The Cultural Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. By Richard Curt Kraus
The Cultural Revolution: A Very Short Introduction. By Richard Curt Kraus. Oxford University Press 2012. ISBN: 0199740550; 9780199740550.
China’s decade-long Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution shook the politics of China and the world. Even as we approach its fiftieth anniversary, the movement remains so contentious that the Chinese Communist Party still forbids fully open investigation of its origins, development, and conclusion. Drawing upon a vital trove of scholarship, memoirs, and popular culture, this Very Short Introduction illuminates this complex, often obscure, and still controversial movement. Moving beyond the figure of Mao Zedong, Richard Curt Kraus links Beijing’s elite politics to broader aspects of society and culture, highlighting many changes in daily life, employment, and the economy. Kraus also situates this very nationalist outburst of Chinese radicalism within a global context, showing that the Cultural Revolution was mirrored in the radical youth movement that swept much of the world, and that had imagined or emotional links to China’s red guards. Yet it was also during the Cultural Revolution that China and the United States tempered their long hostility, one of the innovations in this period that sowed the seeds for China’s subsequent decades of spectacular economic growth.
Richard Curt Kraus is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Oregon and the author of Pianos and Politics in China.
Mao Cult: Rhetoric and Ritual in China’s Cultural Revolution. By Daniel Leese
Mao Cult: Rhetoric and Ritual in China’s Cultural Revolution. By Daniel Leese. Cambridge University Press 2011. ISBN: 0521193672; 9780521193672; 0521152224; 9780521152228.
Mao Zedong’s political and cultural legacy remains potent even in today’s China. There have been many books that have explored his posthumous legacy, but none that has scrutinized the cult of Mao and the massive worship that was fostered around him at the height of his powers during the Cultural Revolution. This riveting book is the first to do so. By analyzing previously secret archival documents, obscure objects, and political pamphlets, Daniel Leese traces the tumultuous history of the cult within the Communist Party and at the grassroots level. The Party leadership’s original intention was to develop a prominent brand symbol, which would compete with the nationalists’ elevation of Chiang Kai-shek. They did not, however, anticipate that Mao would use this symbolic power to mobilize Chinese youth to rebel against party bureaucracy itself. The result was anarchy, and when the army was called in, it relied on mandatory rituals of worship, such as daily reading of the Little Red Book or performances of ‘the loyalty dance’, to restore order. Such fascinating detail sheds light not only on the personality cult of Mao, but also on hero-worship in other traditions.
Daniel Leese is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Chinese Studies at Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich. He is the editor of Brill’s Encyclopedia of China (2008).
Henry Friendly, Greatest Judge of His Era. By David M. Dorsen
Henry Friendly, Greatest Judge of His Era. By David M. Dorsen. Foreword by Richard A. Posner. Belknap Press of Harvard University Press 2012, ISBN: 0674064399; 9780674064393
Henry Friendly is frequently grouped with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, and Learned Hand as the best American jurists of the twentieth century. In this first, comprehensive biography of Friendly, David M. Dorsen opens a unique window onto how a judge of this caliber thinks and decides cases, and how Friendly lived his life.
During his time on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (1959–1986), Judge Friendly was revered as a conservative who exemplified the tradition of judicial restraint. But he demonstrated remarkable creativity in circumventing precedent and formulating new rules in multiple areas of the law. Henry Friendly, Greatest Judge of His Era describes the inner workings of Friendly’s chambers and his craftsmanship in writing opinions. His articles on habeas corpus, the Fourth Amendment, self-incrimination, and the reach of the state are still cited by the Supreme Court.
Dorsen draws on extensive research, employing private memoranda between the judges and interviews with all fifty-one of Friendly’s law clerks—a veritable Who’s Who that includes Chief Justice John R. Roberts, Jr., six other federal judges, and seventeen professors at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and elsewhere. In his Foreword, Judge Richard Posner writes: “David Dorsen has produced the most illuminating, the most useful, judicial biography that I have ever read… We learn more about the American judiciary at its best than we can learn from any other… Some of what I’ve learned has already induced me to make certain changes in my judicial practice.”
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Enigmas of Identity. By Peter Brooks
Enigmas of Identity. By Peter Brooks. Princeton University Press 2011. ISBN: 069115158X; 978-0691151588.
