Publisher promises darker fonts for Kindle owners

Per a press release Thursday , Vellum Publishing, Inc., "a digital publishing company of new exciting ebooks for Amazon.com's Kindle reader, announces that it has responded to reader concerns that the text on the Kindle 2 is lighter and more difficult to read.

  "Vellum has posted a new video at their website http:/www.newkindlebooks.com that informs Kindle owners they now format their entire shelf of digital books to a Times New Roman Bold type to give Vellum books a darker, easier-to-read text.

  "Since the release of the Kindle 2, we've been hearing a lot of discussion from readers about the text being lighter on the new Kindle," said Meyer, President of Vellum Publishing, Inc.

  "So, in keeping with our company policy of listening and responding to our readers' concerns, we came up with what we feel is a good solution. By using bold print, the text is noticeably clearer and easier to read, causing less eyestrain for the reader."

Is Amazon listening? Are they interested?

Meyer went on to say that since the re-formatting process has been completed, readers have responded with positive enthusiasm, commenting on how much easier Vellum Publishing, Inc. books are to read when compared to other books they have downloaded to their Kindle 2.

Kindle 2 firmware update 2.03 coming in

Well, an update is coming in for sure, distributed in batches but no one seems to know how Amazon decides who gets updates first and why.

Three people on forums (Amazon's and Mobileread's) have already said that they think they are imagining a noticeable increase in screen contrast; of course they (and I) hope it's not their imaginations.  Wishing upon an Amazon user-rating star...

 Others think it may just be making it possible for Amazon to disable text-to-speech, when the publisher insists on that, and fixing minor bugs.

If a person doesn't want to wait, the update can be done manually.  For those eager enough to do this (it's not difficult) they must remember to UNinstall any changes they made, such as for personalized screensavers and for font-replacements they themselves may have installed.  These personalized customizations need to be UNinstalled, latest one first. Only then will a new Amazon update work correctly.  I'd do it now before Amazon tries to change your settings overnight -- or, keep your wireless off until you uninstall personalized installs.

A guide for a MANUAL install of the Amazon update file for those who can't wait is at MobileRead forums, thanks to Bruce Woodcock, but they (and I) don't take responsibility for what others decide to do.  I'm just reporting its availability in a Kindle world :-).