kindle-2[1] iReaderReview reports on a seriously cool idea that could get a lot of e-reading devices in the hands of soldiers overseas. E-Books for Troops is running a Kindle 2 donation drive, asking readers who are upgrading to Kindle 3s to send in their working Kindle 2s so that they can be shipped to soldiers. (Kindle 1s are not accepted; the donation page does not mention the Kindle DX.)

I’ve seen a number of paper book drives for soldiers (including ones by Baen aficionados, many of whom have military ties themselves), but an e-book reader drive might have them beat in a particular key area: book for book, it will be a lot cheaper to ship an e-book reader overseas than to ship boxes upon boxes of dead trees there. (And the Kindle works just fine with the Mobipocket version of Baen’s Free Library and Webscription e-books, too!)

It occurs to me that Amazon could get a lot of good publicity out of this if it were to donate its remaining stocks of refurbished Kindle 2s, if it has any left, to this group. Or maybe even kick in some new Kindle 3s, even if only the wi-fi version. (Will the Kindle’s 3G network even work over there?)

Regardless, it’s good to see e-book devices going to soldiers who will undoubtedly appreciate them.

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