Product Description
“We know that it matters crucially to be able to say who we are, why we are here, and where we are going,” Peter Brooks writes in Enigmas of Identity. Many of us are also uncomfortably aware that we cannot provide a convincing account of our identity to others or even ourselves. Despite or because of that failure, we keep searching for identity, making it up, trying to authenticate it, and inventing excuses for our unpersuasive stories about it. This wide-ranging book draws on literature, law, and psychoanalysis to examine important aspects of the emergence of identity as a peculiarly modern preoccupation.
In particular, the book addresses the social, legal, and personal anxieties provoked by the rise of individualism and selfhood in modern culture. Paying special attention to Rousseau, Freud, and Proust, Brooks also looks at the intersection of individual life stories with the law, and considers the creation of an introspective project that culminates in psychoanalysis.
Elegant and provocative, Enigmas of Identity offers new insights into the questions and clues about who we think we are.
Endorsements
“An extremely provocative exploration of the myriad complexities of the act of investigating identity, both as a conceptual category and as a lived and perceived phenomenon. I found especially useful Brooks’s emphasis on a crucial paradox: one identity does the investigating while the other is investigated, and yet both are ostensibly part of the same entity.”–David Shields, author of Reality Hunger: A Manifesto
“Peter Brooks’s Enigmas of Identity is a tour de force of dazzling erudition and insight drawing on his encyclopedic knowledge of Western literature and cultural history. It is so gripping that one would like to read it in one sitting, but soon realizes that it demands thoughtful study and reflection.”–Louis Begley, author of Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters
“Focusing on unexpected aspects of a familiar subject (masturbation, imposture), considering a wide range of modern texts in several languages (Balzac, Freud, Sherlock Holmes, some fascinating law cases), and writing in supple prose, Peter Brooks has crafted in Enigmas of Identity a provocative and always engaging study of the importance and the meanings of identity for literary accomplishment.”–Patricia Meyer Spacks, Edgar F. Shannon Professor of English Emerita, University of Virginia
“Peter Brooks has written a splendid meditation on the search for the self: erudite, illuminating, and eloquent. He shows how this search leads to an obsessive focus on markers of identity and stories of imposture. Rousseau, Balzac, Stendhal, Proust, and Freud are central interlocutors, but Brooks makes reference to a wide range of other texts, and deftly weaves developments in U.S. law into his discussion.”–Martha C. Nussbaum, author of Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities
“Enigmas of Identity is an inviting guided tour through the literary and legal contours of the ‘identity paradigm’ of modernity. Peter Brooks takes new directions on a topic that will interest literary and legal scholars as well as psychologists and philosophers. Moving skillfully from legal decisions to literary texts, he offers many interpretive gems along the way.”–Eric Slauter, University of Chicago
About the Author
Peter Brooks is the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Scholar at Princeton University. He is the author of many works of literary criticism, including Henry James Goes to Paris (Princeton), Reading for the Plot, Psychoanalysis and Storytelling, and Troubling Confessions: Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature. He is also the author of two novels, The Emperor’s Body and World Elsewhere.
