Kindle is an experiment and those who want to participate in it pay a substantial upfront charge. Anyone who thinks it's too expensive, too constricting or too risky can wait on the sidelines and see. What bothers me is that so many people are evaluating this product using either the paper book, or their own wish list of features as a standard. I personally prefer to read books on my Kindle rather than on a computer or on paper.
I have accumulated literally a ton of books in my lifetime and have no desire to add any more to my collection, unless it's what I consider a collectible, in which case I'll buy it in paper. Incidentally, I have reached the same conclusion about my music collection. The iPod is just what I need, so I use it. I don't begrudge Apple or Amazon the fees or restrictions, because they offer a quality product and service for the price.
I have a laptop that I use to access to video clips, play DVDs, read blogs, news, search via Google and use email. I don't see any advantage to using a Kindle for any that. Adding a fraction of an ounce or a penny of cost to the Kindle in order to add any of those features would disappoint me.
Amazon obviously put a lot of though and research into this venture and I hope that it works out for them and for us. If they have to make adjustments as time goes on so be it. Like Apple, they provide an excellent product at an initially high price. In Kindle's case I estimate that I'll get my money's worth over about a two-year period. Users' mileage will vary. Similarly, my five year old PowerBook G4 doesn't owe me a penny. And Amazon, it seems to me, is closer to the ideal of excellent service and support for a reasonable cost than Apple. Let's hope it stays that way.
Finally, anyone who feels that people should be able to drop their computer's internet access because they own a Kindle are to me a little off base. It's for reading text. Increasing the list of Kindle books, working out a solution to the PDF problem and the next page button are what interest me most.
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