There is no other reading device (as far as I know) that can do this. You can also access the Amazon.com store on your computer, buy the Kindle version of the book and, voila, when you turn on the device, your new book magically appears on your device’s home page within a minute or two.
You can also subscribe to newspapers like the New York Times. (The Kindle “whispernet” deposits the newspaper into your device like an invisible newsboy.) Magazines, including Time and The Atlantic, as well as e-magazines and blogs like Slate and—breaking news—BlogCritics(!) are also available for subscription.
Book Price—The current best-sellers and most other hardcover books are $9.99. Paperbacks cost generally between $3.00 and $7.00. If you buy a lot of hardcover books (and I do), you are saving about $15.00 per book. Admittedly, you don’t have a physical copy of the book, and for some of us, that’s a blessing. The Barnett household is littered with books. We have approximately 2,000 volumes stashed and stacked in various bookcases (shelved two deep in places), on coffee tables, shelves nightstands and other places. The possibility of buying new books without adding to the clutter is (as they say in Yiddish) a mechaiyah. (Insert deep relieved sigh here.)
Deleting a book from the Kindle library doesn't erase it, either. The book is simply stored back at Amazon.com for easy retrieval. Unlike storing a finished book in the dark reaches of my bedroom bookcase, I can actually find that biography of Thomas Jefferson when I absolutely must read it again.
Selection and Variety—The Amazon.com Kindle store contains more than 130,000 books, and it’s not just the best sellers and new releases. A couple of weeks ago, for example, I needed a particular book on Jewish prayer. I was out of town and needed the book for a lecture. I accessed the Kindle store on the device, and crossed my fingers (or to be more to the point, said a little prayer). And there it was. The Kindle store has a very comprehensive selection of all genres.
Portability—For me, this is the reason for forking out $350 or more for any electronic reading device. I can carry a whole library of books with me wherever I go. And I do. I typically read one novel and two or three non-fiction books at a time. In hardcover. That's a lot of books to carry around on a daily basis (or especially when traveling).
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.