Table of Contents
To Begin 1 [PDF]
Chapter 1. Marks of Identity 10
Chapter 2. Egotisms 35
Chapter 3. The “Outcast of the Universe”? 60
Chapter 4. Discovering the Self in Self-Pleasuring 92
Chapter 5. “Inevitable Discovery”: Searches, Narrative, Identity 117
Chapter 6. The Derealization of Self 147
Chapter 7. The Madness of Art 170
Epilogue: The Identity Paradigm 195
Acknowledgments 199
Notes 201
Index 217
Kindle Fire
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Movies, apps, games, music, reading and more, plus Amazon’s revolutionary, cloud-accelerated web browser
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| Stunning Color Touchscreen |
| Movies, magazines and children’s books come alive on a 7″ vibrant color touchscreen that delivers 16 million colors in high resolution. Kindle Fire uses IPS (in-plane switching) technology – similar technology to that used on the iPad – for an extra-wide viewing angle, perfect for sharing your screen with others. |
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| Magazines in Rich Color |
| Enjoy your favorite magazines with glossy, full-color layouts, photographs and illustrations. Choose from hundreds of titles, such as Bon Appetit, Elle, and Oprah. Special editions of titles like Vanity Fair, Wired, and GQ come with built-in video, audio and other interactive features. |
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| Beautifully Simple and Easy to Use |
| Designed from the ground up, Kindle Fire‘s simple, intuitive interface puts the content you love at your fingertips – spin effortlessly through your recent titles and websites straight from the home screen. Whether you are in the mood to watch, read, listen, play or browse, you can get to all your favorite content with a single touch. It’s that simple. |
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| 100,000 Movies and TV Shows |
| Over 100,000 movies and TV shows, including thousands of new releases and your favorite TV shows, are available to stream or download, purchase or rent – all just one tap away. Amazon Prime members enjoy unlimited, commercial-free streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows. |
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| Fast, Dual-Core Processor |
| Kindle Fire features a state-of-the-art dual-core processor for fast, powerful performance. Stream music while browsing the web or read books while downloading videos. |
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| Your Favorite Apps and Games |
| Angry Birds, Plants vs. Zombies, The Weather Channel and more, plus a great paid app for free every day. All apps are Amazon-tested on Kindle Fire for the best experience possible. |
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| Ultra-fast web browsing – Amazon Silk |
| Amazon Silk is a revolutionary, cloud-accelerated browser that uses a “split browser” architecture to leverage the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud. Supports Adobe® Flash® Player. Learn why it’s so fast. |
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| Millions of Books |
| Read bestsellers, children’s books, comic books, and cookbooks in vibrant color. The Kindle Store offers over 1 million books, including 800,000 titles at $9.99 or less. In addition, over 2 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available such as Pride and Prejudice. Learn More |
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| Free Cloud Storage |
| Forget about memory – Kindle Fire gives you free storage for all your Amazon digital content in the Amazon Cloud. Your books, movies, music and apps are available instantly to stream or download for free, at a touch of your finger. |
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| Your Favorite Children’s Books |
| Kindle Fire is great for parents and kids. Stir your child’s imagination with over 1000 beautifully-illustrated children’s books, including favorites like Brown Bear, Curious George, and Circus Ship. |
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| Easy to hold in one hand |
| Designed to travel with you wherever you go. Small enough to fit in your purse and light enough to hold in just one hand, Kindle Fire is perfect for browsing, playing, reading and shopping on-the-go. |
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| 17 Million Songs |
| Stream your music library from Amazon Cloud Drive or download to your device and listen offline. Looking for new music? Discover over 17 million songs in the Amazon MP3 Store. |
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| Extra Durable Display |
| Our state-of-the art Kindle Fire display is chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, making it extra durable and resistant to accidental bumps and scrapes. |
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| Stay in touch using our built-in email app that gets your webmail (Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, AOL etc.) into a single inbox. Import your messages and contact lists from other email accounts. Additional email apps are available in our Amazon Appstore for Android. |
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| Amazon Whispersync |
| Like Kindle e-readers, Kindle Fire uses Amazon’s Whispersync technology to automatically sync your library, last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights across your devices. On Kindle Fire, Whispersync extends to video. Start streaming a movie on Kindle Fire, then pick up right where you left off on your TV – avoid the frustration of having to find your spot. Learn more |
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| Free Month of Amazon Prime |
| Experience the benefits that millions of Amazon Prime members already enjoy, including unlimited, instant streaming of over 10,000 popular movies and TV shows and Free Two-Day Shipping on millions of items. Learn more |
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| Read Your Documents |
| Kindle makes it easy to take your documents with you. You can e-mail documents – including Word, PDF and more – directly to your Kindle so you that you can read them anytime, anywhere. |
