Unlike previous Kindles, the $139 “Kindle Wi-Fi” will connect to the Internet using only Wi-Fi instead of a cellphone network. Amazon is also introducing a model to replace the Kindle 2, which it will sell for the same price as that model, $189. Both new Kindles are smaller and lighter, with higher contrast screens and crisper text.

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Just a short while ago, we all assumed the Kindle was to be for books what the iPod was to music: the thing that ‘changed everything’ about how the medium was used in modern times. Oh, how times have changed.

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harrymcc writes “In 1911, Thomas Edison bragged that he could make a 40,000-page book by printing the pages on thin pieces of metal. In the mid-1930s, newspapers experimented with transmitting special editions into homes via early fax machines. In 1956, Chrysler tried to sell Americans on buying 7-inch records that could only be played on a tiny turntable built into its cars’ dashboards. Over at Technologizer, I rounded up these and a dozen other (more…)

In yet another move to display how antiquated and completely ignorant of digital culture he is, Rupert Murdoch has started demanding that Amazon hand over user info for all Kindle users. This demand comes right after Murdoch just finished negotiating a larger share of revenue from Amazon sales. At least Amazon hasn’t decided to comply with this request yet. “‘As I’ve said before, the traditional business model has to change rapidly to ensure that (more…)

Someone at Cne, came up with the clever idea of running a poll to learn the age of people who use Amazon’s miracle book reader, the Kindle. What surprised Cnet and what should surprise anyone who looks at the results is that 50% of the people who use Kindles are over 50 years old. About 27% were over 60.

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adeelarshad82 writes “Amazon’s wildly popular Kindle 2 got a good old fashioned tear-down from the folks at market research firm iSuppli. According to the organization, the Kindle 2′s manufacturing cost is almost half as much as its retail price.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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