Up until the release of Apple’s iPad the Amazon’s Kindle 2 was the choice to have for eBook readers. So what makes or made the Kindle 2 so popular?

First Generation, was released only in the United States on November 19, 2007. It was revolutionary in the way it displayed its’ text. The Kindle hardware device used what is know as E Ink on electronic paper. The display features 16 shades of gray.

The first Kindles allowed you to download content over Amazon’s Whispernet using the Sprint EVDO network in the USA. The Kindle 2 devices use AT&T‘s network and its roaming partners for international wireless access.

Then in March 3, 2009, Amazon.com launched an application called Kindle for iPhone in the iTunes App Store, allowing iPhone and iPod Touch owners to read Kindle content on those devices.

Many people saw the Kindle as a godsend. It i allow a lightweight eBook read to be read almost any where with an available large large library to chose.

Some of the outstanding advantages of the second generation Kindle aka Amazon’s Kindle 2 are:

1. You can put anything you want on it. DOC, TXT, and PDF files can be read on the Kindle.

2. It looks great. The Kindle 2 is an amazing improvement over the Kindle 1. If every manufacturer took cues on build quality and product life cycles from Amazon, we’d all be better off.

3.  The bookmarking and highlighting systems are vastly improved. The original Kindle had two methods for note-taking: you could select text and add a note or you could add a book mark. The new system refines those considerably and adds visual feedback whenever you take a note.

4. The dictionary is now in-line. When you move to a word, its definition appears at the bottom of the page. If you wanted a definition before, you had to pop out to a separate page.

Not all is rosy with the Kindle 2. A year ago, according to Cnet News there is a class action lawsuit concerning cracks that develop where the protect case attaches. I haven’t found anything else about it.

And now that the iPad is on the the market, the Kindle 2, with its’ lower price, an desire appliance among people making the move to reading eBooks instead of paper bound books.

Bottom-line: If the iPad had not of have come out I would be planning on buying Amazon’s Kindle 2. Instead I am going to wait another year. If I was more of a reader of books, than the internet, I would get myself one.

Tags: Amazon's Kindle 2, Amazon., eBook, eReader, Kindle 2