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An Amazon Kindle is a hand-held, electronic reading device, which we call an“e-reader.” It consists of six parts:
1. Outer case
2. Screen
3. Page buttons
4. Cursor bar
5. Select wheel
6. Keyboard
7. Power cord/adapter
1. The outer case is a hard, white plastic covering with a dominant screen in the upper center of the Kindle. The case is approximately 5 inches wide and 8 inches in length and weighs approximately 10 ounces. The outer case houses and protects the inner-workings of the Kindle.
2. The screen is grey-scale in color and is located on the front of the Kindle above the keyboard. It is approximately 6 inches in diagonal length. The screen displays your e-reader book using a new technology called E Ink and electronic paper where the text is supposed to resemble a book page.
3. The page buttons are long rectangular buttons located on the far left and far right of the screen display and are separated into the logical categories of: next page, previous page and back button. They are half an inch wide, and between 2 to 5 inches in length on top left and right edges of the Kindle surrounding the screen. These buttons are primarily used while reading content on the Kindle. There are two next page buttons so that the user may use the right or left hand for this important function. The previous page button, located on the top left side of the device screen, allows the user to turn to the previous page of text on the Kindle. The back button, located on the right side of the Kindle beside the bottom of the screen, works similar to the back button on a web browser. Depressing the back button will take the user back to his or her spot in the reading material.
4. The cursor bar is a thin recessed section with a clear covering and the cursor is within this bar. It is located on the right side of the screen of the Kindle and runs the length of the screen, though it is set apart from it by a thin line of casing. The cursor bar is approximately one quarter inch wide and 5 inches in length. The cursor inside the cursor bar may be navigated with the select wheel. The cursor is silver in color. The cursor bar allows the user to choose a specific item from the Kindle menus by moving the cursor to a specific spot, called a selection point, within the cursor bar.
5. The select wheel is a small, barrel-shaped roller device that may be pushed in or rolled up and down and is located on the right side of the Kindle directly under the cursor bar. The select wheel is approximately one quarter of an inch in width and length. The select wheel moves the silver cursor up and down the cursor bar in order to align the cursor with a selection point. To choose a specific selection point, push in the select wheel.
6. The keyboard is a QWERTY keyboard, which is the traditional configuration of a keyboard that consists of the alphabet, numbers, and certain symbol keys. It is located on the bottom third of the Kindle and is separated slightly down the middle in order to provide the user with easy manageability when holding the device. The keyboard is approximately 5 inches wide and 3 inches in length. The keyboard allows the user to manually type in letters, numbers, and symbols needed to navigate the Kindle.
7. The power adapter is two separate pieces: a white cord with a male power connector on one end and a 2.0 USB port at the other end, and an AC power adapter. The white cord is approximately 5.9 feet in length and the AC adapter is approximately half an inch wide by one inch in length. The power adapters are separate from the Kindle unit. The power adapter supplies power to the Kindle and charges the battery.
The white chord male connector piece plugs directly into the Kindle. The 2.0 USB port then plugs directly into the AC power adapter.