Brack Alabama?

The Setting: Amazon's Kindle device can't pronounced Barack Obama's name. Apparently, it says it like Brack (rhymes with black) Alabama.

Nuance Communications, the company that licenses its text-to-speech engine to Amazon for the Kindle, has added the correct pronunciation to the dictionary and plans to push a wireless update to Kindle devices. You can read the whole article here.

Oh, and by the way, Amazon is set to release the new Kindle DX device, which has a 9.7" diagonal screen and "boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and sharp images". Sixteen shades?! Whoop whoop!! When I went to Amazon.com, the home page has a letter to customers about the Kindle from Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. You can pre-order one for shipment sometime this summer for a mere $489. I still haven't decided if I want one or not since my posting back on February 4, 2009, although those 16 shades of gray just might do it for me.

And just for kicks, way back from November 12, 2004, here is David Letterman's Top Ten Ways to Mispronounce Barack Obama. I think number 5 is my favorite.