The Amazon Kindle 2: Is It Good For Students & Academic Professionals?
The Amazon Kindle 2 is not just a device for people who are leisurely readers. Many professionals are looking to the Kindle for their work-related documents. Many students trying to eliminate the burden of carrying dozen of books on their backs are also interested in the Kindle and how it may help them in their studies. There are pros and cons to this electronic book reader in these respects and the ultimate deal-maker or breaker for you is going to require you to weigh the pros against the cons. And this Kindle 2 Review will enable you to do just that.
For most people looking to get a digital version of their book, only MS Word or PDF versions are available. This is because most digital documents are set up to be read mainly on desktop computers. PCs and Macs can read these documents very easily or come with programs which can quickly convert files. Unfortunately, the Kindle does not have a native PDF reader and can only take a limited variety of files, most of which you will not find commonly.
Fortunately, there are some ways to deal with these problems. The most popular thing people are doing is sending their documents to Amazon and paying to have them converted. While it isn’t extremely expensive, converting dozens or even hundreds of files can require time and money that a college student just doesn’t have. Nickels and dimes do eventually start to add up. If you are computer-savvy you may find it easier to download file conversion programs and do it yourself. It still requires time to do and has a learning curve that might put some people off.
But with the negative aspects come the positive. Obviously, the size difference is more than a little appealing. College students won’t have an aching back from their backpack full of textbooks and a businessperson won’t have a sore shoulder from a stuffed briefcase. You may even save money with the Kindle 2. When you look at the price, that may sound silly, but digital copies of books can be significantly cheaper and considering how much a college textbook can costs, that is saying something. Most professors have jumped into the digital age and started offering class materials in the form of PDFs, meaning you will need a computer to view some of your work anyways. Switching to the Kindle just gives you another avenue to view that material.
One’s choice to use a Kindle in the academe would all depend on whether the need for it would outweigh the initial cost. Consider also the time that you would have to spend to convert files. If you can spare the time and the few cents needed to have files converted, then swapping your backpack of books for the Kindle 2 would literally get the load off your shoulders. If the file conversion process is too tedious for you, the new Kindle DX, with its native PDF support, could be the solution you’re looking for.
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Tags: Amazon kindle, amazon kindle 2, ebook reading device, electronic book reader, gadgets, handheld ebook reader, kindle 2, portable ebook reader, technology