In early February of 2009, Amazon announced Kindle 2, the latest in on-the-go eBook technology. Weighing just 10.2 ounces and about the size of an average magazine, the Kindle 2 offers superior quality reading along with many other nice features. Its design means that it will read much more like a real book than like most electronic devices that produce glare and tire the eyes. It’s a book reader, a web browser and a music and audio book player. IT can store up to 1500 books and the user can download books without even attaching the device to the PC. It utilizes the newer 3G wireless technology which is a major advance over WiFi.
On March 6, all customers of Amazon.com including myself received an email announcing the availability of Kindle 2. To learn more about the new Kindle 2, go to Introducing Kindle 2
Perhaps the most controversial feature of the Kindle 2 is the “read to me” feature. That’s right folks! The Kindle 2 can read any document using a computerized text to speech capability much like the screen readers and specialized reading devices we blind folks use every day. But don’t get out your wallet just yet. Unfortunately, the only thing that will talk is the actual reading of the eBooks and other documents. Vision is required for all other functions including downloading and selecting books, listening to music and other file management tasks. The read to me function was designed for persons driving in their cars so that they can enjoy reading while driving without taking their eyes off the road. This is most unfortunate because with just a bit more effort, Amazon could have produced a truly accessible eBook reader that is also used by the general marketplace. I would hope that this situation will be resolved with the release of Kindle 3 sometime in the future.
Shortly after the Kindle 2 was announced, blind and visually impaired advocates began sending feedback to Amazon asking why the device would not be fully accessible. I read one response from Amazon that expressed regret for neglecting full accessibility and promising that all such feedback would be sent to the Kindle design team. To send feedback on the Kindle 2, send an email to kindle-feedback@Amazon.com.
Now to consider another organization who was not happy about the Kindle 2, particularly the read to me feature. That would be the Authors Guild who argued that this feature would be a violation of copyright law. The Guild claims that this feature would create more audio books and that audio books and printed books must be covered separately. In other words, authors need to be paid for both audio and printed books. The Guild advised its members to require separate contracts for any eBooks that can be either read in print or listened to on the Kindle 2. Since the Kindle user pays for all eBooks, I would strongly disagree with this claim. My knee-jerk reaction to this corporate whining was that the Authors Guild wants too much. Authors get paid when Kindle users download books as they should. For the life of me, I don’t se how they can expect to get paid twice by the same customer who has paid for an eBook just because it can be read aloud by a computerized voice. For more on the Authors Guild complaints, go to Authors Guild Claims Kindle 2 Violates Copyright Law
Next, enter the National Federation of the blind which responded eloquently to the claims forwarded by the authors guild. Here is a quote from Marc Maurer, President of the NFB.
“The National Federation of the Blind supports all technologies that allow blind people to have better access to the printed word, including the ability of devices like the Kindle 2 to read commercial e-books aloud using text-to-speech technology. Although the Authors Guild claims that it supports making books accessible to the blind, its position on the inclusion of text-to-speech technology in the Kindle 2 is harmful to blind people. The Authors Guild says that having a book read aloud by a machine in the privacy of one’s home or vehicle is a copyright infringement. But blind people routinely use readers, either human or machine, to access books that are not available in alternative formats like Braille or audio. Up until now, no one has argued that this is illegal, but now the Authors Guild says that it is. This is absolutely wrong. The blind and other readers have the right for books to be presented to us in the format that is most useful to us, and we are not violating copyright law as long as we use readers, either human or machine, for private rather than public listening. The key point is that reading aloud in private is the same whether done by a person or a machine, and reading aloud in private is never an infringement of copyright.”
“Amazon has taken a step in the right direction by including text-to-speech technology for reading e-books aloud on its new Kindle 2,” Dr. Maurer continued. “We note, however, that the device itself cannot be used independently by a blind reader because the controls to download a book and begin reading it aloud are visual and therefore inaccessible to the blind. We urge Amazon to rectify this situation as soon as possible in order to make the Kindle 2 a device that truly can be used both by blind and sighted readers. By doing so, Amazon will make it possible for blind people to purchase a new book and begin reading it immediately, just as sighted people do.”
To read the entire NFB press release go to NFB Responds to Authors Guild Claims On Kindle 2
This story now comes to a sad conclusion. IN late February, Amazon gave in to the demands of the Authors Guild. Authors and publishers have the option of creating eBooks that will not allow the read to me function to work. Penny Reeder, journalist and former editor of the Braille Forum, the monthly newsletter of the American council of the blind wrote a very good article covering this part of the story. To read her blog, go to Amazon Caves In To Authors Guild