle, that would disappear. This would no doubt be a welcome change for many students.

No more textbook re-sale for the ‘Starving Student.’
“Starving” students may not be able to-resell unwanted books to a book store or even amazon once they are through with the course.  The would eliminate that extra source of income to help make ends meet.

On the other hand, graduate students could stand to benefit since they tend to keep used books as references.

Perhaps a book-rental agreement of some kind would be the perfect solution, whereby  books could be downloaded  for a certain period of time for smaller fee than the cost of the book and automatically removed from the device at the end of the rental period.

My sixth sense tells me that this is highly unlikely, but then again, I may be wrong.

The dreaded ‘Fear Factor.’
Electronic failure! You have all your textbooks, notes, anotation, etc., on the Kindle and the night before the final exam, your Kindle refuses to  ‘wake up.’  Go forbid that this should happen, but it could. What you do then?

If you like this article, let us know your thoughts…and don’t forget to follow us on twitter for the latest updates.

You may also be interested in:

• Amazon to Launch New version of Amazon Kindle and Move Kindle Into The Textbook Arena!
• Kindle DX… does Size really matter?
• Kindle-Edition Textbooks To Be Published By Princeton University Press

Note: Already there are a few textbooks available at the kindle store.

To find out what’s available, go to the Kindle Store and do a ’search’ for your title of interest.