I took the plunge about a month ago and purchased a Kindle, the e-reader from Amazon. At first, I have to admit, it was a toy. Now, honestly, it’s changed the way I consume reading material. Here’s some notes from my first 30 days.
The Closed Ecosystem. At first, I was not too crazy about buying in to a somewhat closed loop — I buy from Amazon or pretty much don’t buy (exceptions, yes, but much more work). I’ve not found that to be a problem. With only a couple of exceptions, I’ve found everything that I’m currently looking to read available at the Kindle Store, and the wireless connection on the device makes purchasing almost TOO easy.
Reading on a Device Instead of a Page. I’d read quite a bit about how the Kindle reads more like paper than a computer, but I didn’t give it much thought. I spend so much time on a computer, I didn’t think it bothered me. But, the Kindle is a much more comfortable reading experience. The best part, though, is that you don’t lose your images in direct sun, like when the plane turns in flight and bright light streams through a window.
Selection. So far, no major complaints. With only a couple of exceptions, I’ve found the things I want to read in the Kindle store. The magazine and newspaper selection is pretty weak at this point, but I’m sure that will get better. I am reading both the Denver Post and Time Magazine on my Kindle now, and it’s nice to be able to catch up on reading like that when I have a few minutes just about anyplace.
Battery. Simply outstanding. I charge every few days, and the battery is robust enough that I’m getting ready to try my next business trip without the charger (if it dies, look out for the Twitter rants at my own stupidity!).
Overall, not perfect. I’d like to see more books and magazines avaialble, but with announcements like this from Simon & Schuster, things are coming along. The best part — I can carry dozens of books, magazines and newspapers with me in a device that’s the size of one book, so I can read what I like depending on my mood.
If you’re thinking you might like a Kindle, you probably will.
[digg=http://digg.com/gadgets/Amazon_Kindle_30_Days_Later]
8 responses so far ↓
1 HDustin // Jun 5, 2008 at 8:43 am
We are hooked as well. And Amazon just released 5000 more titles…hope they continue!
2 Amy Gahran // Jun 5, 2008 at 11:23 am
Oh great, Doyle… Now I’ll have to get a Kindle. I shouldn’t read your blog, you’re expensive.
- Amy Gahran
3 rzwetsch // Jun 5, 2008 at 5:17 pm
How’s the highlighting functionality? Easy? Awkward?
4 Doyle Albee // Jun 6, 2008 at 7:27 am
The highlighting is actually pretty good. I don’t use it much, so I may not be the most qualified on this, but there are some interesting options. To simply highlight a line or two, you scroll with the scroll wheel to the beginning of the section you wish to highlight, press the wheel, scroll to the end and press the wheel again. It not only marks the text, it places the selection in a file called “My Clippings,” which can be synched with your computer or viewed on the Kindle.
You can also make notes in text with the keyboard. I’ve not used that function much either, but can see where it would be very helpful for textbook-type reading.
You can also bookmark pages for future reference (the Kindle automatically remembers where you were when stop reading a book or magazine) and then view all bookmarks (you can have as many as you want in any book or magazine) by simply calling up the “bookmark” menu in the book.
The search function is also good. If I remember an article in the Denver Post, for example, about Hillary Clinton given a speech in Chicago, I can search the Kindle for “clinton” and “chicago” and it will find any book, newspaper, magazine, etc., with those words. You can also do basic searches via wireless on Google, Wikipedia and others.
Hope that answers your question!
5 rzwetsch // Jun 6, 2008 at 9:24 am
Outstanding…yes, excellent info! It’s now on my short list.
A thousand thanks for your thoughts!
Rick Zwetsch
6 links for 2008-06-06 — contentious.com // Jun 6, 2008 at 9:37 am
[...] Living with the Kindle: 30 Days Later « Media in the New Millennium Consider Amazon’s Kindle portable e-reader as a news distribution channel. “I am reading both the Denver Post and Time Magazine on my Kindle now, and it’s nice to be able to catch up on reading like that when I have a few minutes just about anyplace”. (tags: e-books news+biz distribution hardware media+evolution tidbits+fodder) [...]
7 Evan Bartlett // Jun 6, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Its definitely too easy to buy! I find myself using it as a “save for later” reading list by just buying books I want to read and then having them sent directly to the Kindle.
I suspect just like my bookshelf, these will pile up, and hopefully I’ll reach a point where I crack down and start going through the back log.
8 ktinboulder // Jun 10, 2008 at 6:03 am
I heard a coworker say “it’s on backorder” yesterday referring to a book several of us are reading. My favorite thing about the Kindle, no backorder!
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