I am now the proud owner of an Amazon Kindle My wife got me one for Christmas and it arrived last night.
My first impressions are largely positive. It is sleek and light. I am not a design type but it looks better in person than it does in pictures online.
One problem that others have pointed out, is the “next page” toggle takes a big chunk of the right hand side of the device. This gives you very little space to leverage when you are trying to put it in the case or put the battery cover back on. I guess you can just turn the device off and thus not worry about pushing anything but it is a little annoying.
But I can say that the Kindle is easy to read and use. I downloaded a book and read the introduction last night. It was amazing to order a book and start reading it in less than a minute in the comfort of your own home. I found it easy to read and turn the pages. There is a little blip as you turn the pages, but I found it didn’t interrupt my reading pace.
One handy aspect is that you don’t have to keep putting a bookmark in place if you are interrupted. I could get up and let my dog out or help my daughter with something and then simply pick up the Kindle and start reading again.
I also tried out a magazine subscription and found it very convenient as well. It was easy to scroll through and find the articles you wanted to read. The idea that the latest issue of a magazine is wirelessly sent to your Kindle automatically is also cool. Simply by having this small device with you you never will be without reading material.
I hate having a bunch of magazines or newspapers cluttering up the house so Kindle subscriptions make for an easy way to read these sources without all the clutter. I know you can read online – and I do have digital subscriptions to some – but the Kindle is an even smaller and less awkward way to read. Whether on a plane, in a coffee shop, or waiting at the doctors office, it is great to just carry this small device and have access to so much reading material.
If there is an initial drawback it is the lack of choice in some areas. The magazines available are minimal. There are a lot of books available but it stinks when a book you would really like to access is not available in Kindle format. I hope over time more and more content will be available to Kindle owners.
I didn’t really contemplate subscribing to blogs. I just can’t see paying money for that. Plus, most of the blog reading I do is interactive (leaving comments, linking, etc.) so I don’t think the Kindle is ideal for this area.
So far I am very happy with my new Kindle. I will offer more thoughts as I have them. Anyone else out there get the Kindle? If so let me know what you think.
