[Athen] Kindle 2 pros and cons for students?

[Shelley Haven]

Hi, all!

Amazon released their Kindle 2 this morning -- a neat improvement 
over the first generation model.  Find a summary at this link, 
including some videos of the device in use: 
http://tinyurl.com/amazon-kindle-2-summary

I'm interested to know what others think of the pros and cons of this 
device for students with LD issues.  On the one hand, it now has 
text-to-speech built in, and there's the "cool factor" which makes it 
more likely to be used as a piece of mainstream technology (vs. being 
"assistive technology").  On the down side, I don't believe words are 
highlighted as they are read aloud, and it's not clear what the 
limits are on uploading your own material and what you can do with 
it.  (Apparently you can view the documents -- PDFs, Word, and others 
-- but can you listen to them?  The summary doesn't say.)

I look forward to seeing someone put Kindle 2 through its paces when 
it's officially released in a couple of weeks.

- Shelley

------------
Shelley Haven  ATP, RET
Assistive Technology Consultant
Sunnyvale, CA
408-737-2092
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