I have found out today that Amazon’s e-book reader Kindle is out of stock. Recently they’ve dropped prices to $189 and apparently sold out all the basic models. It’s still possible to buy Kinde DX, a model with a larger screen.

I decided to visit Amazon’s site and see for myself. I was surprised when I found out the reason why the Kindles were sold out: they’re releasing a new version of Kindle which is smaller, offers more storage, the battery lasts longer and is faster for better reading experience. This is great, except that they’re starting to ship the new Kindles no earlier than on August 27th – which means that you can pre-order now and receive it a month later. The price of the new model stays the same at $189 plus post and packaging and customs if you live outside US like I do.

There was another pleasant surprise waiting for me: there is another version of Kindle available now that does not include 3G module and comes without 3G subscription. The new Kindles have Wi-fi access so 3G is not really needed if you have access to Wi-fi spot (for example at home) and if you control your life and can decide what you want to read before going to vacation. The price of this model is even lower at $139. This makes me want to buy Kindle now – and wait for a month before it’s here.

I’d love to test the new Kindle on holidays, but it looks like I’ll have to do just fine with old style regular paper books this year. The upside here is that I run an online bookshop and another Slovenian one so I can buy cheap (paper) books there. I sell eBooks as well, but without the reader they’re not much help. Well, maybe I should start selling an e-book reader as well.