Posted 08/29/09 at 06:13:03 PM by Justin Kerr

Finding new and creative ways to justify a gadget purchase is an important exercise (particularly for those of us with spouses). Most of the time the science is flawed, but we often choose to ignore that, particularly if its something we’ve been lusting after for months. If your one of the many who was holding out for just one more reason in favor of buying a Kindle, we might just have one for you.

According to a new study released by the Cleantech group, even though the Kindle’s environmental impact upfront was significant, the numbers drop dramatically over the devices lifespan. They say the Kindle can produce savings up to a 26,098 kg of CO2 if used to it’s fullest capacity, or 1,074 kg if it replaces a mere three books per month. The break-even point in terms of environmental impact is if your Kindle replaces 22.5 books.

There you have it, does your wife want you to save the world? Guess she needs to let you buy a Kindle.

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Posted 10/25/08 at 05:11:34 PM by Justin Kerr

Though I’m willing to bet the Maximum PC core demographic differs somewhat from that of the Oprah Winfrey show, oddly she has done something worth mentioning. The TV celebrity took the opportunity on Friday to do some heavy plugging of the Amazon Kindle.  Oprah claims the gifted Kindle she received this summer “has changed her life”. Some might down play the significance of this endorsement, but the popularity of Oprah’s book club is often enough to catapult relatively obscure titles all the way to the New York Times Bestseller list seemingly overnight.  Heck, new studies have shown even a simple nod from the celebrity will be enough to net Barack Obama an additional one million votes. Winfrey who was joined by Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos described the gadget as “pricy” but “environmentally friendly”.  The endorsement does come with a fringe benefit however. A $50 price break is offered when using the promotional code OPRAHWINFREY during checkout. So if you’ve been waiting for a price drop before you pick up a Kindle this brings the device down to a modest $309.00 USD until November 1st 2008.

So while I’m willing to bet Oprah isn’t the primary reason our readers will pick up a Kindle, has anyone else made the switch from paperbacks? Let us know what you think of the Kindle.

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Posted 02/21/08 at 03:37:51 PM by Will Smith

We’ve long appreciated the concept of the eBook, but we’ve been disappointed in its execution. The old Franklin readers ate batteries, had small screens, and included only a meager selection of books. Sony’s Reader has a better battery life, but the selection of first-run books leaves much to be desired. Amazon’s new Kindle solves many of these problems but introduces an even thornier one.

Click Read More for more. 

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