I confess to having a thing for new electronic gadgets and gizmos. I always have. But I’m pretty fickle about them as well. Gadgets that look cool and act cool, but are too much trouble to use, frustrate my simple mind and typically wind up cast off into a drawer, unused or, if I’m feeling particularly industrious, for sale on eBay.
And so it was with amused disdain (tempered with his usual teasing indulgence) that my husband greeted my delight at having acquired an Amazon Kindle last November. The Kindle is Amazon.com’s electronic reading device. Using something called e-Ink, it provides the user with a traditional reading experience, but without the paper. He waited (and waited) for this, too, to be cast off and up on eBay. Although I was sorely tempted (the eBay price for a Kindle topped out at around $1000 when the product was sold out on Amazon.com for months), nothing would get me to part with my Kindle. Eight months later, I'm still as enamored of it as I was back in November.
I reviewed the Kindle right out of the box when I got it, but now, after eight months of daily use, I thought it might be time to revisit the device. You know, honeymoon being over and all. So, without further ado:
The Fabulous
Instant access to Amazon.com—Do not underestimate the importance of this feature. It makes owning the Kindle and browsing in the Amazon.com store an experience as satisfying as browsing the aisles of a brick-and-mortar Borders or Barnes and Noble. It also places the Kindle head and shoulders above the Sony Reader.
Because the Kindle is wireless, access to the Amazon.com store is always available (and free): sitting in the pediatrician’s waiting room, in the airport waiting to board your flight, sitting at the pool or lounging in bed wishing you had something good to read. You flick on the wireless switch, hit the button and you’re in the store. Browse new releases, the best seller lists (several of them), or search for your favorite author (by typing on the Kindle’s keypad) or genre. Read reviews, download a free sample chapter or two (instantly), or buy the book.
Article comments
1 - abhi
hi barbara -
we run a kindle blog and i've just started a books and kindle based social network (the alpha release is july 21st however we've been letting people sign up since saturday night) and would appreciate it if you'd join and help build the community. it's at amazonkindle.ning.com.
also there are 3 free kindles to be won during the alpha and beta stages (basically one free kindle every month).
thanks
abhi
2 - Barbara Barnett
cool Thanks for the invite!
3 - Dana Vinicoff
Hi, Barbara,
Your experience with the Kindle is very much like mine - down to the piles of books and, perhaps, the purchase of the book by Rabbi Donin. May you continue to enjoy and learn from it.
Dana
4 - Barbara Barnett
Indeed, Dana. It is Rabbi Donin's book! The possibilities for the Kindle are endless as the techonlogy allows: textbooks without destroying trees (and ruining our children's backs!). Thanks for stopping by and enjoy.
5 - Ruvy
Barbara,
The way I figure it, a Kindle Reader would cost at least 1,200 shekels if we had someone bring it in the country for us. That's a lot of scratch. But, a similar reader put out by Google that would give us access to the university libraries that are being digitized would be worth the money.
Excellent review!
6 - Barbara Barnett
Thanks for popping in, Ruvy. It would be amazing to have a device--this one or any--allow us access to University library collections.
The Kindle is expensive, but no more so than the other readers. And so much better than reading downloaded books on a phone, PDA or computer. Much easier on the eyes!
7 - Ple
I have been one of the beta testers for this product. At first I thought "Who needs this when you can read a book?" Wrong! I will never forget the Sunday evening when my wife and I (also a beta tester) were sitting in the living room when our brains shifted. This device represents a new way to access information. If it was only a "book reader" I doubt Amazon would have been interested. It downloads new material, books, newspapers, magazines, blogs,etc. nearly instantly. The search function reviews all the books on the device plus the web. I love it. I can read a book easily look up a word I don't know in the dictionary and then find other related material in my library or on the web. It is easy to use and light weight.
If you want a book reader it does this well, as does the Sony Reader and other devices. If you want to experience a new way of obtaining, reading, and accessing information, this is the new wave.
8 - Barbara Barnett
You are right, PLE about the difference between the Kindle and all other e-book readers. It's all stocked up and ready to go with me to Alaska! I would normally bring 5 books with me for a cruise (more given the 6 hour flight duration to even get to the cruise). that's a lot of extra weight I'm NOT carrying. And if I feel I want something else--or a peek at the New York Times when I'm in port, I can buy it right then and there.
9 - bliffle
I've been told that the screen is very readable, the best, according to some. It's readable in sunlight, too.
I'd like to have a Kindle as long as I could load it with my own content, a lot of which may come from Project Gutenburg, etc. If it had an ability to play some sounds through an earbud, that would be nice.
10 - Barbara Barnett
Hi Bliffle,
reading in sunlight is not an issue at all (it's not backlit). It has a built in mp3 player and a headphone jack. And an SD slot as well. You can read word files and some others as well.
11 - Marco
Kindle is definitely a good device with nice features and design, but I think Sony PRS approach is more user friendly in terms of content distribution. They have quite big ebooks library (and +500'000 more after alliance with Google) and aren't bounded to a local WiFi like WhisperNet.