Amazon has launched a Kindle for Kids Bundle. The Bundle packages a third-party back cover (in your choice of five colors) and two-year SquareTrade warranty with an existing entry-level, touch-screen, ad-free Kindle … for the same price that Kindle alone would have cost (without ads): $99. Beyond its standard e-reading capabilities, Amazon is also pitching Kindle FreeTime features such as reading achievement badges. But I wonder if there’s much of a market amongst parents and their budding readers for a single function device like this? I’d handed down a former Kindle to a friend’s daughter, but Dad tells me it was pretty quickly superseded by other multifunctional tablet gadgetry. Hm.
And, while we’re on the topic of Kindle, for us adults Amazon has introduced a new font and improved layout.
Amazon is making a big step towards better typography on the Kindle. Not only are they unveiling Bookerly, the first typeface designed for the Kindle for scratch, but they’re finally solving the Kindle’s typesetting problems with an all-new layout engine that introduces better text justification, kerning, drop caps, image positioning, and more.
Updated apps for iPhone and iPad are available now, with e-Ink and Android devices expected to receive these improvements later this summer.
(via The Digital Reader)
A Kindle cover that doesn’t cover the screen? I’m currently using an Omoton 3rd-party cover which has a proper screen flap. Search Amazon for “Omoton Kindle”.
Yeah, somewhat strange. But also essentially free – you get the backing and the warranty for the same price as the Kindle alone, so why not? By the by, I bought an Omoton for a Paperwhite… but gave it to my mom as I still prefer the Ziploc.
https://twitter.com/davezatz/status/440879203102101504
“I’d handed down a former Kindle to a friend’s daughter, but Dad tells me it was pretty quickly superseded by other multifunctional tablet gadgetry.”
Amazon is making a big mistake in not putting a little sand inside to make the experience more pleasant. You know, for kids.
I disagree about kids needing multi-functioning devices. There are many times when I want my kids to read but not do anything else on a tablet. For example, in bed right before sleep. I’m totally fine (I actually encourage) with them reading in bed before falling asleep. But I don’t want them playing on an ipad or ipod touch. If I gave them an ipad to read from they would inevitably just play games or watch TV.
I’ve said many times that the best feature of the Kindle readers are that they don’t do anything else. You just read on them. That’s a good thing for adults and kids.
That’s how I feel (and why I own one), but I wonder how prevalent that thought is and which device would be chosen by folks on a tighter budget?
There was some study published in the last couple of weeks (for which I no longer have a link) that attempted to prove that kids (“digital natives” as the weird phrasing goes) actually prefer dead-tree books. FWIW.
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“I wonder … which device would be chosen by folks on a tighter budget?”
But Kindles are essentially free these days. And while that’s not literally true, you do make up the initial cost quite rapidly in cheaper content.
Of course, I assume you mean spending the $80 in addition to another tablet, but still…
However, those folks on a lower budget probably aren’t paying for content and instead are using the library. And while you can use the library for e-books (as I regularly do) it’s much easier to do it with regular books.
My mom, for example, never pays for books (and she’s not on that tight a budget). She thinks it’s insane to pay for a book when the library has it for free. Of course she’s also really good at getting the new books right when they come out from the library. She gets her requests in very quickly as soon as they get the book into the system.
My mom bought and read 6 novels on her Kindle in the last 4 weeks. I need to figure out the library thing for her. ;)
“And while you can use the library for e-books (as I regularly do) it’s much easier to do it with regular books.”
Viva, dead-tree! Viva! Viva!
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“My mom bought and read 6 novels on her Kindle in the last 4 weeks. I need to figure out the library thing for her.”
Maybe, if you’d just stop stealing her Social Security checks, Dave, her use-case-scenario would work out just fine without any intervention…