Amazon has been a leader on the web for many years and now they have developed the Amazon Kindle e-book and digital media reader. This is an innovative device and software application that has taken the world by storm. The information below will discuss both the first and second editions of the Kindle wireless reading device, their differences and the benefits of utilizing this kind of technology.

The original Amazon Kindle First Generation was released in 2007 and sold out in less than 6 hours and it took about 5 months to replenish it. The First Generation Kindle has a 6" display panel with gray scale display and was rated at about $399 when new. The internal memory of the original Kindle is 250MB that can be extended by SD memory cards. The internal memory holds about 200 names that do not contain illustrations. The Whispernet software is only open in the US with the First Generation Kindle as the first Kindle wireless reading device was not planned to be sold outside of the US. There is no Wi-Fi connection with this device, but it lets access through EVDO, 3G networks and 1xRTT data services that offer Internet connection.

Now that Amazon has released the Kindle 2, the price of the First Generation is approximately $40 less than the initial price on the Amazon website. The differences in the new Kindle include the following.

Larger Display Screen - in place of a 6" screen, the Kindle 2 has a 9" screen.

More Internal Memory - Instead of the 250MB inside the First Kindle, the subsequent version of the Kindle has 2GB and 1.4 of that memory is accessible to the user. This memory option allocates 1500 titles with no illustrations above the 200 that the first Kindle can save. Because of the expanded internal memory, Amazon opted not to put in an SD expansion slot to the Kindle 2.

Faster Operation - Amazon had faster operation in mind when they developed this second version of the Kindle wireless reading device. Page-restoring is much faster and it has a much faster CPU than its predecessor. There is now an International release of the Kindle 2 that operates in over a hundred other countries. The only valid difference in the International version is that it accesses a different network than the US versions.

Other advantages of the new Kindle include a better pointing device, finer picture, a Whispersync option and a text to speak function. Both versions of the Kindle wireless reading device are useful for reading and collecting e-books and other digital media that you choose. The one you need depends on how you want to utilize it.