Guest blogger Marilynn Byerly has provided an excellent explanation of the controversy involving the Text-to-Speech capability of Amazon’s new Kindle 2 reader. Check it out on the “Hey, There’s a Dead Guy in the Living Room” site.
Carol's Musings
Mental Meanderings on Life and Writing by Carol J. Garvin (aka Careann)
Carol's Musings 
Thanks for posting this, Careann. Marilynn elegantly states a case against Kindle 2. I’d already decided to do my part by not purchasing the technology. Maybe given enough time, this problem will go the way of online songs. We’ll purchase the recording directly from the publisher, who in turn will pay the author?
Not too many problems disappear on their own but maybe this will be one that does. If there isn’t a viable market for it, it could die a natural death I suppose.
I don’t have a reader and am not sure if I’m likely to get one, although I must admit the idea of being able to carry a multitude of books with me in such a condensed size is very appealling. But for me there is no value in this new TTS version that reads for me. When I want to read *I* want to do the reading… at my own speed, letting my eyes slip back over passages if and when I am inclined.
I agree. I like the size of the Kindle 2, but its price is out of my league anyway. As you say, to be able to carry that many books around would be wonderful. Especially on long trips. I don’t have a Blackberry. I can see the print well enough. And I’m too cheap to pay for something like the Kindle. I was one of those terrible people who downloaded free music when it first came online. I am embarrassed to admit that now. But I’ve since pay my dues. Or tried to.