The Kindle 2 -

So the Kindle 2. is out and receiving quite a bit of press!  Last night, Jeff Bezos was on The Daily Show (http://thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videold=218392) candidly promoting the Kindle 2 and addressing Amazon's venture outside of the pure e-commerce/retailing space into product development.  First off, Jeff Bezos - what a hearty guffaw he has! The Kindle 2 is a sleeker version of the original kindle - complete with audio/radio features (you can have your books read to you by a "creepy" computerized voice) and wifi software that allows you to download books in only 60 seconds. Additionally, there is a search feature, and you can adjust the font and the size on the type.  Publishers determine whether they want to partake in Digital Rights Management (DRM), and the content could be shackled with DRM and Piracy issues, according to a recent Wired review.  Still, according to Wired, there is still an ease of use issue 

It is Bezos' hope that, with the Kindle, people will read more rather than less.  I think that that is an interesting concept, and I hope that he is right, though online trends have revealed something quite different for long-form journalism.  As Ernest Sabine addressed in his post, how will the crumby economy affect consumers willingness to spend $360 on the Amazon Kindle, but my follow up is this - With people increasingly craving sound bite information snippets, what does the demand forecast look like for books and the kindle?