Earlier this month, Amazon announced a new update to its standard Kindle e-reader. We weren’t expecting something completely new, but the new Kindle Scribe definitely fits that bill. At first glance, it looks an awful lot like the Kindle Oasis. It’s a little more versatile than that, however.
A career as a Scribe
Usually, you’re discouraged from writing in books. Unless, of course, they’re yours and you’re not planning on letting anyone else ever see them. But even if you were a scribbler, the advent of the e-reader made that really hard to do. The Kindle Scribe plans to change that.
In addition to a 10.2in 300ppi display, the Scribe comes with a so-called Basic Pen. This is a stylus that allows users to mark up and make notes on books. These are organised by book, so they won’t just float around in a folder somewhere. But it’s got other uses. Note-taking, drawing, document signing, and (eventually) the ability to send Word documents to the device could turn the standard e-reader into more of a work tablet. We can definitely see these functions taking off in the legal profession. Plus, you can use it to read books, since it offers the same lighting and battery features. And you get to scribble all over your novels and correct mistakes the author made.
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If you’re keen on adding a Kindle Scribe to your life, they’re turning up from November this year. The basic 16GB version with the basic stylus starts at R6,200 ($340), with the 32GB and 64GB models costing more. If you’ve got your eye on the so-called Premium Pen, that’ll also bump the price up. The Premium Pen included an eraser function, as well as a dedicated shortcut key. Don’t expect it to show up in South Africa right away. Unless Amazon goes and actually launches here, in which case we might be in line for day one.
