Comments on: Round up #111: Saving sci-fi, salt-powered USB

By: tuxgirl

tuxgirl — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 02:12:46 +0000

I have a small number of books that I still buy in paper, specifically for emergency situations. I have a first aid manual, and a book from hesperian.com called “Where There Is No Doctor”. (I highly recommend looking at hesperian’s site. They do some *amazing* work with 3rd world countries, and have numerous ebooks available for free download.) I figure that in a major emergency, those two books have the type of information that could make a difference either for myself or for someone else. Being in earthquake country, I can imagine a situation where my kindle could be rendered unusable and someone I knew could be hurt and either unable to get to a medical facility or the medical personnel were unable to reach us.

By: Bufo Calvin

Bufo Calvin — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 01:24:15 +0000

Thanks for writing, John!

I really appreciate you reporting back!

The TTS information has now appeared on the Fire product pages, so that makes it official.

The Paperwhite doesn’t have any speakers, similar to the “Mindle”.

I wish they would offer two versions…one with speakers (more expensive, of course), and one without. TTS (text-to-speech) has been a very big thing for me. I will use it on the new Fire, and i understand the value of offering low cost models, but I hope it stays strongly in the mix…including on future RSKs (Reflective Screen Kindles).

By: john

john — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 23:37:30 +0000

My first contact was through Amazon Customer Support but indicated before talking to a person it was a Kindle question. I just assumed that would take me to a Kindle person. As an update to my earlier post I recontacted Amazon Customer Support and they confirmed your post about KF HD does support TTS. I am sorry to hear that the new Paperwhite does not support TTS.

By: Bufo Calvin

Bufo Calvin — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 22:12:19 +0000

Thanks for writing, Jeanne!

Yay! Thanks for pointing that out.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 20:35:10 +0000

The TTS feature is now listed on the product page. Scroll down and look for “Read to Me” found under the heading, “Beautifully Simple”. Amazon placed it in the latter part of the day, yesterday. Yay!

By: Bufo Calvin

Bufo Calvin — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 20:18:50 +0000

Thanks for writing, john!

I consider my source unusually reliable, but we’ll see. We should know for sure in less than a week! I’ve also heard that they may be updating the product page soon.

Did you contact Kindle Support specifically? They tend to know the Kindle stuff better:

http://www.amazon.com/kindlesupport

By: john

john — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 20:06:16 +0000

Mixed messages! I contacted Amazon customer support and after a long time on hold was told no TTS for the new Kindle Fires and the Kindle Paperweights.

By: Ana

Ana — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 16:51:06 +0000

I own a Kobo Touch and like it. Seriously considering a Kobo Glo (no, I did not forget the “w”). Best part for me, Kobo allows discounts on non- agency titles and nearly all foreign language novels. The Kindle Paperwhite looks tempting though.