after powering it up was try and read the User's Guide, but who am I kidding? I wanted to get in there and learn as I frolicked!
I had a lot of pre-purchased downloads and they populated my Kindle, her name is Trixie, effortlessly and seamlessly. I couldn't even keep track as new items became available all the time. Of course, this will vary based on your location.
So, in minutes I had a months if not a year of reading. I had old favorites, and some classics that we're told we should read, samples that had caught my eye, and lots of new choices -- and I held them all in my hand. A banquet of choices, with a veritable never ending feast when I need more.
I chose to read the New York Times first, and loved the experience. The pictures were crisp and clear, and it was a quick learning curve to navigate between pages, articles, and sections. I found myself reading the articles while talking heads on TV were referencing them, and it was delivered to me effortlessly.
It's very intuitive -- anybody who spends time with gadgets and tech stuff will get this with only a couple missteps, and a muttered, "Doh." I believe that even the less tech savvy will catch on pretty quickly, and I can imagine this as a boon for older people with strong ties to reading, and I would suggest the younger generation gives them access to see if it's a device that will help them.
I know I need to go to the optometrist, but the Kindle will aide and abet me in avoiding that for a while -- the page is easy to read, the font size is easy to change, and my eyes sail across the words, my finger hits next page without me giving it thought.
The previous page is a little difficult to access considering the way I hold it, and I do tend to move ahead, think "wait, what?" and need to go back a page, but that's probably more about my personal style than a true flaw.
My hands are small, so the kindle does not on it's own fit in my hand securely, but the Cole Haan cover that I have, or any appropriate cover, provides something to hold and allows for greater comfort, making it an even more comfortable hold than a novel.
The dictionary function is great -- I have a pretty good vocabulary, but I do like to look up unfamiliar words, and now that's a breeze. I read a New York Times article set in Tanzania, and I wondered exactly where that was -- I mean, I knew Africa, but wanted more specifics -- and I used the dictionary function to give me enough of an answer and satisfy my curiosity enough to move on.
As I read, the light shifted in the room. I know backlighting was important for people, but it seems like it would make the easy-to-read text less easy to read. Instead I attached the light purchased just for the purpose, and it worked beautifully and allowed the Kindle to do it's job as a reader with the goal of displaying pages with the grace and practicality of a print book.
I've only had it for hours, and I'm hooked. Please note I didn't have a K1, because I was a skeptic. I was like a lot of people -- I liked technology, but books were a separate and sacred thing. So, since Amazon was a habit for me, I had to see the constant reminders of an item I didn't feel I needed or wanted.
But I was working, nay, abusing my Amazon Prime to the point that I'd run out of room -- and when it occurred to be that while 2 day shipping was fast, it wasn't the same as immediate.
I'd been a reader of ebooks for a while, but on my laptop the stories compete with my constant obsessive-compulsive need to check emails (which I'm fighting doing even as I type this) and checking blogs, and surfing...
A Kindle elevates reader back to where it belongs - as a thing to be celebrated and not some trivial thing that has to share space with everything else on your laptop. You like blogs? Kindle will deliver them to you when there's something new. Other than that, you can settle in and just focus on stories and on papers stripped down to what matters most.
Highly Recommended.
***
4/11/2009 -- Edited to add new comments after being a Kindle user for a while:
There's no shame in someone deciding it isn't for them. We all can look at one another's purchases and come to the conclusion that other people waste a lot of money, because we all have different priorities. The thing that is a must have for you might be nowhere on my radar. The thing I want might make you shrug. We all get to spend our disposable income the way we would like.
I don't believe there has been a day that's gone by since I've received my Kindle that I haven't used it and been glad to have it. I read longer, I read more, I read a wider variety. With print books, I was always losing them. They didn't go far -- under a couch, under a bed -- but out of sight, out of mind. I would remember the book and not feel like going looking when I could go to the bookshelves. Rinse and repeat. By the time I found the book, I'd forgotten what had happened so far or was not in the mood to read at that moment. There were a lot of semi-read books never getting finished.