Technical Details |
| Display | 7″ multi-touch display with IPS (in-plane switching) technology and anti-reflective treatment, 1024 x 600 pixel resolution at 169 ppi, 16 million colors. |
| Size (in inches) | 7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ (190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm). |
| Weight | 14.6 ounces (413 grams). |
| System Requirements | None, because it’s wireless and doesn’t require a computer. |
| On-device Storage | 8GB internal. That’s enough for 80 apps, plus either 10 movies or 800 songs or 6,000 books. |
| Cloud Storage | Free cloud storage for all Amazon content |
| Battery Life | Up to 8 hours of continuous reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as web browsing and downloading content. |
| Charge Time | Fully charges in approximately 4 hours via included U.S. power adapter. Also supports charging from your computer via USB. |
| Wi-Fi Connectivity | Supports public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots that use the 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.1X standard with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication; does not support connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks. |
| USB Port | USB 2.0 (micro-B connector) |
| Audio | 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, top-mounted stereo speakers. |
| Content Formats Supported | Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8. |
| Documentation | Quick Start Guide(included in box); Kindle User’s Guide (pre-installed on device) |
| Warranty and Service | 1-year limited warranty and service included. Optional 2-year Extended Warranty available for U.S. customers sold separately. Use of Kindle is subject to the Kindle License Agreement and Terms of Use. |
| Included in the Box | Kindle Fire tablet, U.S. power adapter (supports 100-240V), and Quick Start Guide. |
Amazon Silk |
Modern websites are complex. A typical web page requires 80 files served from 13 different domains. This takes a regular browser hundreds of round trips, and adds seconds to page load times.Amazon Silk is different in a radical new way. When you use Silk, without thinking about it or doing anything explicit, you’re calling on the computing speed and power of the Amazon Web Services cloud (AWS). We’ve refactored and rebuilt the browser software stack to push pieces of the computation into the AWS cloud. This lets Silk do more work, more quickly, and all at once. We call this “split browser” architecture.
Silk browser software resides both on Kindle Fire and on the massive server fleet that comprises the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2). With each page request, Silk dynamically determines a division of labor between the mobile hardware and Amazon EC2 (i.e. which browser sub-components run where) that takes into consideration factors like network conditions, page complexity and the location of any cached content.
Shorter Transit Times
Amazon EC2 is always connected to the backbone of the Internet where round-trip latency is 5 milliseconds or less to most web sites rather than the 100 milliseconds that’s typical over wireless connections. AWS also has peering relationships with major internet service providers, and many top sites are hosted on EC2. This means that many web requests will never leave the extended infrastructure of AWS, reducing transit times to only a few milliseconds.
Computing Power in the Cloud
EC2 servers have massive computational power. On EC2, available CPU, storage, and available memory can be orders of magnitudes larger than on mobile devices. Silk uses the power and speed of the EC2 server fleet to retrieve all of the components of a website simultaneously, and delivers them to Kindle Fire in a single, fast stream. Transferring computing-intensive tasks to EC2 helps to conserve your Kindle Fire battery life.
Persistent Connections
A typical web request begins with resolving the domain names associated with the server and establishing a TCP connection to issue the http request. Establishing TCP connections for each request consumes time and resources that slow down traditional browsers. Silk keeps a persistent connection open to the backend server on the AWS cloud so that there is always a connection at the ready to start loading the next page. In addition, the Silk backend server keeps persistent connections open to the top sites on the web. This approach further reduces latency that would otherwise result from constantly establishing connections. Further, the connection between Silk and the backend infrastructure uses a pipelined, multiplexing protocol that can send all the content over a single connection.
Page Indexes
Traditional browsers must wait to receive the HTML file in order to begin downloading the other page assets. Silk is different because it learns these page characteristics automatically by aggregating the results of millions of page loads and maintaining this knowledge on EC2. While another browser might still be setting up a connection with the host server, Silk has already pushed content that it knows is associated with the page to Kindle Fire before the site has even instructed the browser where to find it.
Machine Learning
Finally, Silk leverages the collaborative filtering techniques and machine learning algorithms Amazon has built over the last 15 years to power features such as “customers who bought this also bought…” As Silk serves up millions of page views every day, it learns more about the individual sites it renders and where users go next. By observing the aggregate traffic patterns on various web sites, it refines its heuristics, allowing for accurate predictions of the next page request. For example, Silk might observe that 85 percent of visitors to a leading news site next click on that site’s top headline. With that knowledge, EC2 and Silk together make intelligent decisions about pre-pushing content to the Kindle Fire. As a result, the next page a Kindle Fire customer is likely to visit will already be available locally in the device cache, enabling instant rendering to the screen.
