As I mentioned before, I’m an Amazon Kindle lover. You can tell from the review I posted last May that the Kindle, in my view, represented a significant (and much hoped for) leap for ebooks in terms of technology, readability, ease-of-use, and commerce. Apparently I’m not alone in my admiration for this little device, since Amazon‘s just now released the Kindle 2. Something must be going right.

How does the Kindle 2 compare to its predecessor? Here’s what the NY Times says:

“The Kindle 2 has several incremental improvements over its predecessor, which went on sale in 2007. Amazon said the upgraded device has seven times the memory of the original version, turns pages faster and has a sharper display.

It also features a new design with round keys and a short, joysticklike controller — a departure from the earlier design, which some buyers had criticized as awkward.”

There are also a couple new features that let you make the most out of your Kindle books, including the ability to read your book on other Kindle devices:

“Amazon also announced a new feature, Whispersync, which would allow readers to begin a book on one Kindle and continue, at the same point in the text, on another Kindle or a mobile phone.”

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with this little ebook reader, specifically because it demonstrates Amazon’s commitment to improving the Kindle’s primary function–that is, the purchase, reading and enjoyment of ebooks.

However, some industry professionals and columnists still wanted more from the new Kindle. For eample, a couple weeks ago the Los Angeles Times brought in a couple experts to predict possible directions that this new device might take. In response to a suggestion that the Kindle should take advantage of social networking capabilities, I replied that the Kindle shouldn’t try to be all things to all people. If it tries to be a social networking device, a publishing device, a tablet PC or a phone it will surely fail–and lose the audience that loves it for what it is. I was surprised to find that the NYT agreed, comparing the Kindle (as I did) to an iPod in terms of its purpose–and calling it “the iPod of the literary world.” They couldn’t be more right.

I’m convinced that the Kindle 2 will take the ebook market to new heights, and that we’ll slowly but steadily begin to witness the transition from print to digital. If you don’t believe it, just check out my blog post comparing today’s book industry troubles with the music industry disruption that occurred ten years ago. The ebook revolution is coming–it’s just a matter of when.

What do you think? Post below or email me at hhutton@publishandsell.com. And until next time–Keep Publishing!

Henry Hutton

PublishandSell.com