Amazon unveils new Kindle DX in New York

If you thought the Kindle 2.0 was nice but too small, and have $489 you want to spend, then the just-announced Kindle DX is for you.

At a news conference today in New York, Jeff Bezos unveiled the next generation of the Kindle, which has an 8.5-by-11-inch screen. It's a significant size upgrade, as you can see from Amazon's comparison, above. The larger screen means less scrolling and zooming, but it's the only significant technological change from the Kindle 2.0, which was announced just 93 days ago.

The Kindle DX will be available this summer, although Amazon is taking pre-orders now.

A major development was telegraphed by the location of the news conference — Pace University in New York. Amazon has partnered with three major textbook publishers — Pearson, Cengage Learning and Wiley — that have 60% of the textbook market. Although the New York Times points out that this "pretty prominently" omits McGraw-Hill Education, Amazon is clearly moving to put the Kindle DX in college students' hands.

Engadget, which live-blogged the news conference, quoted Bezos as saying, "This is a dream to have textbooks on a device this small. Students with smaller backpacks, less load, easier access."

This fall, the Kindle DX will be tested by students at Arizona State University, Case Western Reserve University, Princeton University, Reed College and the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. At the news conference, Barbara R. Snyder, president of Case Western Reserve, said, "We look forward to seeing how the device affects the participation of both students and faculty in the educational experience.”

There are about 18 million students enrolled in college now, and providing a textbook-friendly ebook reader to them would seem to be a smart move. Is it one that Apple might also be making? In March, rumors flew that Apple might be working on a Kindle competitor. Could that be the reason Amazon announced the Kindle DX now, even though it won't be available for months?

Maybe the motive for the announcement was the new partnership with three newspapers — the New York Times, the Boston Globe and the Washington Post — that will provide Kindle DX discounts to long-term subscribers. Exactly how much, and exactly how long the Boston Globe will remain available, was not announced.

As a recent textbook-lugger, I can see the utility of having lots of books on one device, but I'm not sure a standalone Kindle is any better than a laptop. And you certainly can't write a paper on it. And I would worry that the nice, light, delicate Kindle DX would get crunched by one of the old-style books I was carrying around.

The bigger screen is lovely, but I'm not sure it's the perfect fit — it isn't right for newspapers, really. And it just makes me want something more: full color.

— Carolyn Kellogg

Image: Amazon.com

Comments

[Mark Kawakami]

As a Kindle owner, I think the biggest problem from a text book perspective is how hard it is to randomly jump to a given page. With paper books, if you need to flip back several pages, it's easy and fast, same with quickly scanning over several pages looking for that one chart or illustration that you want to review again. But the Kindle's slow page turns, lack of regular page numbers and cumbersome procedures for returning to where you left off could make using the Kindle as a textbook reader really frustrating. It's fine if you're reading chapter by chapter, but studying for finals or using the textbook as a reference for writing papers typically requires a lot of the flipping and scanning that the Kindle is very poor at.

That being said, searching the text is very easy on the Kindle, which is a plus.

Don't get me wrong, the Kindle is great for fiction or narrative non-fiction -- anything that you read pretty much start-to-finish. But the type of reading and reviewing of material that a college class usually requires really won't be very practical on the Kindle until it has an interface designed for this sort of interaction.

[Luke]

Granted, this is an latimes "blog," but still - kind of amusing that the bloggers (engadget) were actually at the event covering it in person like a reporter, and the newspaper is just linking to their coverage.

[Muliadi Jeo]

I think Amazon need to be agressive on the price point. $300+ for the Kindle 2 and $500+ for the DX is still way too expensive for a wide adoption.

Considering they will be making a lot of money on selling the digital books itself, I think the right price point is some where around $100-$150 for the Kindle 2 and $200-$300 for the DX! Even better if they combine it with book buying or borrowing subscription? $10.00 a month for borrowing up to 5 books slot?

Just a thought.

[Charlene]

I'm 62 and just bought my Kindle2. Primarily because I belong to two book clubs. I don't want to have stacks of books on my shelves and elsewhere. The Kindle makes it possible for me to read to my hearts content and store the books at Amazon or within the Kindle 2. I find it very easy to flip through the book to find quotes and info I might like to share at the club members. It is possible to scroll through the book to find chapters etc. Please don't be so critical. I would have loved to have a Kindle DX when I was in nursing school. P.S. Pull it together! The cost of a Kindle is moderate compared to the cost of actual textbooks. Over a four to five year period I am sure you will find a sbstantial savings.