Hear more from the creators of Amazon Silk or go to frequently-asked questions.
Kindle Touch 3G
- Free 3G wireless, no annual contracts or monthly fees. Learn more
- Download books anywhere, no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots
- 3G wireless works globally
- Most-advanced E Ink display, now with multi-touch
- New sleek design – 8% lighter, 11% smaller, holds 3,000 books
- Text-to-speech, plus audio books and mp3s
- Massive book selection, over 800,000 titles are $9.99 or less
- New – Borrow Kindle books from your public library
Light and Compact
Our all-new sleek design sports an 11% smaller body, with the same 6″ screen size, and is 8% lighter, only 7.8 ounces.
Holds 3,000 Books
Carry up to 3,000 books – keep your entire library with you wherever you go.
Free 3G Wireless
Our most convenient Kindle – no wireless set up, no hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots. Download books anywhere with no plans, contracts, or monthly fees. 3G works globally. Learn more
Simple To Use Touchscreen
Kindle Touch features an easy-to-use touch interface. Turn pages, search, shop books and take notes quickly and easily.
Read in Bright Sunlight
Kindle’s high contrast, most advanced E Ink touchscreen reads like real paper, with no glare. Read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room.
Two Month Battery Life
No battery anxiety – read for up to one month on a single charge with wireless off and a half hour of reading per day.
NEW -EasyReach
Tap to turn pages – no need to swipe, so you can hold Kindle in either hand. Learn More
Books in 60 Seconds
Find a book and start reading in seconds with our fast, free wireless delivery. No computer required.
Built-In Wi-Fi
Connect to Wi-Fi hotspots at home or on the road. Includes free Wi-Fi access at AT&T hotspots across the U.S.
Simple to Use
Kindle Touch is ready to use right out of the box – no setup, no software to install, no computer required to download content.
Adjustable Text Sizes
Read comfortably with eight different sizes and three font styles.
Fast page turns
Kindle Touch has a powerful processor tuned for fast, seamless page turns.
Massive Selection
Over 1 million books, newspapers, and magazines, including latest bestsellers, Kindle exclusives, Audible audiobooks and more.
Low Book Prices
Over 800,000 books are $9.99 or less.
Free, Out-of-Copyright Books
Millions of free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 titles such as Pride and Prejudice are available. Learn More
Free Book Samples
Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy.
NEW – X-Ray
Explore the “bones of a book”. With a single tap, see all the passages across a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics of interest, as well as more detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari. Learn More
Read-to-Me
With Text-to-Speech, Kindle can read English-language content out loud to you.
Borrow From Your Public Library
Borrow Kindle books from your public library and start reading on your Kindle. Learn More
Free Cloud Backup
We automatically back up your library in the cloud, so you never need to worry about losing your books. Re-download wirelessly anytime for free.
Buy Once, Read Everywhere
Kindle books can be read on your Kindle, iPhone, iPad, Android devices, BlackBerry, Mac, PC, or web browser with our free Kindle Reading Apps.
Whispersync
Our Whispersync technology synchronizes your last page read, bookmarks and annotations across your devices so you can always pick up where you left off.
PDF and Personal Documents
Email personal documents and PDFs direct to your Kindle to read and annotate on-the-go.
