[Harp-L] Kindle 2 for harmonica in brief

[Philharpn@xxxxxxx]

The new Kindle 2 electronic book is out from Amazon and my wife expressed 
interest in the gadget after watching it being demonstrated on TV. 

So I got her one for her birthday -- and proceeded to loaded it up with 
public domain books and stories (Poe, Twain, Dickens) that I mostly already had in 
hardcover paper editions. You get them free from various web sites accessible 
right from the Kindle.

Then I loaded in a collection of about 1,500 harmonica tablature/tunes to see 
how they would display. The Kindle has its own dedicated software program but 
if you want to put your own stuff on it (anything that can be printed out on 
a computer can be loaded) all you have to do is format it in Microsoft Word 
and Emil the document as an attachment to your Kindle account. Or you can hook 
up the provided electrical/UBS cord to your computer.


You can Emil Microsoft Word, TXT, HTML, PDF or image files like JPEGs and 
GIFs to your Kindle account and Kindle will convert them for a small fee and put 
them on your Kindle. Or you can send them to Kindle and have them returned to 
your own computer free and load them into your Kindle yourself. 

The Kindle has the capacity to "read" books -- it has an earphone jack and 
two small speakers and there was some concern this capability might cut into the 
Talking Book revenue stream with compensating book owners but this has been 
changed so that only those books licensed to be read over the Kindle and public 
domain books (published before 1922) are available with a robot male or 
female voice reading the text. MP3 files can also be uploaded.

I discovered that the best way to format Word documents is to insert a hard 
page break after every tune to ensure that each tune starts at the top of a 
page on the Kindle.

The Kindle is the second version and a little improved over Kindle 1 -- I've 
looked at the Kindle 1 users and guide and compared it to our Kindle 2.

It uses some kind of ink technology that uses less energy than traditional 
electric books and has a gray "paper" that makes it easier on the eyes than some 
of the other electric books and small computers out there. The screen is 2 
1/2 x   4 3/4 inches. Its about the size of a copy of Readers Digest. The unity 
itself is   5 1/2 x 8 inches and less than a quarter inch thick. With the 
optional leather cover it is 3/4 inch thick.

The only two Music books I found available from Kindle were Guitar for 
Dummies and The Idiot's Guide to Playing the Harmonica. I own both in paper editions 
but I wanted to see how they were be rendered on the Kindle 2. I was 
pleasantly surprised. Halftones (photos) come out remarkably well in black and white 
and gray tones.

Several years ago someone posted on the Harp List about loaded harp tab into 
a Palm Pilot (lets you know how long ago it was) using Alphanumeric Harp Tab 
which can be easily rendered on a computer keyboard with no special characters 
-- bends would require ' '' ''' and OBs = * or something.
 
   5     -4    4   -4   5    5
Mary had a lit-tle lamb

Because the Kindle also handles JPEGs and GIFs, you could send sheet music in 
a JPEG or GIF to your Kindle, too.


The Kindle is not likely to replace books, only supplement them. Like I said, 
for portability it cannot be beat. I have most of what Edgar A. Poe has 
published but it is in a heavy 10 lb volume. The Kindle is great if I just want to 
dip into one story. It weighs only a few ounces.

Most current books cost about $10 for the Kindle and if you and if you want 
to remove any book you have purchased, you can store it at the Amazon Kindle 
web site and reload it back on your Kindle. You can also send it to your own 
computer with the UBS cable (which is cleverly hidden inside the electrical 
plug).

I have no idea what the royalty deal is with authors -- so I can't speak to 
that. 

But as I've said many times before, harmonicas are so cheap compared to any 
other instrument (even if   you buy a set of 12-14 brand name harps) it frees 
up money you can spend on other gadgets. 

Hope this helps.
Phil








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