The Kindle

I like gadgets, especially electronic gadgets. One of the latest gadgets to hit the marketplace is an eBook reader from Amazon called the Kindle. I first heard about the Kindle about two months ago from a colleague who owns one. I had not thought much more about it until this past weekend. I was in South Carolina for a wedding, and the father of the bride—who happens to be a good friend—had just gotten one for an early Father's Day gift. He allowed me to play with it—and viola I was hooked.

The Kindle is light weight, about the size of a book, and very portable. One of the strong selling points is the ability to download approximately 1000 books onto the Kindle which can be carried with you just about anywhere. I normally carry a stack of books with me on vacation, and now Amazon has made it possible to carry all of that reading material anywhere I want to go in one small portable device. Another selling point is the price of the books. Most Kindle books sell for $9.99 from Amazon. Of course the Kindle itself is a bit pricy, but the avid reader can easily justify the price of the Kindle via the savings in books and shipping cost; which brings me to another strong point of the Kindle. Books are downloaded instantly to the Kindle directly from Amazon through a wireless connection. There is no extra charge for the download, and the wireless device is built into the Kindle. The coverage area is nationwide, no international coverage, and though there are some weak areas (normally where there are few or no cell towers) I am assured that downloading is easy and effortless. So, if you are at the beach and run short on reading material, a book can be instantly downloaded with the click of a button—and you don't have to leave the beach!

I found the Kindle to be easy to use. There's even a way to "highlight," bookmark, and save clippings/notes for future reference. The Kindle is very readable, with adjustable fonts and a backlit screen. The rechargeable battery which powers the Kindle supposedly last for weeks before requiring a recharge. The Kindle has a built-in voice reader that will literally read the book for you as you listen. I have already figured-out a way to connect this to my car's audio system—I plan to let the Kindle read to me on future road trips where I am alone in the car.

I was concerned about the number of eBooks in the genres I like to read that might be available. A quick check of the Amazon website alleviated that concern. There are literally 1000's of books available.

Another concern has to do with the "life" of eBooks. I still have paperbacks from thirty years ago. What happens to eBooks I download to the Kindle when the format changes and new advances are made? For this reason I will probably continue to buy reference books and commentaries in a regular book format.

My own personal Kindle should arrive in a few short days. I'm already making a list of books to download. I'll be giving it a rigorous workout on an upcoming vacation. I'll share further observations once I've had a chance to check mine out thoroughly.

Blessings,
Jimmy