(update the Kindle DX will be available soon)
While it’s a lovely device due to the readability, storage, size, and efficiency. The Kindle 2 is still subject to the whim of the large book publishers it seems, and therefore any information that
flows through the device will be ruled by a consortium of folks with an outdated view on media ownership and control. Here's an excerpt of the news post from CNET:
"On Friday, Amazon announced it would reconfigure the Kindle 2's systems
to allow publishers to disable the text-to-speech function for titles
of their choosing. However, the retailer made it clear in the
announcement that it believed text-to-speech did not violate copyright."
Publishers will control the text-to-speech feature.
This type of feature change after the release of a product is frightening or at the very least damaging to Amazon’s market position for it’s Kindle Books, which makes it harder for web marketers and information merchants to pitch the device to potential customers.
It amazes me that we are finding new ways to value information for it’s pertinence, quality, and timeliness on the internet but our vast riches of older written information must suffer in it’s availability due to old thinking.
I suggested a simple solution, one media rule that rewards any media authors based on the popularity of their works as well as sociably redeeming qualities. The capitol can be generated via ads to free users, or by subscriptions to those that prefer to avoid ads.