The Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle, rules. I’ve had mine since February, and I use it every single day. I was skeptical when I saw the Newsweek cover article comparing Jeff Bezos’ Kindle to Steve Jobs’ iPod. The eBook reader looks a bit dated–like a Casio keyboard from the ’80s. And $399 for a device that lets you spend more money on DRM’ed books from one single retailer?!?

The thing is, I was tired of buying heavy, bulky, dead-tree books–waiting for them to arrive via UPS–only to read them once or twice. Collecting hundreds of pounds of books is taxing over time. I read reviews of the Kindle, and with Amazon’s 30 day return policy, I convinced myself to place an order. My 3 week wait was hell! (Amazon has since caught up with demand, and the Kindle is in stock).

When the package arrived, I was up & running in no time. I bought The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Snow Crash right away from the Kindle store. The device really did become transparent after the first hour. I even like the page-turn screen refresh blip that some reviewers call out as a negative–it feels like natural feedback.

Jeff Bezos really did create the iPod equivalent for books–the Amazon bookstore is iTunes. You can download free sample chapters from any book before you buy (how many crappy books have I bought from airport news stands), and if you want to add content you already own, no problem! There are thousands of awesome out-of-copyright books available for free on the Internet.

You buy & manage all of your documents over the Kindle’s built-in Internet connection without ever having to use a computer or setup wireless networks. You want to add a PDF or Word document? Just e-mail it as an attachment to your Kindle.

This eBook reader even has an experimental web browser. It’s a bit slow and black & white only, but the browser works surprisingly well with Javascript. I’d have to respectfully disagree with Andy Ihnatko’s assessment that Amazon is selling a “$399 waffle maker.” The Kindle is first and foremost a brilliant eBook reader. Web browsing is convenient when you’re away from a computer (and awesome that Amazon doesn’t send you a monthly bill), but Kindle Internet surfing doesn’t hold a candle to web browsing on a laptop or iPhone. I don’t think anyone would be happy with a Kindle if they didn’t use it primarily as a reading device.

I also recently signed up for an Audible account to listen to Steve Martin read his latest book, Born Standing Up. (thanks to Twit for the terrific recommendation) It’s surprisingly convenient to have audiobooks on your Kindle when your eyes are too tired to read. Audible’s got a great selection of stuff, and any book you buy through their store will also work on your iPod/iPhone. It is a royal pain in the ass getting the Audible book onto the Kindle, though–you have to use (ugh) Windows.

I hate DRM with a passion. It’s the main reason why I don’t buy songs from the iTunes store anymore (I use the Amazon DRM-free MP3 store). DRM is terrible and archaic in all forms, but it does encourage old-economy book publishers to sell books for electronic readers.

DRM is slightly more palatable on eBooks compared to MP3s and video. I typically only read books one time through. Even though I’d like to be able to copy sections from a book onto my laptop, I would never want to read an eBook on a backlit, eye-straining screen. Amazon have said they will likely drop DRM from Audible books. However, convincing book publishers to do the same will take time.

Whenever I hear about a book that sounds interesting, I’ll send the sample to my Kindle. Reading through the first few chapters gives me a sense whether I’d enjoy the book or not. It’s only ever really sad when a book publisher hasn’t yet released an electronic copy.

If you enjoy reading, the Kindle is a terrific reading device. I love my Kindle.