Kindle Update v4.1

August 27, 2012

My family has been a “Kindle Family” since I purchased one for my wife a couple of years ago. She considers her Kindle as indispensable as her smart phone; something that is at all times at the ready and fully charged. I love that I can read my books on multiple devices that are constantly kept in sync (as an aside, the Windows 8 Kindle app works beautifully). We dove deeper into the Kindle pool this spring when we purchased another device for my step-daughter’s 13th birthday. It was the only gift she wanted this year and we were thrilled that she wanted something dedicated to just reading. My wife and I share the same Amazon account. While we don’t share any books (very different tastes, but we’ll get to that in a second), it makes it a lot easier to budget with only one account to keep track of. Obviously this was also an issue with a 13yr old on the other end of the device so she used the same account as her Mother and I. Remember when I mentioned my wife and I have different tastes in reading material? Let me clarify. My wife is extremely intelligent, resilient and able to manage a house of 6 children almost effortlessly. When it comes to our home, she manages it with military efficiency and order. When it comes to her books however she prefers€¦um€¦”escapism”. And by escapism I mean those completely trashy romance novels that make most people blush just viewing the cover art. In other words, not content suitable for a 13yr old girl. Here is the thing about the Kindle, it includes your entire Library in a massive Archive. We love this because it means we can quickly and easily grab anything and reread it. Unfortunately it also means that said 13yr old girl can also quickly and easily grab anything. Since the Kindle lacked Parental Controls, our only solution was to constantly register and de-register he Kindle after the books we purchased for her were delivered. She could get her content and we could keep her from discovering what Vampires like to do behind closed doors. It worked but it was a pain in the butt. Today when I registered her Kindle however I was pleasantly surprised by a new update. They added Parental Controls! I quickly disabled the Store and the Archive, leaving her a fully working device that we can quickly deliver new books to via a web browser. I love when technology makes life a little easier!