Technical Details |
| Display | Amazon’s 6″ diagonal most advanced E Ink multi-touch display, optimized with proprietary waveform and font technology, 600 x 800 pixel resolution at 167 ppi, 16-level grayscale. |
| Size (in inches) | 6.8″ x 4.7″ x 0.40″ (172 mm x 120 mm x 10.1 mm). |
| Weight | 7.8 ounces (220 grams). |
| System Requirements | None, because it’s wireless and doesn’t require a computer to download content. |
| On-device Storage | Up to 3,000 books or 4 GB internal (approximately 3 GB available for user content). |
| Cloud Storage | Free cloud storage for all Amazon content |
| Battery Life | A single charge lasts up to two months with wireless off based upon a half-hour of daily reading time. Keep wireless always on and it lasts for up to 3 weeks. Battery life will vary based on wireless usage, such as shopping the Kindle Store, web browsing, and downloading content. |
| Charge Time | Fully charges in approximately 4 hours via the included USB 2.0 cable connected to a computer. U.S. power adapter sold separately. |
| Wi-Fi Connectivity | Supports public and private Wi-Fi networks or hotspots that use the 802.11b, 802.11g, or 802.11n (in b or g compatibility mode) standard with support for WEP, WPA and WPA2 security using password authentication; does not connect to WPA and WPA2 secured networks using 802.1X authentication methods; does not support connecting to ad-hoc (or peer-to-peer) Wi-Fi networks. |
| 3G Connectivity | HSPDA modem (3G) with a fallback to EDGE/GPRS; utilizes Amazon Whispernet to provide wireless coverage via AT&T’s 3G high-speed data network in the U.S. and partner networks outside of the U.S. See Wireless Terms and Conditions. |
| USB Port | USB 2.0 (micro-B connector) |
| Audio | 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, rear-mounted stereo speakers |
| Content Formats Supported | Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), MP3, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively; HTML, DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP through conversion. |
| Documentation | Quick Start Guide(included in box); Kindle User’s Guide (pre-installed on device). |
| Warranty and Service | 1-year limited warranty and service included. Optional 2-year Protection Plan available for U.S. customers sold separately. Use of Kindle is subject to the Kindle License Agreement and Terms of Use. |
| Included in the Box | Kindle wireless e-reader, USB 2.0 cable, and Quick Start Guide. |
Detailed Features |
The most elegant feature of a physical book is that it disappears while you’re reading. Immersed in the author’s world and ideas, you don’t notice a book’s glue, the stitching, or ink. Our top design objective is to make Kindle Touch 3G disappear — just like a physical book — so you can get lost in your reading, not the technology.
Ergonomic Design
Kindle Touch 3G is easy to hold, read and use. We designed it with long-form reading in mind. When reading for long periods of time, people naturally shift positions and often like to read with one hand. Kindle Touch 3G has a new ergonomic design so it can be held comfortably however you choose to read.
Touch Controls and Virtual Keyboard
Kindle Touch 3G features a full touchscreen display that puts page turns, navigation and note-taking at your fingertips. Tap unknown words to call up definitions in the dictionary, highlight sections of text to send to a friend, or search, shop and type with a virtual keyboard that appears on screen just when you need it.
New Touch Experience – EasyReach
Amazon invented a new type of touch experience that eliminates the fatigue caused by continuously swiping to turn the page, and that allows readers to hold Kindle with either hand while still turning pages comfortably. With EasyReach, Kindle Touch 3G users can effortlessly page forward in a book or a periodical while holding the device with either hand. Tapping on most of the screen area will page forward, the most common action done when reading; tapping in a narrow area near the left edge of the device turns to the previous page; and tapping on the top part of the screen brings up the toolbars for further options. This is another way that Kindle helps readers get lost in the author’s world.
Never Gets Hot
Unlike a laptop, Kindle Touch 3G never gets hot so you can read comfortably as long as you like.
Kindle Touch 3G is our easiest-to-use, most-convenient Kindle because there is no wireless setup–you are ready to shop, download, and read right out of the box. Kindle Touch 3G uses the same wireless signals as cell phones, so you don’t need to worry about Wi-Fi connections, passwords or internet charges. Unlike cell phones, with Kindle Touch 3G there are no monthly fees or commitments — Amazon pays for Kindle Touch 3G‘s wireless connectivity.
Your Kindle may use wireless connectivity to make other services available, such as wireless delivery of personal documents (see below), which may require an additional charge. For more information, see Wireless Terms and Conditions.
With wireless coverage in over 100 countries and territories, Kindle Touch 3G lets you download books anytime, anywhere, whether you’re relaxing on a beach, halfway through a hike, or waiting on the tarmac. Check 3G coverage area
For U.S. customers traveling abroad, additional charges apply for wireless delivery of periodical subscriptions. For details, click here. To avoid any charges, you can always download items via your computer and transfer them to your Kindle using USB or a Wi-Fi connection.
Built-in Wi-Fi
Kindle Touch 3G also comes with built-in Wi-Fi. Kindle Touch 3G automatically detects nearby Wi-Fi networks wherever you are, making it easy to connect at school, home, or your favorite café.
