Amazon Kindle

[Miho]

Amazon Kindle product page (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FI73MA/ref=amb_link_6750302_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=gateway-center-column&pf_rd_r=1DKMXHM7ZQR1X4212PZ2&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=389635101&pf_rd_i=507846)

You all hear about this device? It sounds remarkable, as far as digital reading devices are concerned. Anyone have one or has tried one out, that would be willing to add their 2 cents in? All I want to know if it is legitimately worthwhile to purchase.

[abcdefz]

Don't do it.

[Miho]

Care to explain why?

[Waus]

I wouldn't want it.

It looks like it's somewhere between a laptop and a PDA - both of which would be more fully realized than a niche book reader device. You'd still have to pay for books too - and in my experience reading books on a screen like that is crap.

[abcdefz]

You'd still have to pay for books too - and in my experience reading books on a screen like that is crap.



Two good reasons, right there.

Hell, if something's more than a few pages long, I almost always just print it out rather than read it off the screen. If it's a short story
or longer (a novel or screenplay, for instance), I've never not printed it out.

I wish I could find this review I read about it that talked about some part of it which seemed pretty essential but was hard to use...
but it looks like the site has taken it down.

[Miho]

Well, the most attractive features about this device, to me, are that you don't pay any monthly charges whatsoever, and it doesn't use Wi-Fi connections, so you don't need to be around a hot spot in order to connect to Amazon or reading blogs. Instead, it uses a new technology called WhisperNet, powered by Sprint, so you can connect and buy books and newspapers, and read up on blogs anywhere, even on airplanes, buses, and trains. It's also supposed to be incredibly simple to start up and use.

I'm still on the fence about this thing. I've seen similar digital book-reading devices that have felt nothing short but an annoying gadget. Well, it's healthy to be a skeptic, but I would like to hear from people who have tested it out. I believe this is a wonderful concept-- the very idea that you can have the world's library at the palms of your hands, with ease.

[Documad]

I have one and I love it. I travel a lot. I'm out of town right now. I usually tote a lot of books around with me even on vacation, so it's been sweet to have a bunch of books in a small notebook.

I'm sure experience would vary based upon what any particular user wants and perhaps where they travel, but for me the pluses include:

- instant downloading of books and newspapers -- I seem to have access everywhere, just like with my blackberry
- the newspaper I'm subscribing to costs less than if I bought it at a news stand and I can't find it at a local news stand (but it still costs a monthly fee whereas it would be free via the internet)
- I only buy books that I would typically buy but not want to keep. I'm not buying books that I would usually get at a library. It's a good replacement for the $7.99 paperbacks I would usually read on planes as well as best sellers that have too long a wait list at the library that I would buy for $30 and then give away.
- battery life is amazing thus far
- it's easy to read in the sun
- font size is adjustable and my eyes are getting old and tired and I don't like the small type in some large history paperbacks
- classic books are much cheaper.

I know that I'm a nut and I do love gadgets but it's been a good purchase for me. I only have one friend who I've recommended it to though, because he travels a ton for work. It's certainly expensive and the book selection can seem limiting (only at first though).

By the way, the display isn't lit, so you need a light to read by. I like it that way because the screen is really easy to read as it is, but because it's electronic, I sometimes forget that I need another source of light on the airplane at night, etc.-- just like with a real book!

Charges could really add up. Classic books are cheap, but newer ones are $7.00-9.99. Newspapers are about $9 a month, I think, and blogs cost about $2 a month? I wait and read blogs on the internet, and I only get one newspaper. I bought a couple of issues of magazines just to see what they look like, but they were about $2 an issue I think?

[taquitos]

wow, that looks pretty cool. i wouldn't buy one or anything, but its a cool product.

[Miho]

The fact that you get free built-in access to Wikipedia is attractive. And I would love to buy lots of old non-fiction books on that thing.

[Documad]

Classic fiction seems to be easier to find than old non-fiction, but I have fairly specific tastes and I can't say I've thoroughly studied it. There are some surprising omissions on the non-fiction list.