Several years ago, the idea of downloading books and reading them online was sold to us as the wave of the future. The biggest problem with this pitch was that many people didn’t, and still don’t, want to read online. It’s tedious, your eyes burn out after a while and it’s uncomfortable.
Now, Kindle allows you to curl up under a blanket on the couch, just like you usually do, open up your auto-delivered morning paper in one hand and hold your coffee in the other. Yes, it’s that small. It weighs about 10 oz., is 7.5 inches tall by 5.3 across, and less than 3/4 inches thick. Touting its ergonomics, the page up and down buttons are comfortably activated by one thumb.
The screen, made out of something called electronic paper, which actually uses ink particles to display high resolution black text, reads more like paper and not at all like a computer screen. Most users say they forgot they weren’t reading a real book in the first 15 minutes — they find it an immersive experience. This display technology eliminates the glare and the back light and can be read in the dark and in the bright sun. If you’re a large print reader, you can also upsize the font.
Most people seem to be quite happy about the life of the battery and it charges completely in less than two hours. Unlike laptops, it never gets hot on your lap — a definite plus.
Imagine scrolling through your Amazon wish list of books and then having your latest fancy in less than a minute. This new breed of impulse shopping is dangerously possible with the Kindle. The wireless capabilities are tremendously fast and easy.
Because it uses EVDO technology (the same as advanced PDAs) instead of WiFi, you never have to find a hotspot and are almost always online.
The best deal? This feature is free. That’s right, no monthly fee.
The Kindle store carries about 90% of NY Times best sellers, several of the most read magazines and newspapers and 90,000 book titles. Better yet, it allows you to store up to 200 of them at once in case you’re going on some kind of crazy reading binge.
The bad? Well, Kindle will read Word docs and most picture files, but it won’t display PDFs. There is, however, a converter shareware you can download to make this happen, if you’re interested. If you’re attracted to the visual wonderland of toys like the iPhone, than Kindle’s visuals will surely disappoint. It’s about reading, not graphics, and this black and white screen is indeed better on the eyes. Kindle allows you to access Wikipedia.org, but there is no easy web browser at present. These days everyone loves to have their all-in-one super gadgets. Sadly, this is not one of them.
Even the nay-sayers don’t have too much to complain about with the Kindle. This is a great first effort for this type of reading device and many kinks will certainly be worked out for next time. If you’re not the type that has to have the latest gizmo, wait for the next round and you surely won’t be disappointed.
As far as the ugly, well, the price set at $399 certainly keeps the Kindle out of classrooms and in the hands of traveling business class folks who love a new toy. The biggest con to date? This won’t be your best Christmas gift idea ever. It’s completely sold out. Better luck trying for President’s Day.
Not sure whether technology is necessary, evil, both or neither, Christine Heinz perpetuates this love/hate relationship every day as a photographer, graphic designer and educator.