I recently bought an Amazon Kindle. If you’re not familiar with it, check out the link I provided.
It’s not cheap, ringing in at $359. But I’ve been saving up some Amazon.com gift cards. I paid just over $200 for it.
It comes with a very basic Internet connection, that uses Sprint’s EVDO network. Amazon’s nickname for it, is called WhisperNet. This connection allows you to buy books directly from Amazon.com’s online store.
I bought the Kindle, because I’m usually carrying around 2 technical books in my laptop bag. It makes for a significant amount of extra weight I’m carrying around with me.
The Kindle consolidates that to a single device that is very light.
Not all books and publishers are available in Kindle format. However, this number grows daily.
Another reason is that I read a lot of technical books in PDF format, or other ebook formats. It’s much harder to stare at an LCD for long periods of time, than it is to read off the Kindle screen. E-Ink is MUCH nicer to your eyes.
I’ve been able to convert almost all of my existing ebook collection into Kindle format.
If there was anything I’d like to see different, there would be two things:
First, I would add the ability to organize your books into folders.
Second, if you have already purchased the book in traditional format from Amazon.com, offer some kind of significant discount for getting the digital version. You can do this already, with the Amazon.com reader, that only adds $5 to the price of the book.
It would be nice to have the Kindle option with that, as well.
All things considered, I’ve been very satisfied with my purchase. I cannot recommend the Kindle enough.