Amazon has been a pioneer on the web for a long time and now they have developed the Amazon Kindle e-book and digital media reader. This is a revolutionary device and software program that has taken the world by surprise. The following information will discuss both the first and second editions of the Kindle wireless reading device, their differences and the advantages 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 monitor with gray scale display and was priced at about $399 when new. The in-house memory of the original Kindle is 250MB that can be expanded by SD memory cards. The internal memory maintains about 200 titles that do not include details. The Whispernet application is only open in the US along with the First Generation Kindle since the first Kindle wireless reading device was not intended to be sold outside of the US. There is no Wi-Fi communication with this device, but it permits access via EVDO, 3G networks and 1xRTT data services that provide Internet access.

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

Bigger Display monitor - 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 allows for 1500 titles with no illustrations over the 200 that the first Kindle can store. Owing to the extended internal memory, Amazon opted not to put in an SD expansion slot to the Kindle 2.

Quicker Functioning - Amazon had faster operation in mind when they created this second version of the Kindle wireless reading device. Page-refreshing is much faster and it houses a much faster CPU than its predecessor. There is now global version of the Kindle 2 that operates in over a hundred other countries. The only valid difference in the International version is that it accesses an alternative network than the US versions.

Other advantages of the new Kindle include an improved pointing device, finer image, a Whispersync option and a text to speak feature. Both versions of the Kindle wireless reading device are helpful for reading and saving e-books and other digital media that you choose. The one you need is based on how you want to utilize it.