In “The Future of Reading,” Ezra Klein gave a mixed review to the physical aspect of Amazon’s Kindle. The screen of the device is “almost calming to look at,” he noted, and “the collision between the artificial and the organic [in it] is remarkable.” However,
The bottom third houses the world’s most unintuitive keyboard: the letters all jut out at different angles as if the designers had just figured out diagonals but hadn’t quite decided which was their favorite. Running up the right side is a “next page” button, conveniently placed so you accidentally press it whenever you pick the device up.
Well. If you’re one of those savvy consumers who always waits for the updated, kinks-worked-out models of tech gadgets…your time may be coming. Specifically, on Monday, February 9–when Amazon is slated to introduce an updated version of the Kindle. The revamped device, apparently, will boast a more responsive and faster-loading screen: good for “book” reading, to be sure, but even better for Web use.
If you can’t wait until the 9th, check out leaked photos of the new device–from the tech blog Boy Genius Report, via the Times‘s Bits blog, here.
Megan Garber is an assistant editor at the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University. She was formerly a CJR staff writer.