It’s been a bit of up-and-down for the Kindle this week.
On the positive side, Amazon.com released Kindle for PC, a Windows-only application that allows you to consume books you’ve already purchased on your laptop. This has been a long time coming, especially given that competitors like Sony have had a desktop application available for quite some time. Now, if they would only release a Mac version…regardless, this move provides one more piece of the puzzle, potentially enabling third-party readers built on commodity netbook or tablet-based hardware to get into the e-reader business. Conspiracy theorists get extra bonus spy points for thinking that the new application hints at a forthcoming color device.
On the negative side, Syracuse University condemned the Kindle, citing inaccessibility to the blind as a reason for not using the device as a replacement for textbooks. This is yet another setback for Amazon.com’s efforts to entrench the Kindle in universities as an alternative to traditional textbooks – students at Princeton had previously expressed contempt for the Kindle DX and its lack of capabilities. Until Amazon addresses the concerns, it appears blind student will either have to stick with Braille textbooks, or spring for the new Intel Reader device (international students with only modest vision impairment might be able to make do with the rumoured screen contrast improvements).
0 Response to “Mixed Week for the Kindle”