1 Kindle, tons of books.
Now, all I have to do is keep track of one expensive advice that I'm naturally inclined to protect. I can have multiple books going at once and switch easily depending on my mood. And the books get completely read, because they're always there when I need them and ready to open to the last "page" I'd read. That convenience is huge.
I'm not claiming it saves me money. I know I find a lot of great bargains, of course, but that convenience makes book buying so easy and tempting. Someone mentions a book, I have it in rapid order, ready to read. I just finished a book by an author, I can read another one in no time. Even with Prime I would order and maybe some of the interest in the writer would have waned by the time it arrived so the book hit the TB(maybe)R shelf. Here's one: I subscribe to the NYT on my Kindle, and they are famous for their book reviews -- the only way it could be easier would be to actually link to the store.
I'm not claiming it doesn't save me money either though -- there are those bargains and the cost of all the aforementioned never finished books. And the gas. I also live pretty much in the middle of nowhere. There is a small bookstore and a used bookstore in my town, and then an hour's drive to Target. A "real" bookstore would be another half an hour. To be in an area with a choice of bookstores, 4 hours.
Even ordering print books from Amazon isn't doing mother nature any favors, right?
While I understand it's not for everybody and if it feels like a waste, it's not for you. But it was such a great purchase and so worth it to me, that I recently bought my husband his own as a present. He's never been a major reader, but now he's reading every night and discussing books with me. Sorta huge!
In a fire, I save my grandmother, my pets, my kindle, and then the spouse! (I kid, I kid! The Kindle is small and I could tuck in somewhere, waistband, bra... so hubby can move up in line a little ::grin::)
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Customer Review: Amazon Kindle 2: A mini review
Alberto S. Lopez
Reviews with images
Kindle -- still many things to love.
Update: June, 26, 2010I've been using a the iPad 3G for a couple months now and here is my perspective on Kindle vs. iPad for prospective buyers.- The iPad is definitely slicker and cooler looking, with a wide range of applications and customization that has infinite possibilities (like color)- As a primary reading device, the Kindle is still better...it is light in your hands so you can hold it without getting tired (it's often hard to find a comfortable position with the iPad due to its weight and balance), Kindle's screen is gentle on the eyes for long periods of reading time (you don't have to worry about changing the brightness of an LCD screen which requires exiting an application and going to the settings menu on the iPad), and the real life buttons are simple and easy for reading (close to the edge of the device, and you know when you've clicked something)- Since Kindle's content is loaded directly onto the device memory, you don't have to have a live internet connection for it to work. I find it very frustrating that many of the applications on the iPad require an active internet connection just to work (e.g. news, streaming music/video, magazines). That said, for the eBook applications (Kindle, iBooks) content is saved onto the iPad- If you have both devices, you can sync between them without repurchasing content. One of my favorite features is the "sync to last page read" which takes you to the last page you read across all devices on your account. The Kindle app for iPad is pretty simple, though I would like to see some additional features (e.g., adjust screen brightness within the application, ability to better manage content like deleting books from iPad memory, ability to buy and access periodicals, being able to shop for books within the application)- With the recent Kindle price drop, it is significantly more affordable than the iPad. You also don't need to pay for cellular service for the Kindle, though you can't do any complex internet activities on it either--just shopping for books- On the subject of content, I will have to defer to others. I'm pretty happy with what is available via the Amazon Kindle store, but it has its limitations- There is so much more that is possible for books to be with these new platforms (like greater interactivity and using graphics more creatively), but today neither device fully showcases themAll in all, I see the iPad as a multi-functional personalized mini-computer that can do a lot of whiz-bang things--downloading and reading books is just one those things. If you are interested primarily in reading, the Kindle is still better in terms of functionality and price.------------As one of the original Kindle's biggest fans and an owner for over a year, I can speak to the Kindle from two perspectives--the benefits of owning a Kindle, and Kindle 2 improvements (as I've now had it for half a day)The benefits of owning a Kindle (these do not change)- Absolutely, Jeff Bezos is right that the Kindle 'disappears' as you read it...as I read other reviews (and non-user critiques) about the Kindle, this point is often lost. Once you have the Kindle in your hands, you forget everything and become immersed in the content of what you're reading. Isn't that really the whole point?