Free Access at AT&T Hotspots
Enjoy free Wi-Fi access at AT&T hotspots across the U.S. for shopping and downloading Kindle content — no AT&T registration, sign-in, or password required.
Kindle Touch 3G uses E Ink Pearl – the latest generation of E Ink technology available – to deliver clear, crisp text you can read without strain.
How Electronic Ink Works
Electronic ink uses actual ink particles to create crisp, print-like text similar to what you see in a physical book. Kindle Touch 3G uses proprietary, hand-built fonts to take advantage of the special characteristics of the ink to make letters appear clear and sharp.
Reads Like Real Paper
Because Kindle Touch 3G‘s electronic display uses E Ink, it looks and reads like real paper. The Kindle Touch 3G screen reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlighting, so you can read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room.
Customer Fonts
Kindle Touch 3G uses hand-built, custom fonts and font-hinting to make words and letters more crisp, clear, and natural-looking. Font hints are instructions, written as code, that control points on a font character’s line, improving legibility at small font sizes where few pixels are available. Hinting is a mix of aesthetic judgments and complicated technical strategies. We’ve designed our proprietary font-hinting to optimize specifically for the special characteristics of electronic ink.
Fast Page Turns
Kindle Touch 3G has fast page turns. We’ve done this by fine-tuning Kindle Touch 3G’s proprietary waveform, the series of electronic pulses that move black and white electronic ink particles to achieve an optimal display of images and text.
Support for Non-Latin Characters
Kindle Touch 3G supports the display of non-Latin characters, so you can read books and documents in the translation that’s right for you. Kindle Touch displays Cyrillic (such as Russian), Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified), and Korean characters, in addition to Latin and Greek scripts.
Full Image Zoom
Images and photos display crisply on Kindle Touch 3G and can be zoomed to the full size of the screen.
Real Page Numbers
Easily reference and cite passages or read alongside others in a book club or class with real page numbers. Using the computing fabric of Amazon Web Services, we’ve created algorithms that match specific text in a Kindle book to the corresponding text in a print book, to identify the correct, “real” page number to display. Available on tens of thousands of our most popular Kindle books, including the top 100 bestselling books in the Kindle Store that have matching print editions. Page numbers are displayed when you touch the top of the screen.
Carry and Read Your Personal Documents
Kindle Touch 3G makes it easy to take your personal documents with you, eliminating the need to print. You and your approved contacts can e-mail documents – including Word, PDF and more – directly to your Kindle and read them in Kindle format. Delivery via Wi-Fi is free; there is a small fee for delivery via 3G – see details. Your personal documents will be stored in your Kindle library on Amazon and ready to download conveniently anywhere at any time. You can add notes, highlights and bookmarks, which are automatically synchronized across devices along with the last page you read using our Whispersync technology.
You can read your PDFs in their native format and convert them to the Kindle format so that it reflows like a regular Kindle book. Learn more.
Search Wikipedia and the Web
Kindle Touch 3G makes it easy to find what you’re looking for. Just enter a word or phrase and Kindle will search every instance across your Kindle library, in the Kindle Store, on Wikipedia, or the Web using Google search.
X-Ray
For Kindle Touch, Amazon invented X-Ray – a new feature that lets customers explore the “bones of the book.” With a single tap, readers can see all the passages across a book that mention ideas, fictional characters, historical figures, places or topics that interest them, as well as more detailed descriptions from Wikipedia and Shelfari, Amazon’s community-powered encyclopedia for book lovers.
Amazon built X-Ray using its expertise in language processing and machine learning, access to significant storage and computing resources with Amazon S3 and EC2, and a deep library of book and character information. The vision is to have every important phrase in every book.
Popular Highlights
See what millions of Kindle readers think are the most interesting passages in your books. If several other readers have highlighted a particular passage, then that passage will be highlighted in your book along with the total number of people who have highlighted it. View details
Share Meaningful Passages
Share your passion for books and reading with friends, family, and other readers around the world by posting meaningful passages to social networks like Facebook and Twitter directly from your Kindle Touch, without leaving the page. Want to post or tweet about a great new novel or newspaper article? When you highlight a passage or create a note in your book or periodical, you can easily share it with your social network. Help your network of family and friends discover new authors and books.
