The Amazon Kindle is a great ebook reader (other ebook readers are, of course, available). A great feature of the Kindle is being able to email files directly to it via Amazon’s Whispernet (free via WiFi but costs apply via mobile data). The odd service has played with sending RSS news feeds to Kindles via Whispernet but that can lead to long, irrelevant, streams of pages to trawl through between the odd nugget of interest (as is often the case with news feeds). News feeds work much better on a desktop / tablet but reading longer articles can be a chore on abrasive back-lit screens.
Enter Instapaer.
Instapaper is a service that lets you mark online articles for reading later. This is more than a glorified bookmarking system though. When marked to read later the article is reformatted into a more print-like format maintaining basic text layout and images. These clipped articles can then be read in clutter-free format on the Instatpaper webapp, iPhone / iPad apps and Android. The real gem comes from their Kindle integration. Not only can you download unread articles in .mobi format but the service will, once a day, email Kindle-formatted articles straight to the ereader once a day.
This can be a real advantage for longer, more interesting, articles that are difficult to follow on a screen or too long to read properly hunched over your keyboard with a sandwich at lunchtime. Glance through your feeds and news sites, snap things that you’ll want to read to Instapaper, then enjoy easy-on-the-eyes eink reading.
To configure your Kindle to work with Instapaper, once you have an account, log in and head to the Kindle Setting area of the Account page. Drop in your kindle’s email address, making sure to use the @free.kindle.com option to avoid delivery charges if you have a 3G capable Kindle, and start saving to Instapaper. Their Extras page shows several ways to enjoy the service – make sure to take advantage of the Read Later bookmarklet.
