Review: the Kindle from Amazon.com
3rd December 2007
I’m both a Constant and Common Reader since childhood. Cereal boxes, mattress tags, software licenses, whatever, if it’s Logos it grabs me. One of the few regrets in my life has been the one time I sold a bunch of my books at a moving sale to save some hassle. I love reading.
When I saw the offer for Amazon’s Kindle e-reader, I jumped on it without hesitation, ordering one the first morning it was available. Now after a couple of weeks use, I’ll share my experience.
Get one.
If you love words, text, and reading, get one.
If you love tech gadgets and the New New Thing, don’t get one. The Kindle is not a slicky toy like the iPhone. If you’ve been reading anything about the Kindle you’ve probably encountered techie reviews that stomp the device on a variety of gearhead criteria. They are all correct, true, and accurate criticisms - if you are a gearhead and not a reader.
The Kindle renders beautiful, easy to read text on a slightly greybrown background with virtually no glare. It is lightweight (11 ounces) with a good battery that will last several hours of continuous use. It is easy to download files onto the Kindle. You can buy books from Amazon in a proprietary format so that copyright issues are easier to enforce. You can download txt, doc, html, jpg, and mp3 files without problem. In other words, it is an excellent e-reader.
Now, the extras.
The Kindle is on a wireless network roughly equivalent to the national cell phone network. With the wireless connection you can access the Amazon website, purchase, and download books. You can also surf the Web with a basic browser function. Some websites, especially one that focus on words rather than sounds or images or video or flash or those other attention toys, don’t render well. But, if the website focuses on words and simple navigation, you can access the website. You can also do basic emailing through services like Google or Yahoo. (Kindle employs an effective built in key pad that is quite functional for its size.) And, you don’t pay any fee for the wireless use.
A couple of other points I’ve not seen in other reviews.
First, the Kindle creates a new kind of just folks marketplace. Through the device you can access the web to buy Amazon products instantly. Some of the products, the e-books, you can not only buy instantly, but receive instantly. Others, require waiting, like anything else on the Amazon website or other like LL Bean.
Second, there’s no Microsoft in any of this. So what? There’s now a device that combines hardware, software, good and services, networks, and buyers and sellers in real time that has nothing to do with Microsoft.
If you like words and the Web get it: