The 8th   avatar of the Kindle reader gets  closer than ever, to a real book
Bangalore, April 25 2016: It is 9 years since Amazon launched its dedicated  e-book reader, the Kindle   and though there have been about seven  variants, these  come down to three models  from the  original 2007  Kindle book to the much sharper Paper White in 2012   to the   Voyager two years later ,  which came with   navigation  by touch within the book and  an adaptive light sensor.  
On April 27, the new Kindle Oasis is available in India at Amazon.in  and for the first time, it appears to have  shrunk in size -- not just in weight and thickness.  In fact all Kindles have come with  a 6-inch diagonal  reading area, but the Oasis has chopped away the empty spaces  and perhaps for the first time ever, users will  feel they are holding a real book: it now approximates  to the rough dimensions of a paperback. And for a more "bookie" feel,  you now have a soft leather jacket ( which doubles as a stepney battery, as well as up-down navigate buttons that  also serve as a good grip.
Other features  remain about the same:  Kindle  still unsubtly pushes you to its online bookstore  and you need to know that there is an experimental browser hidden in the menu ( "experimental" after 8 years, come on!) which lets  search for other things including free books outside those  within Kindle  Store.
What has changed dramatically for the better with every new model including the  present,  is the sheer readability  and ease of navigation.   And by making it 20% lighter  than Voyager,  Oasis  is a lot more comfortable to use for a lot many more, older  users.  I still have my classic 2007 Kindle  ( I had forgotten that it came with a physical keyboard!)  and just placing  it besides Oasis is proof enough that the e-book reader has evolved beyond recognition. At the asking price of Rs 23,999 for the WiFi-only model and Rs  27,999 for WiFi + free lifetime 3G, Oasis  is the costliest Kindle of them all -- by a stretch. But  if you want to complete the illusion that you are indeed holding  a real book, then it will seem more reasonable... after all  true maya costs money!
- Anand Parthasarathy