New Kindles October 05, 2011, 12:28:16 pm Yahoo Message Number: 125749Since I mentioned Amazon's Kindle ebook reader in my last message, and I know ereaders are a topic of interest to many of us, I want to comment on last week's new Kindle product announcements. I've written a long article on ereaders that some of you may have seen: http://www.andybaird.com/travels/ereaders/ebooks.htmWell, don't bother reading it. ;-) Last week's announcements make it obsolete. In the article, I compared various brands of ereaders and talked about the pros and cons of Kindles, Nooks, Sony readers, etc. But I can now rewrite that article in three words:Buy a Kindle.(http://tinyurl.com/3j97toc) Seriously. Amazon's product lineup now beats all its competitors, and the $79 entry-level price is well below that of any other ereader. What's more, Amazon has signaled that they intend to continue undercutting the rest of the market on prices, even if it means selling these devices at a loss. They can afford to do so, because their core business is selling media--books, music, movies, applications. Like King C. Gillette, they'll give away razors in order to sell blades. I have the new $79 Kindle--it arrived on my doorstep only two days after the announcement--and it's a great little ereader. Same high-contrast 6" screen as the Kindle 3, but in a much smaller, lighter package. I thought my Sony PRS-55 Reader was elegantly slim, but this new 4th-generation Kindle makes it look like a 1990-vintage PC laptop. Amazon dropped the keyboard, but that's a good thing in my opinion--it was a lousy keyboard, and how often do you really need a keyboard on a book? I won't address the Kindle Fire 7" tablet here--that's a different kettle of fish, and won't ship until late November anyway. (Yes, I have one on pre-order. Just call my rig "Andy's House o' Tablets." ;-) But if you've been on the fence about buying an ereader, or if you've been thinking about replacing your first- or second-generation Kindle or Nook, the choice is now easy. In my humble opinion, there simply is no competition for the new Kindle and Kindle Touch. Take your pick--you can't go wrong.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/