Amazon.com’s New Kindle 2

At an event in New York City’s Morgan Library this morning, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos introduced the new Kindle 2 – a significant upgrade from the original Kindle.

I’ve been a big fan of the Kindle since I got my first one a week after the announcement in November 2007. It’s a constant traveling companion whenever I’m away from home – it’s in my backpack along with everything else I seem to lug around everywhere.

The thinness of the Kindle 2 is especially attactive – along with the new, brighter/faster (to flip pages) screen. Significantly more storage is nice – although that’s never been a problem for me given that books can be deleted from the Kindle and later re-downloaded from the digital bookshelf that Amazon maintains for each Kindle. Something that didn’t change was the $359 price – apparently given the demand (and somwhat endless out of stock over the last few months), Amazon felt there was no need to a price reduction just now.

In other Kindle news, The New Yorker is now available on the Kindle!

And, yes, I couldn’t resist and impulsively ordered a Kindle 2 this morning! Amazon says “Even though we’ve increased our manufacturing capacity, we want to be sure our original Kindle owners are first in line to receive Kindle 2. Place your Kindle 2 order by midnight PST on February 10th and you will receive first priority.”