- I read more now that I have my Kindle, 10 years out of college than I did when I was in school, and I really enjoy it. Books look a lot less intimidating when they aren't sitting on your bookshelf and 3 inches thick. I recently finished Team of Rivals, and I am sure that if I had to read it in book form, I would never have gotten through it because it would have felt so intimidating.- Heft and weight is a complete non-issue with the Kindle. I like to read in odd positions (in bed, on the couch, on a plane, poolside, shifting around in a lounge chair) and I've always had trouble with real books because unless you are in the absolute middle of the book, it always is weighted to one side or another and frankly, my arm and pinkie finger gets tired holding it up. The Kindle is balanced and portable, and entirely usable in any situation.- I can be in the middle of a lot of different books at once...not much more to say here. You never run out of space on the Kindle, and though it may be a little bit hard to maneuver around a lot of books in your library, it's still better to have access to all your books at any time.- I now read newspapers. I always found physical newspapers to be clumsy and take up too much space to actually subscribe to. They are great for short content pieces, but terrible for reading in transit because the pages are so big. I also read some articles on my BlackBerry, but find myself scrolling a lot and waiting a long time for page loads. On the Kindle, you have wireless delivery, easy navigation, no ads, no need to flip to page D17 and find the place where you left off. You also have a searchable/annoted/bookmarked archive of all your newspaper articles if you ever need to find something again.- All of these things can probably be accomplished with any eBook reader. The difference with the Kindle is that you have wireless delivery of content. This means, literally, that I can be sitting on the plane, start talking about what good books the guy sitting next to me has read recently, look it up on my Kindle, read the reviews and download it before the rest of the passengers have boarded and the plane doors close. This has happened.- My biggest complaint, which I'm sure will be addressed in due course is that the entire wireless benefit does not exist outside of the US. I have taken my Kindle to Canada, Mexico and China, and I found that I had to (gasp), decide what I wanted to have on my Kindle before I left the US. Foreign language support would also be a plus, but again, I see why this might come later.Now, onto improvements with the Kindle 2- There are the obvious ones: sleeker look and feel (it feels solid in your hands), sharper screen, no longer accidentally depressing the next page button by accident and having to find your place in the book again...you can read about these from various sources)- The 5-way button, though a bit small, allows you to select left and right, and not just up and down like the original version. This is very helpful when you want to select and highlight.- There are now two layers of interaction...before when you were reading a paper, you could only go back to the previous screen to select the next article. Now, there is an option at the bottom of the screen to skip to the next article when you tire of the current one.- Page loads are much faster. I can feel that the delay between pages is much less. Only issue is I need to recalibrate now--in general, I try to anticipate how much time it will take the next page to load, and when I'm two lines from the bottom, I would hit the next page button. Now I need to push the button later.- Text to speech is cloogey, but fun. I'm not sure how useful this will end up being. I tried to have the voice read the user's manual to me and it paused at commas and periods, but skipped right over hard returns. It also scrolled the page as it was reading, so if you are trying learn English and don't mind developing a metallic accent, it could really help. :-) You can also choose, male/female and speed. I think this could be a nice feature, though probably won't be using it all the time.- Managing your books is much easier. It's easy to see what is in your archive and re-download onto the Kindle. Also easy to delete and manage your books. That 5-way button is magical...though a bit unintuitive--you need to train yourself to think that there might be something useful if you scroll to the right.- Dictionary is improved. Now you can highlight a word and it automatically gives you a definition at the bottom of the screen. It also lets you look up words (that are not in the text), which is an improvement since the last version.I'm sure there are still a bunch of things that I haven't yet discovered about the Kindle 2. I don't really bookmark/annotate/highlight that much, but for those who do, I think this has also been improved upon.Overall, the Kindle is an amazing product. It did the basics well in the original model, the Kindle 2 has improved on a lot of dimensions, and I look forward to seeing what new bells and whistles are still to come.If you are considering buying one, and need to see before you order, find someone in your city who has one and can show you. There is now a special board for this on Amazon. Kindle owners (at least this one), are always happy to talk about it, and you will be delighted with the screen and the possibilities in such a compact package.
