Me, you, and a Kindle 2!

I bought an Amazon Kindle about a week ago. I primarily did it because I could return it within 30 days with no penalty, and I wanted to see first hand how it would handle some of my PDF documents. I didn't intend to keep it, then I used it...

Right after unboxing my new Kindle 2 (not DX), it was immediately evident that this product was, to put it frankly, tight. As everyone has said, the screen looks exactly like the page of a book. It works like an etch-a-sketch by placing, what they call, 'ink particles' in the correct position on the screen. Because of this, it only uses power when it needs to render the screen, resulting in insane battery life. They advertise it'll last for two weeks. My experience has been a little shorter with heavy usage (including 3G, more on this later). This technology also results in fun eye-candy anytime you flip the power switch on the Kindle:


It displays random wallpapers while 'sleeping' since it takes no batter power to do so.

After playing with it for a little while, I was tempted to purchase a book. They make it way too easy to do this by the way, so be careful! Sitting on my couch, with no configurations required, I typed in the name of a book and within seconds had a plethora of information on my Kindle screen. User reviews, price, book summary, cover image, and more. Not yet ready to purchase the book, I instead click 'Download sample'. In about 10 seconds the sample downloaded via the _FREE_ 3G connection straight to my Kindle. I click approximately three buttons and was reading the sample (1st chapter or so) of the book. It couldn't be simpler.

I finished the sample and was pleased with the book. More importantly though, I couldn't believe I was reading on an electronic device. No backlight, no intrusive technology, just simply a book in my hands. It honestly felt like I had a book in my hand. On the last page of the sample was a link allowing me to buy the book, if I wanted to. I did. With two clicks, and 20 seconds later, I had a full copy of the book in my hands. Simply amazing.

Now, before I continue with the rest of my good experiences, I should address what the naysayers usually cite as reasons you don't need a Kindle. Keep in mind, I was one before I got my hands on the Kindle.

Kindle?! Have you forgotten about the library!?! IT'S FREE!
No, I haven't. The Kindle was not developed to compete with a public library. Obviously free is better than paying. However, the Kindle offers a lot of benefits which a book, or public library simply can't compete with. Thus, if you insist on comparing the two (which I wouldn't), then here are the reasons I believe the Kindle wins.

1. Books in under 30 seconds. Yes, you have to pay, but if you are sitting at the lake front, and the mood strikes you to read a mystery, you have that option. Or standing outside of a bookstore and the bus is pulling up, but you see a book you want to start reading, download the sample in seconds (yes, this happened to me). No need to miss the bus!
   
2. One light device. You may not always be in the mood to read The Pragmatic Programmer. Maybe instead you'll want to read Ghost Recon. Maybe Collective Intelligence. With the Kindle you can travel with all your books in one light device. It never gets heavier by adding more books.
3. Whats the word mean? If you come across a word you need to look up, just put the cursor over the word and Kindle will look it up in its built-in dictionary. Expand your vocabulary!
   
4. Whats that concept mean? Look it up on wikipedia with the built-in free 3G connection.
   
5. Want to highlight/take notes? You don't need to carry around an extra notebook or highlighters with you. Kindle has built in highlighting and note taking features.
6. The Kindle store never closes. The library does.
7. When you are done reading a book, just delete it (you can re-download it anytime for free). No need to return the book to the library.
   

So now back to the good times I've had with the Kindle in the past week.

I found myself sitting around one day without my Kindle, awaiting the arrival of one of my friends. They informed me they were going to be 30 minutes late. Great, now what do I do? Oh, right, I'm enough of a hipster/apple-freak/asshole to have an IPhone. Which has a free Kindle app. Which syncs with your Kindle of cell towers. Within a few clicks, all the books that are on my Kindle were on my IPhone, for free. I opened one up, and it took me to the page where I left off last night. I then continued reading and made use of that 30 minutes. Later that day, back at my Kindle, it noticed I had read on my IPhone, and caught me up to the correct page -- automatically and wirelessly.

And my final example was my most enjoyable. I rode my bike (I said I'm a hipster asshole mac-fan-boy already, what do you want from me?!) to the lakefront the other day. It was a beautiful peaceful day. So, as the waves broke against the shore 10 feet from me, I pulled out my Kindle and drifted away.

Some quick downsides I've experienced with the Kindle. It doesn't seem like it'd be up-to-par with rendering books with lots of code, unless you made the text size smaller (which can be achieved in two clicks). Also, the collection can seem limited at times. Yes, they have 2xx,xxx books available, but there were still times I search for a book which wasn't available. This seems to mostly apply to legacy books, not new ones. Also converting your personal PDFs to work on the Kindle can be sketchy.

That is the Kindle 2 and I over the past week. Its had a great impact. Is it worth ~$350? That depends on the person. Its made me read more than I used to. Will I be keeping it? It looks probable at this point. I truly couldn't be happier with this product. The only downside is the price. If you can eat that, I guarantee you'll love the Kindle (and if you don't, you're likely retarded).