10 Observations in one day with my Kindle
Freshly Opened Kindle
On Monday or Tuesday, the Kindle started showing up as in-stock and shipping at Amazon. Having read numerous blog posts about it, I took the plunge and ordered it with free 2-day shipping. It arrived Friday, and I've been playing with it quite a bit.
- The terms of use for the wireless make it very clear that Amazon reserves the right to modify or shut off the service at any point.
- While the bland white design didn't appeal to me online, in real life it's nice. It just seems to get out of the way, letting you focus on the content.
- I wasn't sure at the time I purchased, but it does come with a nicely designed protective jacket.
- I'm sure this is the norm with modern e-book readers, but the screen is incredibly comfortable for reading. The claims of “electronic paper” are pretty accurate.
- Before it even arrives, Amazon adds “send to my kindle” and “send preview to my kindle” links for all books with kindle editions. I sent several previews on Thursday, it arrived Friday… I turned it on, registered it, and had content on the device a few minutes later.
- While not full-featured, the browser is more than adequate for mobile gmail, mobile google reader (they aren't getting me to pay for blogs) and some light surfing. Reading the web in black-and-white is an interesting experience.
- I'm torn about the magazines. I subscribed to Fortune and compared to the hard-copy I read through at my dad's house it's a bit lacking. This is primarily because the kindle edition is missing all the photos. But it's convenient, decent content, and I think I'll probably keep the subscription.
- Two “next page” buttons, large and well placed, make it comfortable to read in a variety of positions. It's a tad heavier than a paperback, but certainly lighter and more conventient than a hardcover.
- The convenience of sending documents for conversion seems worth the 10 cent charge to me, when I weighed the annoyance of getting out the cable and hooking it up and futzing around. (Perhaps I'll break down later and do some bulk conversion)
- Amazon makes it very, very (dangerously) easy to buy content. The free previews (which seem to be in the 2-4 chapters) are enough to get you hooked… and then that “buy now” link appears at the end, making the full book a click away.
(Check out the kindle or see what's on my kindle at my Amazon store.)
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