Public Notes
Share your notes and see what others are saying about Kindle books. Any Kindle user – including authors, book reviewers, professors and passionate readers everywhere – can opt-in to share their thoughts on book passages and ideas with friends, family members, colleagues, and the greater Kindle community. Learn more.
Lend Your Books
Lend eligible Kindle books to other Kindle or Kindle app users. Each eligible book can be lent once for a period of 14 days. Not all books are lendable — the publisher or rights holder determines which titles are enabled for lending. For more information on how to lend Kindle books, visit our help page.
Public Library Books
Customers can check out a Kindle book from their local library and start reading on any Kindle or free Kindle reading app. Learn more.
Organize your Kindle library into customized collections, or categories, to easily access any book you are looking for. You can add an item to multiple collections to make organizing and finding titles even easier. For example, you can add the same book to your “History” and “My Favorite Authors” collections.
Password Protection
With password protection functionality, you can choose to lock your Kindle Touch 3G automatically when not in use.
You’ll receive special offers and sponsored screensavers directly on your Kindle Touch. Examples of past special offers include:
• Save up to $500 off Amazon’s already low prices on select HDTVs
• $1 for a Kindle book, choose from thousands of books
Personalized Recommendations
Kindle Touch 3G makes it easy to discover new titles with recommendations personalized just for you. The Kindle Store uses the same personalized customer experience you’re used to across Amazon.com, matching our best recommendations to your personal reading habits.
Over a Million Books
The Kindle store contains the largest selection of books people want to read: over a million books, including 800,000 at $9.99 or less. We work directly with publishers to get the latest bestsellers, biggest new releases and the titles most popular with tens of millions of Amazon’s book customers.
Over 2 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available such as Pride and Prejudice and Treasure Island. Learn more.
Over 100,000 Audible Audiobooks Available – with Wireless Delivery
Discover, download, and listen to over 100,000 audiobooks from Audible.com — read by authors, celebrities, and world-class narrators — right from your Kindle Touch 3G. Shop the Internet’s premier provider of digital audiobooks, with genres including mysteries and thrillers, romance, and biographies.
Newsstand
Shop and subscribe to your favorite magazines and newspapers such as Time, Newsweek, and The New Yorker, from Newsstand. New editions are auto-delivered wirelessly direct to your device the second they go on sale.
Blogs
Stay up to date with the latest tech stories, sports results and news updates from your favorite blogs. Subscribe to popular blogs such as Gizmodo, The Onion and ESPN to receive auto-updates on your Kindle Touch 3G throughout the day.
Games
Take a break from reading to enjoy a selection of great games specially designed for Kindle, like Every Word and Number Slide.
With the Text-to-Speech feature turned on, Kindle Touch 3G can read English newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book’s rights holder made the feature unavailable. You can switch back and forth between reading and listening, and your spot is automatically saved. Pages automatically turn while the content is being read, so you can listen hands-free. You can choose from both male and female voices which can be sped up or slowed down to suit your preference. In the middle of a great story or article but have to jump in the car? Simply turn on Text-to-Speech and listen on the go.
Listen to Music and Podcasts
Transfer MP3 files to Kindle Touch 3G to play as background music while you read. You can quickly and easily transfer MP3 files via USB by connecting Kindle Touch 3G to your computer.
Kindle Touch is a great choice if you already have a high-speed internet connection and wireless router set up in your home and do not need the added convenience of a 3G connection. 3G enables you to download books anytime, anywhere, while on the go. If you do not have Wi-Fi set up in your home, Kindle Touch 3G may be a better option.
Kindle Touch 3G is the easiest option because there is no wireless setup—you are ready to shop, purchase, and read right out of the box. Built-in free 3G connectivity uses the same wireless signals that cell phones use, but there are no monthly fees or commitments — Amazon pays for Kindle Touch’s 3G wireless connectivity. The added convenience of 3G enables you to download books anytime, anywhere, while on the go—without having to find a Wi-Fi hotspot connection. With wireless coverage in over 100 countries and territories, Kindle Touch 3G is a great option for travelers. Check 3G coverage area
