The Amazon Kindle #2

Well, I have had the Kindle now for over 2 weeks. Since the shiny newness has worn off, I thought I would write some more thoughts about it. I have to tell you, I am really impressed. The battery life is totally awesome. Since charging it right after I bought it, I have not had to plug it in! When you figure I read at my desk during lunch for an hour, 1 to 2 hours at night during the week, and probably about another 2 to 3 hours during the weekend, this is pretty good. Especially when you consider that some cell phones have to charged every other day, if not every day. Granted, I have had the wireless off for the most part. I did notice that the battery did tend to drain at an increased rate when the wireless connection was on.

Speaking of wireless, it is not the same wireless connection that a computer uses. It uses the same connection that a cell phone does. AT&T provides the connection for the Kindle to connect to the internet. The internet capabilities of the Kindle are limited to sites like Wikipedia. Needless to say, you will not be playing any of those time wasting flash games on it ;). The ability to access the wireless network comes with the purchase of the Kindle. In other words, no monthly fees. Because the Kindle can connect to this network, I can buy a book and have it loaded onto my Kindle with out a computer. In the States, it is free delivery, but here on the "Rock", there is a $1.99 charge for this service. Thank god Amazon allows you to download the book to your computer, and then add it to your Kindle by a USB cable.

There are some down sides to this marvel of modern technology though. The first has to do with content. Everything you buy from Amazon is encrypted and tied to your current Kindle. This is because you do not "buy" the book as you would at a bookstore. What you are buying is the "license" to be able to view the books on your device. This means, that if a publisher decides that it no longer wants to sell a certain book electronically, it can revoke your license. This could lead to the book being removed from your Kindle! Talk about draconian. Do not get me wrong, I understand that they need to protect their product. If I buy a book, I would like it to be mine permanently. Because the books from Amazon are encrypted, they can only be redownloaded a limited number of times. This is not a problem if you read a book once, but I am one of those weird people that like re-reading my books. Because this technology is still growing, they are still working out the kinks. Finally, and this is because I did not read the product description closely, the Kindle did not come with a cover. I thought it did because to previous model did have a cover included in the price. So I had to buy a cover for it. As with anything that is popular, there are many choices available for it at Amazon.

Now with all this said, would I recommend purchasing a Kindle? YES, especially if you like to travel. Despite the faults I listed, it is a very well-engineered peace of gear. There are literally thousands of books available to buy. Having the ability to load books directly to your Kindle with out being tied to a computer, in my mind, is awesome. Finally, the operating system that it runs is very stable and well thought out. Even though I think the Kindle is awesome, I will not be giving up print books. Nothing beats the feel, smell, and the weight of a real book in your hands.

Well, I have lauded this device enough. I hope everyone is well.