There's a new kid on the block, and his name is Kindle.
I don't like it when a new toy comes out. It gets my Techno-Lust a hoppin' and I have to spend hours on the net researching and investigating and comparing and generally spilling drool all over myself and my keyboard. It's embarrassing, it really is.
Anyway, I've been keeping a keen and slobbery eye on Amazon's Kindle eBook reader. I was super excited about Kindle's second design offering, the Kindle 2. And when Amazon released the Kindle with Worldwide WhisperNet connectivity I practically wet my pants. Practically ... almost ... it was really really close.
I immediately went into research overdrive and got some pretty satisfactory answers to some important questions. And having gotten some answers I convinced my wife that we NEEDED a Kindle. And we got one!
I don’t want to spend too much time here explaining what a Kindle is. If you want to find out then go to Amazon’s Kindle Homepage and do some reading. But, for those of you who don’t want to do that here is a simple explanation of what the Kindle is:
The Kindle is to reading, what the iPod is to listening to music.
Right, now that we’ve got that out the way lets answer some questions:
What does the Kindle Costs?
The Kindle costs $259 (just under R2000) if you buy it off the American Amazon site. Amazon.com claims it will sell you a Kindle if you order it from South Africa. However I’m not sure that’s true because as far as I know Amazon WILL NOT ship anything to South Africa because of our brilliantly reliable postal service. I got my Kindle delivered to someone in America who brought it here to SA.
What is WhisperNet, and what does it cost?
WhisperNet is Amazon’s wireless Kindle service. Originally WhisperNet was only available in the USA, but now Kindle has released a Worldwide Whispernet network. This means that almost anywhere you can get a cell-phone signal you can probably get a WhisperNet signal. Amazon does have a full coverage map available on line. WhisperNet is absolutely and totally and in-all-ways free. Is costs nothing. It is for nothing. And this is what makes the Kindle so cool. If you’re in a WhisperNet coverage area then you can go onto the Kindle Store, via WhisperNet, on the Kindle itself, for free. You can browse books, download book samples, download entire books, and manage your kindle content, for free. Did I mention it dosn’t cost anything? That’s right! The wireless WhisperNet delivery of content is free. This amazes me, in case you haven’t figured this out.
What do Kindle eBooks cost?
The books themselves cost between $2 and about $12 (about R15 to R90). Brand new bestsellers are the most expensive, and old classics are the cheapest.
In general I give the Kindle a 10 out of 10 rating for cost.
How does reading the Kindle compare to reading a normal book?
The Kindle utilises a new form of display technology called eInk. eInk, designed to simulate a printed page rather than a computer screen, was specifically developed to solve the problems of eye-strain traditionally associated with reading off a screen. There is no backlighting on eInk screens so the kindle, like a real book has to be read in ample ambient light. Overall the eInk screen is a great success. I’ve spent hours reading mine and find it very comfortable. The only criticism I have is that the page/type contrast is not as heavy as it is on a normal printed page. The Kindle more than makes up for this slight failing, however, by allowing you to change your letter sizing and word spacing. Try do that with a paperback. Because of the relatively new nature of eInk the tech is still in its infancy. Every time your turn the page on your Kindle the screen flashes black and then refreshes, which seems at first very low tech and clumsy, but which I’ve gotten used to very quickly and hardly notice any more.
You turn ‘pages’ on the kindle by pressing one of two conveniently placed buttons. Words-per-page counts vary depending on the text size settings you’ve chosen. Progressing through a book is easy and convenient and best of all actually fun.
I give the Kindle a 9 out of 10 rating for reading comfort and ease.
What books are available for the Kindle?
You can send any document you like to your Kindle. Each Kindle is allocated a unique Kindle email address. You can email documents and PDF’s to your Kindle for a small fee. This means that you can read non Kindle-original books and documents on your Kindle. I haven’t tried this yet but in know people who have. I really do. Actual people, not people who know people.
In terms of Amazon’s Kindle Store selection, this is my only real complaint about the Kindle. Amazon currently have over 360 000 eBooks available for the Kindle, as well as numerous newspapers, magazines and blogs, but I’ve found that many of my favourite authors don’t seem to be represented. Having said that I’m sure that this will be a short lived problem as creating eBooks for publishers is a very fast and easy process.
To furthur complicate matters some of the eBooks in Amazon’s Kindle Store are not available in South Africa. I haven’t really been able to find out why this is but presume it’s a publishing-rights issue. Again I think this will be a short lived problem, especially as Exclusive Books has recently announced that it will be selling eBooks for the Kindle.
I give the Kindle six and a half out of ten for content availability.
How many books fit on a Kindle?
The Kindle has 2 gigs of onboard memory, with 1.4 gigs of that available to the user for storage. Amazon says this enables the Kindle to hold over 1500 books. That’s a lot of books.
The kindle definitely gets ten out of 10 for storage capacity.
Is the Kindle worth buying?
I have no doubt that the eBook industry is in its fledgling stages, and that significant improvements and advancements are in the not too distant future. It may be worth waiting for these developments before you buy Kindle. But in my opinion this always true of any tech, and thus is a defunct point. I love my Kindle and my wife also loves my Kindle. It is strictly speaking her Kindle but lets not get stuck down in the details. Our biggest problem is fighting over who gets to use the Kindle. My wife is freakishly intelligent and reads at the speed of sound. On holiday she can read a book a day. So for a two-week holiday she has traditionally had to pack 14 or 15 paperbacks. Now we can just take the Kindle and have hundreds of books at our disposal, and thousands more just a whisper away.
Bottom Line Verdict: The Kindle is great. Not perfect, but then what is? The Kindle is well worth having, and until Apple brings out a better eBook reader the Kindle is top of the pops.
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